State Highlights: Strict Calif. Vaccine Law Likely To Cut Disease Rates; N.H. Workers’ Comp Rates Fall For 5th Year In A Row

KQED's State of Health: California’s New Vaccine Law Expected To Send Disease Rates Plummeting
Now, with California’s new vaccination law rolling out shot by shot, the state joins Mississippi and West Virginia to become the third in the nation to adopt stringent vaccination school entrance requirements. And medical experts say disease rates are likely to fall in California as they have in those states. (Adams, 8/9)

New Hampshire Union Leader: Workers' Comp Rates Could Dip 
Workers’ compensation rates could fall an average of 9 percent for policies that go into effect next year, the fifth year in a row that rates could fall for employers, the state Insurance Department said. The Insurance Department said an insurance-industry rating organization proposed the reduction earlier this month. It still must be reviewed and approved by state regulators. (Hayward, 8/9)

North Carolina Health News: High Death Rates In Cancer ‘Hotspots’ Across NC 
Combining death rates from all types of cancer, in 2013 North Carolina saw 167.7 deaths out of 100,000 people, which is about the national average. But there are pockets of the state where death rates are considerably higher than average, and one of the worst areas, not just in the state but in the country, is in northeast North Carolina, said Sam Cykert, UNC-Chapel Hill’s director of health and clinical informatics. (Nigam, 8/9)

The Wall Street Journal: L.I. Pharmacist Found Guilty Of Distributing Black-Market HIV Drugs
A Long Island pharmacist and his company were convicted of charges related to illegally distributing black-market HIV medication, the state attorney general’s office said on Tuesday. A Suffolk County jury on Monday found Ira Gross, 63 years old, guilty of grand larceny, criminal diversion of prescription medication and conspiracy, among other charges. His firm, Chaparral Services Ltd., which prosecutors called a shell company, was found guilty of money laundering and commercial bribing. (Ramey, 8/9)

Kaiser Health News: Fighting HIV In Miami, One Dirty Needle At A Time
The doctor on a mission met the homeless heroin addict who lived under a tree last year at Jackson Health System’s special immunology clinic when both men were struggling to overcome the odds. Jose De Lemos, infected with HIV and hepatitis C from a shared needle, had gone without treatment for almost a year. He’d dropped 80 pounds, suffered from night sweats and a rash on his leg and chest. Even walking hurt. He was in no mood for conversation with a well-meaning doc. (Driscoll, 8/10)

Concord Monitor: Feminist Health Center Changes Name To Expand Reach To Men, LGBT
After 42 years, the Feminist Health Center, which has long provided family planning services from its office on South Main Street, has officially changed its name. As of July, the organization became known as the Equality Health Center. This name shift has been in progress for two years, since the organization started offering more services to men and Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender groups. (Willingham, 8/9)

Wyoming Public Media: Brain-Eating Amoeba Found In Grand Teton National Park
A parasitic amoeba that can cause fatal brain infections has been found in Grand Teton National Park. On Monday, the park announced the presence of the parasite in their recent water samplings taken from some of the park’s geothermal features and run-off streams. Spokeswoman Denise Germann says the infection risk for humans is low, but the amoeba Naegleria Fowleri can be fatal. (Mullen, 8/9)

Kaiser Health News: Refugees’ Needs In U.S. Change As World’s Conflicts Shift
Syrian and Iraqi refugees have been arriving in Buffalo with decidedly different medical and mental health needs than the previous waves of refugees from Myanmar, Bhutan, Sudan and Somalia, say local resettlement agencies and primary care physicians. Refugees from poor countries can languish for decades in refugee camps without access to medical care, and they often arrive in the U.S. with tuberculosis, malaria and childhood malnutrition. But many Syrians and Iraqis grew up in what were once middle-income countries with modern, if fragmented and imperfect, health care systems in their larger urban centers. Once engineers, teachers and other professionals, they are more likely to have diabetes and hypertension than TB or malaria. When they arrive in their adopted homeland, they suffer not from diseases of poverty, but from fresh memories of war. (Varney, 8/10)

Savannah Morning News: ‘We Help Make Them People Again’: Reed House Gives New Life To Savannah’s Mentally Ill
Reed House is Georgia’s only evidence-based mental health program that follows the standards of Clubhouse International and is a part of 341 accredited Clubhouses located in 34 different countries around the world. The goal is rehabilitation and to give those people whose lives have been disrupted by serious mental illness the opportunity to recover meaningful and productive lives. This is done through reintegration into the workplace and community with the help of certified staff and volunteers. (Wade, 8/6)

Star Tribune: Work Begins On $14.3M Complex In Minneapolis For Chronically Homeless Vets 
Veterans struggling with chronic homelessness will soon have access to new housing as construction got underway on Tuesday on a 100-unit efficiency apartment complex on the campus of the Minneapolis VA Medical Center. With an expected completion date of summer 2017, the $14.3 million project, known as Veterans East and developed by the nonprofit Community Housing Development Corp. (CHDC), will provide on-site support services for health care, case management, life skills, financial management, VA benefits, and education and employment resources. (Brunswick, 8/10)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Health Center Buys W. Capitol Drive Clinic
Outreach Community Health Centers, one of the four community health centers in Milwaukee, has bought a clinic on the city's north side. The nonprofit organization bought the building, 210 W. Capitol Drive, where it has been operating a clinic. Outreach bought the two-story, 29,500-square-foot building for $4.1 million from Verkadin Capitol Drive LLC, a San Francisco-based investors group, according to state real estate records posted Tuesday. (Daykin, 8/9)

Sacramento Bee: Elk Grove Could Have Aerial Spraying For West Nile Virus
Elk Grove is the latest community where increased West Nile virus activity has raised the prospect of aerial spraying for mosquitoes. West Nile virus activity is intense and widespread in Sacramento and Yolo counties, and Elk Grove requires close monitoring, officials with the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District said Monday. If more virus activity is detected, aerial spraying to control mosquitoes infected with the virus may be necessary, they said. (Locke, 8/8)