By MEGAN HART

Kansans might feel a little queasy looking at the state’s reported gastrointestinal illnesses in 2015, but officials say an increase from the previous year likely reflects improved detection technology.

Cases of five types of gastrointestinal illnesses, spread by contaminated food or water, rose substantially from 2014 to 2015. The illnesses have symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Reports from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment show increases in campylobacteriosis, cryptosporidiosis, salmonella, shiga toxin-producing E. coli and shigellosis.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that the food supply was any less safe, however, or that the public decided to adopt riskier habits. Cases of cryptosporidiosis and shigellosis more than doubled, but the state didn’t record any significant outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness, said Charlie Hunt, director of KDHE’s Bureau of Epidemiology and Public Health Informatics.

He said much of the increase comes from adopting a newer form of testing that is more sensitive than the previous process, leading to more confirmed cases. In the case of campylobacteriosis, the definition also broadened, Hunt said.

The epidemiologists heading the 50 states decided in 2015 to count not only when they grew campylobacter in a sample but also when they detected a protein the bacteria produced, he said.

“We’re counting more cases based on the new definition,” he said.

Many people choose not to seek health care if they have general symptoms of gastrointestinal illness, meaning their cases go unreported. If they do seek care, however, their provider can take a sample for testing.

Traditionally, the lab has to grow the bacteria in the sample to determine what caused the person’s illness, Hunt said.

The process could take multiple days, he said, and sometimes the bacteria wouldn’t grow and the lab couldn’t conclude what made the person sick. “We’re probably detecting more and smaller outbreaks,” he said.

The new process, called a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, involves screening for DNA from bacterial species that could have caused the person’s illness, Hunt said.

That makes it more likely to find cases that the old method would have missed, and to find them faster, he said. “A PCR test can work in a matter of hours instead of days,” he said.

That doesn’t mean growing bacteria in labs is irrelevant.

Hunt said growing the bacteria is still the best way to sequence their DNA, allowing epidemiologists to determine if multiple cases of the same illness have a common cause.

The more information they can find, the easier it will be to pinpoint where there could be a danger to public health, he said. “It’s very difficult, if you’re doing case investigations, to ask people, ‘Tell me everything you ate and where you purchased it for the last seven days,’” he said.

 

Megan Hart is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach her on Twitter @meganhartMC

CRAWFORD COUNTY – A Kansas man died in an accident just before 3 a.m. on Saturday during a police pursuit in Crawford County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1995 Chevy Tahoe driven by Terry Leroy Hamblin, 48, Weir, was westbound fleeing from The Pittsburg Police Department in the 800 Block of 20th Street just west of U.S. 69 Bypass.

The Tahoe left the roadway to the north, crossed back and left the road to the south. It struck a utility pole, a chain link fence and the driver was ejected.

Hamblin was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Frontier Forensics.

He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

What prompted the chase was not immediately released.

COWLEY COUNTY -Severe weather rolled across central and eastern Kansas on Friday bringing high winds, heavy rain and large hail.

Power lines were reported down across the highway at the intersection of U.S. 77 and Kansas 15 east of Udall, according to Cowley County Emergency Management.

The storm near Winfield brought 60mph winds and half dollar size hail and caused damage to rural properties.

Douglas County reported the most substantial rainfall on Friday with .88 on an inch of moisture.

No injuries were reported.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas will specifically prohibit nurse-midwives from performing abortions or administering abortion-inducing drugs, starting next year.

Republican Gov. Sam Brownback signed a bill Friday that includes the prohibition while rewriting laws regulating multiple health care professions.

The changes will allow nurse-midwives to practice independently within a limited scope of care starting next year instead of requiring an agreement with a licensed physician. The changes also establish new rules for acupuncture.

The anti-abortion group Kansans for Life pushed for the language prohibiting midwives from terminating pregnancies.

Some legislators noted that the scope of care allowed independent midwives already was limited to services associated with normal, uncomplicated pregnancies and deliveries.

But Kansans for Life said the language still was broad enough that abortion providers could argue that it covered ending pregnancies.

PULASKI COUNTY – A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just after 2a.m. on Saturday in Pulaski County, Missouri.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 1997 Acura CL driven by Joyce M. Lively, 56, Gardner, was traveling on Highway 17 four miles south of Crocker.

The vehicle crossed the centerline traveled off the left side of the road and hit several trees.

Gardner was transported to Ozark Regional Hospital in Osage Beach.

She was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

SALINA -A Saline County jury found a Salina man guilty on Friday in the 2015 shooting death of a high school student.

Macio Palacio Jr., 23, was found guilty of the first-degree murder of 17-year-old Allie Saum, because the killing was premeditated and committed during the act of criminal discharge of a weapon into a vehicle.

The jury also found Palacio guilty of the attempted first-degree murder of Vince Johnson Jr., as well as criminal discharge of a weapon and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery.

Sentencing for Palacio has been set for 10 a.m. on July 8th.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A measure approved by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback reduces some penalties for marijuana possession.

The measure approved Friday reduces the penalty for first-time marijuana possession, which can now result in up to a year in jail, to no more than six months. The penalty for a second offense would be reduced from a low-level felony to a sentence of up to a year in jail. Subsequent offences could result in 10 to 42 months in prison, which is the current punishment for a second possession offense.

The measure also increases prison time for burglarizing an occupied dwelling to a minimum of 38 months. Currently, the offense could result in a minimum of 31 months in probation or prison.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The University of Kansas has put James Naismith’s original rules of basketball on display at the new DeBruce Center, which was built to house the historical two-page document.

The 32,000-square-foot, $21.7 million DeBruce Center is the permanent home for “The Original 13 Rules of Basket Ball,” which Naismith wrote in 1891. The center opened earlier, but the Naismith document was installed Friday.

Come view the newly installed Original Rules of Basketball & hear audio from Dr. Naismith himself! #TheRulesLiveHere pic.twitter.com/MiBrvvn8Ug

— DeBruce Center (@DeBruceCenter) May 13, 2016

 

The installation includes a security system and humidity checks and is located in the Rules Gallery, a passageway between the DeBruce Center’s atrium and Allen Fieldhouse.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports (https://j.mp/1UZtxHR ) the display also includes a 1939 radio interview of Naismith describing how he invented the game.

University of Kansas alumnus David Booth and his wife, Suzanne, bought the Naismith rules at auction in 2010 for $4.3 million.

BROWN COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities in Brown County are investigating two suspects in connection with theft and alleged pipe bombing.

Just before 11 p.m. on Thursday, a Brown County Deputy, on routine patrol in the vicinity of 300th on Kestrel Road noticed a vehicle pull off the side of the road and turn its lights out.

Upon further investigation by the deputy, it was determined the vehicle and the license plate were both stolen out of Leavenworth County, according to a media release.

When the deputy made contact with the occupant, both gave false names.

Both were placed under arrest for possession of stolen property and were transported to the Brown County jail. While at the jail the pair were later identified as Simon Nigel Pohl, 32, St Joseph, Missouri and Jessica Mottin, 27, Atchison.

Pohl is also wanted by police in Leavenworth in connection with two pipe bombings.

He was charged with criminal use of an explosive device and possession of methamphetamine.

According to police, one resident reported his truck was destroyed May 3 by a pipe bomb loaded with nuts, washers and bolts.

Another lost his vehicle to fire on April 18. The police in Leavenworth say they do not believe the vehicles were chosen randomly, but were targeted.

By ANDY MARSO

Kansas Insurance Commissioner Ken Selzer announced Thursday that two companies have filed to sell health insurance plans in Kansas on the individual market, including the federal Affordable Care Act’s online marketplace.

UnitedHealthcare’s announcement that it would be pulling out of the marketplace in 2017 opened the possibility that Kansans who shop there would be left with only one choice of insurer.

But a spokesman for Selzer’s office said two weeks ago that the commissioner was actively working to attract more companies to the marketplace, which was created as part of the health reform law.

According to a news release from Selzer’s office, Minnesota-based Medica and Aetna subsidiary Coventry Health and Life filed applications to sell individual health plans just a few days later.

“Health insurance options filed now for the individual market show that competition will likely continue for Kansans’ health insurance policies,” Selzer said.

The news release said Medica has filed to sell “a number of plans” while Coventry has filed to sell only exclusive provider organization network plans — a type of health insurance approved by the Legislature this year that reimburses only for in-network care. In addition to UnitedHealthcare, companies selling insurance to Kansans through the marketplace for 2016 were Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, which offers plans only for residents of Johnson County and Wyandotte County, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield Kansas Solutions, which offers plans to residents in the rest of the state.

More than 101,000 Kansans purchased insurance through the marketplace for 2016. Selzer’s agency and the prospective insurers still have to finalize premium rates, and the news release states that final issuer agreements may not be signed until Sept. 23.

The open enrollment period for the 2017 federal online marketplace, healthcare.gov, starts Nov. 1.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt has asked the state Supreme Court to revisit conflicting rulings it issued simultaneously last month dealing with the sex offender registry.

The state argued in a motion filed Friday that the five decisions reaching contrary results has caused unnecessary confusion. The cases are Doe v. Thompson, State v. Buser, State v. Redmond, State v. Charles and State v. Petersen-Beard.

The Supreme Court ruled in the leading case that lifetime registration for sex offenders does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment. That conflicts with the holdings in four similar sex registry cases released the same day.

In those separate cases, the justices found that the requirement constituted punishment and therefore a 2011 amendment to the law couldn’t be applied retroactively.

The conflicting opinions ensued when the latest case was decided after the vacancy on the high court was filed by Justice Caleb Stegall.