CRYING FOWL: Like eggs? Well, be warned...

CRYING FOWL: Like eggs? Well, be warned that a strain of salmonella food poisoning transmitted mostly by undercooked eggs is on the rise here. Victims suffer diarrhea and cramps eight to 72 hours after eating and can be sick for a week. . . . To be safe, cook eggs--whether boiled, fried or poached--until the yolks don’t run. “This is where we become unpopular” with egg lovers, says a county health official. . . . Also, thoroughly clean anything that comes in contact with uncooked chicken.

A MYSTERY: Health officials are unsure why gonorrhea is on the decline in Orange County while other sexually transmitted diseases, which are caused by the microorganisms chlamydiae, are up. . . . The number of chlamydia cases reported to health officials almost quadrupled to 4,196 between 1990 and 1993. It could be due to improved testing, says one county official, but possibly “there is something going on that we don’t understand.” . . . Both types of disease frequently affect young adults. They can be symptomless in women, possibly causing infertility if untreated.

HIDDEN TOLL: The lesser publicized victims of AIDS are children of afflicted parents. . . . They “end up being derived of their childhood to some degree,” says a spokesman for the AIDS Services Foundation of Orange County. . . . So the foundation will use much of a $250,000 grant from the Wilbur D. May Foundation to finance a weekend family camp, family support groups and family counseling. With such programs, the agency hopes to help kids “just be kids again.”

TEEN SHOTS: All teen-agers need to be vaccinated against Hepatitis B, a disease primarily affecting young people, says the Society for Adolescent Medicine, and UC Irvine liver specialist John Hoefs agrees. . . . The recommendation used to be for infants and high-risk youths, but experts expanded it last week because it’s difficult to tell who is at risk. Transmitted through blood and body fluids, the disease can play havoc with the liver and lead to cirrhosis and cancer.

Egg Warning

Illness from a type of salmonella contracted from eating undercooked eggs has increased in Orange County. 1994: 145*

* Cases reported through September.

Source: Orange County Department of Public Health