Mom who lost young daughter to flu hopes others choose vaccination

Don't let your kids die from preventable diseases

Meghan Holohan

Courtesy Jessica Richman

When Cayden Smith, age 3, developed a low-grade fever and congestion one Thursday evening in December 2014, her family first thought it was a cold. The following day, they visited an urgent-care center. 

“We did let them know that she had been scheduled to get a flu shot a couple weeks before, but she had an ear infection,” Jessica Richman, Cayden’s mom, 41, from Newport News, Virginia, told CIDRAP News. “She had a little fever at the time, so they said we needed to reschedule the flu shot.” 

Urgent care staff didn’t test Cayden for influenza; instead, they treated her cold symptoms and advised the family to return if the toddler didn’t improve. “We actually took her back three different times, because she was getting very progressively worse,” Richman recalled. 

From lack of concern to a 911 call

Cayden was Richman’s first child, born May 18, 2011. The outgoing, bubbly girl, who never met a person who would remain a stranger, loved the color pink and her 130-pound Bernese Mountain dog. “It was cute to see this tiny, small girl and this big, huge dog,” Richman said. “She had a great personality.” 

While Cayden had always received her vaccines, she missed her flu vaccine in 2014 because of that ear infection. At the time, Richman didn’t know how serious flu could be. “I didn’t realize it was super dangerous, so I didn’t urgently reschedule her flu shot,” she said. 

Each time the family took Cayden back to urgent care that December, they mentioned she had not received her flu shot. Still, staff never tested her for flu. “They just didn’t seem that concerned that that’s what it was,” Richman said. “I’m not sure why.” 

By Friday evening, Cayden’s breathing had become labored. She’d take deep breaths in but still didn’t seem to get much air. Unlike other times when she was sick, Cayden wasn’t playing with her toys and behaved lethargically. Finally, her dad called 911. 

“She was not moving, wasn’t asking for anything. She didn’t want to eat or drink,” Richman said. “We had first responders show up to the house. Unfortunately, she had passed at the house.” 

Democrats to RFK Jr.: Resign Now or Be Prepared to Testify Before Congress

End this menace to public health

By Mike Ludwig

This article was originally published by Truthout

During the 2024 election, when backlash to pandemic-era safety protocols was still percolating on right-wing and alternative health blogs, the notorious anti-vaccine celebrity Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement were critical to President Donald Trump’s winning coalition.

Now, speculation is swirling about Kennedy’s future as Trump’s health secretary as Democrats prepare to take control of the next Congress and the president and GOP search for scapegoats following heavy losses in this week’s midterm contests. Voters elected multiple doctors and medical professionals who ran both as Democrats and opponents of the Trump-Kennedy approach to public health.

Abdul El-Sayed, the progressive who won a Senate seat in Michigan, is an epidemiologist and served as public health director in both Detroit and Wayne County before running for office on a campaign promoting Medicare for All. In North Carolina, pediatrician Annie Andrews won an upset over Republican scion Darline Graham while campaigning on expanding access to health care, including reproductive care.

In Ohio, Amy Acton infamously overcame a vicious attack ad produced by her opponent’s campaign to become the next governor of Ohio. But before that, the state’s residents got to know Acton from her regular briefings while leading Ohio’s Covid-19 pandemic response. All three have regularly publicly condemned Kennedy’s leadership of U.S. public health infrastructure.

Meanwhile, MAHA is increasingly fractured, and Trump’s alliance with Kennedy is reportedly on the rocks after both men angered the movement’s fans by failing to deliver on key issues such as the regulation of toxic pesticides. As health care costs soar and the public contends with outbreaks of easily preventable diseases including measles and food-borne cyclospora, Democrats are calling on Kennedy to resign from his post or face lawmakers in hearings next year as voters hand them control of Congress.

“The time is now. RFK Jr. must resign or be fired. End of discussion,” said Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Maryland) in a social media post on Monday.

The time is now. RFK Jr. must resign or be fired. End of discussion.

— Senator Angela Alsobrooks (@Sen_Alsobrooks) November 4, 2026

Trump Makes His Chief Bigot His Chief of Staff

Not good news

Robert Reich

Anyone wondering how Trump will respond to the biggest repudiation a modern U.S. president has ever received from American voters need wonder no longer. Trump announced that Stephen Miller would become his chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles.

In a Truth Social post, Trump called Miller one of his “most trusted” advisers and said he would be starting in the new role Monday.

Miller as chief of staff is not a positive development for anyone interested in mending our government or healing our nation.

As Trump’s attention recedes into his vanity projects — the ballroom, the arch, the heliport, the golf links, the gold-leaf makeovers — Miller is likely to become de facto president, manipulating an increasingly incoherent and cognitively impaired old man.

I expect Miller to conduct a scorched-earth campaign of retribution and legal harassment — a war against all perceived Trump enemies — while burning down everything in his way.

Let’s be clear. Miller is bigoted, xenophobic, and vicious — the architect and chief advocate of Trump’s loathsome immigration policy. He is perhaps the most venal of all the obsequious sycophants surrounding the mad king.

In one of his most bizarre claims, Miller has said immigrants to the United States bring problems that extend through generations. “Not only is the first generation unsuccessful,” Miller asserts. “You see persistent issues in every subsequent generation. So you see consistent high rates of welfare use, consistent high rates of criminal activity, consistent failures to assimilate.”

Rubbish. The children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren of most immigrants are models of upward mobility in America.

Researchers have found that immigrants today are no slower to move into the middle class than immigrants were a century ago. In fact, no matter when their parents came to the U.S. or what country they came from, children of immigrants have higher rates of upward mobility than their U.S.-born peers.

Post-election reflection

Instead, he did this....

Except he may have gotten his Dana Whites mixed up

December 4: get tickets now for WARM Center's holiday event

Explore GSO app lets users tour URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography from anywhere

Cool tools at your fingertips

Peter J. Hanlon

Users of the Explore GSO app can read or listen to a wealth of information on the Explore GSO app, including historical data about research vessels and the role the military played at the Narragansett Bay Campus. (Explore GSO screenshots)

The University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO) has launched Explore GSO, a free multimedia app that lets anyone tour the school’s campus, research facilities, and history from anywhere in the world.

Located on 153 acres overlooking Narragansett Bay, URI’s Narragansett Bay Campus is home to GSO, the URI Department of Ocean Engineering, and other marine programs and organizations. Explore GSO brings the campus to a wider audience through two tours: one showcasing today’s research and the people behind it, and another tracing the history of the school and the land it occupies.

Because the Bay Campus sits at the far end of South Ferry Road in Narragansett, few people will ever stumble upon it. And for prospective students or ocean science enthusiasts who live far away, visiting GSO in person might not be an option. The app brings the school to them.

Explore GSO highlights the campus with descriptions, photos, audio recordings, and videos of the latest marine research and the people leading it. The app also traces the school’s history and that of the land it occupies, including the early steps that led to an oceanography school at URI through its continued growth today.

The app highlights some of the campus’s lesser-known features including its use as a World War II prisoner-of-war camp for German soldiers, the collection of 66,000 volumes on ocean and coastal research in the Pell Marine Science Laboratory, and Studio Blue, GSO’s own art gallery.

Real men eat tofu

Animal vs. Plant Protein: New Study Reveals Unexpected Testosterone Differences

By University of Eastern Finland

An observational study of middle-aged men links animal protein to lower testosterone and plant protein to higher levels, but the differences are small, and their health effects remain unclear.

A protein-rich meal gives the body amino acids, the building blocks it needs to make and repair tissues, including muscle. Testosterone helps regulate muscle growth and also supports bones and sexual function. Food provides essential materials, while hormones help direct what the body does with them.

That connection makes diet a reasonable place to look when studying testosterone, yet relatively few studies have examined its relationship with protein intake.

Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland found that men who consumed more animal protein tended to have lower total testosterone levels in their blood. Those who consumed more plant protein tended to have higher levels. The findings do not mean that higher testosterone is necessarily healthier or that one protein source improves hormone function.

Dairy and meat show different hormone links

The research, published in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, included 2,546 men aged 42 to 60 living in eastern Finland. 

Does Pete eat enough tofu?

It drew on the university’s ongoing Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study. Researchers assessed the men’s diets using four-day food records collected between 1984 and 1989 and measured total testosterone in blood samples. They also measured sex hormone-binding globulin, or SHBG, a protein that binds to sex hormones and influences total testosterone concentrations in the blood.

Looking at individual foods revealed a distinction that the broad category of animal protein could obscure. Higher dairy protein intake was associated with lower total testosterone and SHBG levels. Meat protein intake was associated with lower SHBG, but it had no association with total testosterone. Among plant foods, higher protein intake from vegetables and sources other than cereal products was associated with higher total testosterone.

To compare the differences, the researchers divided the men into four groups according to their protein intake. Those in the highest animal protein group had total testosterone concentrations averaging 1.2 nanomoles per liter (nmol/L) below those in the lowest group. For plant protein, the highest intake group averaged 1.1 nmol/L above the lowest group. SHBG showed similar opposing associations with animal and plant protein intake.

“Although the observed differences in testosterone concentrations were statistically significant, they were relatively small. Based on this study, it is not possible to infer whether these differences have implications for health,” says Doctoral Researcher Miika Wynne-Ellis from the University of Eastern Finland.

Flu and COVID Are Both Surging Early This Year in Rhode Island and US

Now is the time to take precautions to stay healthy

By Nick Landekic, contributing writer/RINewsToday News Team

As much as we would all like to forget about COVID, it’s still very much with us and will be for a long time. Right now, we are experiencing an atypical COVID surge with outbreaks reported in 47 states. COVID levels (as measured by wastewater monitoring) are Very High in Rhode Island with several areas reporting the highest levels seen all year, including Jamestown and the East Bay communities of Bristol, Warren, and Newport.

The rate of COVID infections right now is higher than it was than at any time during the first two years of the pandemic. Over 1 million people are becoming infected with COVID every day, and increasing. The Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative estimates that between 1,900 and 3,300 Americans are dying of COVID every week.

Flu has also come early this year. Every part of the U.S. is showing high flu test positivity which means we are in ‘flu season.’ Flu rates are climbing in almost every state including Rhode Island.

If you haven’t yet gotten COVID and flu vaccine shots, now would be a good time to talk with your doctor or pharmacist.

How serious are COVID and the flu?

COVID and influenza are the only infectious diseases that regularly kill tens of thousands of Americans each year. They are both serious infectious diseases. The severity of infection can be reduced by vaccination.

For both flu and COVID, the most vulnerable people are the very young and the very old. COVID is especially dangerous for seniors, while the flu is more dangerous for infants.

One of the most damaging myths is that COVID has somehow become ‘milder.’ It has not.  If anything some studies have shown it has become worse. It most definitely is not like a cold or even the flu. It’s much more serious.

Repeat COVID infections take an increasing toll on the body. Studies have shown repeat infections have 2 to 3 times the risk of a worse outcome, organ, tissue, and system damage, than the previous infection.

Even if you are lucky enough to have had a relatively mild acute course of infection you can still develop Long COVID. Studies have shown that most Long COVID cases started with initially mild infections. It’s estimated that right now between 389,000 to 1,560,000 people are getting Long COVID every week.

COVID isn’t something your body can handle getting over and over again. Ask someone with Long COVID what it’s like.

What’s happening in Rhode Island?

The Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative rates Rhode Island, as well as neighboring Massachusetts and Connecticut, as currently having Very High levels of infection. 26 states currently are at High or Very High levels. They also estimate that 1 out of every 24 people in Rhode Island are actively infectious with COVID. This also means if you are in a room with 10 people, there is a 34% chance someone has COVID – and could infect everyone else in the room.

The Rhode Island Department of Health also rates our current wastewater viral activity level as High.

CCA declares overwhelming victory as predicted

Except it’s B.S.

By Will Collette

In past election cycles, you could expect the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) to recruit a full slate of candidates to run for town office. This year, it was different. 

The best the CCA could do was offer a partial slate of only two Town Council candidates along with their usual bunch of acolytes of Planning Commissar Ruth Platner to run for Planning Commission.

They padded their numbers by adding people to their slate who never asked to be added, including Democrat Cynthia Drummond and incumbent Republican Steve Stokes (who received the CCA’s coveted “conditional” endorsement, both running for Town Council, as well as the three-member Democratic slate for the Chariho School Committee.

I predicted that the CCA would use their sleezy ploy of awarding unsolicited endorsements so they could claim an overwhelming victory in the November 3 General Election.

After closely monitoring the way the CCA operates, it’s almost too easy. Sure enough, here’s the CCA’s “victory” statement:

“Thank you to each of the over 4000 voters who took the time to vote this year and congratulations to all the winners! The election may be over, but Charlestown Citizens Alliance will continue to engage the public to encourage Charlestown’s government to protect our environment, economy, and future….Ten out of eleven local candidates that CCA supported in the November 3 election were elected, and we are grateful to the voters. Sadly, Sasha Puchalski, who we supported for Town Council, missed being elected by just 24 votes. We hope she will continue to serve the town and be involved in Charlestown’s government. Charlestown would benefit from her continued involvement.”

Except half of those claimed CCA wins are people who did not ask to be endorsed by the CCA. They still only have Bonnie Van Slyke on the Town Council making this the third election cycle the CCA has been out of power. Their only achievement was to tighten Ruth Platner's control of the Planning Commission, though without the Council, the Planning Commission has no power except the power to obstruct. But obstruction is what Platner is all about.

Since the CCA first emerged from Charlestown’s swamps in 2008, they have never seemed to master the skill of telling the truth. This has continually gotten them into trouble and led voters to kick them out of power in 2022.

Trump hopes his faith will save him

‘Please Guide Me In My Darkest Hour Lord,’ Prays Trump Kneeling Before Portrait Of Himself - The Onion

And the nation utters a collective sigh

More trout in local ponds

DEM to Stock Selected Waterbodies for Veterans Day

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) is conducting a special trout stocking in advance of Veterans Day in honor of our veterans. Rainbow and Brook trout will be stocked in 14 waterbodies today through Tuesday, Nov. 10. The following areas will be stocked:

• Barber Pond, South Kingstown
• Carbuncle Pond, Coventry 
• Meadow Brook Pond, Richmond
• Olney Pond, Lincoln Woods State Park, Lincoln 
• Round Top Ponds, Burrillville 
• Shippee Sawmill Pond, Foster 
• Silver Spring Lake, North Kingstown 
• Simmons Mill Pond, Little Compton 
• Stafford Pond, Tiverton 
• Tarkiln Pond, Burrillville 
• Tucker Pond, South Kingstown 
• Watchaug Pond, Charlestown 
• Willett Pond, East Providence
• Wood River, Rt 165 Check Station, and "The Pines", Exeter

Regular stocking updates will be available on DEM's Division of Fish and Wildlife's (DFW) Facebook Page and www.dem.ri.gov/troutwaters. See freshwater fisheries updates and FAQs at www.dem.ri.gov/fishing.

Freshwater fishing rules, regulations, size, and creel limits for freshwater fishing are available in the 2026-2027 Freshwater Fishing Abstract. A 2026 fishing license is required for anglers 15 years of age and older and a Trout Conservation Stamp is required to keep or possess trout. 

Scientists discover a surprising link between vitamin C and cancer survival

Could help in the treatment of cancer

Van Andel Research Institute

A surprising clinical trial suggests that taking vitamin C daily could improve survival in people with precancerous blood disorders and early-stage blood cancers. Patients receiving the supplement had fewer adverse events and showed a promising survival advantage, raising hopes that a common vitamin could help protect against leukemia-related complications.

Vitamin C plays an important role in keeping the immune system healthy, helping wounds heal, and protecting cells from damage. However, people with precancerous blood disorders and blood cancers often have persistently low vitamin C levels. Researchers have been investigating whether correcting this deficiency could improve their health and treatment outcomes.

New findings from the phase 2 EVITA clinical trial suggest that vitamin C supplementation may offer important benefits for people with precancerous blood conditions and early-stage blood cancers. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted by the Van Andel Institute-Stand Up To Cancer® Epigenetics Dream Team.

Despite Trump, third major US offshore wind farm is now fully operational

More green energy for Rhode Island

By Maria Gallucci, Rhode Island Current

The service vessel ECO Edison sails toward the Revolution
Wind project near New England. (Photo by Ørsted)

This story was originally published by Canary Media. Read the original version here.

The offshore wind farm Revolution Wind is completely up and running — despite the Trump administration’s repeated and ongoing efforts to halt development of the $6.2 billion project.

On November 5, the Danish energy giant Ørsted said its 704-megawatt wind farm near Connecticut and Rhode Island began ​“generating up to its full capacity” in October. Revolution Wind began producing smaller amounts of power in the spring, and the company installed the last of 65 turbines in September.

The project is the third U.S. utility-scale offshore wind farm to reach full commercial operations, after South Fork Wind near New York and Vineyard Wind near Massachusetts.

Rhode Island’s congressional delegation prepares for more influence in Washington

Blue Wave benefits Rhode Island

By Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current

U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo was an 18-year-old field organizer for Sheldon Whitehouse’s first U.S. Senate campaign in 2006 when he celebrated inside Providence’s Biltmore Hotel as Democrats won back both chambers of Congress.

Two decades later, Amo returned to the same hotel Tuesday night celebrating another Democratic takeover of Congress — one that will put him and Rhode Island’s other House member in the majority for the first time in their careers. 

“This is seismic,” Amo said in an interview outside L’Artisan Cafe in Providence’s Wayland Square Wednesday morning. 

Amo was first elected to Congress in a 2023 special election a year after his colleague, U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner, was elected, just as Republicans were taking control of the House. 

Despite their relatively short tenures, both could find themselves among the more senior members of the House Democratic caucus next year when a large group of new Democrats arrives, Adam Myers, a political science professor at Providence College, said.

“There’s no doubt that the state’s profile on Capitol Hill will be greatly enhanced starting next year,” Myers said in a phone interview.

Magaziner said he hopes the new majority will move quickly to address voters’ concerns about the economy and the conduct of the Trump administration.

“I don’t think the message should be that Democrats won big because people love Democrats and think that we’re awesome,” Magaziner said in a phone interview. “They were trying to send the message that they expect us to bring change to Washington.”

Both of Rhode Island’s congressional representatives identified lowering costs as a priority for the incoming Democratic majority, pointing to reversing President Donald Trump’s tariffs and restoring enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits that lapsed last year.