Massachusetts had the highest pediatric flu vaccination rate in the U.S. during the 2020-21 flu season, according to a Sept. 13 analysis by WalletHub, a personal finance website.
Category: Public Health
Los Angeles reports nation’s 1st monkeypox case in exposed healthcare worker: 3 updates
A healthcare worker in Los Angeles has become the first person in the U.S. to contract monkeypox from a workplace exposure, The Los Angeles Times reported Sept. 13.
Newborns Get Routine Heel Blood Tests, but Should States Keep Those Samples?
Shortly after birth, babies are pricked in the heel so their blood can be tested for life-threatening conditions. States generally save leftover blood from those samples, and parents and privacy experts are concerned that information could be used without consent years later.
California and New York Aim to Curb Diet Pill Sales to Minors
California and New York would be the first states to require anyone under 18 to obtain prescriptions to purchase over-the-counter weight loss products, which some research has linked to eating disorders.
Southern States’ Lackluster Monkeypox Efforts Leave LGBTQ+ Groups Going It Alone
The gay community is disproportionally affected by the monkeypox outbreak, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says public health efforts should prioritize gay and bisexual men. But in the South, some LGBTQ+ advocates fear that this is not happening consistently. They say they are having to take matters into their own hands in the absence of a coordinated response from state governments.
Hospitals push for early flu shots amid concerns of severe season
Healthcare organizations’ flu shot campaigns are in full force amid concerns that the upcoming season will be particularly severe.
Monkeypox likely won’t cause reinfection, experts say: 4 outbreak updates
Experts believe immunity to monkeypox after infection or vaccination is lifelong, The New York Times reported Sept. 8.
Biden to name Dr. Renee Wegrzyn as director of new federal health research agency
The White House plans to name Renee Wegrzyn, PhD, as inaugural director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health — a new federal agency focused on ramping up biomedical and health research to drive breakthroughs in immunotherapy and cancer c…
CDC alerts providers of potential rise of polio-like illness in children
The CDC in a Sept. 9 advisory alerted providers of the potential for a rise in acute flaccid myelitis among children. AFM is a rare, polio-like complication of infection with an enterovirus.
‘An Arm and a Leg’: The New Cap on Medicare Drug Costs
In this episode, Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent for KHN, guides listeners through decades of dealings between Congress and Big Pharma.
