Covering the most noteworthy news stories in the health and wellness industry for the Filipino community.
YES, three different viruses, not only the Three Kings, are expected to visit us this coming Christmas season. This is predicted to be a winter of tripledemic. The three viruses include our old annual nemesis, influenza, the current COVID-19, and the returning visitor, RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus). All these 3 are high contagious and it…
COUNTY public health officials are renewing their call for San Diegans to get vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19 as the colder months are upon us. Respiratory illnesses historically increase during fall and winter as many people move activities and gatherings indoors. Recent local data shows the value of the COVID-19 vaccines, highlighting that those who…
By Céline Gounder/Kaiser Health News Last year, the emergence of the highly transmissible omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus caught many people by surprise and led to a surge in cases that overwhelmed hospitals and drove up fatalities. Now we’re learning that omicron is mutating to better evade the immune system. Omicron-specific vaccines were authorized…
SACRAMENTO – California Health & Human Services Agency Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly, and Director of the California Department of Public Health and State Public Health Officer Dr.Tomás J. Aragón, issued a joint statement on the emergency use authorization of the updated COVID-19 boosters in the United States. Eligibility for the Moderna bivalent booster now extends…
“Been there, done that.” People are feeling like they’ve heard enough about COVID-19. But staying on top of the facts, vaccinations, and level of spread in the community is still important to keep your family and communities safe. In fact, updated vaccines that can better protect against the highly transmissible Omicron variant and its subvariants…
After 11 days in a St. Paul, Minnesota, skilled nursing facility recuperating from a fall, Paula Christopherson, 97, was told by her insurer that she should return home. But instead of being relieved, Christopherson and her daughter were worried because her medical team said she wasn’t well enough to leave. “This seems unethical,” said daughter…
Almost 2 million of California’s poorest and most medically fragile residents may have to switch health insurers as a result of a new strategy by the state to improve care in its Medicaid program. A first-ever statewide contracting competition to participate in the program, known as Medi-Cal, required commercial managed-care plans to rebid for their…
By Louis Jacobson, PolitiFact and Jeff Cercone, PolitiFact/Kaiser Health News President Joe Biden caused a stir in a “60 Minutes” interview on Sept. 18 when he declared that the COVID-19 pandemic is over. “We still have a problem with COVID — we’re still doing a lot of work on it,” Biden said. “But the pandemic is over.” Critics countered that…
Almost 2 million of California’s poorest and most medically fragile residents may have to switch health insurers as a result of a new strategy by the state to improve care in its Medicaid program. A first-ever statewide contracting competition to participate in the program, known as Medi-Cal, required commercial managed-care plans to rebid for their…
WITH its June 24 “Dobbs” decision, the U.S. Supreme Court took away the guarantee of a right to abortion it made 50 years earlier under Roe v. Wade. The Dobbs ruling doesn’t make abortion illegal, but it allows individual states to greatly restrict it, and many are. But in California, and particularly Los Angeles County, legislators…
As abortion bans go into effect across a contiguous swath of the South, cancer physicians are wrestling with how new state laws will influence their discussions with pregnant patients about what treatment options they can offer. Cancer coincides with roughly 1 in 1,000 pregnancies, most frequently breast cancer, melanoma, cervical cancer, lymphomas, and leukemias. But…
CHARLOTTE — After two months of sleeping in the Salvation Army Center of Hope homeless shelter, Margaret Davis has had no luck finding an apartment she can afford. The 55-year-old grandmother receives about $750 a month from the federal government. She’s trying to live on just $50 cash and $150 in food stamps each month…
by Céline Gounder and Elisabeth Rosenthal Last month, the FDA authorized omicron-specific vaccines, accompanied by breathless science-by-press release and a media blitz. Just days after the FDA’s move, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention followed, recommending updated boosters for anyone age 12 and up who had received at least two doses of the original…
By Angela Hart/Kaiser Health News SACRAMENTO — A California lawmaker who rose to national prominence by muscling through some of the country’s strongest vaccination laws is leaving the state legislature later this year after a momentous tenure that made him a top target of the boisterous and burgeoning movement against vaccination mandates. State Sen. Richard…
The latest COVID-19 surge, caused by a shifting mix of quickly evolving omicron subvariants, appears to be waning, with cases and hospitalizations beginning to fall. Like past COVID waves, this one will leave a lingering imprint in the form of long COVID, an ill-defined catchall term for a set of symptoms that can include debilitating…
All residents should take precautions against mosquitoes THE Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed the first cases of human West Nile virus (WNV) infection in Los Angeles County for the 2022 season (excluding Long Beach and Pasadena as cases identified in those cities are reported by their local health departments)….
By Zinnia Finn/Kaiser Health SAN JOSE — California’s third-largest city banished flavored tobacco products from store shelves this summer, joining scores of other cities and counties in the state in a public health push to reduce nicotine addiction among youths and young adults. Like San Jose, Sacramento County also imposed a ban this summer. Los…
By Bernard J. Wolfson and Zinnia Finn [Editor’s note: KHN, which produces California Healthline, is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.] A California law that took effect in July requires health plans to offer timely follow-up appointments for mental health and addiction patients. Whether that’s happening is a point of contention in an open-ended strike by…
LOS Angeles County logged nearly 8,000 additional cases of the coronavirus over a three-day period, the Department of Public Health reported on Monday, August 22. Data from Public Health showed that 7,924 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the county, bringing the total to 3,383,792 cases to date. The breakdown includes 3,701 from Saturday,…
by Katheryn Houghton LIVINGSTON, Mont. — Shannan Piccolo walked into a hotel with a tote bag full of Narcan and a speech about how easy it is to use the medicine that can reverse opioid overdoses. “Hopefully your business would never have to respond to an overdose, but we’d rather have you have some Narcan…
THE U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to allow the JYNNEOS vaccine to be given between layers of the skin (intradermally) for people 18 years of age and older at high risk for monkeypox infection. The recent EUA also allows the vaccine to be given beneath the skin…
Officials urge unvaccinated New Yorkers to get vaccinated now THE New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYCDOHMH) updated New Yorkers last week on the detection of poliovirus (the virus that causes paralytic polio) in sewage, suggesting likely local circulation of the virus. Polio…
COVID vaccines and boosters have reduced the threat of COVID, allowing many people to gather, travel, and celebrate with more peace of mind. Vaccines and boosters provide the best protection against the worst outcomes of COVID, yet people still have many questions around boosters. As of August 10, CDC data showed that while Asian Americans…
OVER the past week, Los Angeles County’s COVID-19 metrics improved enough to move the county back to the medium level. The level is based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 framework. While Public Health is greatly encouraged by the decline in cases, hospital admissions and deaths, because viral transmission remains high,…
Comprehensive Community Health Centers (CCHC) in partnership with LA Care, Health Net, Valley Presbyterian Hospital and Blue Shield of California invites members of the multicultural community to CCHC National Health Center Week (NHCW) – Multicultural Health Fair and Children’s Appreciation Day celebration to be held on Saturday, August 13, 2022, 9:30 a.m. at the Clinic…
NEW York City Mayor Eric Adams issued an emergency executive order on Monday, August 1 declaring a local state of emergency due to the monkeypox outbreak. As of August 3, NYC has over 1,500 reported cases across the five boroughs, approximately 25 percent of cases nationally, with numbers continuing to rise. “As the monkeypox outbreak…
LOS Angeles County has dropped the plan to reissue the universal mask mandate as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations have decreased over the last week, LA County Public Health said on Thursday, July 28. “As I noted last week, any indication that the county would soon be moving to the medium community level would be a…
Majority of cases are BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants Majority of cases are BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants LOS Angeles County residents may once again be required to wear masks in public after the county’s public health agency reported a “high transmission” level of COVID-19 on Thursday, July 14. Per the LA County Dept. of Public Health’s…
Governor Hochul, Mayor Adams announce launch of new COVID-19 treatment hotline THE sixth wave of COVID-19 has started, with the highly contagious omicron variant – the BA.5 variant – now the most transmissible and dominant strain of COVID-19 in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In New York City, COVID-19 cases…
Whether it’s participating in a summer learning program, going to camp, or joining a new sports team, summer is an exciting time for children to learn, play, and grow through new experiences. However, if your child has not yet received their COVID-19 vaccine, they may not have the chance to enjoy this special time of…
