I.V.F. Threats in Alabama Drive Clinics to Ship Out Embryos

A court ruling that deemed frozen embryos “children” has motivated some patients and clinics to move embryos out of red states.

… The embryo migration is most striking in Alabama, where the State Supreme Court ruled in February that embryos were “unborn children.” Since then, at least four of Alabama’s seven fertility clinics have hired biotech companies to move the cells elsewhere. A fifth clinic is working with a doctor in New York to discard embryos because of concerns about the legality of doing so in Alabama. NYT.

Teen mental health in US has improved post-pandemic, new CDC data says

Schools’ investment in social-emotional support appears to pay off, especially for girls, but work is ‘far from complete’

… The overall number of students who report persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness has decreased from 42% to 40%. The number of female students who felt the same also decreased, from 57% to 53%. Hispanic students also reported a drop in feelings of persistent sadness (down from 46% to 42%), lower rates of poor mental health (from 30% to 26%), and decreases in who seriously considered a suicide attempt (22% to 18%) and who made a suicide plan (19% to 16%). Black students were also significantly less likely to report a suicide attempt in this survey (from 14% to 10%), and fewer were injured in suicide attempts (from 4% to 2%). Guardian.

Child rape survivors face extraordinary barriers in states with abortion bans

Since fall of Roe, 14 states have passed near-total abortion bans – most with no exceptions for rape or incest survivors

Since Roe v Wade was overturned by the US supreme court in 2022, 14 states have passed near-total abortion bans. Ten of those states, including Texas, have no exceptions for survivors of rape or incest. A study published earlier this year estimated that 65,000 rape-related pregnancies probably occurred in states with abortion bans since Roe fell. While there are no studies on the numbers of rape-related pregnancies in minors since Roe was overturned, young people in states with abortion bans face unique barriers, according to doctors and advocates who spoke with the Guardian.

Is COVID Endemic Yet? Yep, Says The CDC. Here’s What That Means

Four years after SARS-CoV2 sparked a devastating global pandemic, U.S. health officials now consider COVID-19 an endemic disease. “At this point, COVID-19 can be described as endemic throughout the world,” Aron Hall, the deputy director for science at the CDC’s coronavirus and other respiratory viruses division, told NPR in an interview. That means, essentially, that COVID is here to stay in predictable ways. The classification doesn’t change any official recommendations or guidelines for how people should respond to the virus. NPR.

US COVID Activity Continues to Pick Up 

US COVID indicators show no sign of slowing down, with most areas of the country seeing consistent rises, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its latest data updates. Emergency department encounters for COVID make up 2.3% of all visits, up 4.1% from the previous week. Levels are highest—in the moderate range—across the South and Southeast. CIDRAP.

This Is California’s Strongest Summer COVID Wave In Years. Why It Got So Bad

California’s strongest summer COVID wave in years is still surging, and an unusual midsummer mutation may be partly to blame. There are a number of possible culprits behind the worst summer infection spike since 2022, experts say. A series of punishing heat waves and smoke from devastating wildfires have kept many Californians indoors, where the disease can more easily spread. Most adults are also well removed from their last brush with the coronavirus, or their last vaccine dose — meaning they’re more vulnerable to infection. But changes in the virus have also widened the scope of the surge. LATimes.

Should You Get Another Covid Shot Now?

The virus is spreading, but new vaccines coming this fall could offer better protection. We asked experts about the right time for a booster.

… The virus is circulating at high levels across the country. That might suggest it’s prime time for another dose of protection. But updated vaccines that target newer variants of the virus are expected to arrive this fall… Doctors say that many people may want to wait for the updated vaccines, which have been retooled to better protect against the current dominant strains of the virus… NYT.

Swine Flu Detected in Michigan Resident

An Ingham County resident has been infected with swine flu despite no known exposure to a sick pig or other animal. The infected person tested positive for the influenza A H3N2 variant in late July, state health officials announced Friday afternoon, Aug. 9, after confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The person has since recovered. Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the state’s chief medical executive, said officials believe this is an isolated case and risk to the general public is low. It’s the first confirmed case in Michigan this year. MLive.

Why does it feel like everyone has an autoimmune disease?

Autoimmune diseases are rising worldwide, and it’s not purely explained by genetics.

… In the United States, 1 in 5 Americans has an autoimmune condition. They affect women more than men, and they often run in families, though genetics is just one risk factor for these diseases. Autoimmune conditions are increasing in a way that isn’t accounted for by our genes alone — for instance, between 1950 and 2000, the incidence rates of Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis and Type I diabetes rose by 300 percent or more… An older theory about the origin of autoimmune and allergic diseases is called “hygiene theory,” which said that too much cleanliness — or, more specifically, a decline in infectious diseases and rise in antibiotic use — has weakened our immune systems. WashPost.

Childhood immunizations lag worldwide, data suggests

Measles, considered an indicator for undervaccinated populations because of its high transmissibility, is of particular concern, officials say.

.. The data shows that the number of children worldwide who have not received a single dose of the DPT (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) vaccine increased from 13.9 million in 2022 to 14.5 million in 2023. Measles vaccine coverage has stalled, too, with 22.2 million children unvaccinated in 2023. That amounts to an 83 percent worldwide coverage rate, well short of the 95 percent necessary for population-wide immunity to measles. WashPost.

Birthrates are plummeting worldwide. Can governments turn the tide?

Nations are deploying baby bonuses, subsidised childcare and parental leave to try and reverse a rapidly declining fertility rate – largely to no avail

… It’s fairly clear that, when women are more educated, more liberated, and more able to access contraception, they start having fewer children. What’s not clear is how to convince them to have more. Cheaper childcare? More flexible workplaces? More help from the menfolk? Affordable housing? More optimism about the future? … Statistics show most countries are now below replacement rate – that’s 2.1 children per woman, enough to replace the existing population with a bit of a buffer. Guardian.

Alarmed by mpox surge, Africa CDC is poised to declare a ‘continental emergency’

…Since the beginning of last year, mpox cases have been surging in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with children making up the majority of the 14,000 reported cases and 511 deaths so far in 2024. Those numbers roughly match the number of cases reported in all of last year in the country. NPR.

FDA Rejects Psychedelic Drug MDMA For Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday rejected a California drug company’s request to market the psychedelic drug MDMA combined with talk therapy as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. The federal drug regulator told San Jose, California-based Lykos Therapeutics it completed a review of the company’s application but would not approve MDMA, also known as ecstasy or molly, as a treatment for PTSD. USAToday.

Schumer Says He Will Work To Block Any Effort In The Senate To Significantly Cut The CDC’s Budget

The Senate’s top Democrat said Sunday he will work to block a plan that would significantly cut the proposed budget of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warning that such a spending reduction could endanger the public. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York told The Associated Press he would block legislation from passing the Senate if it were to include the proposed cut. Democrats said the proposal in a House bill includes a reduction of the CDC’s proposed budget by $1.8 billion, or about 22%, that would harm public health. The Republican-led effort also would mean a major cut in programs designed to address firearm injuries and opioid overdose prevention. AP.

Medicare’s Opioid Limits Didn’t Protect This Doctor’s Patients from Deadly Overdoses 

Many who have died of overdoses in this retirement haven in recent years have a common thread. They were Medicare patients of Dr. Ricky Lockett, a local pain specialist. Lockett is one of the nation’s most prolific prescribers of opioid painkillers to elderly or disabled people covered by the federal program, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Medicare data. At least 21 of his Medicare patients died of drug overdoses between 2017 and 2021, the highest number for any doctor in the U.S., the analysis showed. Scores more survived overdoses. Some of them mixed prescription and street drugs. … Lockett said he knows he is an unusually heavy opioid prescriber. He attributed that to his population of patients, mostly on Medicare, who often come to him with longstanding pain and disability issues, and to his practice’s focus on medication-based pain management. WSJ.

ACA premiums expected to rise 7% in 2025, report finds

…According to healthcare policy research firm KFF, premiums for plans will rise by around 7% in 2025. However, KFF notes, those who receive subsidies to buy plans are unlikely to experience that full price bump—but ultimately, that means Congress will need to spend more to fund those subsidies. HealthExec.