Sharon Worcester is an award-winning medical journalist for MDedge News. She has been with the company since 1996, first as the Southeast Bureau Chief (1996-2009) when the company was known as International Medical News Group, then as a freelance writer (2010-2015) before returning as a reporter in 2015. She previously worked as a daily newspaper reporter covering health and local government. Sharon currently reports primarily on oncology and hematology. She has a BA from Eckerd College and an MA in Mass Communication/Print Journalism from the University of Florida. Connect with her via LinkedIn and follow her on twitter @SW_MedReporter.
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Risk Factors for C. difficile Recurrence Identified
- Author:
- Sharon Worcester
Major Finding: Of 826 children and adults with an initial incident episode of C. difficile infection, 130 (16%) had at least one recurrence. Those...
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Gastroenteritis Deaths Soar, Largely Due to C. difficile, Norovirus
- Author:
- Sharon Worcester
Major Finding: Between 1997 and 2007, all-cause gastroenteritis mortality increased from 25/1,000,000 person-years, to 57/1,000,000, which equates...
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Lyme Disease Presents Differently in Men and Women
- Author:
- Sharon Worcester
Major Finding: Significantly more women than men with Lyme disease reported joint pain, muscle pain, headache, back pain, heart palpitations,...
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Lyme Disease Presents Differently in Men and Women
- Author:
- Sharon Worcester
Major Finding: Significantly more women than men with Lyme disease reported joint pain, muscle pain, headache, back pain, heart palpitations,...
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WBCs Help Identify More Severe Pertussis in Infants
- Author:
- Sharon Worcester
Major Finding: Compared with 23 infants with less-severe infections, the 8 with more-severe infections had significantly higher peak WBC counts (...
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Connecticut Sees Overall Decline in MRSA Infections
- Author:
- Sharon Worcester
Major Finding: The incidence of health care–related MRSA infections declined significantly from 14.4 to 13.8 per 100,000 population, and the...
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Exposure to Diesel Exhaust Tied to More Lung Cancer Deaths
- Author:
- Sharon Worcester
Major Finding: The standardized mortality ratio (SMR) of 1.26 for lung cancer among 12,315 exposed workers was significantly greater than were...
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Hepatitis C Infection Increasing Among Adolescents, Young Adults
- Author:
- Sharon Worcester
Major Finding: The number of reports of newly recognized confirmed or probable cases of hepatitis C past or present infection among those aged 15-...
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PMR Guidelines Spell Out Ultrasound's Role
- Author:
- Sharon Worcester
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Sleep-Disordered Breathing in Early Childhood Linked With Behavioral Outcomes
- Author:
- Sharon Worcester
Major Finding: After adjustment for 15 possible confounders, sleep-disordered breathing symptom clusters predicted approximately 20%-60% increased...
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Induction for Large Fetus Leads to Better Neonatal Outcomes
- Author:
- Sharon Worcester
Major Finding: The rates of neonatal trauma were 2.2% in 407 women who were randomized to be induced, and 6.6% in 410 controls who underwent...
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Novel FFAR1 Agonist Reduced HbA1c in Type 2
- Author:
- Sharon Worcester
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Hypnotics Linked With Increased Mortality, Cancer
- Author:
- Sharon Worcester
Major Finding: The hazard ratios for death in 10,529 patients who received hypnotic prescriptions for poor sleep, compared with 23,676 matched...
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Novel FFAR1 Agonist Shows Promise for Type 2 Diabetes
- Author:
- Sharon Worcester
Major Finding: At weeks 4, 8, and 12 of treatment, all of the 303 patients who were randomized to receive treatment with TAK-875 at doses ranging...
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17P Not Effective Once Preterm Labor Begins
- Author:
- Sharon Worcester
Major Finding: The median time from randomization to delivery was 64 days in 94 women who received 17P, and 67 days in 94 control subjects.Data...