HEALTH AND SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

October 17, 2018 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

• Why do California babies have syphilis in numbers rivaling those of poor nations? (Cal Matters)
• Spike in paralyzing, polio-like illness confirmed in 22 states, CDC says (Washington Post)
• If Your Medical Information Becomes A Moneymaker, Could You Get A Cut? (NPR)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• Facebook purged over 800 U.S. accounts and pages for pushing political spam (Washington Post)
• Paul Allen, Microsoft co-founder and billionaire investor, dies at 65 (Washington Post)
• ‘Hyperalarming’ study shows massive insect loss (Washington Post)

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

HEALTH

Why do California babies have syphilis in numbers rivaling those of poor nations? (Cal Matters)

California has the nation's third-highest rate of congenital syphilis. 

Spike in paralyzing, polio-like illness confirmed in 22 states, CDC says (Washington Post)

 So far this year, 127 confirmed or suspected cases of acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM, have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — a significant increase over 2017 and a worrying perpetuation of a disease for which there is little understanding. / Of the cases announced Tuesday, 62 have been confirmed in 22 states... More than 90 percent of the confirmed cases have been in children 18 and younger, with the average age being 4 years old. 

If Your Medical Information Becomes A Moneymaker, Could You Get A Cut? (NPR)

Hospitals and health plans are increasingly using the huge amount of medical data they collect for research. It's a business worth billions of dollars, and sometimes those discoveries can be the foundation of new profit-making products and companies.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Facebook purged over 800 U.S. accounts and pages for pushing political spam (Washington Post)

Facebook cracked down on over 800 accounts and publishers on Thursday, saying that the politically-oriented accounts violated its policies against spam.

Paul Allen, Microsoft co-founder and billionaire investor, dies at 65 (Washington Post)

Mr. Allen, who in 1975 set up with Bill Gates the company that became known as Microsoft, died Monday from complications of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in Seattle, according to a statement from his family.

‘Hyperalarming’ study shows massive insect loss (Washington Post)

 No matter the cause, all of the scientists agreed that more people should pay attention to the bugpocalypse.