Childhood obesity, which starts early, contributes to health issues throughout life.

Treatment options are limited for the more than 500,000 people in the U.S. who are diagnosed annually with C. diff infections, but researchers are working on potential vaccines, therapeutic antibodies and — most recently — nanobodies, to prevent and treat C. diff infections.

There currently are no approved treatments or vaccines to protect against the infection, which can cause internal bleeding, organ failure, and in roughly 50% of cases, death.

In a study of children with symptomatic or asymptomatic C. diff, symptom status loomed as the strongest association with differences in gut microbial abundance and diversity.

The infection can result from inhaling spores of the fungus Histoplasma capsulatum, which grows in soil throughout Middle Tennessee, especially in soil contaminated with bird or bat droppings. Previously, blood samples had to be sent to a reference lab in Utah.

A fall from a tree left Mark Ogorodnik fighting for his life. Thanks to faith, family and cutting-edge neurocritical care at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, his story became a testament to resilience and hope.

Any length of time without immunizations is a time without protection against vaccine-preventable diseases.