Top stories in health and medicine, August 23, 2012

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1. 2012 May Be Worst Year Yet for West Nile. With 1,118 cases and 41 deaths reported so far, Americans are facing what may be the largest outbreak of West Nile virus since the disease was first detected in the U.S. in 1999.

2. Kids’ Mutation Rate Tracks with Father’s Age. It’s the father’s age – not the mother’s – that increases the risk of new hereditary mutations in children.

3. Tattoo Infections Tied to Premixed Ink. Despite strict adherence to sanitary practices, a tattoo parlor in Rochester, N.Y., was the center of an outbreak of Mycobacterium chelonae skin and soft tissue infections.