Child Health Endangered

The Washington Post: Worldwide, 22 Million Children Didn’t Get Their Measles Shots Last Year
More than 22 million children worldwide missed getting their first measles vaccination last year, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization. Health officials fear that the drop in vaccinations will spark global outbreaks and deaths from the highly contagious disease, which primarily strikes children but can affect people of any age. In the past 20 years, the number of measles cases around the globe has declined dramatically — from roughly 36.8 million in 2000 to 7.5 million in 2020, according to the report. (Searing, 11/28)

AP: More Black Infant Deaths Push Up Indiana Newborn Death Rate
An increased infant mortality rate among Black newborn children contributed to what Indiana health officials found was a slightly higher overall infant mortality rate in the state during 2020. The state health department reported this month that after Indiana recorded its lowest infant death rate during 2019, those deaths increased from 6.5 per 1,000 live births to 6.6 last year. The 2020 death rate is the second lowest that Indiana officials have recorded. Indiana’s mortality rate among white and Hispanic newborns improved last year, but deaths among Black infants jumped from 11.0 deaths per 1,000 live births during 2019 to 13.2 deaths in 2020, The Indianapolis Star reported. (11/28)

The CT Mirror: Rural Birthing Options Dwindle As Hospitals Slash Labor And Delivery Services
People in some of the more rural parts of the state face fewer birthing options as three hospitals move to suspend labor and delivery services. Executives at Windham Community Hospital, Sharon Hospital and Johnson Memorial Hospital have halted their hospital’s birthing services, citing a mix of financial challenges, patient safety concerns and difficulty recruiting OB-GYN healthcare providers. (Golvala, 11/28)

Covid's ongoing toll on public health —

CIDRAP: Pre-Pandemic Travel Numbers Return To US As Cases Climb
Northern and Midwestern states report brisk disease activity as the nation returned to pre-pandemic holiday travel levels ahead of Thanksgiving. Despite rising case counts across the country, this past weekend the number of people flying in the United States was double what it was for the same days last year, and only 8% lower than the same days in 2019, the Associated Press reports. As the holiday season begins tomorrow, experts say Americans are planning pre-pandemic levels of travel. (Soucheray, 11/24)

North Carolina Health News: Religious Burial Rituals Slowly Resuming After COVID-19 
As more is understood about the transmission of COVID-19 some 19 months into the pandemic, some religious communities in North Carolina are breathing sighs of relief at being able to return to preparing bodies for burial as they have traditionally done for centuries. Many Jews and Muslims, for example, have been in turmoil since the early days of the pandemic about their inability to prepare the bodies of those who died, whether from COVID-19 or unrelated disease, as they typically would have. Now they can. Safely, too. (Bokhari, 11/29)

In news on mental health —

KHN: California Joins States Trying To Shorten Wait Times For Mental Health Care
When Greta Christina fell into a deep depression five years ago, she called up her therapist in San Francisco. She’d had a great connection with the provider when she needed therapy in the past. She was delighted to learn that he was now “in network” with her insurance company, meaning she wouldn’t have to pay out-of-pocket anymore to see him. But her excitement was short-lived. Over time, Christina’s appointments with the therapist went from every two weeks, to every four weeks, to every five or six. “To tell somebody with serious, chronic, disabling depression that they can only see their therapist every five or six weeks is like telling somebody with a broken leg that they can only see their physical therapist every five or six weeks,” she said. “It’s not enough. It’s not even close to enough.” (Dembosky, 11/29)