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☆ CDC updates Covid isolation guidelines for people who test positive
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Erika Edwards | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

People who test positive for Covid no longer need to isolate for five days, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. Many doctors have been urging the CDC to lift isolation guidance for months, saying it did little to stop the spread of Covid. The experiences of California and Oregon, which previously lifted their Covid isolation guidelines, proved that to be true. "Recent data indicate that California and Oregon, where isolation guidance looks more like CDC's updated recommendations, are not experiencing higher Covid-19 emergency department visits or hospitalizations," Jackson said. Changing the Covid isolation to mirror what's recommended for flu and other respiratory illnesses makes sense to Dr. David Margolius, the public health director for the city of Cleveland.

Persons: you've, Mandy Cohen, Cohen, Covid, Dr, Brendan Jackson, Jackson, David Margolius, We've, Kristin Englund Organizations: Centers for Disease Control, Prevention, National Center, CDC, Cleveland Clinic Locations: United States, California, Oregon, Cleveland

☆ CDC advisers recommend spring Covid boosters for older adults
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Erika Edwards | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The panel's vote to recommend spring boosters for older adults is not final until CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen signs off on it. The additional dose should be given at least four months after a previous dose for healthy older adults, or at least three months after a Covid infection. Covid hospitalizations peaked at the beginning of January, with 35,000 hospitalizations a week. By Feb. 7, Covid hospitalizations had fallen to around 20,000 a week. The vast majority have been among older adults, 65 and older.

Persons: Covid —, there's, Megan Wallace, Mandy Cohen, Marvia Jones, Covid, Covid hospitalizations Organizations: Centers for Disease Control, Prevention, CDC, Kansas City Health Department Locations: agency's, Kansas, Missouri, United States

☆ 8 US states offer free lunch for students. Here's how they pay for it, from a 4% millionaire's tax to a $0.03 property tax rate increase.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Massachusetts is the latest state to expand free school lunch since a COVID-era program ended. Here's how eight states pay for free lunch for public school students. And Vermont's free meals program, which was allowed through in June 2023 by Gov. And while only a few US states now offer free lunch, some say the momentum for future programs across the nation is growing. "The availability of universal free meals during the pandemic absolutely changed that momentum."

Persons: Maura Healey, Erin McAleer, Joe Biden's, Phil Scott, Susan Caswell, WPBN, There's, Erika Edwards, EducationWeek Organizations: Service, Gov, CBS News, Massachusetts, Associated Press, Portland Press Herald, AP, MPR, Comstock Elementary School, Jefferson County Locations: Massachusetts, Wall, Silicon, California , Colorado , Maine , Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Vermont, Colorado, California, . Maine, Mexico, Michigan, Southwest Michigan, Jefferson

☆ State court tells New York City to spell out needs in migrant crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Rachel Nostrant | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Recently arrived migrants to New York City wait on the sidewalk outside the Roosevelt Hotel in midtown, Manhattan, where a temporary reception center has been established in New York City, New York, U.S., August 1, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File PhotoNEW YORK, Aug 4 (Reuters) - A New York State Supreme Court judge on Friday ordered the city of New York to spell out what it needs from the state to solve its migrant housing crisis, ratcheting up pressure on authorities struggling to respond as thousands of migrants seek refuge in the city. The order by New York State Supreme Court Judge Erika Edwards came after a hearing the Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless had asked the court to hold Friday, citing a 1981 consent decree under which the city and the state must shelter those in need. Edwards gave the city until Wednesday to identify state facilities and resources it needs to provide appropriate shelter. Following the court order, the New York City mayor's office said the city needed state and federal support to address a crisis, without offering specifics.

Persons: Mike Segar, Erika Edwards, Edwards, Kathy, Hochul, Dave Giffin, Eric Adams, Rachel Nostrant, Donna Bryson, Deepa Babington Organizations: REUTERS, New York, Aid Society, Coalition, Homeless, Reuters, New, Thomson Locations: New York, midtown , Manhattan, New York City , New York, U.S, New, York City, New York City

☆ Social media is driving teen mental health crisis, surgeon general warns
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Erika Edwards | Hallie Jackson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The report, released Tuesday, calls attention to growing concerns about the effects of social media use on children and adolescent's mental health. The advisory urges policymakers and the companies that make the social media platforms to share with parents the burden of managing children's and adolescents' social media use. About a third say they're scrolling, posting or otherwise engaged with social media "almost constantly." The surgeon general's report also blamed social media for perpetuating eating disorders, body dysmorphia and low self-esteem. Twenge said social media can affect mental health in a variety of ways.

Persons: Vivek Murthy, Murthy, Jim Steyer, Jean Twenge, Gen X, Silents, Twenge, that's Organizations: Media, Pew Research Center, San Diego State University

Health officials in Tennessee say they will reject federal funding for groups that provide services to residents living with HIV. He is concerned that Tennessee health officials are setting a dangerous precedent. Millet said that the CDC provides Tennessee as much as $10 million in HIV funding. "We have not received any official notification from the Tennessee Department of Health withdrawing from CDC's HIV prevention funding," the CDC said. Follow NBC HEALTH on Twitter & Facebook.

Emergency room visits related to three of the most disruptive viruses — the flu, respiratory syncytial virus and Covid — are falling nationwide. "We were really curious to see what this year would look like" following several years of almost no flu, Thomas said. Flu hospitalizations for very young children in Tennessee have already reached peak levels seen in other bad flu seasons, at 12.6 per 100,000, the new study found. While most flu cases so far have been A strains of the virus, B strains tend to pop up by spring. "I do suspect that we will have more bumps in the road this respiratory viral season," Passaretti said.

Childhood vaccinations across the U.S fallen for a second year in a row, leaving hundreds of thousands of kids vulnerable to otherwise preventable illnesses. But fears stoked by vaccine misinformation have also been a growing problem, O'Leary said. "We're still trying to understand the extent to which misinformation around Covid vaccines has spread to misinformation about other childhood vaccines," he said. In a December interview, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC's director, told NBC News that vaccine misinformation is one of the biggest threats to public health. About a third of kids ages 5 through 11 have had two doses of a Covid vaccine.

Shortness of breath, loss of taste and smell, and other lingering Covid symptoms tend to ease over time and may be gone within a year, according to new research. The study did not include patients who developed long Covid from omicron or its subvariants, but doctors in the U.S. say they do see new patients with long Covid symptoms following an omicron infection. Most common long Covid symptomsThree years into the pandemic, it remains unclear exactly how many people have long Covid. The findings are consistent with what long Covid experts in the U.S. have found. While the study found that many long Covid symptoms abate within a year, it remains clear that some patients continue to suffer long afterward.

Commotio cordis occurs less than a few dozen times a year in the U.S. Could chest protectors prevent the problem? It wasn't until 2019 that the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment, developed standards for chest protectors. In 2022, USA Lacrosse mandated that all youth lacrosse players wear chest protection. Though doctors have not said whether Hamlin's injury was indeed commotio cordis, Acompora is glad to see the condition getting national attention. Chest protectors such as this one from Unequal Technologies have been in demand since Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest Monday.

The problem was the Neris had switched to a new, high-deductible health insurance plan to save money. The 2010 Affordable Care Act expanded access to health insurance, so companies were faced with covering more people than ever before. But the epinephrine auto-injectors — which deliver a shot of epinephrine and are the only emergency medicine available for life-threatening allergic reactions — usually are not. But AHIP (formerly known as America’s Health Insurance Plans), a group that represents such companies, said drug manufacturers are to blame. Fight it with your health care provider, fight it with your insurance company.”“No almost never means no in health insurance,” he said.

☆ Damar Hamlin's breathing tube removed, told teammates 'Love you boys' over FaceTime, Bills say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Antonio Planas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The Cincinnati Reds show their support for Damar Hamlin outside of the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame on January 4, 2023, in Cincinnati, OH. "Damar Hamlin FaceTimed into our team meeting today to talk to players and coaches. It remains unclear what exactly caused Hamlin's cardiac arrest. The league acknowledged that canceling the game "creates potential competitive inequities in certain playoff scenarios" and said NFL clubs will consider a resolution at a special league meeting Friday. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in Thursday's statement that it has been "a very difficult week" and that the league is focused on Hamlin's recovery.

☆ Damar Hamlin showing signs of 'remarkable improvement,' the Bills say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Erika Edwards | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

"Damar has shown remarkable improvement over the past 24 hours," the Bills tweeted. Hamlin, 24, has been in intensive care after collapsing on the field from cardiac arrest during "Monday Night Football" on Jan. 2. There has been no official statement about what caused Hamlin's cardiac arrest. It is in this exact moment, experts say, that a blow to the chest in the exact right place can launch an otherwise healthy person into cardiac arrest. Thursday morning, Hamlin's teammate Kaiir Elam said in a tweet, "Our boy is doing better, awake and showing more signs of improvement."

A potential cause of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin's jarring collapse and cardiac arrest — witnessed in real time by millions of viewers watching "Monday Night Football" — was immediately recognized by heart experts who also happened to be watching the game. In a statement, the Buffalo Bills has only said that Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest, when the heart stops beating properly, and is now in critical condition. While there are several potential causes for Hamlin's cardiac arrest, cardiologists suggested that a rare phenomenon called "commotio cordis" was to blame. It is in this exact moment, experts say, that a blow to the chest in the exact right place can launch an otherwise healthy person into cardiac arrest. But there are several other reasons a person may go into cardiac arrest.

The updated Covid booster shot is proving to be effective at keeping people — especially older adults — out of the hospital, according to two new studies published Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Full coverage of the Covid-19 pandemicBoth studies looked at the impact the updated Covid booster shot has had since it was first recommended by the CDC on Sept. 1. Those who had received the updated booster were 84% less likely to be hospitalized with Covid, compared with people who had never had the Covid vaccine. The effectiveness was nearly identical — 83% — for people who had their last Covid shot more than a year ago. "There are 28 million people over the age of 65 that are eligible for this updated booster shot but haven’t gotten it," Link-Gelles said.

The vast majority are either unvaccinated or have received just one of the two recommended doses of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, according to City of Columbus Public Health. The outbreak, the largest in the U.S. since 2019, is happening as resistance to school vaccination requirements is spreading across the country. The percentage of parents who said they were against vaccination requirements for school was even higher. "As I think about the challenges that we have to public health vaccine, misinformation is among the biggest threats," she said. "Here in Ohio, we have some pretty active anti-vaccine groups," said Tara Smith, a professor of epidemiology at the Kent State University College of Public Health.

The first-of-its-kind study was presented Thursday at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, an annual meeting of breast cancer specialists. Faced with this possibility, Partridge said, many women stop or never start endocrine therapy, against the advice of their doctors. The findings were highly anticipated by other breast cancer specialists. Women in her practice were already making the executive decision to stop endocrine therapy for the chance of having a baby. Johnson was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer at age 34.

The number of pregnant women and new mothers dying from drug overdoses grew dramatically as the pandemic took hold, reaching a record high in 2020, a new study finds. "It goes to an ever higher level of stigma among pregnant women." She does not work with pregnant women or those with substance use disorder, but did crunch the numbers for the new research. "Overdose deaths in general have increased, and pregnant women aren't immune to the effects of addiction," Wright said. A Biden administration report, released in October, called for broader access to opioid treatment medication among pregnant women and de-stigmatize addiction treatment during pregnancy.

The number of people hospitalized with flu nearly doubled during Thanksgiving week — 19,593 compared to 11,378 people admitted to the hospital the week prior. On Friday, the CDC reported that flu is spreading at high levels in 45 states, even in Southern states and others where the virus has been spreading since October. As of Dec. 2, 77% of pediatric hospital beds nationwide were full, according to Health and Human Services data. There is no data yet to show how protective this year's flu vaccine is against the current strains. Dr. Kavita Patel said that "almost everybody" she's seen test positive for flu at Mary’s Center, a community health center in Maryland, is unvaccinated.

The words some doctors use are often misunderstood by patients and their families, leaving them feeling confused and vulnerable, according to researchers. "You could be the smartest doctor in the world, yet you're useless if your patients don't understand what you are saying," Pitt said. An 'impressive' chest X-rayTake the word "impressive." But when doctors say a patient's chest X-ray is "impressive," they really mean, "This worries me." "If somebody is using medical jargon, a phrase that you don't understand, feel free to say, 'Excuse me, I don't understand what you're trying to say.

So far this season, an estimated 6.2 million flu illnesses have been logged, according to the latest CDC data. Of the samples reported to the CDC this season, about 76% are the H3N2 strain of influenza A. With the early start to the flu season this year, many people were infected before they had a chance to get vaccinated, making it easier for the virus to spread. “It’s a pretty safe bet that flu activity is going to continue on for several more weeks or months,” said Brammer. “Then the floodgates opened.”Now, 30% to 40% of Rice’s patients in need of the most intensive care have the flu.

There are no proven treatments for long Covid. No one knows exactly what causes the range of lingering issues associated with long Covid. Stanford's study aims to enroll 200 adults who have had long Covid symptoms for at least three months, without a recent diagnosis of the disease. "We really feel that with long Covid, you shouldn't wait until you already have all of these problems to address them. He's been struggling with the effects of long Covid for a year and a half.

Vaping may increase a person's risk for cavities and tooth decay, preliminary new research suggests. Adding artificial sweeteners and flavorings to the sticky aerosol may create the perfect breeding ground for cavities. The new study, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Dental Association, is considered preliminary and does not prove that vaping causes cavities. But because e-cigarette usage is so rampant among adolescents — with 2.5 million teens vaping in the United States alone — the possibility that it could increase the risk for tooth decay in this generation is worrisome, experts who study vaping in young people said. Among these high-risk patients, e-cigarette users, Irusa found, were at a "significantly" higher risk of developing cavities, compared with those who did not vape.

Most of the worst of respiratory illnesses remain concentrated in Southern states like Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. There are signs that flu is ramping up in other areas such as Colorado, New Mexico and Texas, according to the CDC. Such widespread flu activity this early in the typical flu season hasn't been recorded in the U.S. in more than a decade. "We don't have any," a pharmacist in Charlotte, North Carolina, told NBC News, adding that the drug is on backorder, at least at her pharmacy. North Carolina's flu activity remains "very high" according to the latest CDC report.

"This is the highest preterm birth rate that we've ever recorded," said Dr. Zsakeba Henderson, deputy chief medical and health officer for the March of Dimes. Alabama, with a preterm birth rate of 13.1%, is one of the worst ranked states in the country. Wingate has been charged with improving the state's preterm birth rate by improving maternal and fetal health. All had preterm birth rates of at least 11.5%. Only Vermont, with a preterm birth rate of less than 8.1%, scored an A on the March of Dimes report card.

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