When Wheezing Feels Like Asthma But Isn't

Tracking Coronavirus Cases In Schools

Shots National Jewish Health  A Young Athlete's Breathing Problems Weren't Asthma. What Were They? Young athletes — especially girls — can struggle with breathing problems that appear to be asthma but have a very different origin and call for different treatments. Telling them apart can be a puzzle.  For Reese Tempest, the wheezing started when she was in sixth grade, training with her track team. "I gutted it out and cried all the time. One race, I even passed out," Reese recalls. Several medical appointments and wrong diagnoses later, she found out what the trouble was: She had an unusual condition called exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction, or EILO. The troubles originate in the vocal cords, not the lungs. Read more about how to tell this condition apart from asthma, and how to treat it. +BONUS: Do steroid inhalers really work to prevent an asthma attack? Newsletter continues after sponsor message US schools tracker/Screenshot by NPR  There Have Already Been Over 4,000 Coronavirus Cases In Schools Looking for a snapshot of coronavirus outbreaks in U.S. schools? The National Education Association has just launched a tracker of cases in public K-12 schools. The tracker is broken down by state and shows schools and counties with known and suspected cases and deaths. By late August, it had already recorded more than 4,300 cases. The tool was originally created by Kansas theater teacher Alisha Morris. In early August, Morris was looking for data about coronavirus cases in U.S. schools. She could find local news reports about positive cases at individual schools across the country but nothing that gave her a cohesive picture of how much the virus was spreading in schools. So she built it herself with the help of other volunteers and then handed it off to NEA. Read more about the tracker and how schools are handling coronavirus cases as they emerge. Andre Coelho/Getty Images  Flu Season Is Mild In Southern Hemisphere, Suggesting U.S. May Be Spared A Flu Surge A surprisingly small number of people in the Southern Hemisphere have gotten the flu this year, probably because the public health measures put in place to fight COVID-19 have also limited the spread of influenza. That makes public health experts hopeful that the U. S. and other northern countries might not have a bad flu season this winter. Still, they warn against complacency and encourage people to get the flu vaccine. "Because influenza surprises us. Viruses surprise us," says Kanta Subbarao, of the World Health Organization. Read more about what's causing an unusually mild flu season in the Southern Hemisphere. +BONUS: What makes the coronavirus so "superspready"? More of this week's health stories from NPR Why some COVID-19 patients come off the ventilator but linger in comas Is it safe to ride a bus or subway? More space please! Home sales are booming as people adapt to staying home more We hope you enjoyed these stories. Find more of NPR's health journalism on Shots and follow us on Twitter at @NPRHealth. Your Shots editor, Carmel Wroth   What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: shots@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Goats & Soda, Daily News, Best of NPR and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Health emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy