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Shots - Health Blog
1:17 pm
Tue July 17, 2012

Cholera Vaccination Test Reached Targets In Haiti

Credit John W. Poole / NPR
A lone pig roots through trash dumped over the side of a sewage canal that runs from the center of Port au Prince through Cite de Dieu. During the rainy season, the canal overflows its banks and fills nearby houses with sewage, which can carry cholera.

The results are in on this spring's high-visibility pilot project to vaccinate 100,000 Haitians against cholera.

Almost 90 percent of the target population – half in Port-au-Prince and the other half in a remote rural area – got fully protected against cholera, meaning they got 2 doses of the oral vaccine.

The results defy the forecasts of skeptics who said in advance of the campaign that it would be lucky to protect 60 percent of the target populations.

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The Salt
12:54 pm
Tue July 17, 2012

FDA Bans Chemical BPA From Sippy Cups And Baby Bottles

Credit Fabrizio Balestrieri / iStockphoto.com
FDA makes it official, banning the chemical BPA from baby bottles and sippy cups.

Originally published on Tue July 17, 2012 2:04 pm

It's been years since manufacturers voluntarily stopped using the plastic additive BPA (Bisphenol A) in sippy cups and baby bottles. But now they have no choice. The FDA announced it has formally banned BPA from these products.

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Shots - Health Blog
12:39 pm
Tue July 17, 2012

Athletes Look For Doping Edge, Despite Tests And Risks

Credit Oli Scarff / Getty Images
An analyst works in the Olympic anti-doping laboratory in January. The lab in Harlow, England will test 5,000 of the 10,490 athletes' samples from the London 2012 Games.

Last weekend Debbie Dunn, a U.S. sprinter set to compete in the London Olympics, resigned from the team after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

And as the games draw closer, we expect to see more reports of elite athletes who have turned to prohibited substances in their search for stronger, faster, and leaner body.

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The Picture Show
12:30 pm
Tue July 17, 2012

Found On Flickr: Vintage Bromance?

Two black men dance arm-in-arm on a beach. Are they gay? Are they straight? Does it matter?

The photos are part of a found photo collection on Flickr called "Hidden in the Open," curated by playwright Trent Kelley. The vintage photos show African-American men in various affectionate poses. Some seem to be friends, others lovers, but for Kelley the specific details aren't important. For him, the possibility that these images depict more than friendships is what matters.

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The Two-Way
12:28 pm
Tue July 17, 2012

William Raspberry, Pulitzer-Winning Columnist, Dead At 76

Credit Denis Paquin / AP
Washington Post columnist William Raspberry in 1994, after it was announced that he had won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary.

Originally published on Tue July 17, 2012 9:17 pm

William Raspberry, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his column in The Washington Post, died today at his home in Washington, his paper reported. He was 76.

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