By Miriam Raftery

Photo, left:  Centers for Disease Control

January 2, 2016 (San Diego)—Though threats of terror attacks have captured headlines, fast-spreading diseases carried by tiny mosquitoes may pose serious danger to far more people in the western hemisphere. These include Zika virus, Dengue Fever, Chikungunya, Yellow Fever, and West Nile Virus.

Before May 2015, Zika virus had occurred only in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. But the virus has spread rapidly and has now been contracted in 13 countries or territories in the Americas. In Brazil, where over a million cases of Zika have occurred,  the virus has been linked to 3,000 babies born with brain damage known as microcephaly.  Ominously, new research now suggests Zika virus can now be sexually transmitted from a patient bitten by a mosquito carrying the virus to a partner.

Free & discounted services at over 30 Santee health, fitness & wellness organizations in January

By Steve Lauria

 December 29, 2015 (Santee)--The City of Santee is a growing community in East County, and a great place to live and raise a family. Along with the rest of the country, it has a growing problem with obesity, chronic disease, and other health related problems.

 California Health Network is a nonprofit organization that was founded in Santee in 2012. Some of its efforts include East County’s first health and fitness expo, the East County Live Well Expo, and obesity prevention presentations to more than 60 local high school classes.

To help increase community awareness, California Health Network is promoting “Santee Health Awareness Month” in January of 2016, with the help of local officials and health related organizations.

December 28, 2015 (San Diego's East County)-- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Elephants don’t get cancer (Ivanhoe)
• Preventing Parkinson’s : medicine’s next big thing? (Ivanhoe)
• Surgeons To Test New Technique For Saving The Almost-Dead (JWR)
• ER Docs Say Rule Change Could Raise Patients' Out-Of-Network Bills (NPR)
• HIV antibody curbs virus in trial (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Gonorrhoea 'could become untreatable’ (BBC)
• Blood transplants miss key immune cells, study says (U-T)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• Home insurers rush to exclude drones as Christmas sees popularity soar (Telegraph)
• The Cybersecurity Argument For And Against Device Encryption (NPR)
• How chemists plan to sniff out bombs (BBC)

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

A new report says California is shortchanging tobacco cessation programs.

By Suzanne Potter, Public News Service

December 28, 2015 (Sacramento) -- Anti-smoking advocates are pressing for a $2 a pack tobacco tax in the wake a recent report that says California is seriously shortchanging smoking cessation programs.

December 22, 2015 (San Diego's East County)-- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Department Of Veterans Affairs To Pay For Robotic Legs (NPR)
• Be Kind, Unwind: How Helping Others Can Help Keep Stress In Check (NPR)
• Learning Soft Skills In Childhood Can Prevent Harder Problems Later (NPR)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• SpaceX successfully lands rocket after launch (New York Times)
• Should driverless vehicles break the law to increase safety? (CS Monitor)
• Privacy Advocates Sound Alarm On Cybersecurity Provision In Spending Bill (NPR)
• Why are Earth's lakes heating up so quickly? (CS Monitor)
  

By Mike Allen

December 15, 2015 (La Mesa)-Although it already prohibits such dispensaries, La Mesa won’t allow the growing, sale or delivery of medical marijuana in its city limits.

At its Dec. 8 meeting, the City Council approved two ordinances that re-affirm and confirm the city’s existing laws, also expressly banning delivery of medical cannabis. The actions were taken following the adoption of a series of regulations covering the sale and cultivation of marijuana by the state that were signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown earlier this year.

By Miriam Raftery

December 14, 2015 (San Diego)--A rare but serious birth defect in Brazil has been linked to a mosquito—the Aedes aegypti species, which has recently been found in San Diego County.

This type of mosquito was already known to carry diseases such as Yellow Fever, dengue fever, chikungunya and the Zika virus.  But now the Zika virus is suspected of causing microencephaly, a rare neurological disorder that results in infants having small heads and underdeveloped brains, resulting in severe developmental issues. The mosquito bites an expectant mother, transmitting the disease to her unborn child.  Babies born with this illness are likely to die young and require constant care.

By Miriam Raftery

December 8, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – Hoverboards are hot gift items this season—in more ways than one. The National Association of Fire Marshals has issued a warning about fire dangers after numerous hoverboards, or electronic scooters without handles, burst into flames in the U.S. and abroad.

December 8, 2015 (San Diego's East County)-- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Specialty Drugs Can Prove Expensive Even With Medicare Coverage (NPR)
• False Alarm Mammograms May Still Signal Higher Breast Cancer Risk (NPR)
• Court rejects Sequenom bid to restore prenatal DNA test patent (Reuters)
• Too Much TV And Chill Could Reduce Brain Power Over Time (NPR)
• Guidelines Give A Boost To Diabetes Screening For Overweight Adults (NPR)
• Dating apps prove factor in HIV rise (BBC)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• EPA tries to thread the biofuel needle (Marketplace)
• In massive stranding, 337 whales beached on Chilean coast (AP)
• Comcast data caps make life for deaf difficult (Marketplace)
• 5 Things To Know: Net Neutrality Is Back In Court  (NPR)
• Migratory birds are losing ground. Study cites key areas needing protections. (CS Monitor)

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

Ambulance responses in our region raise alarms:  Part V in a series

By Mike Allen

December 1, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) -- By most accounts, the ambulance service contractor for East County’s unincorporated area, Mercy Medical Transportation, is doing a good job, exceeding the required minimum response time threshold of at least 30 minutes on 90 percent of its calls.

But some question that 30-minute standard, and why such an important contract involving about 850 square miles was enacted without first consulting the fire agencies that are the first responders to 911 emergency calls.

At a September meeting of the San Miguel Fire Protection District, Director Theresa McKenna noted that the minimum response times for most urban areas of the county is 12 minutes, but for Zone 2, which encompasses most of East County to the Imperial County line and includes much of Otay Mesa, it’s 30 minutes. View Zone 2 map of ambulance service here.

By Miriam Raftery

November 30, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – After a reader contacted East County Magazine raising concerns over a circuitous route taken by an ambulance drive to transport her mother to the hospital, we reached out to Mercy Medical Transportation—and got a prompt response advising us that the driver erred and is no longer employed with the company.

Sue Merritt wrote to inform us that her elderly mother became ill on September 27^th with dizziness, nausea, and could not stand or sit up.  Merritt’s father called 911, then notified Merritt.

East County News Service

November 30, 2015 (Ramona) – On Tuesday, December 8^th, the Ramona Municipal Water District will consider options to fund ambulance services. Those options include keeping the same paramedic transport services and replacing three ambulances (requiring a public vote to raise a fire fee), or outsourcing service to  private company.  The 2 p.m. meeting will be held in the Ramona Community Center,434 Aqua Lane.

By Dr. Omar Ghausi

November 21, 2015 (San Diego)--On average, someone suffers a stroke every 45 seconds. The good news is that 80% of all strokes are preventable. Equally important, patients who arrive at an emergency room within 3 hours of their first symptoms tend to have less disability 3 months after a stroke than those who delayed care.

Some of the keys to managing risk factors are to control high blood pressure, eat a healthy diet, maintain a healthy weight, exercise, don’t smoke and limit alcohol use.

East County News Service

November 16, 2015 (San Diego) - The enrollment period is now open for Covered California, which aims to sign up 450,000 new enrollees by the end of January, when the third open enrollment season ends.

November 12, 2015 (La Mesa) -- Experience the Connect La Mesa 2015 Block Party! Get connected with friends, family, destinations, and all things La Mesa when you join the rest of your community this Saturday, November 14 from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm in the La Mesa Farmer’s Market Parking Lot behind City Hall. This is a fun packed event focusing on healthy activity, our urban environment, energy efficiency, and connecting you with essential destinations, services, and opportunities to Live Well in La Mesa.