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Fecal transplants are increasingly becoming a mainstream treatment. For the first time, an influential medical group is recommending the procedure — in which donor fecal matter is transferred to a patient — for individuals who have repeatedly failed standard treatments for severe diarrhea caused by Clostridium difficile, commonly known as C. diff. (Cooney, 2/15)

The actress and writer Lena Dunham said in an essay published on Wednesday that she had a hysterectomy last fall at age 31 after living for many years with endometriosis, a painful medical condition affecting pelvic tissue. In the essay, in the March issue of Vogue, Ms. Dunham chronicled her decade-long struggle with the disease, her efforts to manage it without surgery and the choice she made to have her uterus removed after the pain left her “delirious.” (Stack, 2/14)

A 2016 emergency yellow fever vaccination campaign that had to resort to using smaller than standard doses because of a global vaccine shortage appears to have protected the people who were vaccinated, a new study suggests. People who received a fractional dose — one-fifth the standard size — showed strong immune responses a month after they received the single dose of vaccine, the authors reported in the New England Journal of Medicine. (Branswell, 2/14)

She told doctors that she wanted to breast-feed her baby. She explained that her partner was pregnant but was not planning to breast-feed when the child was born, so she wanted to take it on herself. The 30-year-old, who is transgender, was willing to accept the risks. Following months of hormone therapy last year, doctors say she might be the first reported transgender woman in academic literature to breast-feed, according to a case study published last month in the peer-reviewed journal Transgender Health. (Bever, 2/14)

A father in Indianapolis last week accused his wife of feeding their child bleach to help cure her autism — something his wife had read about in a Facebook group. Police arrested the 28-year-old mother on Saturday after she allegedly put drops of hydrochloric acid and water-purifying solution in her young daughter’s drinks. The potentially dangerous chemical combination, which becomes an industrial bleach, is marketed as Miracle Mineral Solution or Master Mineral Solution, which its advocates claim will cure a number of diseases, including autism, cancer, AIDS and hepatitis. (Eltagouri, 2/14)

A new national study of children covered by Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance shows that use of the vaccine that protects against cancer-causing human papilloma virus (HPV) has risen, including in the Philadelphia area. However, the number of youngsters who get the vaccine — proven to help ward off certain cancers in both females and males — is still very low, compared with other adolescent immunizations. (Giordano, 2/13)

Richard Klein switched doctors last year. The new doctor put him on a new blood pressure drug. But it didn't help. The failure was entirely predictable. Klein, an associate professor at Florida International University in Miami, realized later that he had tried the same medicine unsuccessfully a few years before, but he hadn't remembered that fact during the appointment. (Yu, 2/14)

Once a month Kristen Curtin gets vitamins pumped into her bloodstream through an IV. The Mount Airy mother of three started getting the intravenous vitamins a few years ago as a way to boost her energy. Taking care of small children often leaves her tired and drained. Her go-to cocktail of vitamins is one from Nava Health Vitality & Wellness Center in Bethesda that contains magnesium, vitamin C and other nutrients. When she feels a cold coming on, she gets a mix with extra vitamin C to strengthen her immune system. Curtin said she has felt more vibrant since starting the infusions. (McDaniels, 2/15)

Doctors are releasing the first detailed medical reports about the hearing, vision, balance and brain symptoms suffered in what the State Department has called "health attacks" on U.S. diplomats in Cuba. Still missing: A clear diagnosis of just what happened to trigger their mysterious health problems. All together, the symptoms are similar to the brain dysfunction seen with concussions, concluded a team of specialists from the University of Pennsylvania who tested 21 of the 24 embassy personnel thought to be affected. (2/14)

Army veteran Jose Belen says the horrors of the Iraq War left him with post-traumatic stress disorder, and the drug that helped him cope best with the symptoms was one his Veterans Affairs doctors could not legally prescribe: marijuana. “Once I did use cannabis, immediately I felt the relief,” said Belen, who is now working with other medical marijuana users to mount a long-shot court challenge to federal laws criminalizing the drug. (Matthews, 2/14)