This is southwest Florida.

InFocus.

Coming up, a unique strain of flu is causing complications for health officials.

Why?

A vaccine might not be enough to ward off the impact during this flu season.

Legalized cannabis is expected to once again go before Florida voters.

But do the health benefits of marijuana outweigh the negatives?

And is protein the path towards a better diet?

A look at the new USDA guidelines.

Hello, I'm Jennifer Crawford.

Thank you for joining us.

New information is out from the centers for Disease Control that says it's recorded 18 million cases of the flu so far.

You may have noticed it where you work or maybe even you or a family member have had symptoms or tested positive.

The latest numbers from the CDC reveal a bit of good news.

The number of flu cases decreased during the reporting period that ended on January 10th.

Before it sounds like we're in the clear.

I spoke with an infectious disease doctor in Cape Coral who says while reported cases are on the decline, Southwest Florida could be in for a second peak.

My throat was burning very bad and whenever I would swallow or eat anything, it felt like my throat was on fire.

11 year old Andrew Wheeler, recovering at home after being hit with flu like symptoms over the weekend.

His mom Laurie, keeping him out of school.

If he has a sore throat and runny nose, he's going to pass it on to the next kid.

From just all the activities and everything that they're touching in school.

You don't want to spread infection and give it to the children and anybody that has a weaker immune system.

Infectious disease specialist Doctor Charles Callahan at Cape Coral Hospital.

If you're sick, you should stay home.

If your children are sick, they should stay home.

Especially with concerns about a potential spike in flu numbers looming in southwest Florida.

Florida has a large number of flu cases.

I know New York is very, very high, so we may get another seasonal bump because a lot of people from the northeast come down here for the winter time, and they usually bring their other baggage with them.

The centers for Disease Control reports 18 million flu illnesses so far this season.

230,000 hospitalizations and 9300 deaths.

Most of the flu cases are influenza A. The current strain is what's called H3n2.

Subclass K. And the reason that's important is that the H3n2 strains tend to be a little bit more challenging to the immune system, especially at the very old and the very young, and tend to lead to more hospitalizations.

Doctor Callahan says the single best way to prevent the flu get vaccinated to.

Even if the vaccine is not a perfect match for the new flu variant.

The overall way that the vaccine prevents the flu and flu deaths is immune stimulation, whether or not it directly is covered by the flu strain or not.

It's very important to obtain the vaccine, and studies have shown that people that get vaccinated have less chance of getting sick throughout the flu season from any cause of viruses such as RSV or influenza viruses.

People that are more medically vulnerable, such as the very old, the very young, or the people with chronic medical problems.

It reduces the risk of death from the flu.

The latest CDC numbers show that while cases appear to be declining, overall flu related deaths are increasing.

One of the hardest hit groups children.

The most recent data reports 15 child deaths in one week, for a total of 32 child deaths this year.

The CDC says 90% of children who died from the flu were not fully vaccinated.

Children are very vulnerable because they have small airways, so when they get the flu and it causes inflammation of the lining of the airway, they're more likely to develop breathing complications because the airways constrict down.

For Doctor Bernard Sugar and his wife, Caroline of Fort Myers, getting the vaccine is an annual family ritual.

I've been getting the flu vaccine since I was 30 years old.

They attribute being flu free for decades to yearly flu vaccines that also protect their loved ones.

I don't want her to get sick.

Nobody wants to get sick.

I have my elderly mother who is a long term diabetic, and I have some of our kids.

Our young adult kids still live at home and I babysit my grandchildren and I have my husband.

So if you know one of us get sick, it's it's going to spread.

It's really hard to keep it from spreading.

Doctor Callahan says it's not too late to get the vaccine as they prepare for a potential surge in local cases.

It's just a concern about overwhelming our emergency rooms and our hospitals and the fact that the flu so contagious and is probably underappreciated by the average person as far as the seriousness of it.

Meanwhile, Andrew says he plans to return to his fifth grade class.

So I'm doing a biography for my school.

I'm doing it on Muhammad Ali with completed homework and without any flu like symptoms.

Once again, the legalization of marijuana is expected to be part of the 2026 Florida ballot.

Two years ago, the push for recreational marijuana received 56% of the vote, falling short of the 60% threshold needed to become a constitutional amendment.

Now, supporters say marijuana's health benefits, including using chronic pain, outweigh the risks.

But opponents argue the opposite, saying the side effects negate the benefits.

For more on the health issues surrounding marijuana, we are joined now by Doctor Denise Torres.

Doctor Denise Torres specializes in addiction medicine with Lee health.

Doctor Torres, thank you so very much for being with us today.

Thank you.

Jennifer, it's a pleasure to be here.

Now, Doctor Torres, in December of 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to reclassify marijuana from a schedule one to a schedule three, making it less dangerous.

Can you explain more about this and and what impact this has?

So while schedule three again, is just, it's it's recognizing that that it has, some degree of accepted medical use, but it in no way essentially, legalizes cannabis at a federal level.

So it does not, essentially, eliminate federal penalties associated with possession, manufacture or even distribution of cannabis.

However, this rescheduling will certainly impact cannabis businesses.

It will, create, significant tax relief incentives.

It is going to continue to reduce the stigma, the public stigma associated with the impact of cannabis.

And I would say more importantly, it is going to provide meaningful, clinical aid is going to impact clinical research in a very meaningful way and also contribute to evidence based medicine.

It is now being used to treat depression and anxiety symptoms, isn't it?

So, this again is very common, something that as a physician I hear very often, I would it's helping with my depression.

It's helping with my anxiety.

I use it for sleep.

But again, there's no FDA approval.

There's no evidence based medicine to support this.

And so we, I would say from a FDA approval standpoint, we are so in the infancy, of being able to provide appropriate guidelines.

What we do know is what are the what are the harms based on the limited, a limited amount of data that we do know.

So there are a great deal of harms associated with sort of that heavier daily use of cannabis.

Thank you so much for joining us today.

Doctor Torres, you are doing great work.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

It's been a pleasure.

After the break, it's the next big step for mankind as NASA looks to send people back to the moon.

We preview what the Artemis mission hopes to achieve.

It's been more than 50 years since Americans last set foot on the moon.

But the Artemis two mission hopes to change that.

NASA wants to send four astronauts to the south pole of the moon to look for water.

The first step in establishing a base on the moon WGCUs Kate Cronin spoke with Brendan Byrne earlier this week about what this means for the future of space exploration.

Thanks, Jennifer.

Brendan Byrne is the assistant news director at Central Florida Public Media and the host of the podcast, Are We There Yet?

Brendan, thank you for joining us.

Artemis two lend a crew to venture around the moon.

What is the goal for this mission and how would impact future trips to the moon?

So the goal of this mission is really to stress test.

The Orion space capsule.

So the crew four will be launched atop, NASA's Space Launch System rockets, also known as SLS.

In the, And the Orion spacecraft will carry the four astronauts.

Three of them are NASA astronauts.

One of them is from Canada, a Canadian space agency.

Essentially what they'll do is they'll get into a really high Earth orbit and test out Orion.

They'll test the controls, literally giving it a spin.

Seeing if they could, move it around and, and dock it for what they'll need to do for future missions.

And once they get the all clear, they will, fire their engines and head some, quarter of a million miles away to to the moon, where they will, fly around the moon to the far side of the moon, where humans really have never seen with their own eyes before.

Sounds like some really important research.

The window for launch begins in February, and it will remain open until April.

Why can't NASA set a date for launch now?

And what happens if issues force NASA to miss that launch window?

So NASA can't set a date now because they haven't finished all the testing of the vehicle.

So right now, the SLS and Orion space capsule are at their launch pad, launch complex 39 at the Kennedy Space Center.

And they have to complete what's called a wet dress rehearsal.

So this is essentially a dry run or practice run of launch day.

They're going to practice fueling the rocket, which takes, massive amounts of super, super cooled liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.

So it's a pump that into the tanks and make sure it stays at the right temperatures.

And doesn't leak.

They're going to go ahead and practice the countdown all the way to T-minus 29 seconds.

That's when they'll start.

Stop the countdown.

There will be no humans on board for this, for this critical test mission.

But once they go through that and review the data and make sure that the the vehicle is safe and ready, it's not leaking fuel, and it's getting all the proper connections that it has.

Then they will go ahead and set a date to launch.

Now, those dates that you mentioned, those are those are the openings of a launch window.

The moon has to be in the right spot in the sky before they launch.

So there's only a couple dates at the start of each month for them to do that.

Can you tell me more about the purpose of going back to the moon?

What does NASA hope to achieve by going where we've already been?

Yeah.

So we're actually gonna be going to a place we've never been.

The goal of Artemis is, is to land on on the south pole of the moon.

So, a lot of the Apollo missions, the sixth lunar landers of of the Apollo, they landed on the equatorial region.

So what would be the equator of of our planet?

Around that area of the moon?

The south pole of the moon, scientists are almost certain, has a liquid water deposits, under the surface.

This is important for for a few things.

One, water is important for humans to survive, anywhere.

Especially in space.

But that water can also be separated into hydrogen and oxygen, which can be used as rocket fuel.

So essentially, the long term goal of of Artemis three 4 or 5 6789 ten, those missions are to set up a permanent science base on the south pole of the moon.

There's there's lots of stuff that that we have not learned about lunar science there.

The moon essentially has captured everything that has happened in our solar system.

So, it's it's simply called a witness plate, right?

It is seen all of the different things that have hit our plane and other planets around us.

So we can look and look at the history of the solar system, the history of our planet as well, but also set ourselves up to do long term science at the moon and also build a gas station at the moon.

So if we want to go to places like Mars, we're going to need to fill up with fuel, and the moon could be the place to do it.

How do our international space partners feel about NASA making manned missions to the moon again?

I know other nations have been doing their own experiments, but do we have any collaboration between nations attempt to do research on the lunar surface?

Yes.

This NASA has, has mentioned from the get go that that the Artemis missions would be an international collaboration, much like the International Space Station is, you see that in August 2nd, right?

That's that's the next mission that's launching that we're talking about here.

There is a Canadian Space Agency astronaut on board.

There are CubeSats, aboard this mission.

CubeSats are really tiny.

Spacecraft are, like, the size of a tissue box.

Or roll paper towels, from four different countries that are going to be doing, missions around the moon.

And NASA has been going along around the world, making relationships with different countries called, for a document called the Artemis Record, which essentially establishes this, this, this global cooperation when it comes to this.

Now, there are certainly going to be some geopolitical issues, right?

We are not collaborating with the Chinese space agency on this.

But but NASA has always been collaborative with with its allies.

You know, Japanese space agency, the European Space Agency, Canadian Space Agency, and some of the hardware is actually built from some of these, global partners as well.

Hey, Brendan Byrne, thank you so much for joining us.

Hey, my pleasure.

Thanks for having me.

Treatment for cancer is evolving in a sterile southwest Florida.

Proton is the only proton center on the west coast where traditional radiation methods affect the entire body.

Proton radiation is precise and targeted, lowering harmful side effects.

Carrie Barber reports.

In a quiet building on a corner and a stereo.

Clinicians are starting to deliver state of the art cancer treatment, particularly to help patients with prostate and breast cancers.

The treatment is known as proton therapy, a highly advanced form of radiation therapy that uses charged proton particles to destroy cancer cells.

Ari Dose Threats is CEO of Southwest Florida Proton.

So what protons do is they allow us to treat cancer patients with a treatment that maximizes effectiveness and minimizes toxicity.

Proton therapy allows for greater precision than traditional radiation.

Protons can travel directly to a targeted area and not beyond it.

That means the radiation is less likely to harm nearby healthy tissue or organs.

Shannon MacDonald relocated from Harvard Medical School in Massachusetts General Hospital to serve as senior medical director.

She describes the cases that might benefit most from proton therapy children because they have growing developing tissues that are more sensitive to radiation.

Tumors that require a very high dose of radiation near a really important organ to receive the therapy.

Patients lie on a table that positions their tumor directly under the targeted proton beams.

Clinicians can treat 2 to 3 patients per hour.

The most common course of proton radiation is 4 to 6 weeks.

Although each case is different, the machine that delivers the therapy weighs nearly 200 tons and is housed in a three storey reinforced concrete structure with walls as thick as 6 to 8ft.

The machine, known as the eBay Proteus one, was manufactured in Belgium.

It took more than a year to install and calibrate.

Doctor dozer, it's again.

We're really proud of what we've created here.

This project has been many years in the making.

We actually started planning the Proton Center over five years ago.

Believe it or not.

Southwest Florida Proton is the first proton center on the west coast of Florida, and is one of 46 such centers nationwide.

For WGCU news, I'm Cary Barbor in Estero.

For more than 30 years, what we know was the food pyramid was the standard guide to obtaining a balanced diet.

But now the USDA recommendations have been turned upside down, literally.

U.S.

Department of Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr released new dietary guidelines.

These now double the recommended amount of protein and flips the food pyramid upside down.

WGCUs Bryant Monteilh spoke to nutritionist and dietician Angela Joy about what these new guidelines mean for our plates, our portions, and your money.

For more information about the new pyramid that's been implemented by the federal government, we have a special guest, Angela Joy.

Welcome.

Thank you for having me.

So, how's it feel to be here?

It feels great.

I love this.

Yeah.

So you're a nutritionist?

Yes.

If you could tell me exactly why did you get into this?

How did you get into this field?

Yes, that's a good question.

And very much aligns with the new dietary guidelines.

So my grandfather, had all chronic health conditions, all of which could have been prevented, reversed, improved with diet and lifestyle conditions.

And I watched him slowly decrease and decline over the years from heart disease, type two diabetes, kidney failure and then ultimately passed away after multiple heart attacks.

And after watching that, I was became very motivated to help other people not follow that same trajectory.

Yeah.

And so we're touching on the new food pyramid.

And that's probably the reason why we're having this conversation.

What do you think of it?

How do you think this is going to help or maybe hinder in some aspects?

Yeah.

And it is a controversial topic.

Some people are very happy about it and some people are very frustrated about it and feel that there isn't enough science behind it to support it.

And all in all, me personally, I'm happy about it.

I do think that it's providing awareness that something needs to change within our food industry.

Something needs to change within the American people's diet and I don't agree with blaming on previous dietary guidelines, but I do agree that we need to focus more on whole and natural food within our diet.

So some vegetables make a difference.

Vegetables make a big difference.

Yes.

And so we can see that that's why they're highlighted on our new food pyramid.

And in our new dietary guidelines they make a huge difference.

So vegetables provide us with fiber vitamins and minerals depending on, you know, variety, depending on the different types of vegetables.

But they make a big impact.

And I just think about how who this impacts the most.

When it comes to these kinds of changes and this type of information, who do you think it impacts the most.

So the dietary guidelines, they don't impact the everyday American as much as they impact government related food programs like Snap, like military, like food in the schools.

And so they're being impacted the most.

Yeah.

And when you think about the cost of food.

I think that's hurting a lot of us.

How do you kind of make it match the cost of living and income.

And make sure that people eat healthy, but they can also afford it.

Yeah.

And so I really try to meet them where they are.

And so all of that is worked into their plan based on what their health conditions are, what their health goals are.

And financial accessibility is of course important as well.

So giving them options for what can you buy in bulk?

What can you buy frozen, what stores can you go to to get these types of foods that are more affordable and try to meet them where they are that way?

Thank you Angela.

This has been so special because I've learned already.

Thank you so much for having me.

I really enjoyed talking with you today.

Coming up, maintaining culture through food.

How?

One chef keeps her heritage alive with the unique menu.

One of the easiest ways to become intertwined with a different culture is to experience their food.

For Israelis, their culture combines Jewish and Ethiopian heritage and goes back to the reign of King Solomon.

GQ Culture and Connections reporter Elizabeth and RG shows us how their food is a reflection of those centuries of history.

The little Sam busses are disappearing fast.

Folks at the Canterbury School in Fort Myers on Monday night are returning for seconds.

This is their first taste of Ethiopian food for chef B.J.

Bersani.

It's a chance to tell a story most Americans have never heard.

He does not have to know the history.

Once you open your mind and heart and explore something unique and flavorful, that's already the first step.

There's no Ethiopian community in Fort Myers or Southwest Florida, but there is a Jewish one, and Brittany's story connects to them.

She was a child when her family reached Israel after fleeing Ethiopia.

Now, Z that the shame in Hebrew is very much ancient and biblical than anything else in the Bible.

How Jacob made this delicious red lentil stew and Esau come from the field famished and hungry and at the end of day he nourished his brother.

He give him that lentil stew.

So that's what take me nostalgia to that are back to the days.

That's my comfort food.

But nostalgia for person isn't one place.

It's Ethiopia, then Sudan.

Kenya.

Uganda.

A childhood spent moving when her family arrived in Israel, the food they knew felt difficult to recreate.

And when Ethiopian Jews first emigrated to Israel, they had no access to death.

So what do we do?

We improvise.

We're making Gerar from wheat and corn.

But yet the essence, the base of my community, the Ethiopian Jewish community, is very much Ethiopian than anything else.

Years later, as an adult in New York, she opened a restaurant, finally able to serve the food of her childhood.

Layered with flavors she'd learned along the way.

I'm not only Ethiopian.

I am Israeli as well, and I'm American as well.

I travel to the world and my palette of flavors is very much diverse.

At sea, en cafe, we celebrate all the type of diversity of cuisines and the different flavors that impacted me throughout my journey.

How the evening ends were Ethiopia's culinary gifts began with coffee.

What you would do when there is a not so bright.

She was she going to go buy you the house you've left her, you take the smoke and you bless the house that, hosting this coffee ceremony.

Yeah.

Brittany says she wants folks to taste something other than tired narratives.

We give gift to the world coffee beans.

So I want to make sure people appreciate and understand Ethiopia is not just a land of famine.

It's the cradle of mankind.

Hi.

For WGCU news, I'm Elizabeth Andarge.. Delicious.

So good.

There will gone.

Coming up next week, environmental concerns persist over alligator Alcatraz.

An update on the lawsuit that looks to shut down the facility for good.

Thanks for joining us.

Make sure you download the WGCU app where you'll find all of our stories, plus those extended interviews.

Have a great weekend and we look forward to seeing you again next week right here on Southwest Florida.

InFocus.