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Simple steps for preventing the flu 01/13/2013 02:25pm • Are you doing anything different because of the flu outbreak? How are you changing your habits? Call WTOP's Talkback line at 1-877-222-1035, post a comment in the story, comment on WTOP's Facebook Page or use #WTOP on Twitter. Paula Wolfson, wtop.com WASHINGTON - It seems like the flu is unav Inova hosts flu shot clinics 01/12/2013 10:08pm • Thomas Warren, wtop.com FAIRFAX, Va. - Inova Fairfax Hospital doled out free flu shots Saturday afternoon in a move to help slow the flu outbreak that has griped most of the nation. For the last four weeks, the flu has been widespread — the most severe of the four activity levels recorded b Don't feel sick with the flu? Not so fast 01/09/2013 02:02am • Andrew Mollenbeck, wtop.com WASHINGTON - One thing is for certain when it comes to the flu: If you have it, someone gave it to you. Area hospitals are overrun with flu patients. So much so, they've had to bring in additional staff. While the flu outbreak is in focus, the Centers for Disease Co Want to know where you got the flu? There's an app for that 01/08/2013 03:13pm • ">Kristi King, wtop.com WASHINGTON - Even saintly people who get sick can unintentionally infect others. Now there's a Facebook app that can track who might be responsible for spreading ailments among "friends." On Facebook, search for "Help I have the flu," and a page pops up with an applicati Deadly flu season set to be moderate to severe 01/05/2013 04:58pm • Jamie Forzato, wtop.com WASHINGTON - The flu season this year has been a deadly one, with 18 children who have already died from influenza-related illness since its beginning. As of Dec. 29, the virus is present in 41 states, including Virginia and Maryland, according to the latest data from There's a shingles vaccine, but it's not for everyone 01/03/2013 05:57pm • ">Paula Wolfson, wtop.com WASHINGTON - It's caused by the same virus that spurs chickenpox, but doctors say shingles is a whole different ballgame. About 1 million Americans get shingles each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People who hav Flu season off to a bad start for nation, Virginia 01/02/2013 07:10pm • WASHINGTON - Flu activity is picking up in Virginia and Maryland, according to the states' health departments, as federal health officials predict a bad year for the flu. The dominate strain of the flu virus circulating is H3N2. This strain has caused more severe flu seasons in past years when th Benghazi review blames systematic State Department security failures 12/18/2012 11:41pm • An independent investigation into the deadly Sept. 11 attack in Libya that killed a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans concluded that the State Department suffered from "systematic failures" in leadership and security that left the consulate vulnerable to a terrorist attack in the unstable ci Norovirus Outbreak Reported at Arlington Public Schools 12/12/2012 03:55pm • Parents of Arlington public school students were told today that “one or more outbreaks of norovirus have been confirmed in schools in Arlington.” It’s the second publicly reported norovirus outbreak at Arlington Public Schools so far this year. In February a norovirus outbrea With alarming HIV numbers, doctors debate mandatory testing 11/27/2012 05:39pm • Amy Hunter, wtop.com WASHINGTON - Drew Pinsky was a medical resident in the early 1980s when a friend asked him to do his first call-in radio show. The term AIDS had just been introduced, the concept of "safe sex" had not yet been coined and the Internet was non-existent in American homes. "B West Nile virus cases worse this year than in a decade 11/09/2012 12:43pm • WASHINGTON - Isolated, but more severe cases of West Nile have occurred this year and doctors believe the virus may be mutating. Recent cases have affected younger, healthier patients, and have resulted in more serious brain damage. The ways in which the virus is attacking in 2012 has led docto D.C. walkers hope for AIDS-free generation 10/27/2012 08:35pm • WASHINGTON - An AIDS-free generation was on the minds of more than 5,000 people who walked 5K Saturday. The walkers and runners gathered for the 26th annual AIDS Walk at Freedom Plaza in northwest D.C. Saturday morning. The goal was to raise $1 million and awareness about the HIV/AIDS virus. Chip Virus tells Md. residents to send money to Comptroller's Office 10/03/2012 09:53pm • WASHINGTON - The Comptroller's Office that oversees Internet and tax scams says a new computer virus that tells Maryland residents to send $200 to the office to unlock the virus is not true. If the virus pops up, comptroller Peter Franchot says residents should not send money to the office. "My o Virginia horse euthanized for West Nile Virus 09/28/2012 06:40pm • John Aaron, wtop.com WASHINGTON - West Nile Virus is blamed for the deaths of six people in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. this year, and now Virginia agriculture leaders are urging horse owners to make sure their animals have been vaccinated. The move comes after a horse in Loudoun Cou Rabid fox prompts warnings to Fairfax residents 09/27/2012 03:58pm • WASHINGTON - Police are warning residents in one Fairfax neighborhood about a rabid fox recently found in the area. Someone in the area of Chain Bridge Road and Whitehead Street reported a sick fox lying in his driveway for many hours. City of Fairfax Police took the sick animal to a veterin