State launches latest ad campaign to get Kentuckians to stop using tobacco; our smoking rate is No. 2 among the states

The Kentucky Department of Public Health has launched its latest advertising campaign to encourage Kentuckians to stop using tobacco.

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Food-service employee at UK hospital diagnosed with hepatitis A; if you ate at Pavilion A cafeteria Oct.11-30, get vaccinated

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A food service employee at the Albert B. Chandler Hospital at the University of Kentucky has been diagnosed with hepatitis A, a highly contagious liver disease, the hospital announced. The employee prepared food at the Pavilion A cafeteria, but was not involved in any food preparation for hospital patients. The hospital advises anyone who ate at the cafeteria between Oct. 11 and 30 to get a hepatitis A vaccination, which requires two shots, six months apart. All food-service workers at UK HealthCare will now be required to get the vaccine, and the hospital will set up "vaccination stations" for that. The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department and UK HealthCare have recommended that all Lexington residents get vaccinated as the number of cases continues to climb. Kentucky schoolchildren were required to have the vaccination at the beginning of the school year. In the current outbreak, there have been no confirmed cases of hepatitis A being transmitted by food-service wo...
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Cigarette smoking rates among U.S. adults are at a historic low, 14%, but one in five still use some type of tobacco-based product

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By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Cigarette smoking rates have hit their lowest level ever, but 47 million Americans still use some type of tobacco-based product, prompting government officials to say there's more work to do. Smoking rates among adults dropped to about 14 percent in 2017 from 15.5 percent in 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , the Food and Drug Administration and the National Cancer Institute . That's a drop of two-thirds from 42 percent in 1965, the first year national smoking rates were recorded. The current rate for young adults 18 to 24 dropped even more than the overall rate, to 10 percent in 2017 from 13 percent in 2016. However, use of electronic cigarettes among young people is burgeoning , and one in five Americans, still use some type of tobacco-based product, and 34 million of the 47 million users still smoke. Kentucky's latest reported adult smoking rate is 24.5 percent. The national figures were published ...
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FDA says it may limit sale of flavored e-cigarette products to vaping stores to combat 'epidemic' use of products by teens

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As teen use of Juul products continues to soar, the head of the Food and Drug Administration says all options are on the table, including limiting sales of flavored e-cigarette products to stores selling smoking-vapor products. Types of electronic cigarettes In a recent interview with CNBC , FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb noted that teens tend to purchase e-cigarettes at convenience stores and gas stations, and said restricting their sale to vaping stores is a good idea because they generally do a better job checking identification documents for their ages. Gottlieb estimated that high-school students' reported use of e-cigarettes surged 77 percent last year, and middle schoolers' use grew 50 percent. He said the actual numbers are probably higher because kids don't associate "Juuling" with e-cigarettes. He said next year's National Youth Tobacco Survey will have specific questions about branded products. "These really are reaching epidemic proportion...
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