HEALTH AND SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

May 24, 2022 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

SCIENCE AND TECH 

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

HEALTH

The Anti-Abortion Movement’s Next Target: Birth Control (Mother Jones)

And disinformation from social media influencers is helping their cause.

Monkeypox outbreak is primarily spreading through sex, WHO officials say (CNBC)

An outbreak of the monkeypox virus in North America and Europe is primarily spreading through sex among men with about 200 confirmed and suspected cases across at least a dozen countries, World Health Organization officials said Monday.

3 ways to get COVID pills if you’ve just tested positive (NPR)

If you've just tested positive for COVID-19, and you have common risk factors for serious illness, there are now ample treatments available – generally at little or no cost – that could help you avoid the worst and recover more quickly from a mild or moderate case of COVID.  Paxlovid, a five-day course of pills from Pfizer, is at the top of the list of recommended treatments. Studies from the drugmaker showed that – in unvaccinated people at risk of serious COVID medical risk factors – Paxlovid was nearly 90% effective at cutting the risks of getting hospitalized or dying because of COVID. 

SCIENCE AND TECH 

AI may be searching you for guns the next time you go out in public  (Washington Post)

A Massachusetts company says it could help stop shootings like the Tops massacre in Buffalo. Its surveillance product is increasingly popular — and, critics say, problematic. 

How a digital abortion footprint could lead to criminal charges (Time)

…If Roe v. Wade is overturned—as a draft of a Supreme Court opinion signaled it might be— soon having or helping procure an abortion could become a crime in some states. And that means individuals’ personal internet data could be collected and used against them if they seek or facilitate a pregnancy termination.

Justice Dept. says ‘good faith researchers’ no longer will face hacking charges (Washington Post)

The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday said it would not use the country’s long-standing anti-hacking law to prosecute researchers who are trying to identify security flaws, a move that provides both protection and further validation for a craft still villainized by many officials, companies and the general public.

Clearview AI to stop selling facial recognition tool to private firms (Washington Post)

Settlement marks significant court action against company known for downloading photos from social networks to build face-search database sold to police