Health

The lone star tick, which is far more common here than the black-legged tick, does not transmit Lyme disease, nor does it spread the very rare but scary Powassan virus. The good news stops there, though. Lone star ticks transmit ehrlichiosis, heartland disease, tularemia, Bourbon virus disease, and southern tick associated rash illness, or STARI.

Despite a high rate of vaccination, Covid-19 has proven an unrelenting and evolving threat to public health across New York and the country, and highly contagious subvariants of the Omicron variant mean a growing number of people have endured, or will experience, multiple infections, according to an associate professor of public health at Stony Brook University.

Dr. Meera Shah, the chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood in the Hudson Peconic region, spoke over Zoom this week about her work as an abortion provider, the epic struggle facing her organization, and its fund-raiser in Bridgehampton on June 4, at which she will be a featured speaker.

Despite a significant uptick in Covid-19 cases, including the designation of Suffolk and Nassau Counties as a region now at high risk of virus transmission by the federal Centers for Disease Control, the number of patients admitted at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital has remained in the single digits over the last few weeks — very much manageable, the hospital's chief medical officer has said. "We're going to have to learn how to live with it when community spread goes up like it is now."

In the 20 years since Fighting Chance, the free cancer-counseling charity based in Sag Harbor, opened its doors, the death rate from cancer in the United States has dropped by about 30 percent. That is certainly cause to celebrate, and Fighting Chance is seizing it.

As the seasons shift and we head into the fullness of spring, many people take the opportunity to spend more time outdoors and be more physically active. To avoid injury or discouragement, it's generally best to start small and slowly build up to a fuller exercise routine, rather than start aggressively and then become overwhelmed.

“We are going to continue to be open for the foreseeable future,” said Dr. Jason Cavolina of CareONE Concierge, which provides Covid-19 testing for East Hampton Town at the former Child Development Center of the Hamptons. The decision reflects yet another uptick in transmission of the virus.

East Hampton Town's senior citizens center, on Springs-Fireplace Road in East Hampton, has been temporarily shuttered following several cases of Covid-19 among program attendees and staff.

Despite the feeling of calm that has settled in after mask mandates were lifted, despite the significantly lower case numbers and deaths across the United States, Covid is not finished with us — or we with it.

East Hampton Town's Covid-19 testing site at the former Child Development Center of the Hamptons on Stephen Hand's Path will continue operating at least through April 15, as concerns about the BA.2 subvariant and the upcoming April school break spark renewed interest in tests.

Stony Brook Medicine’s three hospitals, including two on the East End, have once again been named LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leaders by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.

An awful lot of people are getting sick with one thing or another in the weeks since New York State's mask mandate was lifted. “In prior years, this is when flu season is just ending, but right now, it’s just starting,” said Dr. Gail Schonfeld, whose East End Pediatrics practice in East Hampton has seen an average of five cases of flu each day over the past two weeks.