Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
In California, Abortion Could Become a Constitutional Right. So Could Birth Control.
Proposition 1, the constitutional amendment that would enshrine abortion in California’s constitution, would also lock in a right that has gotten less attention: the right to “choose or refuse” contraception. (Rachel Bluth, )
‘Children Are Not Little Adults’ and Need Special Protection During Heat Waves
Public health experts say heat waves pose health risks for children, whose bodies may not be as effective at cooling and who rely on caretakers to prevent and notice the signs of heat-related illness. (Emmarie Huetteman, )
1 Dead In Outbreak Of Legionnaires’ Disease: A Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in California’s wine country has caused one death and nearly a dozen hospitalizations since mid-July, authorities said Wednesday. Read more from AP and The San Francisco Chronicle.
Covid Surge May Be Breaking In SoCal: An unusually long coronavirus surge appears to have peaked in Southern California, with new cases and hospitalization numbers finally starting to decline. Even so, the number of covid-positive patients in L.A. County’s intensive care units has not yet seen a sustained downward trend. Read more from the Orange County Register and Los Angeles Times. Scroll down for more pandemic updates.
Below, check out the roundup of California Healthline’s coverage. For today's national health news, read KHN's Morning Briefing.
More News From Across The State
Monkeypox Vaccines and Treatments
KQED:
'Stay On The Safer Side': A Look At The Long Wait To Get The Monkeypox Vaccine
Hundreds of people have lined up for multiple blocks every day this week to receive the monkeypox vaccine at a walk-in clinic at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (ZSFG), the city’s main public hospital. With California and the city of San Francisco declaring a public health emergency over the growing number of monkeypox cases, officials say more vaccine doses should be arriving soon. But demand is high and supply remains low. (Hossaini, Gonzalez and Federis, 8/3)
Stat:
With Monkeypox Vaccine In Demand, NIH To Test Ways To Stretch Supplies
As the monkeypox outbreak continues to grow, one thing seems abundantly clear. The global need for monkeypox vaccine outstrips the supply, and will likely continue to do so for quite some time. Scientists at the National Institutes of Health are getting ready to explore a possible work-around. They are putting the finishing touches on the design of a clinical trial to assess two methods of stretching available doses of Jynneos, the only vaccine in the United States approved for vaccination against monkeypox. (Branswell, 8/4)
The New York Times:
U.S. Could Have Had Many More Doses Of Monkeypox Vaccine This Year
The shortage of vaccines to combat a fast-growing monkeypox outbreak was caused in part because the Department of Health and Human Services failed early on to ask that bulk stocks of the vaccine it already owned be bottled for distribution, according to multiple administration officials familiar with the matter. By the time the federal government placed its orders, the vaccine’s Denmark-based manufacturer, Bavarian Nordic, had booked other clients and was unable to do the work for months, officials said — even though the federal government had invested well over $1 billion in the vaccine’s development. (LaFraniere, Weiland and Goldstein, 8/3)
ABC News:
Moderna Considering Creating An MRNA Monkeypox Vaccine Amid Growing Demand For Shots
Amid growing concerns over the potential threat of monkeypox, executives from Moderna said Wednesday they have initiated a research program to consider whether the company could create a monkeypox vaccine with mRNA technology. "We're obviously very aware of the monkeypox concern and obviously very sensitive to recent announcements," Moderna President Stephen Hoge said during an investor call. (Mitropoulos, 8/3)
Axios:
Alternate Monkeypox Treatment Caught In Regulatory Delays
Fears about shortages of monkeypox vaccine are focusing attention on the more than 1 million doses of a smallpox treatment in the Strategic National Stockpile that experts say could be an effective backup but that's hard to access. (Dreher, 8/4)
Stat:
Red Cross Beginning To Screen Blood Donors For Monkeypox
As monkeypox continues its relentless spread around the globe, organizations in the U.S. are taking steps to safeguard the nation’s blood supply. In addition to temperature checks that are part of standard health screens for prospective donors, the American Red Cross is now checking for the distinctive lesions that are a hallmark of the disease as part of routine arm examinations. And beginning in October, the Red Cross will require individuals who have been diagnosed with monkeypox or exposed to someone with a monkeypox infection to wait at least 21 days before giving blood. (Molteni, 8/3)
CIDRAP:
WHO: US Has Biggest Jump In Monkeypox Cases
In the last week of July, the United States saw the largest spike in cases, the WHO said. All told, 83 countries have reported 23,351 laboratory-confirmed cases. Together 10 countries account for 89% of the world's cases, including the United States (5,175 cases), Spain (4,298), Germany (2,677), the United Kingdom (2,546), France (1,955), Brazil (1,369), the Netherlands (879), Canada (803), Portugal (633), and Italy (479). (Soucheray, 8/3)
The New York Times:
Newsom Asks Hollywood To Stop Filming In Conservative States
Widening his attack on Republican states for their positions on guns, civil rights and abortion, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California on Wednesday called on Hollywood to “walk the walk” on liberal values by bringing back their film and television productions from states such as Georgia and Oklahoma. (Hubler, 8/3)
Los Angeles Times:
Powerful Photos Show Women's Bodies After Giving Birth
My body has changed forever, stretched in ways I’d never imagined since my two pregnancies. My hips have widened, my stomach is softer. There will always be a gap between my abdominal muscles. I have stretch marks, my first and only tattoos. My back aches and feels weaker than before. My boobs are smaller and softer. But my motherly evolution extends deeper than my skin; it’s also altered my mind, my perception of myself and the way I interact with the world. (Maxwell, 8/4)
Sacramento Bee:
Will California Keep Offering Health Care Plans At $10 A Month? It’s Up To Congress
Two out of every three California residents qualified this year for a health insurance premium of $10 or less through Covered California, but those rates will skyrocket next year without congressional action. It looks like U.S. legislators are about to vote on legislation that would extend the federal financial assistance that drastically lowered premiums last year and in 2022. The vast majority of enrollees received some sort of subsidy as a result of the American Rescue Plan, a 2021 federal law aimed at easing the economic pressures from the COVID-19 pandemic. That financial help is set to expire at the end of this year. (Lightman and Anderson, 8/4)
Voice of OC:
OC Spends A Third Of Mental Health Outreach Money On Sports Teams: Is It Working?
A bulk of Orange County’s funds intended for mental health awareness and outreach is going to two professional sports teams, yet it’s unclear what the multimillion dollar contracts have produced. In the last five months, OC Supervisors have signed contracts that brought the total spent on the Anaheim Ducks’ and Los Angeles Angels’ sports advertising campaigns to just under $14.5 million. (Biesiada, 8/4)
Sacramento Bee:
Lung Cancer Leads Cancer Deaths In California
In California and across the country, more people are likely to die from lung cancer than any other cancer, the American Lung Association states in an August press release, as wildfire season is in full swing. The organization estimated that more than 17,000 people in California will be diagnosed with lung cancer in 2022 and more than 9,600 will die from the disease. (Truong, 8/4)
Sacramento Bee:
First Human West Nile Virus Case Of 2022 Detected In Sacramento Area. What To Know
A human case of West Nile virus has been detected in Yolo County, local health officials announced Wednesday morning. It is the first human case of the disease reported in the Sacramento area this year. The patient became ill last month and is recovering, county officials said in a news release. (McGough, 8/3)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Toxic Algae In Northern California's Clear Lake Affecting Water
County, health, and tribal officials urged Lake County residents and tourists — and especially those who get their water from Clear Lake — to be extra vigilant when getting near the water, and to report any unusual medical symptoms to their doctors and the county. (Vainshtein, 8/2)
Times Of San Diego:
'Walking Miracles' At Transplant Games Show World Organs Don't Go To Waste
Shaleen Martel had important news in 2019. Her father figured she was going to announce a second pregnancy. Instead she asked him to open a box in front of her extended family. Inside was a small plush kidney with a message: I’m a donor match. Martel dismissed doctor’s advice that she couldn’t donate a kidney to her father who had been on dialysis for 22 months. Two months after the announcement, Gerald Wayman received his daughter’s kidney near Father’s Day. Tuesday, Wayman, 59, was resting between shot put throws at the track and field competition of the Transplant Games at UC San Diego. Her daughter had just finished first in her 100-meter dash heat. This was his third Transplant Games. (Stone, 8/4)
San Francisco Chronicle:
She Was Born On A S.F. Street Corner, Delivered By A ‘Random Dude.’ 30 Years Later, They Finally Met
Up until Wednesday morning, Patrick Combs had not seen Searcy Hughes since the day she was born, June 29, 1988, an occasion noted on the front page of the next morning’s Chronicle. “S.F. student delivers baby on sidewalk on his way to work” was the headline. (Whiting, 8/3)
CNN:
CDC Expected To Ease Covid-19 Recommendations, Including For Schools, As Soon As This Week
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to update its guidance for Covid-19 control in the community, including in schools, in the coming days, according to sources familiar with the plan. (Goodman and Cohen, 8/3)
Stat:
Covid Has Settled Into A Persistent Pattern — And Remains Damaging. It May Not Change Anytime Soon
Our tussle with Covid-19 — after a harrowing introduction and then wave upon wave of infections — seems to have settled into a persistent pattern. It may stay that way for a while. (Joseph, 8/4)
The Wall Street Journal:
Eli Lilly’s Covid-19 Antibody Treatment To Be Sold Commercially
Eli Lilly & Co. said it plans to begin commercial sales of its Covid-19 monoclonal antibody treatment to states, hospitals and other healthcare providers this month, as the federal government’s supply of the drug is nearly depleted. The move marks a shift away from the way Lilly’s drug and most other Covid-19 treatments and vaccines have been distributed in the U.S. It will likely be the first test of whether the vaccines and treatments would remain accessible if shifted to a commercial market. (Armour and Loftus, 8/3)