By Miriam Raftery

 June 15, 2018 (San Diego) – The Kellogg Company has announced a recall of Honey Smacks cereal, which is linked to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened over 70 people  in 31 states, including California.

 In addition, the Centers for Disease Control have confirmed that pre-cut melons in California and other states have been recalled due to a separate salmonella outbreak. Melons were sold in major outlets including Walmart , Sprouts and Trader Joes. Read more on recalled melons here.

East County News Service

June 18, 2018 (La Mesa) -- The Malin Burnham Center for Civic Engagement at The San Diego Foundation is hosting Clearing the Air: Addressing the Health Impacts of Air Quality in San Diego, to increase dialogue about the effects of poor air quality on the region’s children, families and local economy. The event will be held on June 22 at 11:30 a.m. at the La Mesa Community Center, 4975 Memorial Drive in La Mesa.

By Allison Bray, Environmental Health Specialist, County of San Diego Vector Control

June 11, 2018 (San Diego) -- Mosquito season is here once again; are you ready? San Diego is home to mosquitoes that spread West Nile virus, as well as to a recent invader, Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.

Aedes aegypti is non-native and has been spreading throughout San Diego County since at least 2015. It can transmit viruses that cause serious diseases including dengue, chikungunya, and Zika. Fortunately, there have been no locally-acquired mosquito-transmitted cases of these diseases in the county. Two other invasive Aedes mosquitoes have also been detected in the county, Aedes albopictus and Aedes notoscriptus; collectively, all three are called “invasive Aedes.”

Local resources available to get help

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

June 8, 2018 (San Diego) - If a friend or loved one were contemplating suicide, would you know it? If you knew it, would you know what to do?

The great majority of people who die by suicide show warning signs. Knowing how to spot them and what you can do may help save a life.

East County News Service

June 5, 2018 (La Mesa) – The Grossmont Healthcare District’s Dr. William C. Herrick Community Health Care Library, 9001 Wakarusa St. in La Mesa, will host “Stroke Prevention and Recognition,” a program about steps to prevent a stroke and recognize the signs of a stroke, from 10 to 11 a.m., Wednesday, June 27. The program is part of the library’s “Wellness Wednesday” series, normally held on the fourth Wednesday of the month. Admission is free. Light refreshments will be served. Advance RSVP is not necessary. Handouts will be available.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo:  (Back Row, left to right) GHD board members Virginia Hall and Randy Lenac, Jan and Chuck Vermillion, GHD board member Michael Emerson, Shawn Kelley. (Front Row, left to right) Rick Doremus, Dee Davis, Ally Kellogg, GHD board member Bob Ayres and Gloria Chadwick.

June 4, 2018 (La Mesa) – The Grossmont Healthcare District (GHD), a public agency that supports various health-related community programs and services in the East County region recently honored local volunteers with its 2018 Healthcare Heroes awards. Now in its 12th year, Healthcare Heroes is GHD’s annual awards program honoring volunteers helping to advance the delivery of quality health services in the East County region.

By Miriam Raftery

May 31, 2018 (San Diego) — Taytulla birth control pills made by Allergan have been recalled by the manufacturer nationwide.  The sample packages distributed by doctors are supposed to include pills with hormones for 24 days, as well as four placebo pills without hormones.

East County News Service

May 28, 2018 (La Mesa) – San Diego Oasis, a nonprofit that promotes successful aging throughout San Diego County for anyone over age 50, will host author and local historian Jim Newland for a special presentation discussing a new book on the history of Grossmont Hospital from 10 to 11:30 a.m., Thursday, May 31, at the Oasis Lifelong Learning Center at the Grossmont Center mall, 5500 Grossmont Center Dr., La Mesa. The public is invited to attend this free presentation. For more information, call (619) 881-6262 or visit www.sandiegooasis.org.

May 16, 2018 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Wearing Workout Clothes in an MRI Machine Can Burn You, Hospitals Warn (NBC)
• Wind blew a bounce house onto a California highway — with a child still inside it (Washington Post)
• The five most expensive drugs in the U.S. (CNN)
• Vermont becomes first state to allow drug imports from Canada (Politico)
• Experimental vaccine approved for Ebola in Congo  (ABC)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

•  Deadly Convenience: Keyless Cars and Their Carbon Monoxide Toll (New York Times)
• ‘Memory transplant’ achieved in snails (BBC)
• Facebook suspends 200 apps in wake of Cambridge Analytica scandal (Washington Post)
• Trump White House quietly cancels NASA research verifying greenhouse gas cuts (Science)
• FCC traces 96 million spammy robocalls to one Florida man (Mashable)

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

Source: Heartland Fire and Rescue

May 15, 2018 (San Diego’s East County) -- Sidewalk CPR Day is set for Thursday, May 17.  The goal of this Southern California campaign is to train approximately 4,000 citizens in “Hands Only CPR,” thus increasing the number of lifesavers in our community.

By Paul Kruze, Contributing Editor

May 10, 2018 (El Cajon) -- This is the time of year when students have final exams and graduation on their minds. But this May, students at both Grossmont and Cuyamaca College are wondering if they have been exposed to tuberculosis at either campus.

By Miriam Raftery

May 7, 2018 (Santee) – One in seven people entering a hospital needs blood. One pint of blood, the amount volunteer give when they donate blood, can save up to three lives.  Around 38% of people in the U.S. are eligible to donate blood, but less than 10% do so annually.  You can help by donating blood during the Santee Street Fair on Saturday, May 26^th from 10 a.m. to 3:30. The fair is located at Riverview Parkway and Town Center Parkway in Santee.  (View map and event details.)

May 3, 2018 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

Health

• Tick- and mosquito-borne diseases more than triple, since 2004, in the US  CNN)
• Family credits Apple watch for saving daughter’s life (ABC)
• Trump’s health: three big ethics questions (BBC)
• Weedkiller found in granola and crackers, internal FDA emails show (Guardian)

Science and technology

• Data firm at center of Facebook privacy scandal will close (ABC News)
• How private is your DNA on ancestry websites? Golden State Killer case raises questions (Sacramento Bee)
• Hawaii Approves Bill Banning Sunscreen Believed To Kill Coral Reefs (NPR)
• The EU just made a dramatic move to protect bees (Science Alert)

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

Source: Institute for Public Strategies San Diego

April 26, 2018 (San Diego) -- With Prescription Drug Take Back Day coming up on April 28, San Diegans are encouraged to turn in medications that have expired or they no longer need so that they cannot be abused or overused. This is especially true among senior citizens, a demographic we don’t normally associate with a growing drug problem. 

By Tom Christensen, County of San Diego Communications Office

April 25, 2018 (San Diego) - Two studies released today show an increasing economic and physical toll of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia on San Diego County families and the region’s health care economy.

The pair of studies, produced by the County’s Health and Human Services Agency, say the San Diego County region can expect the cost to provide care for those suffering and the number of caregivers needed will both balloon by 2030.