Bonta Pushes Apple To Guard Reproductive Health Data: Backed by a coalition of 10 other attorneys general, California Attorney General Rob Bonta is urging Apple to protect people’s reproductive health information from third-party apps. Read more from Bay City News.
Pharmacy Cutbacks Cause Big Delays In Bay Area: Closures and reduced pharmacy hours at CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid stores in the Bay Area have left customers scrambling to get their prescriptions filled. One customer in the Adeline Walgreens in Berkeley said that one weekend he went without his daily medication. “If they can’t pay to staff their pharmacy, they shouldn’t be in business,” he said. Read more from Berkeleyside.
Below, check out the roundup of California Healthline’s coverage. For today’s national health news, read KHN’s Morning Briefing.
San Francisco Chronicle:
COVID In California: Infections In State Jump More Than 63% In 1 Month
California is now averaging 10.6 new daily COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents — marking a 63% increase in one month, according to the latest health department data. The state’s test-positive rate also continues to push up, reaching 7.6%, up from 4.2%, over the same period. (Vaziri and Beamish, 11/28)
Voice Of San Diego:
Covid Killed Half As Many San Diegans During Year Two Of The Pandemic, But More Young People
It’s not exactly surprising: The number of deaths related to Covid-19 dropped by almost half during the second year of the pandemic in San Diego County, after vaccines became widely available to the general public. … The median age of death dropped from 76 to 73 years old in year two — meaning the virus killed a younger proportion of San Diegans as time went on.
The Washington Post:
Nearly 9 Out Of 10 Covid Deaths Are People Over 65
President Biden may have declared the coronavirus pandemic “over,” but from John Felton’s view as the Yellowstone County health officer in Billings, Mont., it’s not over, just different. Now, more than ever, it is a plague of the elderly. In October, Felton’s team logged six deaths due to the virus, many of them among vaccinated people. Their ages: 80s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 90s. (Cha and Keating, 11/28)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Lower Sperm Count Seen In Men Who Have Had COVID Than In Those Never Infected
Men who had been infected with COVID-19 experienced a 53% lower sperm count three or more months after testing positive for the coronavirus compared to men who had not been infected, according to a study published in the Medical Journal of Virology. (Vaziri and Beamish, 11/28)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Holiday Travel Raises COVID Reinfection Risk. Here’s What To Know
It’s the third holiday season since the pandemic began and, as in previous years, millions of Americans are traveling for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Kwanza and other winter festivals. This time around, the public health guidance is different. Almost three years into the crisis, COVID prevention measures such as mandatory masking and social distancing have largely been lifted. Most Americans have been vaccinated, many have gotten booster shots and at-home test kits are widely available. (Narayan, 11/28)
CIDRAP:
Survey: Stigma, Discrimination Add To Long-COVID Hurdles
People experiencing long COVID often experience job or relationship repercussions due to their condition, and many feel a sense of shame, according to new survey findings published in PLOS One. The numbers of people experiencing long-term COVID complications is high and growing as high infection rates persist. For example, the United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics estimated that 2.3 million residents are living with long COVID. (Schnirring, 11/28)
Bloomberg:
Fauci Says Covid Shows Endless Threat Of Infectious Disease
The worldwide Covid-19 crisis shows that infectious diseases present a “perpetual challenge,” and officials have to be better prepared for them, outgoing presidential adviser Anthony Fauci said in an opinion piece. (John Milton, 11/28)
Los Angeles Times:
RSV Straining Children’s Hospitals Across California
RSV and other respiratory viral illnesses are continuing to stress children’s hospitals across California. Nationally, hospitalization rates related to RSV — or respiratory syncytial virus — are exceptionally high, according to Dr. Theodore Ruel, chief of UC San Francisco’s pediatric infectious diseases and global health division. (Lin II and Money, 11/28)
CNBC:
Flu Hospitalizations Increase Nearly 30% As U.S. Enters Holiday Season
Flu hospitalizations have increased nearly 30% in a week as the spread of respiratory illnesses remains high across most of the U.S. More than 11,200 people were hospitalized with the flu during the week ending Nov. 19, compared to about 8,700 patients admitted during the prior week, according to data from the Health and Human Services Department. (Kimball, 11/28)
USA Today:
Experimental Flu Shot Could Target 20 Viruses With A Single Vaccine
For a half-century, scientists have been trying to develop a vaccine that would protect against the most dangerous flu viruses. Now, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have a new approach, based on the mRNA technology that proved so effective against COVID-19. Their idea is to target all 20 different types of influenza viruses in a single shot. (Weintraub, 11/28)
Stat:
WHO To Phase Out The Name ‘Monkeypox’ For ‘Mpox’
The World Health Organization said Monday it will phase out the name of the disease monkeypox over the next year, replacing it with the term mpox. The decision follows widespread calls for changing the name since the current international outbreak of the disease was first detected last May. (Branswell, 11/28)
NPR:
Monkeypox Renamed Mpox By World Health Organization, Citing Racist Stigma
“Both names will be used simultaneously for one year while ‘monkeypox’ is phased out,” WHO said. The announcement drew a mixed response from Dr. Ifeanyi Nsofor, a global health equity advocate and senior New Voices fellow at the Aspen Institute who has backed changing the name. (Chappell, 11/28)
The New York Times:
Monkeypox Has A New Name: Mpox
The World Health Organization, responding to complaints that the word monkeypox conjures up racist tropes and stigmatizes patients, is recommending that the name of the disease be changed to mpox. Both names are to be used for a year until monkeypox is phased out. The recommendation, issued on Monday, follows outbreaks that began about six months ago in Europe and United States, prompting widespread fears that the pathogen could spread widely across the globe. (Jacobs, 11/28)
The Atlantic:
The Future Of Monkeypox
The World Health Organization has recommended a new name for monkeypox, asking countries to forget the original term in favor of a new one, “mpox,” that scientists hope will help destigmatize the disease. But in the United States, the request seems to be arriving late. The outbreak here has been in slow retreat for months—and has already left many Americans’ minds. (Wu, 11/28)
Reuters:
Factbox: Mpox Cases And Deaths Around The World
Around 100 countries where mpox is not endemic have reported outbreaks of the viral disease, which the World Health Organization has declared a global health emergency. (11/28)
AP:
Fentanyl’s Scourge Plainly Visible On Streets Of Los Angeles
n a filthy alley behind a Los Angeles doughnut shop, Ryan Smith convulsed in the grips of a fentanyl high — lurching from moments of slumber to bouts of violent shivering on a warm summer day. When Brandice Josey, another homeless addict, bent down and blew a puff of fentanyl smoke his way in an act of charity, Smith sat up and slowly opened his lip to inhale the vapor as if it was the cure to his problems. (Hong and Melley, 11/28)
Axios:
HHS Moves To Overhaul Privacy Rules For Substance Abuse Patients
The federal health department is trying to harmonize privacy protections covering the records of patients being treated for substance use disorder. Syncing the landmark 1996 privacy law HIPAA with tougher standards Congress passed in the CARES Act more than two years ago could prevent instances in which providers unknowingly prescribe opioids as treatment for someone with a history of addiction. (Moreno, 11/28)
Stat:
Resistance To Opioid-Disposal Plan Raises Questions About CADCA
At its surface, it seems like a simple problem with a simple solution. Across the country, medicine cabinets are littered with unused, potentially addictive opioids. So the federal government wants to distribute prepaid envelopes alongside new painkiller prescriptions, allowing Americans to mail back their leftovers. (Facher, 11/29)
The Courier-Journal:
US Drug Czar Wants India To Stem Flow Of Chemicals Used By Mexican Cartels For Fentanyl
Dr. Rahul Gupta, the U.S. drug czar, returned to his native country this month to meet with Indian officials on a joint mission to reduce the illegal flow of chemicals used to make deadly fentanyl. For years, Mexican cartels have bought precursor chemicals from China and used them to make synthetic drugs like fentanyl and meth in Mexican super labs. The drugs are then smuggled into the U.S. But in the last few years, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has cautioned in its National Drug Threat Assessments that cartels are increasing the amounts they get from India. It’s capital, New Delhi, has significant pharmaceutical and chemical industries and international ports. (Warren and Pandey, 11/29)
WGCU:
Here Are Some Ways To Protect Sobriety During The Holidays
The holidays can be a challenge for people in recovery from drugs or alcohol. Dr. Alta DeRoo, chief medical officer of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, says it’s important to protect sobriety this time of year. (Barbor, 11/28)
San Francisco Chronicle:
What Proponents Seek And Critics Fear In S.F. Shelter Expansion
New York City’s shelter mandate, requiring the city to offer a placement to everyone who needs it without forcing anyone to accept it, is often cited as a model for how to deal with homelessness. Now, San Francisco’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing is developing a plan to offer some kind of shelter — ranging from a safe place to pitch a tent to a more permanent housing placement — to everyone willing to take it. (11/29)
NBC News:
Common Treatment For Joint Pain May Be Linked To Faster Arthritis Progression, Research Suggests
Two small unpublished studies, to be presented Tuesday at the Radiological Society of North America’s annual meeting, found that on average, knee arthritis advanced more quickly among patients who got corticosteroid injections than those who didn’t. By contrast, hyaluronic acid injections were associated with slower progression of the disease relative to a control group. (Yang, 11/29)
The Washington Post:
Scientists Identify Biomarkers That Could Help Diagnose Lyme Disease
Researchers say they’ve identified a set of biomarkers that could make early diagnosis of Lyme disease easier, a possible first step for more effectively treating the estimated 476,000 people diagnosed with, and treated for, the tick-borne illness every year in the United States. In a study in Cell Reports Medicine, researchers explain how they pinpointed a specific set of genes that are activated in people with long-term Lyme disease. Up to 20 percent of patients suffer long-term symptoms. (Blakemore, 11/28)
USA Today:
Colonoscopy, Cologuard, Other Stool Tests: Which Detects Colon Cancer?
What if you didn’t have to get a colonoscopy every decade from ages 45 to 75? No, this isn’t an excuse to skip screening for colon cancer, which has been proven to save lives. But there are several alternatives, which most people don’t know much about. (Weintraub, 11/29)
