Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
California’s Proposed Flavored Tobacco Ban Gives Hookah a Pass
Californians will decide Nov. 8 whether to approve a statewide ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes. But the measure, known as Proposition 31, exempts hookah tobacco. Anti-smoking activists criticize the carve-out, calling it the latest example of businesses using identity politics to profit from a deadly product. (Rachel Scheier, )
LA Cracks Down On Misrepresentation At Pregnancy Centers: The Los Angeles City Council approved an ordinance Tuesday that prohibits any crisis pregnancy center from misrepresenting the health services it performs, including abortion, and provides individuals legal recourse if they are misled. Read more from the Los Angeles Times.
San Diego Reports TB Cases At 2 High Schools Earlier This Year: San Diego County is working with two school districts to notify people who might have been exposed to tuberculosis earlier this year at Mission Bay and Montgomery high schools. TB infections were also recently reported at two Sacramento high schools. Read more from Times of San Diego.
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
San Francisco Chronicle:
Santa Clara County Health Officer Warns Of “Grandchildren Of Omicron”
Wastewater data shows that COVID-19 transmission levels are higher than official case counts indicate in Santa Clara County, health officials told the board of supervisors Tuesday. “It looks to the casual observer that we’re in pretty good shape because we’re between waves and it’s gone lower,” said Dr. Sara Cody, the county health officer, but added that data from the sewer sheds covering 75% of the population showed substantially higher virus levels in circulation. (Vaziri, Buchmann and Asimov, 11/2)
Los Angeles Daily News:
COVID-19 Hospitalizations Rise Again In LA County
The number of COVID-19-positive patients in Los Angeles County hospitals rose again on Wednesday, Nov. 2, with state figures showing the figure again rising above 400. (11/2)
Los Angeles Times:
Are The Unvaccinated Still A Danger To The Rest Of Us?
For almost two years, COVID-19 vaccine holdouts have been the objects of earnest pleading and financial inducements, of social-media shaming and truth campaigns. They’ve missed weddings, birthday celebrations and recitals, and even forfeited high-stakes athletic competitions. Until last month, they were barred from entering the United States and more than 100 other countries. Now the unvaccinated are suddenly back in the mix. They’re dining in restaurants, rocking out at music festivals and filling the stands at sporting venues. (Healy, 11/3)
Voice Of San Diego:
Regulators Raided Three Preschools Over Mask Complaints Earlier This Year. Now They’ve Dropped The Charges
The owners of Aspen Leaf Preschools in San Diego were always clear: They did not require students at any of their facilities to wear masks, despite a statewide mask mandate that existed at the time. State regulators knew this. They had already seen children not masking and the preschools’ owners never tried to hide their policy. ... Recently, state officials quietly validated the notion that perhaps they went too far. They dropped each of the citations levied against the owners of Aspen Leaf. (Huntsberry, 11/2)
CNN:
CDC Wants To Change 'Antiquated' Rules That Hamper Agency's Ability To Fight Covid, Polio And Other Diseases
This summer, when the shocking news emerged that there was a case of polio in New York, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention immediately turned to Shoshana Bernstein. (Cohen, 11/2)
Times Of San Diego:
San Diego/Tijuana Artist's Portrait Of Anthony Fauci Chosen For National Portrait Gallery
A stop-motion drawing animation of Dr. Anthony Fauci by San Diego/Tijuana artist Hugo Crosthwaite has been selected to appear in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington. The portrait is one of six honoring “extraordinary individuals who have made transformative contributions to the United States and its people” as part of the 2022 Portrait of a Nation Awards. (Jennewein, 11/2)
Fresno Bee:
What Is RSV And How Does It Show In Kids? CA Doctor Answers
RSV is surging and some parents might be dealing with it for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began. In California, the numbers of both antigen and PCR positive tests are higher than last year during the peak season in December, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Pinedo, 11/2)
Modesto Bee:
Virus, Posing Danger To Infants, Spreads In Stanislaus Area
A seasonal respiratory virus that can be a danger to infants has surfaced early in the Northern San Joaquin Valley. Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, may cause bronchial infections and pneumonia in babies, according to a California Department of Public Health advisory. (Carlson, 11/2)
The Washington Post:
High Demand For Amoxicillin Is Causing Shortages Amid Child RSV Surge
As respiratory illnesses spread rapidly among children across the country, an increased demand for amoxicillin is causing a shortage of the commonly prescribed antibiotic. Parents filling their kids’ prescriptions may have to try a few pharmacies or end up with a different strength or form than originally prescribed, but amoxicillin in some form is generally still available, pharmacists said. The supply of the liquid version is most strained, along with some chewable tablets. (McDaniel, 11/2)
Reuters:
'Considerable' Monkeypox Transmission Happens Before Symptoms, Study Suggests
Monkeypox can spread before symptoms appear, British researchers said on Wednesday, providing the first evidence indicating the virus can be transmitted this way. It was previously thought that monkeypox was almost entirely spread by people who were already sick, although pre-symptomatic transmission had not been ruled out and some routine screening had picked up cases without symptoms. (Rigby, 11/3)
Sky News:
Monkeypox Transmission Occurs Up To Four Days Before Symptoms Appear, Scientists Find
Researchers looked at the time it took from when first symptoms occurred in the first patient to when symptoms developed in a second patient, and also looked at the incubation period - the time from exposure to the virus to the onset of symptoms. The findings showed four days was the maximum time that transmission was detected before symptoms appeared. (Osborne, 11/2)
NBC News:
Monkeypox Spread: People May Have Transmitted Cases Before Symptoms Or Lesions Developed
The study examined more than 2,700 people with monkeypox in the U.K. from May 6 to Aug. 1. The researchers were able to link 13 of those cases to the people they infected. Ten pairs showed evidence of pre-symptomatic transmission, meaning the first patient spread the virus to the second before the first felt sick or had developed lesions. (Bendix, 11/2)
The Hill:
HHS Renews Public Health Emergency For Monkeypox Outbreak
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Wednesday renewed the national public health emergency for the monkeypox outbreak, with officials stating that the virus is still very present in the U.S. even as cases continue to drop. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra cited the “continued consequences of an outbreak of monkeypox cases across multiple states” as well as a “consultation with public health officials” for his decision to renew the public health emergency. (Choi, 11/2)
CIDRAP:
Meta-Analysis Suggests 14% Hospitalization Rate For Monkeypox Patients
A new study published in eClinicalMedicine analyzed 19 studies on monkeypox, which included 7,553 reported cases, among which there were 555 hospitalizations. The meta-analysis suggests monkeypox patients have a 14.1% hospitalization rate. (11/2)
The 19th:
Election 2022: Abortion Rights Are On Ballots In A Record Number Of States
Voters in California, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana and Vermont are weighing in on abortion ballot measures — a total that, when combined with this summer’s vote in Kansas, sets a record for the most abortion initiatives in a single election year. (Luthra, 11/2)
NPR:
Misinformation About Abortion Is Surging In Spanish In The Lead Up To Elections
Just after news leaked in May that the Supreme Court planned to overturn Roe v. Wade, Liz Lebrón and her colleagues noticed something unusual: a spike in false and misleading information on abortion being shared in Spanish on social media. (Godoy, 11/3)
AP:
Abortion-Rights Protesters Briefly Interrupt Supreme Court
Protesters opposed to the Supreme Court’s decision overturning abortion rights briefly interrupted arguments at the court Wednesday and urged women to vote in next week’s elections. It was the first courtroom disruption since the court’s decision in June that stripped away women’s constitutional protections for abortion after nearly a half-century under Roe v. Wade. (11/2)
Los Angeles Times:
New L.A. County Buildings Must Have All-Gender Restrooms
Los Angeles County supervisors voted Tuesday to require county facilities to provide single-occupant, all-gender bathrooms. The policy requires that the bathrooms be included in all newly constructed, renovated or leased L.A. County buildings. (Martinez, 11/2)
MediaNews, Vallejo Times-Herald:
Santa Cruz Hospital Responds To Worst-Case Scenario After Hoax
While a massive law enforcement presence converged on the Santa Cruz High School campus last week for what turned out to be a hoax school shooting report, a similar response played out at an emergency room 4 miles away. (York, 11/3)
Los Angeles Times:
Fentanyl Pill Seizures In L.A. Region Skyrocket
Seizures of fentanyl-laced pills have more than quadrupled so far this year across four Southern California counties compared to last year, an increase that authorities said Tuesday underscores their efforts to keep pace with the continuing influx of the drug into the region. (Jany, 1/2)
KQED:
Oakland Environmental Group Sues City Over Rubber-Stamp Approvals Of Indoor Pot Farms
An Oakland environmental justice group has filed suit against the city for allegedly issuing rubber-stamp approvals for indoor cannabis growing operations without conducting state-mandated reviews of their potential for polluting air and water and harming human health. In a complaint filed October 21 in Alameda County Superior Court, the Environmental Democracy Project charges the city with having exempted more than 200 indoor pot grows from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, without any analysis of their effects. (Brekke, 11/2)
CNN:
Severe Depression Eased By Single Dose Of Synthetic ‘Magic Mushroom’
A single dose of a synthetic version of the mind-altering component of magic mushrooms, psilocybin, improved depression in people with a treatment-resistant form of the disease, a new study found. The randomized, double-blind clinical trial, which authors called “the largest of its kind,” compared results of a 25-milligram dose to a 10-milligram and 1-milligram dose of a synthetic psilocybin, COMP360, that was administered in the presence of trained therapists. (LaMotte, 11/2)
AP:
Psychedelic 'Magic Mushroom' Drug May Ease Some Depression
The psychedelic chemical in “magic mushrooms” may ease depression in some hard-to-treat patients, a preliminary study found. The effects were modest and waned over time but they occurred with a single experimental dose in people who previously had gotten little relief from standard antidepressants. (Tanner, 11/2)
Stat:
Enthusiasm Over Psilocybin Tempered By Durability Question
The hype around psychedelic therapy has been put to the test, with the publication Wednesday of the largest-ever study of psilocybin to treat depression. The Phase 2 trial found that the drug was effective — it reduced or eliminated symptoms in the short term in more than one-third of patients who took the highest dose — but not as dazzlingly powerful as earlier smaller studies had suggested. (Goldhill, 11/2)
Stat:
Weight-Loss Drug Had Dramatic Effect In Adolescents With Obesity
A blockbuster weight-loss medicine led to dramatic effects for adolescents diagnosed with obesity, a result that will likely widen the use of an in-demand drug — and fan a debate over whether someone’s body weight should be treated as a disease. (Garde, 11/2)
Axios:
TikTok: Study Finds Trends On TikTok Glorify Weight Loss
Health and dieting trends on TikTok glorify weight loss and may contribute to disordered eating behaviors and body dissatisfaction, particularly in adolescent and young users, according to a University of Vermont study published Tuesday in the journal PLOS One. (11/2)