Category: Parenting and Family

A new family of COVID variants nicknamed “FLiRT” are spreading across the country, as vaccination rates in Chicago – as well as nationwide – remain concerningly low for some public health experts. While symptoms and severity seem to be about the same as previous COVID strains, the new FLiRT variants appear to be more transmissible, said infectious disease expert Dr. Robert Murphy. “A new more contagious variant is out there,” said Murphy, executive director of Northwestern University’s Institute for Global Health and a professor of infectious diseases at the Feinberg School of Medicine. “Covid-19 is still with us, and compared to […]

Sleep-deprived and anxious about feeding their babies, tens of thousands of moms in Illinois and elsewhere recently turned to a variety of Facebook groups offering support for breastfeeding, pumping breast milk and postpartum care. Direct responses were often remarkably prompt from the creator and admin of these groups, a Facebook user named “Cathy Marie Chan,” whose profile featured a smiling picture of a woman purporting to be a board certified lactation consultant and founder of Chan Lactation LLC. Via Facebook Messenger, “Cathy Marie Chan” would request photos and video recordings of the mothers’ naked breasts — and in some cases […]

County health officials are warning unvaccinated residents after a possible measles exposure at a Sam’s Club in Evergreen Park last week. The exposure happened at the Sam’s Club store located at 9400 S. Western Ave. on April 9, between 10 a.m. and 2:45 p.m. The infected individual is a Chicago resident, according to a statement from Cook County Department of Public Health. A total of 63 cases have been recorded in Chicago this year, including one this week. Fifty-two percent of those infected were children under four, according to city’s Department of Public Health. The first Chicago measles case in five years […]