Links for the last week or so

Obesity may raise risk for flu severity - A California survey has determined that obesity is a risk factor in increasing the severity of H1N1, alongside diabetes, heart disease, and pregnancy. The same is true across the country.

Sick time - This blog post mentions giving employees sick time. Amen! It's crucial to give employees sick time so they don't come to work with an infectious disease, and all the more so given the spread of H1N1. Plus it decreases the likelihood that kids who are out of school (due to a school closure for health purposes or just their own sick day) will be left unattended. Believe me, it does happen.

This funny L.A. Times article examines certain products to see what works and what doesn't. The bottom line of the article is that most gimmicky products aren't worth it. They review benzalkonium chloride-based hand sanitizers, disposable sleeves, and more. It's worth taking a look at to see the bizarre products out there!

Michigan has begun collecting height and weight information in order to track body mass indexes in their immunization registries. "Adding the data to the registry can help physicians and public health professionals identify children who are obese or at risk of being overweight and to evaluate programs to prevent or reduce it," the article states. This innovation will help public health surveillance. Go Michigan!