By Tom Christensen, County of San Diego Communications Office

April 17, 2019 (San Diego) - An undergraduate student at San Diego State University was hospitalized Tuesday with a probable meningococcal infection, the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency reported today.

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

Photo:  the flu season is upon us; it’s not too late to vaccinate 

April 12, 2019 (San Diego) - An additional four flu deaths were reported in the region last week; this at the same time the number of influenza cases went down significantly, the County Health and Human Services Agency announced today.

End Medical Debt: Curing America’s $1 Trillion Unpayable Healthcare Debt, by Jerry Ashton, Robert Goff, Craig Antico (Hoku House, Kauai, Hawaii, 2018, 181 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

Of all the forms of equality,

Injustice in health is the most

  shocking and inhumane.

• Martin Luther King, Jr.

April 6, 2019 (San Diego) - The authors have written a timely and thought-provoking book about healthcare and debt, coming at a time when the Trump Administration is proposing doing away with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or better known as Obamacare.

Jerry Ashton, Robert Goff and Craig Antico, founders of the national charity RIP Medical Debt, a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit company based in New York, incorporated in 2014, locates, buys and forgives unpayable medical debt for those burdened by financial hardship. In a phone interview with one of the authors, Craig Antico, he stated to me: “People don’t realize the hardships that medical debt brings.”

East County News Service

March 31, 2019 (San Diego) – San Diego State University sent an email Friday to students advising that a student has been diagnosed with mumps.  

March 28, 2019 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• 3 People In San Diego Fighting Superbug Infections After Surgeries In Tijuana (KPBS)
• FDA proposes new mammography changes for dense breasts (CBS)
• Suspected cholera cases spikes in Yemen in 2019: UN (Arab News)

 SCIENCE & TECH

• Facebook announces new policy to ban white nationalist content (New York Times)
• Google offers AI ethics panel (BBC)
• HUD charges Facebook with housing discrimination in ads (CNN)

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

By Miriam Raftery

March 24, 2019 (Escondido) – Escondido-based Henry Avocado Corporation is recalling avocados after a government inspection at a California packing facility resulted in testing positive for Listeria. The recalled products have stickers reading Bravocado” on the exterior.

Listeria can cause fever, stiffness, nausea, diarrhea and other symptoms. It may be fatal to young children, elderly people or others with weakened immune systems. It can also cause stillbirths and miscarriages in pregnant women.

By Yvette Urrea Moe, County of San Diego Communications Office

Photo: Chief County Medical Examiner Dr. Glenn Wagner in an examining room for death investigations.

March 20, 2019 (San Diego) - In a model of government transparency, the San Diego County Medical Examiner is releasing 220 years' worth of data--from 1997 to the third quarter of 2018, in a free searchable online portal.  The site makes over 59,000 records available.

Valuable comparisons and conclusions can be drawn from the types and circumstances of sudden unexpected deaths that occur in San Diego County, and in changes over time.

East County News Service

March 19, 2019 (San Diego) — Since 2014,  the volume of crisis team calls received by Trauma Intervention Programs of San Diego (TIP) has risen by 60%.  Last year, TIP responded to 1,199 scenes of tragedy, helping 5,288 residents in our community—and the organization is seeking additional volunteers.

By Miriam Raftery

March 14, 2019 (Washington D.C.) – In direct contradiction to his campaign trail promises not to cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid, President Donald Trump has proposed a budget that would deeply slash all of these programs—programs which help the elderly, the poor and the disabled.

“I was the first & only potential GOP candidate to state there will be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid,” Trump tweeted on May 7, 2015, adding, “Huckabee copied me.”  He repeated that pledge in media interviews and at rallies.

His proposed new budget, however, would cut trillions of dollars from Medicaid and Medicare. Social Security would also be slashed by $25 million over the next 10 years, including whacking $10 billion from the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) for people who are unable work.

The administration claims it will make up for these deep cuts in Social Security,Medicare and Medicaid programs by finding waste, fraud and abuse. But if not enough waste, fraud or abuse is found--and there have been years of efforts to do--benefits to recipients could be reduced reduced and some poor, disabled and elderly Americans might be denied medical or disability coverage completely.

March 7, 2019 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Common yeast infection pill tied to miscarriages (Reuters)
• London patient might be second to be cured of HIV (CNN)
• Why Doctors Without Borders Is Suspending Work In The Ebola Epicenter In Congo (NPR)
• High-Fat Diets May Drive Colorectal Cancer Growth (Interesting Engineering)
• Tens of thousands infected in measles outbreak in Madagascar (CNN)
• A superbug was killing her husband. The Navy made her a virus 'cocktail.’ (Today)
• 32 of the most scientifically sound things you can do right now to reduce your risk of developing cancer (Business Insider)

TECH

• Password managers have a security flaw. But you should still use one. (Washington Post)
• Several apps funnel users’ sensitive data to Facebook without consent, report says (Los Angeles Times)
• Is your phone always low on battery and chewing through data? Here's why (Jewish World Review)

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

By Gig Conaughton, County of San Diego Communications Office

February 28, 2019 (San Diego) - It still has not been detected here, but San Diego County officials are urging backyard bird owners to watch for virulent Newcastle disease, a highly contagious, agriculturally dangerous, bird-killing virus, after the state expanded its quarantine in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

By Tom Christensen, County of San Diego Communications Office

Image credit:  Shutterstock.com

February 14, 2019 (San Diego) - The County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency issued a health advisory to area doctors today and is asking parents to be alert about a local increase in Kawasaki disease.

By Fire Chief Sam DiGiovanna

February 12, 2019 (San Diego) -- Why is knowing Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) important? Well first, what would you do if a family member, friend or coworker went into Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA)? Would you know what to do? SCA kills 1,000 people a day or one person every two minutes. It is estimated that 95 percent of victims of cardiac arrest die before they reach a hospital or other source of emergency help.

February 7, 2019 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Trump administration fires all members of HIV/AIDS advisory council (Washington Post)
• How your health information is sold and turned into ‘risk scores’ (Politico)
• Federal Appeals Court Blocks San Francisco Law On Ad Warnings For Sugary Drinks (NPR)

SCIENCE & TECH

• As mysterious BMW fires continue, calls for investigation into possible causes grow (ABC News)
• The doorbells have eyes: The privacy battle brewing over home security cameras (Washington Post)
• Why Is the Cold Weather So Extreme if the Earth Is Warming? (New York Times)
  

Source: County of San Diego

January 31, 2019 (Campo) -- The County of San Diego, Department of Environmental Health (DEH) has issued a Boil Water Order for the Lake Morena County Park water system located at 2550 Lake Morena Drive, Campo, effective immediately. The water system serves drinking water to recreational camping and RV sites, cabins, employee/volunteer housing, and public restrooms and showers.