Disease

HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania's hunters hit the fields and woods Monday for the opening of deer season. The state's two-week firearm deer season included special restrictions on some central Pennsylvania hunters because of a deadly disease found in captive deer earlier this year. Hunters who take deer in a 600-square-mile area covering parts of York and Adams counties must have them tested for chronic wasting disease. The neurological infection can't be transmitted to humans but is deadly to elk, moose and deer.

Robert L. Yarrish, 64, an infectious-disease specialist and Navy reservist from Cherry Hill who served in Kuwait and Afghanistan, died Sunday, Nov. 18, shortly after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. He lived in Hartsdale, N.Y. Dr. Yarrish received his degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1974 after graduating magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1970. He was the adopted son of the late Rabbi Herbert M. Yarrish, head of Temple Emanuel in Cherry Hill between 1956 and 1975, and a member of the Cherry Hill High School Class of 1966.

The number of babies born with Tay-Sachs in the United States has fallen dramatically since the 1970s, when Jews began to be screened for the defective gene that causes the rare neurological disorder. Now, Einstein Medical Center in North Philadelphia is leading a study to determine whether carrier screening should be recommended for another ethnic group - Irish Americans. Carriers of the Tay-Sachs gene are healthy, but the offspring of two carriers have a 25 percent chance of inheriting two bad genes and thus the disease, which is usually fatal by age 5. Limited evidence in medical literature suggests that Americans of Irish descent have an elevated carrier frequency, but estimates vary wildly.

The prolific Philadelphia playwright Bruce Graham must be leading a charmed life. In a matter of months, The Outgoing Tide, his funny and searing exploration of dementia and its effect on a family, has been given not one but two terrific productions here. The first was in Center City in the spring, at Philadelphia Theatre Company. The second now plays in Wilmington, where Delaware Theatre Company takes The Outgoing Tide - with its perfect narrative arc, smooth writing, and genuine tone - and runs with it in a production directed by Broadway producer Bud Martin, in his first season as artistic director in Wilmington.

HARRISBURG - The state's first case of chronic wasting disease has been found at a central Pennsylvania deer farm, and agriculture officials said Thursday they were working to prevent the fatal illness from spreading among animals. Officials have quarantined the property in New Oxford, Adams County, where a white-tailed deer tested positive for the neurological disease. A farm in Williamsport, Lycoming County, and one in Dover, York County, are also quarantined because of direct links to the infected deer.

As a civilian with the Army Corps of Engineers, Eric Majusiak was ready to respond to emergencies nationwide. In 2011, Majusiak, 28, was deployed to Joplin, Mo., after a killer tornado, and to Upstate New York in the wake of Hurricane Irene. But nothing prepared the burly outdoorsman and civil engineer for what happened in February. He was stricken by hemophagocytic lymphohistiocysis (HLH), a rare autoimmune disorder, and it nearly killed him. The South Harrison Township resident and his wife, Amanda, 25, are high school sweethearts but had been married for only a few months when he returned from a Salem County hunting trip with aching joints.

NEW YORK - Two scientists from different generations won the Nobel Prize in medicine Monday for the groundbreaking discovery that cells in the body can be reprogrammed into completely different kinds, work that reflects the mechanism behind cloning and offers an alternative to using embryonic stem cells. The work of British researcher John Gurdon and Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka - who was born the year Gurdon made his discovery - holds hope for treating diseases such as Parkinson's and diabetes by growing customized tissue for transplant.

MINNEAPOLIS - Some Minnesota lawmakers hope to force the release of Lou Gehrig's medical records, saying that they might provide insight into whether the Yankees star died of the disease that came to take his name or whether repetitive head trauma played some kind of role. Their effort comes despite opposition from Mayo Clinic, which holds the records, and skepticism from experts that the records alone would prove anything. Rep. Phyllis Kahn, a Minneapolis Democrat and self-described baseball fanatic, conceded that the records "probably won't show anything.

The American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association has a problem. For 40 years, it has honored members for distinguished achievement with the annual Thomas Parran Award. Parran, who served as surgeon general from 1936 to 1948, was a public-health advocate and led a national campaign to eradicate syphilis. "He was a giant in the field," said Jeanne Marrazzo, an international infectious-disease specialist and immediate past president of the association. But last year, a presidential commission, led by University of Pennsylvania president Amy Gutmann, confirmed that Parran's legacy was tainted.

CARMELLA Renee Steele wasn't about to let a debilitating disease keep her from having a productive life. In fact, Carmella encouraged and inspired others with handicaps to overcome their disabilities and to live full lives. Carmella Steele, a victim of the painful autoimmune disorder lupus, a mother of three children, an active churchwoman and a role model for the many people she touched, died Sept. 18 at age 46. "Carmella had a heart of gold," her family said. "For many years, she was found encouraging and uplifting others through the word of God. She loved the Lord and she loved people.