Becker's Hospital Review: Adventist Health Reveals 2 Credit Downgrades
Roseville, Calif.-based Adventist Health, a 26-hospital system, said it received recent bond downgrades from two agencies, according to an Oct. 23 filing. While Fitch Ratings downgraded a 2009-dated bond series long-term from "AA+" to "AA," the agency also downgraded its short-term rating for the bonds. S&P Global maintained its long-term rating for two separate Adventist bond series at "AA-" but downgraded the short-term grade. (Thomas, 10/23)

Becker's Hospital Review: Kaiser Permanente's New Era Of Patient Convenience
Narayanan Gopala, chief digital officer of Kaiser Permanente, based in Oakland, Calif., said the health system is enhancing its digital offerings for patients in a bid to make healthcare easier. Kaiser Permanente recently improved its digital check-in process, allowing patients to fill out pre-appointment forms and make copayments through their Kaiser app before arriving at the medical facility. (Diaz, 10/23)

CapRadio: Around 5% Of Sacramentans Have Received The New COVID Booster. Here’s How To If You Work During The Day.
Limited hours for some COVID-19 booster clinics and a lack of COVID-specific leave may be leaving people unvaccinated for longer as the winter approaches. Still, some resources still exist to help people get updated protection. This year’s COVID-19 booster began rolling out last month, and public health leaders on the state and local level are encouraging all people over 6 months old to get the monovalent booster and get their flu shot at the same time. (Wolffe, 10/24)

Nature: Inflammation In Severe COVID Linked To Excess Gut Fungi
An imbalance of fungi in the gut could contribute to excessive inflammation in people with severe COVID-19 or long COVID. A study found that individuals with severe disease had elevated levels of a fungus that can activate the immune system and induce long-lasting changes. The work, published on 23 October in Nature Immunology1, raises the possibility that antifungal treatment could provide some relief to people who are critically ill with COVID-19. (Prillaman, 10/23)

Nature: Anti-COVID Drug Accelerates Viral Evolution
Molnupiravir, an antiviral drug used to treat COVID-19, induces numerous mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 genome that can increase the rate at which the virus evolves — yielding viral variants that might survive and be passed on. (Pond and Martin, 10/24)

CIDRAP: Study: Kids With COVID Shed Virus For Median Of 3 Days, Supporting School-Isolation Policies
Children who tested positive for COVID-19 in 2022 were contagious for a median of 3 days, regardless of vaccination status, suggesting that 5-day school isolation policies are sufficient amid Omicron variant predominance, University of Southern California (USC) and Stanford University researchers report today in JAMA Pediatrics. The study included 76 children aged 7 to 18 years infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Los Angeles County from April to September 2022. (Van Beusekom, 10/23)

Stat: Covid Vaccine During Pregnancy Offers Infants Immunity For Up To 6 Months
The risks of severe neonatal morbidity, neonatal death, and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit were all significantly lower during the first month of birth in infants whose mothers were vaccinated against Covid-19, and protection against the virus continued for up to six months after birth, according to a new study published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics. (Balthazar, 10/23)

CNN: Next Season, You May Be Able To Take Your Flu Vaccine At Home 
The US Food and Drug Administration is reviewing an application for the nasal spray flu vaccine FluMist to be able to be self-administered at home, drugmaker AstraZeneca said Tuesday. The vaccine, the only nasal spray option against flu, has been on the market in the United States since 2003. AstraZeneca has asked the FDA to allow adults ages 18 to 49 to be able to give themselves the vaccine, or to give it to children as young as age 2, citing a “usability study” showing people can do it properly without a health care provider present. If approved, it would be the first flu vaccine cleared for self-administration. (Tirrell, 10/24)

CNN: Demand Outstrips Supply For Some Doses Of New Shot That Protects Babies Against RSV 
In the latest headache for parents hunting for a new shot to protect babies against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, this winter, the manufacturer says it has stopped taking orders for some doses because they are unable to keep up with “unprecedented demand.” (Goodman, 10/23)

Orange County Register: OC’s Homeless Population Wants Help, But Struggles With Access, New Survey Finds
Though most homeless people approached in a recent survey said they want help, they also said they aren’t getting access to it, according to a new report from the OC Office of Care Coordination. More than 600 people were asked about their living situation, community ties and their needs in the 76-question survey developed for the county agency by its Commission to End Homelessness and the nonprofit City Net. (Torres, 10/23)

Voice Of San Diego: As Homelessness Worsens, Cities Are Grappling With Their Response
For 17 years, an organization representing some of North County’s homeless shelters has managed to do what many public officials and homelessness experts only talk about: create a regional and collaborative response to homelessness. The Alliance for Regional Solutions is a network of North County cities that collectively contributes funding to homeless shelters in that part of the region. The cities give money to the Alliance each year, and those dollars get distributed to the shelters within the network. (Layne, 10/23)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Move-Ins Are Underway At Newest San Diego Safe Sleeping Site 
More than a dozen people have moved into San Diego’s second safe-sleeping site so far, with hundreds more likely on the way, as the city doubles down on legal camping amid increased encampment sweeps by police. (Nelson and Sisson, 10/23)

KQED: San Francisco RV Community Fears New Parking Rules Could Push Them Closer To Homelessness
Kiko Suarez struggled to afford living in the Bay Area until he got a decent deal on an RV. Since making it his home in January, the carpenter has slowly found his footing again, working construction jobs in San Jose. But, after months of parking his vehicle on Winston Drive behind Stonestown Mall in southwest San Francisco, Suarez could soon be forced out of the area and the community he’s helped build. (Johnson, 10/24)

EdSource: Debate Over Parental Rights Vs. Student Rights To Gender Identity Privacy Comes To Central Valley District 
The contentious discourse came to Clovis Unified not because of a proposed school board policy — as has been the case in other school districts, including Chino, Temecula, Anderson Union High, Murrieta Valley and Rocklin — but because of a Student Site Plan, an optional form that, some say, could undermine students’ right to privacy by outing them to their parents. The district says it uses the form to gauge students’ needs for access to facilities such as restrooms and locker rooms. (Thornton, 10/23)

The Coast News: Four Escondido Third Graders Hospitalized After Eating Cannabis Gummies
The county’s child services agency is evaluating an incident involving four third-grade students who were hospitalized after ingesting cannabis edibles on campus earlier this month. ... One of the students, a 9-year-old boy, had to remain in the hospital for several days following the incident. “Seeing my son that way is what shocked me so much,” the boy’s mother, Claudia Curiel, told NBC 7 in Spanish. “To see his whole body shaking, not being able to open his eyes, is something I would never forget.” (Nelson, 10/23)

Fresno Bee: Sacramento Teacher Arrested, Thrown In Jail During A Mental Health Crisis, Family Says 
A Sacramento teacher’s family is decrying criminal charges levied against the woman from actions — including threatening school officials — they say arose during a mental health crisis. (Desai, 10/23)

The Bakersfield Californian: Mobile Clinic Stops In Bakersfield As Part Of National Screening Tour 
Like many, for Corey Manos, it runs in the family. It’s not height. Nor an amassed estate of wealth. In the Manos family, as in so many others, diabetes is one of their binding traits. It’s one of the first conditions she mentioned inside the mobile clinic parked along Standard Street while waiting Monday for her two friends to get screened for kidney issues. (Donegan, 10/23)

Los Angeles Daily News: Using Ex-Inmates To Help People Who Were Just Released From County Jails Cuts Recidivism 
Through use of extensive wraparound services, an intensive Los Angeles County program reduced the number of released inmates who return to incarceration by 17% — results that are almost three times greater than similar programs throughout the state, a new study shows. (Scauzillo, 10/23)

The New York Times: Biden Administration Moves To Ban TCE, A Solvent Linked To Cancer
The Biden administration has proposed to ban all uses of trichloroethylene, an industrial solvent used in glues, other adhesives, spot removers and metal cleaners, saying exposure to even small amounts can cause cancer, damage to the central nervous system and other health effects. The proposed ban is the latest twist in a yearslong debate over whether to regulate trichloroethylene, commonly referred to as TCE. In its final weeks, the Obama administration tried to ban some uses of the chemical, only to have the Trump administration place it on an Environmental Protection Agency list for long-term consideration, a move that essentially suspended any action. Monday’s proposal goes further than the Obama-era plan by prohibiting all uses of TCE. (Friedman, 10/23)