PANS and PANDAS are two relatively uncommon and not well-known syndromes that occur in children… PANDAS stands for pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcus. Quite a mouthful! What it represents is disorders that onset after a strep infection causes an autoimmune response that causes neuropsychiatric signs and symptoms. Most

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Original date: March 1, 2014 Rhetorical Analysis of Seriburi, Ndukwe, Chang, Cox, and Wormser’s Article DISTORTED DIAGNOSIS IN CLINICAL PRACTICE Analysis of Seriburi, Ndukwe, Chang, Cox, and Wormser’s Article Published in 2012, the article “High frequency of false positive IgM immunoblots for Borrelia burgdorferi in Clinical Practice” was authored by

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On October 13th, 1989 The United Nation’s General Assembly made a call for an international day to promote risk-awareness and disaster reduction. October 13th was hailed as the “International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction.” Disasters can come in many different forms — both natural or artificial. This observed day is dedicated to encouraging a global culture of reducing the risk of disasters. Reducing the risk starts by first identifying potential risks to not only ourselves and our communities, but to the world. This isn’t just a day for ourselves to look at disaster risk reduction, such as preparing our homes for earth quakes, or checking our fire extinguishers, but to see our community and our fellow countries and what risks might be looming.

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World Homeless Day is an annual day intended to spark conversations about the homeless populations around the world. Unfortunately, our community has suffered a significant rise in the unhoused over the past two years. When the pandemic hit, the ability to work from home made moving to the Comox Valley a desirable plan. Not only were houses cheaper, the population was a gentle number and the activities and views afforded by the valley encouraged many people from the mainland to move over in droves.

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As I will cover homelessness or people who are unhoused next week, I won’t dive too much into the lack of housing for our current population in the community of the Comox Valley and its surrounding municipalities, but I did want to touch on this UN-declared day dedicated to the needs for all people to have a place to call home. Although we have the power to provide everyone a home, it just isn’t happening around the globe.

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Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) is a collection of physical, cognitive, and behavioral problems that can show up in children who were exposed to alcohol while in utero. FASD may present physically as a smooth philtrum—the are between the nose and upper lip which ascends from the cupid’s bow, a smaller than average head size, low body weight, shorter stature, small eyes, a thin upper lip, small palpebral fissures, the presence of epicanthal folds, some ear anomalies, a small and upturned nose, and/or a low nasal bridge.

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