Dr. Samuel Mathis, assistant professor in the University of Texas Medical Branch Department of Family Medicine, said the resilient virus can live for days and there are plenty of places for it to linger on cruise ships. Mathis, who works in Galveston, cruise port, has seen passengers with norovirus. He said that while the virus itself is uncomfortable, it isn’t typically dangerous. “The biggest risk for almost everyone — but especially for seniors — is actually the risk of dehydration: losing all that fluid through nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.”

Apart from its erratic effects on humans, forecasting West Nile virus outbreaks remain a challenge. Dr. Scott Weaver, a leading medical entomologist and virologist at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston said the virus is “very widespread, still zoonotic...[and although] it's transmitted more efficiently by Culex mosquitoes when it's hot, it does well both in drought and rainy conditions.”

Health officials, city council members, police officers and trauma doctors gathered Thursday at a Houston City Council meeting to discuss how to prevent both intentional and accidental shootings. “As a pediatric surgeon, I’m tired of seeing these children come in every day to the ER. I’m tired of holding them as they die and as they suffer," said Dr. Bindi Naik-Mathuria with the University of Texas Medical Branch.

Dr. Samuel Mathis recently caught up with his mentor. “I was surprised at the emotional response I had when I saw him,” Mathis wrote in his column. He also shared some of the health benefits associated with mentoring for both the mentor and mentee.

In Medical Discovery News, Drs. Norbert Herzog and David Niesel wrote about a new developing technology that will reduce the time it takes to identify and determine the antibiotic resistance of bacteria.