East County News Service

August 15, 2019 (El Cajon) - August 28 at the Ronald Reagan Community Center in El Cajon is set for the East County Boomers & Seniors Expo.  It is free for the public and free parking is provided.

Informational speakers and health screenings are included.

August 14, 2019 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• A vaccine for skin cancer? Tel Aviv researchers say they have discovered one (Jerusalem Post)
• Ebola now curable after trials of drugs in DRC, say scientists (Guardian)
• New Treatments Could Be Powerful Weapons Against Brain Tumors (U.S. News)
• Planned Parenthood to exit federal family planning program Aug. 19 over abortion ‘gag rule’ if court does not act (Washington Post)

SCIENCE & TECH

• Amazon’s facial recocgnition mistakenly ID’d 1 in 5 Calif. lawmakers as criminals (Vice)
• Russian Land of Permafrost and Mammoths Is Thawing (New York Times)
• Why solar activity and cosmic rays can’t explain global warming (Forbes)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

August 8, 2019 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• FDA investigating 127 reports of seizures after vaping (CNBC)
• Are video games or mental illness causing America’s mass shootings? No, research shows (Washington Post)
• Is Juul bad for you? Doctors weigh in (CNet)
• Cancer patients are being denied drugs, even with doctor prescriptions and good insurance (Fresno Bee)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• Pentagon testing mass surveillance balloons across U.S (Guardian)
• Will taking down 8chan stop the worst people on the Internet? (Washington Post)
• 8chan vowed to fight on, saying its ‘heartbeat is strong.’ Then a tech firm knocked it offline. (Washington Post)
• 112-year-old fish has broken longevity record (National Geographic)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

Source: Grossmont Healthcare District

Photo:  Marlayna Bollinger, Executive Director Skinny Gene

August 8, 2019 (La Mesa) -- The Dr. William C. Herrick Community Health Care Library will host a talk on lifestyle change and diabetes prevention from 10 to 11 a.m., Wednesday, August 28, 2019, as part of its monthly "Wellness Wednesday" health education series.

By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

August 8, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) -- If you have ever been curious about the immunization levels at your child’s school or preschool ---wonder no longer.

Shots for School offers information on school requirements, what the immunization levels are, and more. Preschools, K-12, universities and more are addressed on the site:

Preschools: https://www.shotsforschool.org/child-care/how-doing/

Elementary (kindergartens): https://www.shotsforschool.org/k-12/how-doing/

Middle schools (7th grade) : https://www.shotsforschool.org/7th-grade/how-doing/

By Tom Christensen, County of San Diego Communications Office

August 7, 2019 (San Diego) - The first case of measles this year in San Diego County has been confirmed in an 11-month-old resident who had recently traveled to the Philippines, the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency announced Wednesday.

The unimmunized infant is currently hospitalized, but may have exposed others while seeking care at the following locations:

• Kaiser Permanente Otay Mesa Medical Offices, 4650 Palm Ave., San Diego, CA 92154 on the following dates and times: July 29 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Pediatric Clinic; August 4 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Pediatric Clinic, Urgent Care and Pharmacy; and August 5 from 4:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in the Pediatric Clinic.
•   Kaiser Permanente San Diego Medical Center, 9455 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., San Diego, CA 92123: August 5 from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. in the Emergency Department.

By Miriam Raftery

July 25, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) – Four overdose deaths have occurred in the past 24 hours in Lakeside, Santee, Poway and Valley Center due to a counterfeit oxycodone drug known as M-30.  The illicit blue pills known as M-30s contain fentanyl, so potent that a speck the size of a salt grain can kill you – or even just touching it. Users may swallow the pills or crush and smoke them.

San Diego Sheriff’s Narcotics and Gang Division responded to the four overdose deaths. Detectives are now working with first responders to learn if they have received any similar overdose calls. 

Anyone with information regarding this illegal drug operation is urged to call the anonymous Crime Stoppers tip line at (888) 580-8477 or the Sheriff's Department at (858) 565-5200.

East County News Service

July 19, 2019 (Washington D.C.) - At least 93 people have been sickened, including 20 patients hospitalized due to pig ear dog treats contaminated with salmonella. The illness can also sicken pets. 

July 18, 2019 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• As lawyers zero in on drug firms, a reckoning may be coming (Washington Post)
• Joe Biden unveils  his alternative to “Medicare for All” (Los Angeles Times)
• Ebola outbreak in Congo is a public health emergency of international concern, WHO says (CNN)
• Good gut bacteria helps starving children (BBC)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• FaceApp went viral with age-defying photos. Now Democratic leaders are warning campaigns to delete the Russian-created app ‘immediately’ (Washington Post)
• You downloaded FaceApp. Here’s what you’ve just done to your privacy. (Washington Post) 
• AT&T will soon block annoying robocalls (NBC 7)
• Facebook Hit With $5 Billion Privacy Settlement (Time)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

HEALTH

Source: County News Center

July 11, 2019 (San Diego) – As of July 10, 10 confirmed cases and one probable case have been reported in an outbreak of Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) that may be related to contact with animals at the San Diego County Fair. Three people were hospitalized and one child has died.  All of the patients who became ill had visited the fair on or before June 22, says county spokesman Tom Christensen. The first cases were reported June 28 and the animal exhibits were shut down for the final days of the fair, which ended July 4.

July 4, 2019 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Why you should learn mental health first aid (CNN)
• Facebook wants to limit the reach of bogus medical ‘cures’ by treating them like spam (Washington Post)
• AMA Abortion Lawsuit Puts Doctors In The Thick Of Debate (Kaiser Health News)
• Incarceration, falling incomes may play a role in the US opioid epidemic, study says (CNN)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• SpaceX faces daunting challenges if it’s going to win the internet space race (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• A vast water reservoir has been discovered deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean (NBC News)
• U.S. judge blocks Qualcomm effort to put antitrust ruling on hold

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

County News Service

Photo: Jeddediah King Cabezuela, 2, from a GoFundMe site set up to help his famliy.

June 28, 2019 (San Diego) – The San Diego County Fair has shut down public access to all animal exhibits and the petting zoo after four children were sickened with E.Coli and 2-year-old Jeddediah King Cabezuela died.

The County’s Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) confirms four pediatric cases of Shiga-toxin-producing E. Coli (STEC) linked to contact with animals at the Fair. HHSA Epidemiology Program and the County Department of Environmental Health (DEH) are investigating the cluster of four infections.