Sarah Fentem
Reporter, St. Louis Public RadioSarah Fentem reports on sickness and health as part of St. Louis Public Radio’s news team. She previously spent five years reporting for different NPR stations in Indiana, immersing herself deep, deep into an insurance policy beat from which she may never fully recover. A longitme NPR listener, she grew up hearing WQUB in Quincy, Illinois, which is now owned by STLPR. She lives in the Kingshighway Hills neighborhood, and in her spare time likes to watch old sitcoms, meticulously clean and organize her home and go on outdoor adventures with her fiancé Elliot. She has a cat, Lil Rock, and a dog, Ginger.
-
The company Proper Brands operates a large plant in Rock Hill, Missouri, for growing marijuana and manufacturing cannabis products. Plaintiffs call the odors coming out of the plant "noxious." -
Religious exemptions, in which a parent or guardian declines to vaccinate their child with some or all required immunizations because of sincerely held religious beliefs, have more than doubled statewide in the past five years. -
The shape of a toilet seat, combined with increased time in the bathroom, can cause undue strain on one's nether regions, according to a colorectal surgeon at the University of Missouri. -
Missouri health officials say the CDC has added the state to a nationwide cyclosporiasis outbreak linked to lettuce grown in central Mexico, though the agency has not yet publicly announced the change. -
The state usually logs around a dozen or so cases annually of the parasitic disease, which infects the digestive system and causes severe gastrointestinal symptoms. -
The flooding hit during the high season for summer tourism in southeast Missouri. Residents flock to this part of the state to hike, camp and float on the area's pristine gravel-bottomed rivers and streams. -
Missouri health officials said they are confident the number of reported cases reflects exposure to contaminated food inside the state. But investigators are still working to identify the source of the outbreak.
-
Missouri still has far fewer reported cases of cyclospora, the parasitic infection than other Midwest states. Cylosporiasis symptoms include nausea and watery diarrhea. -
Missouri's 25% drop in Obamacare marketplace enrollment is at least partly due to expiration of pandemic-era subsidies, experts say. -
A Jackson County judge permanently struck down a slew of abortion restrictions, including a statute requiring what's known as a "complication plan" for medication abortions.
