By Joyce Ho
NBC News

Whooping cough has resurfaced this year at an alarming rate. In Washington State alone 640 cases have been reported and confirmed as of March 31st compared to 94 cases in the same period of time. Other cases have been reported in Oregon, Vermont, and certain areas of California.

Experts warn that lack of vaccinations and booster shots are behind this new epidemic. Here’s what you need to know to protect yourself from this nasty infection.

What is whooping cough?

Whooping cough is an airway infection caused by the Bordetella pertussis bacteria that results in significant illness and risk of death in children, especially those younger than one year old. The World Health Organization estimates that there are 20 to 40 million cases of whooping cough in the world per year, with 90 percent of those cases occurring in developing countries. In 2010, there were 27,550 reported cases of pertussis in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

What are the complications associated with whooping cough?

Infants less than six months of age are at highest risk for developing severe complications from pertussis. Pneumonia, rib fracture or hernias from violent coughing, seizures, and fainting can all arise from whooping cough. Because infants have less developed immune systems, these complications from pertussis can be life-threatening.

How is whooping cough spread?

Whooping cough is spread through droplets in the air during coughing or sneezing. The bacteria is breathed in through the nose and then travels throughout the airways. This disease is highly contagious.

What are the symptoms of whooping cough?

The word “pertussis” means “violent cough,” and that is the most striking symptom of this infection. The uncontrollable coughing spasms produce a distinctive “whooping” sound when patients try to breathe, and can lead to vomiting, loss of consciousness, and choking. Whooping cough begins with symptoms similar to the common cold – fever and runny nose. About a week later, patients start experiencing deep and violent coughing spells that make it hard to breathe. This cough usually lasts one to six weeks, but may persist up to 10 weeks.  

Click here to hear what whooping cough sounds like.

How do I protect myself against whooping cough?

The DTaP vaccine is a recommended childhood immunization that is given to children at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 15-18 months, and 4-6 years. The vaccine combination not only protects against whooping cough but also diphtheria and tetanus, which are other bacterial infections with severe health risks for patients. Because immunity against this bug goes down over time, booster shots are recommended in people ages 11-64. For more information visit the CDC's website.

What do I do if I have it?

Treatment includes antibiotics such as erythromycin if the infection is caught early enough. Babies with whooping cough are usually treated in the hospital because they are at higher risk for severe complications.

To prevent yourself from spreading whooping cough to others, wear a face mask or cover your mouth when coughing. Do not go near babies and young children because they are very susceptible to the disease. Make sure everyone in your household is vaccinated and protected against pertussis.

For more information, visit:

NIH: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002528/

CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/

 By Robert Bazell
Chief Science and Medical Correspondent
NBC News

Women who have received a “false positive” on a mammogram may have new cause for worry, according to a study released Thursday.

A false positive occurs when a radiologist detects an abnormality in a mammogram – that is, there is some apparent growth that is checked out, usually with a needle biopsy -- but it is determined there is no cancer. The research from the University of Copenhagen found that women who have been given additional testing because of a false positive run a 67 percent greater risk of a breast cancer diagnosis in the future.  Experts say the result from the records of 58,000 women in Denmark is not cause for alarm.  But it is a warning for those who have gotten a false positive to be more vigilant.

False positives may just be an artifact that appears on the mammogram, but they also include abnormally growing cells classified as atypia, papilloma or lobular carcinoma in situ. These are not cancer and they don’t require treatment, but women with these growths “have a 25 to 33 percent lifetime chance of developing breast cancer versus 11 percent in the general population,”according to Dr. David Dershaw, head of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.  So, any woman who has a false positive should consider a conversation with her doctor about whether she needs more frequent checkups or screening with higher resolution technology such as MRI.

There were further questions about mammograms in a large study released Monday, where researchers followed the records of almost 40,000 women in Norway.  Because that country phased in regular mammography from 1996 to 2005, the researchers were able to look at the effects before and after regular screening.  The study leaves no doubt that the screening is saving lives.  But it found that between 15 and 25 percent of the women diagnosed with breast cancer would have lived to die of some other cause and thus did not need treatment.

Such “overdiagnosis,” as the study authors including some the Harvard School of Public Health characterize it, is inevitable with any cancer screening test. Some cancers can kill.  Others never do.  But as Dershaw puts it “until it is possible to differentiate which are bad and which are not, all need to be treated.”

The extent and potential harm of overdiagnosis make up almost all of the arguments about cancer screening tests.  For some tests such as colonoscopies or pap tests the removal of abnormal growths that could become cancer subjects the patient to relatively little risk or discomfort.  The PSA screening test for prostate leads so many men to harsh treatments they often do not need that many question its usefulness.

Most experts believe the overdiagnosis from mammography – especially for women 50 and older— is well worth it for the lives saved.

But one of the reasons why there is such continuing debate about the screening test is that it is far from ideal.  Not only does it find cancers that will never be dangerous it can often miss ones that go on to be life threatening. 

Many medical and activists groups have pushed hard to get more women screened with mammography.  That is a noble goal.  But it is a mistake to think that is the solution to the great public health threat of breast cancer

Some of the most hopeful breast cancer research is a search for a blood test or other reliable method of detecting breast cancer early, especially the life threatening forms.  MRIs find more but also are so expensive and find so many false, that most doctors say they should be reserved for women at very high risk.

Neither study is an argument for women to avoid regular mammograms. Until scientists achieve the goal of finding a more reliable and cost effective test, it is the best breast cancer screening tool available.  

Robert Bazell is NBC's chief science and medical correspondent. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter @RobertBazellNBC

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By Joyce Ho and Dr. Nancy Snyderman
NBC News

The nation’s ever-growing obesity epidemic may be far worse than originally thought. New research demonstrates that even people with a healthy Body Mass Index, a commonly used scale to measure body fat, could actually be obese and at risk for a host of complications.

A study published Monday in the journal PloS One found that using BMI as an indicator of obesity actually misclassifies 39 percent of Americans as “overweight” rather than “obese.” And because BMI doesn’t distinguish between fat and muscle, some people with normal BMIs may have dangerously high amounts of fat in their bodies.

Without an accurate measurement of body fat, the researchers say, millions of people don’t know they are at high risk for a number of obesity-related diseases.

“The fat is what causes heart disease, cancer, menstrual problems, depression, anxiety, and a host of medical problems,” said Dr. Eric Braverman, a professor at Weill Cornell Medical School and co-author of the study. “So if you want to save society from a lot of illnesses …  you have to identify how much fat they have.”

More than one in three adults in the U.S. are obese, as defined by a BMI of 30 or higher, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Obesity measurement, however, has been a controversial topic for years, and the widely-used BMI calculation has been called outdated by experts.

BMI is calculated through a simple formula: weight divided by height squared. The ease of calculation made this formula popular, even though it’s nearly 200 years old. In Braverman’s study, researchers compared the BMI with a different measurement, the Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) scan. DXA scans, commonly done in women to check for osteoporosis, measure percentage of body fat, muscle mass, and bone density.

Of the 1,393 people studied, 26 percent were classified as obese when body fat was measured with BMI, whereas 64 percent of them were considered obese when measured with DXA. The misclassification was observed more often in women and increased with advancing age: 48 percent more women between the ages of 50 to 59 were classified as obese when measured with DXA instead of BMI, and among women ages 70 and above, 59 percent more were considered obese after getting a DXA scan. 

According to the authors, BMI is an inaccurate measure for obesity – but especially in this demographic, because as women age they lose more muscle to fat than men. BMI, which does not distinguish between muscle or fat, does not reflect this bodily change. 

“BMI doesn't tell you how much fat … you have,” said Braverman. “So without knowing how much fat you have, you can't really save people from illness. It is the number one predictor of who's going to live or die.”

Researchers also tracked blood levels of leptin, a hormone produced by fat cells that regulates hunger and energy expenditure. Increased blood leptin levels correlated well with DXA scan results, highlighting the potential for a simple leptin blood test to be a measurement for obesity.

Based on these findings, Braverman and his co-author Dr. Nirav Shah, the current New York state health commissioner, suggest lowering the BMI definition of obesity from 30 to 24 in women and down to 28 in males. Under these suggested guidelines, a woman who is 5’ 6” and 150 pounds would be considered obese. Under the current BMI standards, the same woman would be considered healthy.

“Fat is costing the country a fortune, by not measuring it,” said Braverman. “A dollar blood test and doing our bone density scans with body fat scans at the same time is going to save us an enormous medical cost in the end.”

NBC’s Stacey Naggiar, Chiara Sottile and Joo Lee contributed to this report.

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By Joyce Ho, Stacey Naggiar, and Dr. Nancy Snyderman
NBC News

Growing up in Lakewood, Colo., Jodi Duke was like most high school girls her age -- eager for the beautiful bronze skin so often popularized in the media. 

“I think there's a lot of peer pressure,” said Duke. “You look in magazines, you look on TV, people are not pale ... and that, coupled with the peer pressure at school, I think leads to behavior that you seek out how to make yourself look different.”

She found indoor tanning beds the best quick fix to get the glow she wanted and developed a habit of visiting the salon once a week. Before she knew it, was going twice a week and eventually, every day.

At age 19, after a year of daily tanning, Duke was diagnosed with melanoma, the most dangerous type of skin cancer.

“I think I was kind of in a state of shock,” said Duke, who is now 36.  “I don’t remember a lot about that day except going in the bathroom and just crying.”

Duke is not alone. A new study published Monday in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings found the incidence of melanoma in young adults is soaring, with a six-fold increase in the past 40 years. The rise is particularly noteworthy in young females aged 18 to 39, where the incidence of melanoma increased eight-fold from 1970 to 2009, and four-fold in young adult males.

Tanning beds to blame?

Although the study didn’t examine why the numbers have increased, the researchers say gender-specific behaviors such as tanning -- a popular activity among young women -- may be behind this alarming trend.

“The number one thing – stop going to go tanning beds,” said dermatologist Dr. Jerry Brewer, one of the study’s authors. “All correlations point towards that as the reason for the increase.”

For Duke, who said she always knew in the back of her mind that tanning was unhealthy, receiving a melanoma diagnosis was a wake-up call.

“When I got this diagnosis I just knew,” she said. “And I never went back to another tanning bed.”

In response to Brewer’s study, the Indoor Tanning Association released a statement saying, “The authors attempt to make indoor tanning the story while ignoring other more likely risk factors such as heredity, sunburning outdoors and more frequent travel to sunny vacation locations over the last decade where severe sunburns are more likely to occur.”

The organization also pointed out that the population studied is not a representative sample of America. Minnesota, where the research was conducted, has a disproportionately high number of fair-skinned individuals who have higher risk for melanoma. More than 250 young adults, all of whom lived in Olmstead County, participated in the study where they were tracked for four decades as part of the Rochester Epidemiology Project.

The study authors acknowledged the demographic and socioeconomic makeup of the study population as a potential limitation to their findings.

Mortality rates decreasing

The findings were not all negative, however. Researchers found that although the incidence of melanoma is rising among young people, the mortality rates are actually decreasing. Brewer said that these better survival rates are most likely attributable to advances in early detection and awareness of changing moles.

According to Brewer, the important message to take away from the study is that young people can get cancer, and they’re not as invincible as they think.  In fact, another study published in the journal “Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention,” found that people who have used tanning beds are 74 percent more likely to develop melanoma than those who have not.

Warning signs

According to dermatologist Dr. Robert Dellavalle from the University of Colorado School of Medicine, individuals with blue or green eyes, freckles, moles, or red hair are at higher risk for development of melanomas. Asians and those with darker skin have a lower risk, but may find themselves with more aggressive diagnoses when melanoma is found.

Experts caution that everyone should use SPF to protect themselves from sun damage.  Those with several risk factors for melanoma should exercise careful sun protection and supplement their diets with Vitamin D, the major nutrient we normally receive from sunlight.

After surgery at age 19 to remove a large portion of her arm and 48 weeks of immunotherapy treatment, Duke has now been cancer free for many years. In Aurora, Colorado, she now teaches her young daughters about the importance of sunscreen, and the scar on her arm is a constant reminder to them of what could happen without proper skin protection. 

“If i had to go back I think that one of the obvious answers is that I wouldn't ever tan,” said Duke. “And I would tell myself, ‘You look great the way you are.’”

NBC’s Wonbo Woo contributed to this report.

By Kristen Dahlgren, NBC News correspondent

BUFORD -- Ever dreamed of being famous? Seeing your face on billboards? Owning the town? No, I mean literally owning the town! You can do it. The entire town of Buford, Wyo., -- lock, stock and convenience store -- is for sale.

There's just one catch: it's a town of one, populated by lone resident Don Sammons, 61.

He's become quite a celebrity for being the only resident in the tiny town along I-80 between Cheyenne and Laramie. 

Over the years Sammons has been the mayor, the postmaster, the shopkeeper -- and yes, if you had car trouble Sammons would tow you out.

Buford has its own zip code and is known far and wide for being the nation's smallest town, but it wasn't always this miniscule.  During the mid-1800s about 2,000 people lived in Buford, but when the railroad stopped making stops there during the middle of the 20th century, all the residents left. Almost.

Three decades ago Sammons and his wife moved to Buford because they wanted more space. But after she passed away and his son grew up and moved out, the town's population shrank to one.  For years, Sammons made a living off of that.

"I'm alone but never lonely," he told NBC News as he recounted how people would come from all over to see the one-man town.

And after the TODAY show came calling last July, Sammons said interest skyrocketed.

Now, eight months later, things have changed in Buford.  Sammons sports a diamond stud, a black suit, and more hair. And he’s decided to put Buford behind him.

He won't say exactly what's next (although he did mention a possible book deal and some palm trees) but, now, for the right price, Buford and all that goes with it could be yours.

On Thursday, April 5th, Williams and Williams auction house is putting Buford on the block. With a starting bid of $100,000, the winner could soon own Sammons’ house, the convenience store and only gas station for miles, the post office boxes, the old schoolhouse (which is now an office), and even the lease to a cell tower in the 10-acre town. Imagine the whole thing, zip code 82052, all to yourself.

Dwight Small, a potential buyer in his thirties from nearby Laramie, Wyo., joked at a recent open house that he would bring his wife and increase the population by 100 percent. When asked if he would put his face up on the billboards he chuckled and said, "We're not looking to be celebrities, just make a living." 

It's hard to ignore the curiosity factor. Auction reps say they've gotten interest from people in 72 countries and have sent out literature to 300 interested buyers.

So what's a town of one worth?

"Whatever someone's willing to pay for it," seems to be the answer.  As for Sammons, it’s been worth a lot. His eyes nearly grow misty as he talks about locking up for the last time.

But as he gets in his shiny new 2012 Jaguar and drives off with a wave, you can't help but think this is one man who isn't too worried about life beyond his one-man town.

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