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Whereas cases of the STI in newborns increased by 30% annually in recent years — greatly alarming public health experts — the upward trend has decelerated. San Francisco’s Public Health Department was the first to recommend doxyPEP for gay and bisexual men and trans women, in October 2022. That helped trigger a long decline in condom use among gay and bisexual men in particular. The protocol, called doxyPrEP, demonstrated generally comparable efficacy at preventing STIs compared with doxyPEP studies among gay men. Public health experts have attributed this century’s surge in STIs, at least in part, to a steady defunding of state and local public-health clinics.

Persons: STIs, gonorrhea, Chlamydia, ”, Laura Bachmann, Julie Dombrowski, Pfizer’s, doxyPEP, MISTR, Jeffrey Klausner, Trump, ” Klausner, “ Organizations: Centers for Disease Control, Blacks, NBC News, MediaNews, Getty, University of Washington, Public Health Department, CDC, PrEP, Food and Drug Administration, HIV, University of Southern Locations: Seattle, gonorrhea, Chicago, New York, Africa, Puerto Rico, ”, Munich, Canada, Japan, University of Southern California

☆ Syphilis is at its highest levels since the 1950s. Here's how experts are trying to fix that.
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-08 | by ( Simar Bajaj | Simar Bajaj Is A Marshall Scholar | Award-Winning Journalist Covering Stigmatized Diseases | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +14 min

Soon after, the mother’s syphilis test — given to all women before delivery — came back positive. In 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported more than 200,000 syphilis cases — the highest counts since 1950. Spreading the word about syphilisSome public health departments have launched eye-popping awareness campaigns, trying to raise the alarm among both the public and health care providers. Make syphilis testing convenientBeyond greater awareness, access to testing and treatment needs to be quick, easy and convenient, Chokshi said. But permanently bending the syphilis curve will require scaling these efforts nationally and promoting greater coordination between health care and public health.

Persons: Irene Stafford, Stafford, —, It’s, could’ve, they’re, ”, Kenneth Mayer, Mayer, Dave Chokshi, Donna Fox, Fox, ” Fox, “ We’re, “, Lucas, they’ve, we’re, ” Stafford, Chokshi, Jessica Leston, Jessica Leston “ We’re, ” Leston, Trojan Carvajal, Jai Winchell, Winchell, Arlene Seña, it’s, ” Seña, don’t, Seña, that’s, ” Chokshi Organizations: University of Texas Health Sciences Center, Centers for Disease Control, CDC, Fenway Institute, Common Health Coalition, Health, Lucas County Health Department, Alaska Natives, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, STI, Mobile Care Clinic, Shasta, University of North, Hospital, University of Chicago, U.S, Fenway Health Locations: Houston, U.S, Boston, New York, Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio, Texas, Alaska, Cass, Minnesota, California, Shasta County, Oregon, Shasta, University of North Carolina, Grady, Atlanta, America

☆ The Disease Detectives Trying to Keep the World Safe From Bird Flu
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Stephanie Nolen | Thomas Cristofoletti | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The condition of a 9-year-old boy she had been caring for had deteriorated sharply, and he had been intubated, one doctor reported. Dr. Luch told her colleagues her theory. They warned her that if she set off the bird flu warning system, many senior government officials might get involved. Anxious but increasingly certain, Dr. Luch phoned the local public health department, located just across the street. At 8 p.m., Cambodia’s National Public Health Laboratory confirmed Dr. Luch’s suspicion: He had died of highly pathogenic avian influenza.

Persons: Sreyleak Luch, ”, Luch, Virun, Virun’s Organizations: Public Health Laboratory Locations: Kratie, Cambodia, Phnom Penh

LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Two people in Southern California have come down with dengue fever without traveling outside the United States, where the mosquito-borne illness is rare, health officials said. A Pasadena resident was confirmed to have dengue last month but is recovering, officials said. “This is the first confirmed case of dengue in California not associated with travel and is instead an extremely rare case of local transmission in the continental United States,” the Pasadena Public Health Department announced. On Wednesday, Long Beach officials announced another domestically contracted dengue case and said that person has recovered. The new California cases were not part of that count.

Organizations: Pasadena Public Health Department, Long Beach, U.S . Centers for Disease Control Locations: Calif, Southern California, United States, Pasadena, California, U.S, Puerto Rico, Florida, Texas

Local public health officials say the potential loss of funding could severely impact several essential services, including vaccines, cancer screening and testing for sexually transmitted infections. A national public health expert said the situation is unique in the U.S. and a threat to the entire public health field — especially going into an election year when health officials and their department could again become political targets. “I’m hoping this isn’t the start of a new trend of retroactive punishment against public health departments.”More than than 300,000 people live in Ottawa County, making it Michigan's seventh largest county. “You should not be at war with your health providers.”The Network for Public Health Law and the National Association of County and City Health Officials filed amicus briefs in support of Hambley’s lawsuit last month. And Freeman said her organization is keeping a close eye on Ottawa County: “This isn't something we want on the books for other county commissioners to consider in the future."

Persons: COVID, they’ve, ”, Lori Freeman, “ I’m, Herman Miller, Joe Moss, Sylvia Rhodea, — Moss, Rhodea, John Gibbs, Adeline Hambley, Jacob Bonnema, it's, Hambley, “, ” Hambley, Gibbs, Moss, —, Freeman, Robert Wood Johnson Organizations: National Association of County, City Health, Ottawa, Republican, Diversity, Equity, Associated Press, AP, Hambley, Grand Haven, Public Health Law, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Locations: Mich, Michigan, U.S, Ottawa County, Ottawa, Grand

☆ Updated Covid-19 vaccines are coming mid-September, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Covid-19 vaccines that have been tweaked to teach the body how to fend off the current crop of circulating variants are now expected to land in drugstores and clinics in mid-September, senior administration officials say. The US Food and Drug Administration is expected to give its nod to the updated vaccines in a few weeks. Officials said ACIP will meet quickly after the FDA decision in order to expedite the regulatory steps and get the vaccines to market. The advisory group is scheduled to meet to discuss Covid-19 vaccines on September 12, meaning the vaccines could become available soon after. The details of the pharmacy program are still being worked out, and there may be a slight lag in getting free vaccines at some stores.

Persons: CNN —, ACIP, Mandy Cohen, ”, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, Cohen, There’s Organizations: CNN, US Food and Drug Administration, US Centers for Disease Control, Officials, CDC, Covid, Pfizer, Moderna, FDA, EG, Affordable, CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, CNN Health Locations: drugstores, Covid

☆ We can’t air-condition our way out of America’s heat crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

New York CNN —Extreme heat in the summer has become America’s brutal new reality. It would also include building code changes that require multi-family homes provide cooling the same way they do heating. Heat waves and mirage create an impressionistic scene on Sierra Highway during a scorching day on Saturday, July 15, 2023. Cities are warmer than their surrounding areas, a phenomenon known as the urban heat island effect, and they need to be better designed to keep people cool, researchers say. They were designed 40 years ago when summer temperatures were much cooler,” Mark Wolfe said.

Persons: haven’t, ”, Mark Wolfe, hasn’t, ” Wolfe, Myung J, Chun, Rushad Nanavatty, National Weather Service hasn’t, Kelly Turner, “, Turner Organizations: New, New York CNN, National Energy Assistance, ’ Association, Southland, Los Angeles Times, RMI, Cool Coalition, United, US Department of Energy, Centers for Disease Control, Low Income, Energy Assistance, nonpayment, LIHEAP, CDC, National Weather Service, Solutions, UCLA, Environmental Protection Agency Locations: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, United Nations, Washington, DC, Arizona, Maricopa, Yuma, York City, Miami, Dade County

☆ Americans in most states will no longer receive Covid exposure notifications on phones
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Americans in most states will no longer receive Covid exposure notifications on their smartphones now that the U.S. public health emergency has ended. On Thursday, the organization said "the majority of states" stopped using the exposure notification system after the Biden administration ended the public health emergency on May 11. There is no clear tally of how many Americans activated the exposure notification feature on their phones or downloaded apps over the past three years. Despite these benefits, some Americans have been skeptical of the Covid exposure notification tools. State decisions to end Covid exposure notifications are part of a broader shift in how the country responds to the pandemic.

☆ Inside the germy, sneeze-filled meeting between Morgan Stanley's CEO and the Saudi crown prince at the onset of COVID-19
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Liz Hoffman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

James Gorman, CEO of Morgan Stanley, met with the Saudi crown prince at the onset of the pandemic. The young royal kept sneezing during the meeting — and Gorman's fear of a deadly pathogen began to grow. He was in the royal palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, seated to the right of the country's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. Given their recent experience with a deadly virus, Gorman took the caution of his Kuwaiti hosts as a sign that the West was underestimating the dangers of this one. And now, as Gorman chatted with the controversial 34-year-old crown prince about ways Saudi Arabia could diversify its economy and reduce its reliance on oil, the young royal kept sneezing.

☆ As child vaccine rates slip, local health officials fight misinformation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Lauren Sausser | Kaiser Health News | Lauren Sausser Covers Health Across The South As Part Of Khn'S Southern Bureau. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

So the Health Department conducted something called an online “sentiment search,” which gauges how certain words are perceived on social media. An analysis conducted by KHN and The Associated Press found local health department spending dropped by 18% per capita from 2010 to 2020. To that end, the health department has partnered with local leaders and groups to encourage vaccinations. — Phil Maytubby, Oklahoma city County health departmentThe more than 3,000 public health departments nationwide stand to benefit from a unified message, he said. In late 2020, the foundation, working with other public health groups, established the Public Health Communications Collaborative to amplify easy-to-understand information about vaccines.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday alerted the medical community to an increase in pediatric cases of invasive group A strep infections. The spike in invasive strep A was first detected in the U.S. in November, among children at a hospital in Colorado, the CDC said. NBC News reported last week that several children’s hospitals across the U.S. had detected increases in invasive group A strep infections. However, the overall number of invasive group A strep infections among children remains low and the condition is rare, according to the CDC. Generally, people over 65 and those with chronic illnesses are most susceptible to invasive strep infections.

☆ Philadelphia schools will require masks as U.S. COVID cases spike
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Philadelphia is among state and local agencies around the United States rolling out mask mandates or recommendations this month to fight a new surge in virus cases, which is expected to grow as Americans travel and socialize around the winter holidays. Health experts say the U.S. healthcare system is under strain because of a "tridemic" caused by COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). There is debate over the mandates' efficacy, as months of stringent public health rules early in the pandemic exacerbated the public's COVID fatigue and stoked political controversy. California's public health department on Thursday told Reuters it was urging people to wear masks, but stopping short of requiring them. While the political will to impose mask mandates may have waned, covering one's face remains the best way to avoid getting sick - and infecting others.

But just 31% of that group has gotten updated booster shots. Hospital physicians, state public health officials and advocacy groups for older adults pointed to a variety of factors fueling the low booster uptake. They include feelings of fatigue at the pace of Covid shots and a lack of awareness that the new booster could make the difference between a mild case and a hospital visit. Morell said she experienced dizziness, blurry eyesight and heart palpitations after her first Covid booster in November 2021. Wachter said the majority of people who have gotten the new booster get mild Covid, even if they’re older or have risk factors.

☆ Drug and alcohol deaths increasing among US adults 65 and older, CDC data shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Jacqueline Howard | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

In 2020, more than 5,000 adults 65 and older in the United States died of a drug overdose. Though drug overdose death rates for older adults tend to be lower than for other age groups – and made up just 0.2% of total deaths among adults 65 and older in 2020 – such deaths have been climbing. Between 2000 and 2020, the rates rose from 2.4 to 8.8 deaths per 100,000 people among adults 65 and older. Between 2000 and 2020, drug overdose deaths increased more among men than women, rising from 2.7 to 12.3 deaths per 100,000 men compared with 2.3 to 5.8 per 100,000 women. “Because of ageism, we typically do not think of older adults as having a substance use disorder nor do we think of older adults for being at-risk for a drug overdose.

☆ Measles is now an imminent global threat, WHO and CDC say in a new report
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Dana Varinsky | Dana Varinsky Is The Breaking Health News Editor For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Measles is one of the most contagious human viruses and is almost entirely preventable through vaccination. A record high of nearly 40 million children missed a measles vaccine dose in 2021 due to hurdles created by the Covid pandemic, the WHO and the CDC said in a joint report. While measles cases have not yet gone up dramatically compared to previous years, now is the time to act, the WHO’s measles lead, Dr. Patrick O’Connor, told Reuters. Last week, the public health department in Columbus, Ohio, reported a measles outbreak with 24 active cases, according to the NBC News affiliate WCMH. The new report estimates that in 2021, around 128,000 people died of measles worldwide.

Credible medical professionals are now able to apply for a special verification on YouTube, marking the video giant's latest effort to combat medical misinformation online. YouTube’s health product features were introduced last year but were only available to educational institutions, public health departments, hospitals and government entities. YouTube announced that health professionals can apply to have their accounts labeled an authoritative source. YouTube said it received guidance from nonprofit nongovernmental organization, the National Academy of Medicine, on how to verify credible medical professionals. The post did not specify what guidance it's using to verify medical professionals in the post.

☆ Fact Check-As of Oct. 20, no suspected or confirmed cases of Ebola in the U.S., officials say
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Chicago Public Health Department (CPHD) told Reuters that as of Oct. 20 “no suspected, probable, or confirmed cases of Ebola” had been reported in Chicago, contrary to claims online. Bert Kelly, a spokesperson for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also told Reuters that “there are no suspected Ebola cases in the U.S.” as of Oct. 20. Health authorities in Uganda confirmed an outbreak of the Sudan strain of Ebola on Sept. 20 (here). The Chicago Public Health Department told Reuters no “suspected, probable, or confirmed cases of Ebola” had been reported in Chicago as of Oct. 20. The U.S. CDC similarly said no suspected Ebola cases in the U.S. had been reported as of that date.

☆ Covid testing providers scale back despite worries of another winter surge
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-17 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Shannon-Pettypiece-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Shannon Pettypiece | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

“There are definitely manufacturers stepping back without full confidence there will be a government or any market for Covid tests,” said Aspinall. Companies making Covid tests, equipment and supplies have also seen a hefty drop in Covid-related sales. The Biden administration had aimed to provide some stability to the Covid testing market by purchasing a steady supply of Covid tests to send to Americans for free. But Congress has failed to pass a Covid spending package that included $2 billion for testing, and last month the White House said it was ending its free Covid testing program. Abbott saw its Covid testing revenue decline by 29% in the most recent quarter, though its sales nearly doubled over the past year.

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