Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Air Pollution Kills Older Black People At Higher Rates: Study
USA Today: Study: Black Elders Die From Air Pollution Three Times More Than Whites
Older Black adults are three times more likely to die of air pollution than older white adults, according to a new study. The findings are part of a data analysis released this month by Industrial Economics, a consulting group commissioned by the Environmental Defense Fund. Researchers analyzed Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Census data, health and mortality data of Medicare recipients, as well as findings from previous peer-reviewed studies on older adults’ exposure to air pollutants, to determine who is most at risk and by how much. (Hassanein, 6/15)
More on health and race —
Columbus Dispatch: Formula Shortage: Crisis Highlights Racial Disparities For Black Moms
When Yolanda Owens went to a La Leche League meeting in Columbus shortly after the birth of her first daughter, Cooper, in 2015, she quickly felt out of place. The nonprofit, which offers education and support for families who wish to breastfeed, was only made up of white mothers at that particular meeting, leaving the 38-year-old Pickerington resident the lone Black woman in the room. And a few weeks prior, when Owens delivered Cooper at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital, nurses assumed she was not planning to breastfeed, she said. (Walker, 6/15)
Alerts are issued for measles, West Nile virus, and rabies —
CIDRAP: Two Measles Cases Confirmed In Minnesota
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) said today that it has begun an investigation into two confirmed measles cases. The infections are in two preschool-aged children in Hennepin County who reported symptoms shortly after returning from a country where measles is endemic. Neither child was vaccinated, and one was hospitalized because of measles complications. MDH says it is working to notify people who may have been exposed and has notified healthcare providers in the state to be alert for patients with signs or symptoms of measles. (6/14)
Dallas Morning News: Frisco Mosquito Sample Tests Positive For West Nile Virus
A mosquito sample from a Frisco pool trap has tested positive for West Nile virus, according to city officials. It is the first positive sample reported in Frisco this year, the city said, and was found in a trap in the Creekside at Preston neighborhood, near the intersection of McCommas and Michelle Drives. “The city is increasing surveillance efforts in public areas of that neighborhood and in the Panther Creek Estates and Dominion at Panther Creek neighborhoods,” the news release said. “No treatment will be scheduled for application at this time.” The city’s GIS Mosquito Dashboard displays the location of the sample, as well as locations of positive pool traps from last year. No human cases of West Nile virus are confirmed in Frisco this year, according to the release. (Caplan, 6/14)
The Mercury News: Bat Invades Malibu Area Restaurant; Health Officials Urge Diners Who Came In Contact To Check For Rabies
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is warning visitors who may have come in contact with a bat while at an outdoor Malibu area restaurant to see a doctor for possible exposure to rabies, a fatal neurological disease. Public health officials were notified that a bat flew into a dining area at the Malibu Café at Calamigos Ranch and one person and possibly more handled the bat, which came in proximity of a group of children, the agency reported. (Scauzillo, 6/14)
And parents are warned about Fisher-Price rockers —
ABC News: Fisher-Price, US Regulators Warn Of Infant Deaths In Rockers
Fisher-Price and U.S. product safety regulators are telling parents not to let their infants fall asleep in the company's rockers after 13 infants died in the devices between 2009 and 2021. The deaths happened when the babies fell asleep in Fisher Price's Infant-to-Toddler and Newborn-to-Toddler rockers. The company, along with U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, said the rockers should never be used for sleep and infants should never be left unsupervised or unrestrained in them. (Ott, 6/14)
