By Tom Christensen, County of San Diego Communications Office

August 28, 2017  (San Diego) -- The ongoing hepatitis A outbreak in San Diego County has claimed 14 lives and hospitalized 264 people among the reported 352 cases.

Approximately 70 percent of the cases have been among people who are homeless, use illicit drugs or a combination of those two factors.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: U.S. Centers for Disease Control

August 26, 2017 (San Diego) – Live worms have been found in packages of salmon sold at multiple Costco stores in San Diego County, 10 News reports.  The report does not name the type of worm, however, CNN reports that Japanese tapeworms are now being found in wild Alaskan salmon and could be in salmon caught anywhere along the Pacific Coast.

Other types of fish can also carry tapeworms or different parasites, so health experts advise to eat only frozen or thoroughly cooked fish in order to destroy worms and larvae.   Tapeworms cause infection and sometimes serious problems if consumed by humans in raw fish such as Sushi, smoked or marinated fish such as in Ceviche, the College of Medical Physicians Canada warns.

By José A. Álvarez, County of San Diego Communications Office

August 18, 2017 (San Diego's East County) - The County of San Diego is studying how to improve access to and quality of emergency medical services provided in San Diego County’s backcountry, which includes rural and desert communities.

August 16, 2017 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Trump declares opioid pain drugs national emergency (BBC)
• End of U.S. payments to health insurers would cause premiums to rise: CBO (Reuters)
• Vitamin B-3 may prevent miscarriages and birth defects, study says (BBC)
• Marijuana use holds three-fold blood pressure death risk (Reuters)
• San Diego Scientists Tweak Gene Editing Tool to Target RNA (KPBS)
• UCSD: Desert plant could treat giardia and ‘brain-eating’ amoeba infections (Times of San Diego)
• Surgery waiting numbers highest in decade, says NHS England (BBC)
• 'Fat but fit' still risk heart disease (BBC)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

•  Scripps Research Institute ranked first worldwide in science (SD Union-Tribune)
• U.S. court rejects Obama-era plan to eliminate some potent planet warming chemicals Science)
• Forget Tough Passwords: New Guidelines Make It Simple (NPR)
• First ‘winged’ mammals flew over dinosaurs (BBC)
• Antarctica home to considerably more volcanoes than previously thought (Verge)
• Who owns the seeds bought by farmers and gardeners? (Marketplace)
• U.S. firm reveals gun-toting drone that can aim and fire in mid-air (BBC)
• Chinese quantum satellite sends 'unbreakable' code (Reuters)

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

East County News Service

August 11, 2017 (La Mesa) – The Grossmont Healthcare District (GHD) recently hosted graduation ceremonies for 15 high school students who spent the month of July interning at Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa as part of the Grossmont Union High School District’s (GUHSD) Healthcare Exploration Summer Institute (HESI) 2017 program. The ceremonies featured the students presenting about their experiences at the hospital.

By Rachel Williams

August 7, 2017 (El Cajon) -- Medical handouts, translated to English and Arabic, are strewn across the table at St. John’s Church for Syrian and Afghan refugees. Health organizations around San Diego participated in an educational meet and greet to introduce the differences in urgent and emergency care, proper nutrition and disease prevention.

By Miriam Raftery

August 2, 2017 (Sacramento) – Covered California premiums are slated to rise 12.5 percent next year, according to the 2018 rate guide.  Actual rates will vary from company to company.

The spike is due partly to rising healthcare costs and partly to threats by the Trump administration’s threat to cancel $7 billion in subsidies for insurance companies. Trump has said he will “let Obamacare fail” but in fact is actively working to make it fail, by injecting uncertainties into the market that force insurers to hike rates to consumers.

August 2, 2017 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Senate panel advances measures to advance medical marijuana (The Hill)
• Obamacare repeal is dead for now. What could that mean for you?  (USA Today)
• Study: CTE Found in Nearly All Donated NFL Player Brains (NPR)
• Sperm count drop 'could make humans extinct' (BBC)
• Controversial milestone: Scientists genetically modify human embryos for first time, reports say (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• There's Great News — And Grim News — in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS (NPR)
• 'Mind-blowing' cows hold clue to beating HIV (BBC)
• Injections ‘next revolution’ in HIV - study (BBC)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• How Western spyware is used to shut down Arab rights activists (CS Monitor)
• Fukushima disaster: Robot finds possible melted nuclear fuel (BBC)
• Scientists dim sunlight, suck up carbon dioxide to cool planet (Reuters)
• Is it a Good Idea to Pay Villagers Not to Chop Down Trees? (NPR)
• Revolutionary gene drive works in lab, but will it succeed in the wild? (SDUT)
• Heartland Institute’s `Six reasons to be a climate-change skeptic’ are six demonstrable falsehoods (Forbes)
• Apple 'pulls 60 VPNs from China App Store' (BBC)
• Putin bans VPNs in web browsing crackdown (BBC)
• It is easy to expose users' secret web habits, say researchers (BBC)
• Snopes’ trouble is real news (KPBS)
• How, and Why, Some Farmers Are Bringing Livestock Back to Prairie (NPR)

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

East County News Service

July 28, 2017 (La Mesa) – More than 60,000 people in San Diego County reportedly suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. Another 150,000 people love and care for them. What are the risk factors for dementia and lifestyle factors associated with good brain health? What is the latest research telling us? Are there new daily habits that can improve brain health?

U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations votes on Leahy Amendment

By Miriam Raftery

July 28, 2017 (Washington D.C.) -- This morning, the Senate Committee on Appropriations voted to include an amendment introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy (R-VT) in the FY2018 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. The amendment prohibits the use of Federal funds to interfere with medical cannabis patients and programs that are in compliance with state medical cannabis laws.  

July 26, 2017 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Burn pits are the new Agent Orange for cancer-stricken veterans (Los Angeles Daily News)
• Rush hour drivers are breathing in twice as much pollution as previously thought (Motherboard)
• Obamacare repeal:  ‘Dire consequences, including death’ if Indian Health Service funding cut (Indian Country Today)
• Social Interaction Improves Quality of Life for People with Dementia (NPR)
• Nine lifestyle changes can reduce dementia risk, study says (BBC)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• Honda recalls 2.1 million Accords over battery-sensor fire risk (Los Angeles Times)
• Adobe to kill off Flash plug-in by 2020 (BBC)
• World’s first floating offshore wind farm in Scotland (BBC)

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

By Miriam Raftery

July 19, 2017 (La Mesa) — The Wheelchair Dancers Organization is getting ready to rhumba in preparation for the showcase-portion of its 5^th annual fundraiser and dance-ability showcase, “Everyone Can Dance” on Sept. 30 at the Balboa Park Club.   Participants must attend specified classes and a dress rehearsal.  Rollers and walkers are needed.

Free wheelchair dance classes are offered at several locations, including Sharp Grossmont Auditorium (5555 Grossmont Center Drive, La Mesa) from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Monday evenings, July 24 and 31 as well as August 7, 14, 21 and 28.

East County News Service

July 17, 2017 (La Mesa) – The Grossmont Healthcare District’s Dr. William C. Herrick Community Health Care Library, 9001 Wakarusa St. in La Mesa, will host “Gambling: Just Fun or a Problem?,” a free program on problem gambling issues and treatment resources, from 10 to 11 a.m., Wednesday, July 26. The program is part of the library’s “Wellness Wednesday” series, normally held on the fourth Wednesday of the month. Admission is free. Light refreshments will be served. Advance RSVP is not necessary. Handouts will be available.

By José A. Álvarez, County of San Diego Communications Office

July 16, 2017 (San Diego) -- On one end is a psychiatrist.

On the other could be a person suffering from anxiety, depression, substance abuse, psychosis or a mood disorder.

They’re in separate areas of the county, yet can speak to and see each other through a secure video connection.

It’s called telepsychiatry and the County has been offering the service for nearly 10 years to increase access to psychiatric care for people across San Diego County, providing diagnosis, treatment and medication management. It consists of two-way, real time, interactive audio and video to provide psychiatric care, when participants are in different geographic locations.

By Tom Christensen, County of San Diego Communications Office

July 12, 2017 (San Diego) - A fifth person has died as a result of the hepatitis A outbreak in San Diego County that now totals 228 cases, the County Health and Human Services Agency announced today.