Dallas County

While there are currently 780 confirmed monkeypox cases statewide, Texas cities are bracing for an increase in infections.

Extreme temperatures are hurting some North Texas farmers financially. The hot weather is stunting their crops and they are worried that the hot weather is driving away customers at local markets, where they rely heavily on in-person sales for their businesses.

Just over 1% of kids under 5 in Dallas County have gotten a COVID-19 vaccine, and public health officials are expecting cases to rise as kids head back to school.

KERA’s Sam Baker talked about the virus with Dr. Trish Perl, a Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center. She specializes in general infectious diseases.

Workers in North Texas have more options now than they’ve had in recent decades, leading local governments scrambling to appeal to prospective —and current — employees.

Cases of uterine cancer are increasing so rapidly that it’s expected to displace colorectal cancer by 2040 as the third most common cancer among women. A recent study also found sharp spikes in mortality rates among Asian, Hispanic, and the highest among Black women. KERA’s Sam Baker talked about this with Dr. Jayanthi Lea. She’s an OB-Gyn and Director of the Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship Program at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and emergency room visits in DFW have accelerated in recent weeks. It’s led Dallas County to raise its infection “risk level” and brought renewed calls from officials and health leaders for people to get vaccinated and take other precautions.

A report from UT Southwestern Medical Center says two omicron sub-variants, BA.4 and BA.5, account for more than 75% of the COVID samples tested by its researchers. Dr. James Cutrell, Program Director of the center's Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program, said the resurgence wasn’t a complete surprise, but there were some unexpected aspects of BA.4 and BA.5.

The bi-annual show boasted over 150 unique dog breeds from all corners of the U.S. during its four-day event.

Removing a child’s tonsils for recurrent throat infections or obstructive sleep-disordered breathing is a common procedure. About 350,000 tonsillectomies are performed each year. But complications can occur in some cases, even death. KERA’s Sam Baker discussed a new study about this with Dr. Romaine Johnson, an Associate Professor of Pediatric Otolaryngology at UT Southwestern Medical Center who is Director of both the Children's Health Airway Management Program and the Pediatric Voice and Swallowing Clinic at Children's Medical Center Dallas.

Dallas County health officials say there is potential for community spread of monkeypox after an infected person reported attending a local festival over the weekend.

The CDC continues to rank heart disease as the leading cause of death in Texas. But that and other chronic diseases don’t have to be killers. So said Dr. David Winter with Baylor, Scott and White. The internal medicine specialist explained why to KERA’s Sam Baker.