Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Syphilis, Previously Nearly Eradicated In The US, Is Reported Surging Back
ProPublica: Syphilis Is Resurging In The U.S., A Sign Of Public Health's Funding Crisis
When Mai Yang is looking for a patient, she travels light. She dresses deliberately — not too formal, so she won't be mistaken for a police officer; not too casual, so people will look past her tiny 4-foot-10 stature and youthful face and trust her with sensitive health information. Always, she wears closed-toed shoes, "just in case I need to run." Yang carries a stack of cards issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that show what happens when the Treponema pallidum bacteria invades a patient's body. There's a photo of an angry red sore on a penis. There's one of a tongue, marred by mucus-lined lesions. And there's one of a newborn baby, its belly, torso and thighs dotted in a rash, its mouth open, as if caught midcry. (Chen, 11/1)
USA Today: COVID: Screen Time Among Teens Doubles During Pandemic, Study Finds
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans relied on technology to continue working, going to school, checking in with health care providers and connecting with family and friends. But a recent study found recreational screen time for teens skyrocketed, too. According to the study, published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics, screen time outside of virtual school among teenagers doubled from pre-pandemic estimates of 3.8 hours per day to 7.7 hours. (Rodriguez, 11/1)
CIDRAP: Multistate Salmonella Outbreak Tied To Onions Tops 800 Cases
Late last week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) added 156 new cases to a multistate Salmonella Oranienburg onion outbreak. There are now 808 cases reported in 37 states and Puerto Rico. The outbreak is linked to onions from ProSource Produce LLC and Keeler Family Farms and imported from the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, from Jul 1 to Aug 31. (11/1)
Bloomberg: Racial, Social Factors Raise Pregnancy Risks: UK Study Of 1 Million Women
Race and socioeconomic factors play a key role in many adverse pregnancy outcomes such as stillbirth, according to a U.K. study of more than one million women. Socioeconomic inequalities account for a quarter of stillbirths, a fifth of preterm births, and a third of births with fetal growth restriction, the research, published Monday in The Lancet medical journal, found. South Asian and Black women living in the most deprived areas in England experienced the largest inequity in pregnancy outcomes, the authors said. (Ring, 11/1)
NPR: 2020 Census Likely Undercounted Black People, Latinos, Study Says
Last year's approximately $14.2 billion census likely undercounted people of color at higher rates than those of the previous once-a-decade tally, an Urban Institute study released Tuesday suggests. Researchers at the Washington, D.C.-based think tank say that while the Census Bureau may have continued to overcount people who identified as white and not Latino, it also likely failed to count some 2.5 million people in other racial and ethnic groups. The Urban Institute estimates that nationwide, the net undercount rates by race or ethnicity were highest for Black people (2.45%), Latinx people (2.17%) and Pacific Islanders (1.52%). The estimated net undercount rates for Asian Americans and Native Americans were each less than a percent. (Lo Wang, 11/2)
