Bay Area News Group: Will COVID, Flu, RSV Be An Uninvited Guest At Your Thanksgiving Table?
We’re heading into our third COVID Thanksgiving, but for the first time since the pandemic started we’re thinking more about turkey, Black Friday and football than a killer virus. Google search traffic says so. (Rowan, 11/21)

CIDRAP: Flu Rises To High Levels Across Most Of US
Flu activity is at high or very high levels in 30 states as the nation approaches the Thanksgiving holiday, with H3N2 still dominant but with a growing percentage of 2009 H1N1 viruses, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said [Friday] in its weekly update. (11/18)

NBC News: How Bad Is Flu? CDC Reports Most Of The U.S. With High Or Very High Flu Levels
Influenza continues its fast and furious spread across the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday. 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. (Edwards, 11/18)

Fox News: RSV Surge Raises Questions About Repeat Cases: Can You Or Child Get It Again?
As respiratory syncytial virus, otherwise known as RSV, continues to surge across the United States, experts warn it’s possible people can be infected with it more than once. Dr. Aaron Glatt, chief of infectious diseases at Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital on Long Island, New York, told Fox News Digital this week, "A person can get RSV more than once in their lifetime." (Sudhakar, 11/19)

The Washington Post: RSV Vs. Flu Vs. Covid-19 — What’s The Difference? 
Cases of covid, flu and RSV are colliding, keeping kids home from school, straining hospital systems and prompting worries about a potential “tripledemic.” Cases of respiratory syncytial virus, known as RSV, have surged, the flu season has come early, and covid-19 cases are beginning to rise. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 5.8 percent of outpatient visits now are due to respiratory illnesses whose symptoms include fever plus a cough or sore throat, well above the normal baseline of 2.5 percent. (Amenabar, 11/18)

CNBC: Pfizer Says Omicron Booster Is Better Against New Subvariants Like BQ.1.1 Than Old Shots
Pfizer said its omicron booster triggers a stronger immune response against a number of emerging Covid subvariants circulating in the U.S. The booster triggered more antibodies against omicron sublineages BQ.1.1, BA.4.6, BA.2.75.2 and XBB.1 in adults older than 55 compared with a fourth dose of the original vaccines, according to new data released by the company on Friday. Antibodies are a key part of the immune system that block the virus from invading cells. (Kimball, 11/18)

KVPR: How Monoclonal Antibodies Lost The Fight With New COVID Variants
Monoclonal antibodies were once the star of COVID-19 outpatient treatments. Since they first became available in 2020 – even before the first vaccines – more than 3.5 million infusions of the factory-grown proteins have been given to patients in the U.S. to help reduce risk of hospitalization. But one by one, different monoclonal treatments have lost their efficacy against new variants of the coronavirus. The rise of Paxlovid antiviral pills earlier this year, further dented their appeal. (Huang, 11/20)

The Washington Post: Scientists Working To Develop New Lab-Made Antibodies To Fight Covid 
In the evolutionary chess match between the coronavirus and humans, scientists’ next move can’t come soon enough for the millions of Americans relying on treatments known as monoclonal antibodies. These lab-made therapies are rapidly losing their healing power, forcing researchers around the world to devise new antibodies that are both more potent and more resistant to new variants. (Johnson, 11/21)

East Bay Times: Pulse Oximeter May Lead To 4.5 Hour Treatment Delays For Black Patients
For years a growing chorus of research has suggested that pulse oximeters, the clip-on blood oxygen measurement tool made ubiquitous by the COVID-19 pandemic, can produce inaccurate readings in darker-skinned patients. (Hattis, 11/21)

CIDRAP: Study Describes Monkeypox In Women; CDC Warns Of Tpoxx Resistance
The first global case study of monkeypox in female patients suggests that as much as 25% of infections in women are not linked to sexual transmission. ... [And on Thursday], the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sent a Health Alert Network notice to health providers about two cases of Tpoxx resistance in people treated for monkeypox. Both had underlying immunocompromising conditions. (11/18)

Fierce Biotech: FDA Grants 3rd Monkeypox Test Authorization To Roche As Cases Decline
The FDA granted its third emergency authorization for a clinical monkeypox diagnostic to a high-throughput molecular lab test developed by Roche. The latest green light follows an October authorization handed to Abbott and its PCR test as well as one in September given to Quest Diagnostics. (Hale, 11/18)

The Bakersfield Californian: Covered California Urges Kern Residents To Sign Up For Health Care Amid Increased Financial Help 
Roughly 120,000 people who reside in eastern Kern County and throughout the Central Valley don’t have health care, and California’s main health insurance marketplace kicked off a virtual campaign Friday in Bakersfield to motivate these people to sign up for coverage. (Desai, 11/18)

Becker's Hospital Review: California Hospital Confirms IT Security Incident
Banning, Calif.-based San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital said a cybersecurity incident disrupted its IT operations. The hospital discovered the incident Nov. 10 and got patient care operations back functioning normally Nov. 18, a spokesperson emailed Becker's. The hospital said it is still investigating what data was impacted by the event and will notify patients once it finds out. (Bruce, 11/18)

Becker's Hospital Review: Two Deaths Possibly Tied To Flawed Oracle Cerner VA EHR Rollout, House Members Say
Three members of Congress wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs expressing concerns that the problematic rollout of the Oracle Cerner EHR at the agency could have played a role in the deaths of two veterans. U.S. Reps. Mike Bost, R-Ill., Mike Carey, R-Ohio, and Troy Balderson, R-Ohio, said they had "grave concerns" after visiting the Chalmers P. Wylie VA Ambulatory Care Center in Columbus, Ohio. (Bruce, 11/18)

Military Times: Did VA’s Health Records Problems Cause Two Patient Deaths In Ohio?
In the first case, a veteran connected to the medical center in Columbus, who was prescribed an antibiotic after a hospital visit, never received the medication because “the electronic health record provided erroneous tracking information for the prescription.” The veteran later died of medical complications. Lawmakers said In the second case, a veteran missed a regular medical check-up but that information was not properly transferred into the new system. As a result, “no outreach was attempted to reschedule the appointment.” The man showed up several months later at the medical center suffering from alcohol withdrawal symptoms, and died a few days later. (Shane III, 11/16)

AP: No More Mad Cow Worries, Banned Blood Donors Can Give Again 
U.S. Army veteran Matt Schermerhorn couldn’t give blood for years because he was stationed in Europe during a deadly mad cow disease scare there. Now, he’s proud to be back in the donor’s chair. Schermerhorn, 58, is among thousands of people, including current and former military members, who have returned to blood donation centers across the country after federal health officials lifted a ban that stood for more than two decades. (Aleccia, 11/20)

Voice of OC: Disabled Voters Mobilized This Midterm Election
Disabled people experience systemic inaccessibility throughout the voting process. Yet, undeterred by the immense challenges, disabled voters brave barriers at the ballot box in order to exercise their right to vote. In early October, mail ballots were delivered to millions of registered voters in California. A result of the COVID-19 pandemic, this gave voters the convenience to vote from home. For many disabled people, this was an accessible and convenient way to vote.  (Duran, 11/21)

The Bakersfield Californian: Houchin: Donate Blood During Thanksgiving Week, Open Mystery Box 
Houchin Community Blood Bank is asking people to donate blood, platelets or plasma during Thanksgiving week, Monday through Saturday, when successful donors can pick a mystery box and have a chance to win up to $500. (11/19)

San Francisco Chronicle: East Bay Organization Led By Black Millennials Fights Food Insecurity, One Grocery Bag At A Time
According to the Alameda County Community Food Bank, 1 in 4 residents don’t have enough food to eat, compared to 1 in 5 prior to March 2020, or before the pandemic. Experts say that food insecurity isn’t just an issue of access because there is more than enough food and resources to go around. The issue is the uneven distribution of those resources. (Narayan, 11/20)

Los Angeles Daily News: Senior Living: Seniors Are Eligible For Life-Saving Lung Screenings
Medicare recently changed the age eligibility for lung cancer screenings from 55 to 50 to help people find cancer even earlier. This now allows people in their early 50s, who are former smokers, a chance to get screened sooner to catch any potential cancer. (Campuzano, 11/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: Newsom Will Release Withheld Homelessness Funds For Cities That Agree To More Aggressive Plans
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office says $1 billion in homeless funding that he announced he was withholding earlier this month could start flowing next week for local governments that agree to move more aggressively to get people off the streets. City and county leaders from across California convened with administration officials in downtown Sacramento on Friday to discuss their plans. (Bollag, 11/18)