COVID-19
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Bay Area Biotech Uses AI To Unlock RNA Structures — And Find New Therapies In The Process
From COVID-19 vaccines to therapies against a range of deadly diseases, every RNA molecule has a complex 3D shape that controls its function. A new Bay Area biotech is harnessing artificial intelligence to better understand and predict these structures in hopes of developing new therapeutics. The South San Francisco company, Atomic AI, was started in May 2021 and is still young. So is its CEO, Raphael Townshend, a Stanford computer science Ph.D. who just turned 30. But the startup already has big ambitions for how its AI-based approach can both help biotechs identify RNA-targeting drugs and design RNA to be stable, compact, or to have other desired properties. And it has drawn interest from investors. STAT Read more
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Santa Clara County Reports Low Rates Of COVID, Flu
Santa Clara County experienced a triple health threat this winter — flu, a respiratory virus and COVID-19 — but county officials and medical experts said overall infections remain low and are subsiding. The county's seven-day rolling average of COVID cases is 238 as of Wednesday compared to 5,308 this same time last year, according to the county dashboard. Roger Ross, a county health department spokesperson, said the county continues to monitor COVID infections in wastewater because the numbers on the dashboard may not be telling the real story. He said this may be due to fewer people reporting positive test results. Mountain View Voice Read more
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Share The Warmth
Donations of gently used coats of all sizes are needed. Drop coats off at:
Ashland Community Center (1530 167th Ave, San Leandro): Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., through the end of January
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COVID Vaccine/Treatment News |
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FDA Proposes Switching To Annual Coronavirus Vaccine, Mimicking Flu Model
Americans would receive an annual vaccine to protect against the coronavirus under a once-a-year regimen akin to what is used for influenza shots, according to a new strategy outlined Monday by the Food and Drug Administration. The agency, in briefing documents released in advance of a meeting this week with its vaccine advisers, said the goal is to determine in the spring which strain will pose the greatest threat the following winter. A vaccine targeting that strain would then be administered in the fall, in the hopes that a streamlined effort would encourage vaccine uptake. Wasington Post Read more
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Latino Teens Are Deputized As Health Educators To Sway The Unvaccinated
Classmates often stop Alma Gallegos as she makes her way down the bustling hallways of Theodore Roosevelt High School in southeast Fresno, California. The 17-year-old senior is frequently asked by fellow students about covid-19 testing, vaccine safety, and the value of booster shots. Alma earned her reputation as a trusted source of information through her internship as a junior community health worker. She was among 35 Fresno County students recently trained to discuss how covid vaccines help prevent serious illness, hospitalization, and death, and to encourage relatives, peers, and community members to stay up to date on their shots, including boosters. Kaiser Health News
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Only 1% Of Immune-Impaired U.S. Adults Have Gotten The Recommended 5 COVID Vaccine Doses
Only 41% of US adults with impaired immune systems, who are at high risk for poor COVID-19 outcomes, have received four doses of mRNA vaccine, and less than 1% had received the recommended five doses as of August, according to a study published late last week in JAMA Network Open. The study, led by researchers from Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC), examined uptake of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in 42,697 patients with impaired immune systems from Dec 14, 2020, to Aug 6, 2022. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently recommends that these patients receive five doses. CIDRAP
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COVID-19 Vaccines You Can Drink, Snort Or Inhale Could Be The Future
What if you could drink your COVID-19 vaccine instead of rolling up your sleeve? No needle - just a "swish and swallow," and your new immunity is down the hatch. You might be able to within the next couple of years, as researchers expand their focus onto mucosal vaccines, which include nasal or inhaled vaccines as well as "swish and swallow" oral vaccines such as QYNDR, which completed its phase 1 clinical trial and is currently waiting on more funding to conduct the more detailed, advanced trials that could actually bring the vaccine to market. CNET Read more
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I Finally Got COVID. Here’s Why I Threw My Paxlovid Pills In The Garbage
It’s been a month since I threw my Paxlovid pills in the garbage. I only took the three-pill, twice-daily dosage for one day instead of the prescribed five. But no matter how many cough drops I sucked on or sticks of gum I chewed, I could not shake the rancid, metallic-tasting dumpster fire that has seemingly taken up permanent residence in my mouth. What I am experiencing is common enough that it has a name: “Metal mouth” or “Paxlovid mouth.” In medical literature, this altered sense of taste is called dysgeusia. But, however it’s referred to, I wish I understood the risk of developing this nasty side-effect before I started taking the drug. SF Chronicle Read more
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State/National/International News |
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CDC Figuring Out "Logistical And Legal" Aspects Of Testing Airplane Wastewater For Coronavirus Variants, Source Says
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is ironing out the “logistical and legal” aspects of testing wastewater from airplanes for coronavirus variants as it continues to explore such an infectious disease monitoring program. The agency is still “figuring out how to operationalize this program,” a person close to CDC discussions said, adding that there are “logistical and legal” hurdles that need to be sorted out before the program “would be operational.” Some of the agency’s partners tell CNN that they are poised to help roll out this potential next frontier in the nation’s COVID-19 surveillance effort. CNN Read more
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Pandemic Stigma Cost Asian Restaurants Billions, Study Says
Anti-Asian sentiment during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in substantial financial losses for both Chinese and non-Chinese Asian restaurants, according to a study by researchers from Boston College, the University of Michigan and Microsoft Research. Multiple data points show that consumer discrimination led to an 18.4% decrease in traffic compared to comparable non-Asian restaurants, resulting in an estimated $7.42 billion in lost revenue in 2020 alone. Negative attitudes were fed by the racist rhetoric of then-President Donald Trump, who regularly blamed the virus outbreak on China and referred to it as the “kung flu.” SF Chronicle Read more
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Pandemic Food Assistance Program To End
The temporary boost to SNAP benefits put in place at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, known as emergency allotments, will end nationwide in February, according to an update from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The policy, which allotted at least an additional $95 each month to individuals who qualified for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, unofficially known as food stamps, for low-income people, was cut by Congress as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act. SNAP benefit amounts return to normal for all SNAP households. The change also applies to CalFresh recipients in California. SF Chronicle Read more
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Long COVID Is Keeping People Out Of Work For Months, Study Finds
Although COVID-19 infections have declined from a year ago, the elusive condition known as long COVID is having a pronounced effect on U.S. workers. New research shows that many employees report being too sick to return to work or require ongoing medical treatment. Nearly a third of workers' compensation claimants in the state have long COVID, with more men than women suffering from the condition, according to a report from the New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF), the largest workers' compensation insurer in New York State. Of New York residents who have filed for workers' comp because of long COVID, roughly 70% said they experienced symptoms that kept them out of work for at least six months or needed continued medical care. CBS News Read more
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6.8 Million Expected To Lose Medicaid When Paperwork Hurdles Return
Robert, who lives in Philadelphia, knows signing up for Medicaid can be tricky with his ADHD, so he brought his daughter along to help him fill out the paperwork. "If we miss one little detail, they would reject you," says Robert, who has had the government health insurance for people on low incomes in the past. "I usually get two applications, so if I mess up on one. I can do the other one." This time, with his daughter's help, the application only took Robert a half hour. Signing up for Medicaid correctly is about to become an important step for enrollees again after a three-year break from paperwork hurdles. In 2020, the federal government recognized that a pandemic would be a bad time for people to lose access to medical care, so it required states to keep people on Medicaid as long as the country was in a public health emergency. NPR Read more
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China Says COVID Deaths Top 12,600 In A Week, More Than 1 Billion People Infected
China said its COVID-related death toll topped more than 12,600 in the week before the Lunar New Year holiday, while a top health official suggested more than 1.1 billion people had been infected since virus controls were abruptly dismantled late last year. Mercury News Read more
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Japan To Classify Coronavirus As Seasonal Flu
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday announced plans to downgrade the legal status of COVID-19 this spring to the equivalent of seasonal influenza, a move that would further relax mask-wearing and other preventive measures as the country seeks to return to normality. SF Chronicle
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CDPH Begins $100 Million Youth Behavioral Health Stigma Reduction And Public Awareness Campaign
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is now requesting proposals for youth behavioral health stigma reduction and public awareness campaigns to support the state's Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative, a key component of the state's Master Plan for Kid's Mental Health. With the Jan. 24 announcement, $33 million will be made available immediately through the Request for Proposal process with an additional $15 million in the coming months, and the rest of the funds in the next few years. CDHP Read more
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You May Feel Secondary Trauma From Mass Shooting Coverage. Therapists Discuss Ways To Cope
The violence is consuming your thoughts. The social media apps you use for a distraction from reality are flooded with accounts and updates about the mass shooting.
You may even start to feel the terror, outrage or despondency as physical sensations.
“Symptoms are your body’s way of communicating that there’s an issue happening,” clinical psychologist Amanda Seon-Walker said. LA Times Read more
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Common Antidepressants Can Cause Emotional Blunting:
What To Know
Antidepressants may cause emotional blunting — a lack of feeling for both happiness and sadness — and make it less likely for people to use positive and negative feedback to complete tasks, according to a new study published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology. Researchers from the University of Cambridge looked at how people reacted to taking escitalopram (Lexapro), a well-tolerated SSRI antidepressant. There were 66 participants – 32 took escitalopram, and 34 took a placebo for at least 21 days. Healthline Read more
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Fentanyl Crisis/Drug Trends |
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Fentanyl Fuels Record Homeless Deaths In Seattle Area
A record 310 homeless people died in the Seattle area last year, highlighting the region’s struggle to house the thousands of people living on its streets. The 310 deaths in King County surpassed the previous record of 195 homeless deaths set in 2018, the Seattle Times reported, and marked a 65% jump over 2021. Fentanyl-related overdoses accounted for more than half of the deaths. AP Read more
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How Opioid Misuse Is Costing Health Systems
The addiction crisis is increasingly eroding health systems' finances, with the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD) costing hospitals more than $95 billion a year, new data from Premier Inc. AI Applied Sciences shows. That's 7.86% of all hospital expenditures, according to the data. And the addiction crisis has worsened due to the proliferation of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, which is attracting more people 40 and under. Axios
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Making Naloxone Available Over The Counter Won’t Solve The Overdose Crisis — But It Will Help
The Food and Drug Administration aims to conduct priority reviews of at least two product applications for granting over-the-counter status to intranasal formulations of naloxone, an overdose-reversal drug. Naloxone prevents overdose deaths by binding to opioid receptors in the brain and blocking entry to competing opioids, or pushing them aside. The drug is sold in three versions: vials of injectable naloxone, auto-injectors (similar to EPIPENs) and as an intranasal spray. STAT Read more
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Total Confirmed Cases
Bay Area: 1,891,940
California: 11,961,763
U.S.: 102,149,450
Alameda County
Check the Dashboards Below for
the Latest Figures
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Total Reported Deaths
Bay Area: 9.593
California: 99,773
U.S.: 1,105,810
Contra Costa County
Check the Dashboards Below for
the Latest Figures
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How Do I Avoid Catching COVID While Flying In 2023?
It's been nearly three years since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, but if you head to some airports right now you might think you've returned to the early days of the outreak.
A surge of cases in China has prompted the U.S. to require a negative COVID test for travelers flying in from the Peoples' Republic of China, Hong Kong and Macau. That went into effect on Jan. 5. The European Union recommends the same measures for its member states. And in the U.S. a growing number of airports are swabbing noses — of international passengers only. It's for a voluntary program from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to detect new variants in travelers arriving from outside the U.S. Some 7 airports are doing the testing, including LAX and Seattle-Tacoma. NPR Read more
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- COVID-19 testing is a good idea, but keep in mind, people who test negative can still harbor the virus if they are early in their infection.
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A viral test tells you if you have a current infection.
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An antibody test might tell you if you had a past infection.
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About Eden Health District |
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The Eden Health District Board of Directors are Chair Pam Russo, Vice Chair Ed Hernandez, Secretary/Treasurer Roxann Lewis, Mariellen Faria and Surlene Grant. The Chief Executive Officer is Mark Friedman.
The Eden Health District is committed to ensuring that policy makers and community members receive accurate and timely information to help make the best policy and personal choices to meet and overcome the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
We welcome your feedback on our bulletin. Please contact editor Lisa Mahoney.
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