Latest From California Healthline:
KFF Health News Original Stories
Parents Become Drug Developers to Save Their Children’s Lives
Families affected by ultra-rare diseases are starting their own companies to speed the development of treatments for their kids, venturing into territory that traditional drugmakers deem too risky. (Jared Whitlock, 7/21)
USC Researchers ID Possible Risk Factors For Long Covid: A new study from USC researchers suggests that covid patients who reported sore throats, headaches, and hair loss after testing positive were more likely to have long covid symptoms months later. Read more from the Los Angeles Times. Meanwhile, UC San Diego researchers have found that long covid shares origins with other scarring lung diseases. Read more from Times of San Diego.
‘Yellow Fever Mosquitoes’ Found In Placer County: Placer County officials detected an invasive Aedes aegypti mosquito in a Granite Park neighborhood last week and are now implementing a response plan in hopes of stopping the mosquitoes’ spread. The mosquitoes are known to spread viruses such as Zika, yellow fever, dengue, and chikungunya. Read more from The Sacramento Bee.
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
Voice of OC:
Latest COVID Wave Grips Orange County, Hospitalizations Stay Low For Now
Orange County residents find themselves in the midst of another COVID-19 wave, largely fueled by new Omicron sub variants that are much more contagious than previous strains. But, local experts say, the county is in a much better position to handle the new wave of cases thanks to increased vaccination rates, the availability of anti-viral medication to treat infections and some signs the new Omicron strains – BA.4 and BA. 5 – can potentially cause less severe illness. (Custodio, 7/20)
Los Angeles Times:
'I’m Over It.' Many In L.A. Shrug Off COVID-19 Wave Despite Super-Infectious Subvariants
There was a time during the pandemic when the scene at Westfield Valencia Town Center in Santa Clarita would have evoked gasps and much scolding. As summertime temperatures flirted with 100 degrees this week, families and teenagers crowded into the indoor mall, soothed by its air conditioning. But there was nary a mask in sight, even though coronavirus infections are skyrocketing because of the ultra-infectious Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5. (Schneid, Pérez-Moreno and Branson-Potts, 7/21)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Study: Asian Residents More Likely To Be Hospitalized With COVID Than Others In Bay Area
Asian residents in the Bay Area were more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 in 2020 than any other racial or ethnic group, and the heightened risk cannot be fully explained by socioeconomic factors or medical conditions, according to newly published research. Asians were the only racial or ethnic group among those included in the study — Asian, Black, Hispanic and white residents — for whom factors such as age, income, health insurance status and medical co-morbidities did not fully explain the higher risk of hospitalization, the study published Tuesday in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities found. (Ho, 7/19)
San Francisco Chronicle:
SF Mayor Breed Demands More Monkeypox Vaccines As Cases Surge
San Francisco Mayor London Breed is imploring federal health officials to ramp up monkeypox vaccine distribution as the city sees a sharp spike in cases. With the line at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General monkeypox clinic stretching around the block on Wednesday morning, Breed said she sent a letter to federal health officials requesting more doses of Jynneos. (Vaziri, 7/20)
Bay Area News Group:
‘We Want To Stop The Virus’: Monkeypox Shots Still Limited As Cases Grow
Monkeypox cases have roughly doubled in some Bay Area counties in the last week as anxious residents snap up the limited supply of vaccine and many others are turned away. (Greschler, 7/20)
Los Angeles Times:
Post-Roe Bill To Codify Same-Sex Marriage Could Pass Senate
In an unexpected consequence of the Supreme Court’s reversal of the Roe vs. Wade decision, Congress may be poised to codify same-sex marriage rights. Fearful that the rollback of abortion rights is merely a precursor to the reversal of other major Supreme Court decisions protecting same-sex marriage and the use of contraception, Democrats are pushing bills that would enshrine both into law. (Habercorn, 7/20)
Los Angeles Times:
This Clinic Is Now A Refuge For Arizonans Seeking Abortions
On a recent Monday afternoon, all the abortion appointments at Planned Parenthood-Imperial Valley Health Center were already booked up for the week. Vivian Perez, an office manager at the center, had already clocked in a 12-hour day, but she remained in the office tinkering with the schedule. She’d received a desperate call from the San Diego call center, which helps with scheduling. (Carcamo, 7/20)
Voice Of San Diego:
San Diego's Abortion History: From Pre-'Pro-Life' Reagan To A Clinic Bombing Plot
In 1967, almost all abortion was illegal in California. Being a Republican or Democrat had nothing to do with which side you were on, the state’s highest judges were quiet on the matter, and foes of abortion were more likely to oppose war than advocate violence. Then the landscape shifted. Major players included a governor who’d become a conservative Republican president, a landmark state court case with ties to the San Diego region, and members of a fundamentalist Santee church who transformed into domestic terrorists. (Dotinga, 7/21)
New York Times:
Woman Posing As Nurse Tried To Steal Baby From Southern California Hospital, Authorities Say
A California woman was arrested on kidnapping and child-stealing charges after she posed as a nurse, gained access to a hospital maternity ward and tried to steal a baby from a patient’s room, authorities said. (Diaz, 7/20)
Modesto Bee:
Medicare Health Insurance Plan Canceled In Stanislaus County
Many seniors in Stanislaus County are faced with losing their insurance coverage Aug. 1 because of the financial troubles of a Medicare health plan. The Golden State Medicare Health Plan sent letters near the end of June notifying members its contract with Medicare was being mutually terminated effective Aug. 1. (Carlson, 7/21)
San Francisco Public Press:
California Has New Rules For Uber, Lyft To Reduce Assaults
Nine years after becoming the first agency in the nation to legalize ride-hailing — and after thousands of publicized sexual assaults on Uber and Lyft rides — the California Public Utilities Commission for the first time is requiring the industry to adopt comprehensive measures to prevent such attacks. (Rosenfeld, 7/20)
Los Angeles Times:
Bill Will Track Some Sexually Violent Offenders With GPS
Law enforcement groups and criminal justice reformers are at odds over a bill signed Tuesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom that will allow the state to keep tabs on certain “sexually violent predators” through the Global Positioning System. Lawmakers passed AB 1641 with an overwhelming majority in both the Assembly and Senate. Authored by Assembly member Brian Maienschein (D-San Diego), the bill will require such predators to be monitored while on a conditional release program from rehabilitation programs. (Sosa, 7/20)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Water At Some Of Bakersfield’s Most Popular Parks Almost Gone
The city of Bakersfield Water Resources Department has cut off flows to city-owned recreation and recharge facilities to hold on to what little surface water it’s receiving from the dwindling Kern River for drinking water, according to Daniel Maldonado, a water planner with the department. (Henry, 7/20)
Voice of OC:
Huntington Beach Running Out Of Time To Ask Voters If They Want Cannabis Shops
It remains unclear if Huntington Beach voters will be able to decide if they want a limited number of cannabis shops in Surf City after the city council delayed a November ballot proposal in an effort to do more community outreach. “As a resident, I’d never like to be blindsided, and right now we’ve had one town hall and one study session,” Councilwoman Kim Carr said at Tuesday’s council meeting. (Hicks, 7/20)