Stories

There Is An EEE Vaccine For Humans. You Just Can’t Get It

September 25, 2019

There’s no cure for Eastern equine encephalitis, or EEE, but there is a vaccine for the mosquito-borne illness. It’s just not commercially available. The United States military developed it in the 1980s as part of a vaccine program to protect military personnel from dangerous pathogens, says Sam Telford, an epidemiologist at Tufts University. “As a…

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Held For 20 Days: How New Hampshire’s Shortage Of Mental Health Beds Erodes Patients’ Rights

September 16, 2019

Imagine you are forced to go to a hospital to receive psychiatric treatment that you don’t think you need. What rights would you have? That’s the question at the heart of a court battle between the state of New Hampshire, the ACLU, and nearly two-dozen hospitals. A ruling in the case could have profound impacts…

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Sarah Mackin exits the Care Zone van after it parks on Haverhill St. near by North Station. They will mobilize and walk around the area to look for opioid users who need assistance. Photo by Jesse Costa for WBUR

The Van Vs. An Opioid Addiction: Taking Treatment To The Streets

June 12, 2019

On the streets of Boston, the potholed path to treatment often starts with a sandwich. Egg salad is the favorite. Today it’s ham. Phil Ribeiro tucks one into the bag of a man who is breathing, but either so sedated or deeply asleep that he’s difficult to rouse.

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Mark Jenkins with Greater Hartford Harm Reduction Coalition shows a chart of recovered baggies of street drugs branded with names and logos. Photo by Cassandra Basler for WSHU

Connecticut EMTs Gather Most Detailed Overdose Data Yet

June 6, 2019

Paramedic Peter Canning walks through Hartford’s Pope Park. He picks up empty heroin baggies as he passes by athletic fields, a public pool and a picnic pavilion where a few people appear to nod off.

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How One Boston Doctor And Her Family Confront Climate Change

May 21, 2019

The image — of a child and an animal skeleton in a drought-stricken landscape —popped open just below a headline about the rapidly advancing effects of climate change. The story — about a United Nations report — described a world at risk for crises triggered by drought, flooding and extreme heat by 2040. Before reading…

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As Pilgrim Powers Down, Some Worry It Will Leave Behind Too Much Radiation

April 25, 2019

Like all nuclear power plants, Pilgrim releases small amounts of radioactive gases and liquids as part of its normal operations. These emissions are controlled by the plant, and monitored by federal and state regulators to protect public health.

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Barbara and Jessica pose for a portrait in the place in the living room where the incident with Elijah happened, on March 11, 2019, in Warwick, Rhode Island. Photo by Kayana Szymczak for ProPublica

How Rhode Island’s Emergency 911 System Failed Baby Alijah

March 20, 2019
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Army veteran Chris Riga rearranges sticky notes on his desk which he uses to organize and to assist him in remembering tasks he has to do throughout the day at his job as patient experience coordinator at the Northampton VA Medical Center in Leeds, MA. Photo by Jesse Costa for WBUR

Veterans Hope Study Reveals What Blast Injuries Do To ‘Your Brain, Your Body, And Everything Else’

March 6, 2019

Shortly after he’d been exposed to not one — but several — improvised explosive devices (IEDs), Chris Riga realized something wasn’t right.

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Volunteers for Glasswing International lead members of the Glee club in a dance routine at a school in Las Palmas, San Salvador, El Salvador. Photo by Jesse Costa for WBUR

‘They Immediately See Gangs’: From El Salvador To Boston, Helping Young People Shake Stigma And Feel Safe

October 23, 2018

President Trump has referred to members of the MS-13 gang as “animals.” Attorney General Jeff Sessions says the gang is infiltrating the U.S., calling unaccompanied minors from Central America “wolves in sheep’s clothing.” There’s been a strong focus by the administration on legal crack downs but less talk of how to prevent young people from joining gangs in the first place. For two organizations working thousands of miles apart, that is their shared goal: to show young people a vision of their futures beyond the gangs.

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Oliva Llano visits the food pantry. Photo by Nancy Eve Cohen for NEPR

Food Pantry In Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Tries To Ease Stigma Of Getting Help

October 18, 2018

Early on a Wednesday morning in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, a line of people perused boxes of fresh apples and green beans, frozen meat, and bags of bagels and biscuits at the South Congregational Church Community Food Pantry.

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