Health Care

What’s making Miami sick? Are there cures? Take a look

Stories by Miami Herald journalists, with AI summarization

This collection of stories examines health challenges facing Miami and potential responses to the issues.

One article discusses the impact of Miami's chlorinated tap water on skin health, offering alternatives like filtered showerheads and micellar water. Another highlights the rise of dengue fever, a mosquito-borne illness prevalent in Florida, urging summer travelers to take preventive measures to avoid bites. A separate report focuses on Alzheimer's research at the University of Miami, where researchers work on understanding the disease's prevalence in Hispanic communities. In a related account, Miami-Dade leaders push for police reform in handling incidents involving mental illness, aiming to prevent tragic outcomes.

Read the stories below.

LumiNola/Getty

NO. 1: IS TAP WATER IRRITATING YOUR SKIN? HERE ARE OTHER OPTIONS FOR WASHING

Tap water contains chlorine and other minerals that can hurt your skin. | Published October 23, 2024 | Read Full Story by Leslie Baumann, M.D.

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A caretaker, center, offers cafecito to Asustina Valdes Cabrera, left, while she is tested by UHealth medical researcher Dr. Katrina Celis, right, as part of an Alzheimer study during a community outreach event for the John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics where UM researchers performed tests, enrolled new participants and took blood samples to a new Biorespository opening at UHealth’s campus, at Hora Feliz Adult Day Care on Thursday, January 16, 2025, in Hialeah, Fla. By D.A. Varela

NO. 2: HOW A UM LAB IS UNLOCKING THE SECRETS OF THE BRAIN. IT STARTS WITH A PERSONAL MESSAGE

What to know about the visits. | Published January 24, 2025 | Read Full Story by Michelle Marchante

Miami Florida, June 17, 2024 - Gamaly Hollis looks back to her son’s grave after she carefully cleaned it. Gamaly Hollis is the mother of Richard Hollis, a young man who was killed by the police on June 15, 2022. By Jose Iglesias

NO. 3: FATAL SHOOTING PROMPTS MOVE FOR MIAMI-DADE TO REFORM HOW POLICE HANDLE MENTAL ILLNESS CALLS

We have huge challenges with people who have mental illness,’ says Miami-Dade Public Defender Carlos Martinez. | Published January 26, 2025 | Read Full Story by Carol Marbin Miller Linda Robertson

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Aedes aegypti mosquitoes spread dengue to people through bites.

NO. 4: DENGUE FEVER ON THE RISE. WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE MOSQUITO-BORNE ILLNESS IN FLORIDA

Puerto Rico has recorded at least 1,012 cases of dengue so far in 2025, followed by Florida, 50, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, which has 40 recorded cases. | Published March 26, 2025 | Read Full Story by Michelle Marchante

The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories listed were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.