Mississippi
State health department reports first pediatric flu death of this season in Mississippi
Here’s how to prepare for this cold and flu season
Here are some ways to prepare for this cold and flu season as four illnesses currently circulate the country.
The Mississippi State Department of Health confirmed the first pediatric flu death of the 2024-25 season on Friday, Jan. 24.
The department does not provided information about the age, gender or place where the patient died out of respect for the family and their privacy.
MSDH did note that the juvenile had not received a flu shot this year.
“Vaccination is the best protection against flu and the severe outcomes from flu infection,” State Epidemiologist Dr. Renia Dotson said. “All individuals 6 months of age and older are recommended to get an updated flu and COVID-19 vaccine this season.”
What is defined as a pediatric flu death?
According to the Mississippi State Department of Health news release: “A pediatric death is defined as the death of an individual under 18 years of age.”
How many children have died of the flu in Mississippi?
Twenty-seven kids, including this one, have died of the flu in Mississippi since the 2008-09 flu season.
What illnesses are spreading in my community?
According to a weekly report from the CDC, respiratory illness in Mississippi is still moderate overall.
Emergency department visits related to flu are high but decreasing and ER visits for COVID-19 and RSV are low.
How do I know if I have flu, cold, COVID or RSV?
Feeling cruddy but don’t know what the problem is? This might help.
The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases lists the following as main symptoms of each:
- Cold: Often comes with a sore throat but can regularly include aches and fatigue.
- Flu: Get ready for aches, fatigue and fever. A sore throat is possible.
- COVID: Main symptoms are having a hard time breathing, fatigue and sore throat. You also might have aches, fever and a loss of taste/smell.
- RSV: Wheezing is the main symptom. But difficulty breathing and fever are also possible.
Bird flu, stomach flu and influenza are all separate viruses.
Who can get the vaccine for flu, COVID, RSV?
Generally, the RSV vaccine can be given to babies who are younger than 19 months old, pregnant people and adults 60 and older.
The CDC recommends the COVID-19 vaccine and following booster shots for anyone older than six months.
It’s not too late to get a flu vaccine this year, but keep in mind it can take about two weeks before the necessarily antibodies are fully effective after the jab. There are specific flu shot doses based on a person’s age, and some people ages 2-49 can take the vaccine as a nasal spray. Check out CDC information or talk to your medical provider to learn the best options for you and your family.
The Mississippi Department of Health offers flu and COVID vaccines at county health departments. Call 855-767-0170 to learn more.
Bonnie Bolden is the Deep South Connect reporter for Mississippi with Gannett/USA Today. Email her at bbolden@gannett.com.
They don’t ask how, they just ask how many. #14 Mississippi State basketball survived a tricky road test against South Carolina, prevailing 65-60 in overtime. It was a sluggish offensive day for the Bulldogs, but they eventually found enough momentum to grab a 50-36 lead with 8:50 left in regulation.
Unfortunately, a run of ugly offense would lead to enough easy buckets for South Carolina to get right back into it. The Gamecocks would close the game on a 19-5 run to force overtime. That sloppiness would continue in the extra period, and despite retaking the lead, State looked prime to give it right back. Luckily, they held on and walked away with a much-needed victory.
The Bulldog defense ultimately did enough
After allowing an average of 83 PPG in the last four, holding an opponent to 60 points (55 in regulation) was a welcome sight from the Bulldogs. State held South Carolina to 29.3% shooting and just 20% from three. They forced 19 turnovers. Outside of free throws and second chance opportunities, the Gamecocks couldn’t do anything on offense. Now, South Carolina is not a good offensive team, but this was a chance at a get-right game for State defensively, and they capitalized.
Insistence on three-point shooting is hurting Mississippi State basketball
This game could’ve been a lot less stressful if State wasn’t shooting so many threes. The Bulldogs attempted 26 threes, making only six of them. Too be fair, many of those looks were open, and you’d think this roster would be suited to take advantage. But as we’ve seen lately, this team as a whole is ice-cold from distance.
Meanwhile they’re finding success attacking the paint. State shot 57% from two and was at their most effective when they got the ball to KeShawn Murphy and Michael Nwoko. Had that been the approach for the entirety of the game, the Bulldogs likely win easily.
Despite a stressful game, Mississippi State basketball earning another road win should not be dismissed
It wasn’t pretty, and the opponent makes the performance a bit more frustrating. But Mississippi State fans should not dismiss this win as insignificant. Road wins in the SEC, even against South Carolina, are incredibly hard to come by. This same Gamecocks team went wire-to-wire with Top 5 squads in Auburn and Florida. They’re better than their record indicates.
State now has a 4-2 road record, with two of those wins coming in SEC play. The only SEC team with more road wins on the year is Alabama. That’s big for their resume and could be a factor that boosts their seeding come Selection Sunday.
A beloved figure in Mississippi State Bulldogs athletics is sadly no longer with us. On January 23, former live Mississippi State mascot “Jak” (Bully XXI), passed away according to his caretaker, Lisa Pritchard.
Jak spent eight years as the mascot for the university from April of 2015 until his retirement in April of 2023. Jak came from a long line of Mississippi State mascots. His grandfather, “Tonka” (Bully XIX), and father, “Champ” (Bully XX), each served terms as the school’s mascot from the early 2000s through the early 2010s.
Jak’s namesake is also of Mississippi State legend. He was named in honor of the great Jack Cristil, the longtime radio voice of the Bulldogs who passed away shortly before Jak’s birth in fall of 2014. Jak’s formal name is “Cristil’s Golden Price”.
In 2023, Jak passed over the reigns to Mississippi State’s current live mascot, Bully XXII, “Dak”.
Jak was the mascot for some of the greatest moments in Mississippi State Bulldogs history
Jak’s run as the mascot for Mississippi State will be hard to be topped. On the gridiron, he roamed the sidelines for a Bulldog football program that totaled 58 wins, including four Egg Bowl victories, and made a bowl game in all eight of his seasons.
He saw Mississippi State women’s basketball put together three-straight 30-win seasons in which they won two SEC regular season titles, one SEC tournament title, snapped UConn’s 111-game winning streak, and played in two national title games.
And of course on the diamond, Jak saw a Bulldog baseball program that won a SEC title, made three trips to the College World Series, and won the school’s first ever national championship in 2021. Needless to say, Jak will always be associated with some of the greatest moments in Mississippi State history.
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Did a Mississippi man grow the world’s tallest pepper plant?
Henry Pope, the lead grower and plant geneticist for Mississippi Foundation for Renewable Energy, worked to cross-pollinate specific peppers for seven years. He thinks he has a world record holding cayenne and is waiting on confirmation from the Guinness Book of World Records.
Pope started the project seven years earlier and six generations of plants earlier. “The original parent plants were a variety of long cayenne produced by myself for Mississippi Foundation for Renewable Energy and a himo togarashi pepper.”
He said he spends a lot of time working in gardens, the greenhouse and a lab looking to develop open-pollinated, edible plants. Growing a record-holder wasn’t the original goal, but it became clear the opportunity was in sight with this one.
“We called it the record plant because I suppose we always assumed it would be the world’s tallest pepper plant (or I did), but that was more of a joke really,” he said.
How big is the world’s tallest pepper plant?
According to Guinness, the current title is held by Laura Liang in Irvine, California. Her cayenne pepper plant was 16 feet tall when it was two years old in 1999.
How tall is the Mississippi pepper plant?
Pope’s plant measured as almost 16.5 feet tall. If validated by the Guinness Book of World Records, it could set the new world record.
How did they measure it?
In November, four men measured and identified the plant using video and photos to record its height. Pope identified them as:
- Willie Roses (an expert in measurements).
- Willie C. R. Perteet (County supervisor in Attala County).
- Tobias Campbell (forester).
- Mark Terkanian (a plant specialist, who holds a Bachelor of Science in plant sciences from the University of Massachusetts).
They took video while one person ran a tape measure to the ground and someone held the end at soil level. In addition to continuous video, they took still camera shots at the top and bottom to verify where the tool was.
Story continues below video.
Does he have gardening advice?
For Pope, the goal is sustainable, edible plants that help people be more self-reliant. His mother was a horticulturist, and his father ran a landscaping company and exotic animal breeding operation. The combination of experiences, paired with a passion for chemistry, led him to approaching plants from a scientific angle.
“My family and I live self sufficiently and have for a very long time. The work I do now is the cumulative product of these experiences in my life,” Pope said.
If you want a mega plant, he said, start with selective breeding.
“Learn how to save seeds from your crops in a professional manner. Anyone can do this with some research or simple training. We teach people to do this almost daily. Observe your crop for plants that have certain characteristics you desire. Save seed from that plant for a successive planting. Isolate these plants from others so they don’t cross pollinate, and repeat this action for multiple generations until you have something similar to what you want,” he said.
Or people can give a lot of care to stable-variety seeds sold by existing companies.
“You can do anything you put your mind to. In my profession, I see people do just that every day in various ways,” he said.
Mississippi man isn’t done with the project
“Sometimes when you attempt to achieve one particular goal, another opportunity arises. This happens quite often really, not just in genetics, but in most scientific endeavors,” Pope said.
The plan was to develop a plant for vertical gardening, like on balconies or in small yards — or something that can be trained horizontally on a fence.
“Opportunity for creating a world record of any kind was never the goal. The goal was the same as it always is for us, to produce a natural variety of edible plant that is beneficial to those who wish to become less reliant on the grocery store, but when working with genetics observation of the characteristics you have to work with is the first step,” Pope said.
The plant submitted to Guinness is an sixth generation plant. He plans to invest several more years into the project.
“I will consider the project complete when I reach a 12th generation. I believe through further selective breeding that I can beat my own record in the future,” Pope said.
Bonnie Bolden is the Deep South Connect reporter for Mississippi with Gannett/USA Today. Email her at bbolden@gannett.com.
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