JoNel Aleccia

Dressing up and collecting candy may be the highlight of Halloween for little ghouls and tiny princesses, but it's up to their parents to make sure the annual orgy of sweets doesn't affect young teeth. That's according to the American Dental Association, Delta Dental Washington Dental Service and other agencies that cringe when Oct. 31 rolls around.

Baby-snatching fears have prompted a Southern Idaho hospital to stop publishing the names of new infants in local newspapers, but Inland Northwest hospitals say they long ago took more stringent actions to avert abduction. Specialized identification tags, routine abduction drills and secret security measures are in place in hospitals across the region, where officials try to dissuade parents from publishing birth announcements or posting "It's a Girl!" signs in their yards.

If Chrissy Hiatt plugs in a DVD of the movie "Clerks II" in December, she'll be among the first viewers to see a graphic anti-smoking message tucked in with the usual film trailers. That's just fine with the 19-year-old student at Spokane's Havermale High School. After all, Hiatt credits a gritty advertising campaign featuring body bags and stark statistics with her decision to quit a decade-long cigarette habit.

Deaths from a disease typically associated with smoking and tobacco use were about 20 percent higher than expected in Spokane in 2004, new figures showed. Some 254 people died from lung cancer in the area that year, according to just-released state vital statistics information compiled by the Washington State Department of Health.

A Post Falls teenager may have come down with Kootenai County's second case of West Nile virus and perhaps the first locally contracted incident of the mosquito-borne illness this year. The girl, who was not identified, was treated at Kootenai Medical Center on Tuesday for symptoms consistent with West Nile fever, Panhandle Health District officials said.

Open enrollment in Medicare Part D, the federal prescription drug plan for seniors and the disabled, will begin again Nov. 15. Health officials said people considering enrolling in the plan or changing their choices should take a look at their options now. But officials also emphasized that many beneficiaries may not want to switch.

No shortage of vaccine is expected as this year's influenza season begins, Inland Northwest health officials said. But allocations in Eastern Washington may be staggered over a few months, triggering worries that vulnerable people won't get flu shots later in the season. The Spokane Regional Health District has received 700 doses of flu vaccine out of about 3,100 expected doses for the season, said Julie Graham, spokeswoman for the agency.

Communication has snarled between the Spokane Regional Health District board and its chief health officer, Dr. Kim Thorburn, fueling continuing questions about her future with the agency. That may not have been apparent at Thursday's public meeting, where Thorburn and board members made small talk after a summer hiatus.

Local laboratory tests for E. coli 0157:H7 have jumped more than 60 percent in the nearly two weeks since infections linked to bagged spinach sickened 175 people nationwide, medical workers said Monday. None of the local samples has tested positive for the bacteria that causes the infection that has killed at least one person, but regional health officials said the increased volume is an indication of the level of public concern.

More than 300 people stopped by the just-opened student health center at Spokane Community College on its first day of business last week. Only 10 of those visitors were patients, but organizers expect those numbers to climb as students realize there's an on-campus source for health care. "From what I hear, it was really busy," said Michelle Galey, spokeswoman for the Washington State Intercollegiate College of Nursing, which is overseeing the project operated in partnership with the People's Clinic.

Inland Northwest health experts, AIDS advocates and some members of the public on Thursday praised plans to make HIV testing a standard part of medical care for people from young teens to near-retirees. "This is kind of a movement in public health in general," said Dr. Kim Thorburn, medical officer for the Spokane Regional Health District. "What they're really getting at is no special consent is required."

West Nile virus in Idaho has been linked to a dozen deaths and 760 infections, nearly all in the southern and central part of the state, figures released Tuesday showed. State health experts have no clear explanation for why the outbreak has avoided the Inland Northwest so far. They say, however, that the outbreak seems to follow the pattern of the disease as it has moved across the United States and that infection in North Idaho, Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon is inevitable next season.

Chefs across the Inland Northwest have spiked spinach dishes and tossed out pounds of the produce after it was linked to a nationwide outbreak of food-borne illness. Meanwhile, orders for locally grown organic spinach have held steady or increased slightly amid worries about E. coli 0157:H7 infection.

Spokane hospital employees and environmental managers will gather next Tuesday at a meeting to learn new techniques for creating safer, more ecologically friendly medical surroundings. Managing toxic chemicals, reducing waste, improving regulatory compliance, reducing energy use and making safer purchases are among topics to be discussed at the Hospital and Clinical Waste Reduction and Management Conference.

Technicians who use medical lasers to eradicate spider veins or remove body hair must be trained, licensed and supervised under new regulations approved recently by the Washington State Medical Quality Assurance Commission. The commission developed the new rules governing "prescriptive medical devices," including medical lasers, because of concerns about the devices being used by unlicensed, inadequately trained people, health officials said in a statement. Officials also were concerned about doctors delegating laser operations to staff members with limited training.

When it comes to calming squirrelly seventh-graders on the first day of science class, teacher Patrick Moore has a solution even before the school year starts: It's in the cards. His Greenacres Middle School students will enter Room 312 on Thursday and pick a playing card from Moore's deck. The cards' suits – hearts, spades, clubs and diamonds – will correspond to the four rows of classroom chairs. The cards' numbers will match specific desks.

A North Idaho mosquito expert says it's only a matter of time before the state's exploding West Nile problem reaches the region. "I believe it's going to happen," said Kim Knerl, the only northern member of the Idaho Mosquito and Vector Control Association. In fact, with the spread of the disease that state health officials confirm has caused seven deaths and infected at least 512 humans, 274 horses and 107 birds, it may have reached the region already.