HEALTH & WELLNESS

A Big Problem For Equitable COVID-19 Vaccination – The Cold Supply Chain Can’t Reach Everywhere

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

HEALTH & WELLNESS

A Big Problem For Equitable COVID-19 Vaccination – The Cold Supply Chain Can’t Reach Everywhere

To mitigate health inequities and promote social justice, coronavirus vaccines need to get to underserved populations and hard-to-reach communities. There are few places in the U.S. that are unreachable by road, but other factors – many rural hospitals can’t afford ultralow-temperature freezers or might not have reliable electricity, for example – present challenges. However, with government will and resources, these could be overcome. That is not true for much of the rest of the world. One of us, Tim Ford, is a global health researcher who has done a lot of international work on water and health where the cold supply chain cannot go, most recently in rural Haiti. The other, Charles Schweik, studies how the spread of innovations – both digital and physical – can solve pressing societal ...

We Asked Five Health Experts – Would You Eat Indoors At A Restaurant?

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

HEALTH & WELLNESS, IN OTHER NEWS

We Asked Five Health Experts – Would You Eat Indoors At A Restaurant?

Earlier this fall, many of the nation’s restaurants opened their doors to patrons to eat inside, especially as the weather turned cold in places. Now, as COVID-19 cases surge across the country, some cities and towns have banned indoor dining while others have permitted it with restrictions. Still other geographies have no bans at all. The restaurant and hospitality industry has reacted strongly, filing lawsuits challenging indoor dining bans and, in New York state, pointing to data that showed restaurants and bars accounted for only 1.4% of cases there – far lower compared with private gatherings. We asked five health professionals if they would dine indoors at a restaurant. Four said no – and one had a surprising answer. The Conversation, CC BY Not an option Dr. Laurie Archbald-Pannon...

In The COVID-19 Era, Older Adults See Time Differently And Are Doing Better Than Younger People

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

HEALTH & WELLNESS

In The COVID-19 Era, Older Adults See Time Differently And Are Doing Better Than Younger People

Time in the era of COVID-19 has taken on new meaning. “Blursday” is the new time word of the year – where every day seems the same when staying home and restricting socializing and work. As a public health and aging expert and founding director of the Texas A&M Center of Population Health and Aging, I have been studying the impacts of COVID-19 with an interest in debunking myths and identifying unexpected positive consequences for our aging population. It is common to view older adults as especially vulnerable. Public health statistics reinforce the picture of older adults infected with SARS-CoV-2 as more likely to have serious complications, to be hospitalized and to die. But what do we know about how older adults themselves are responding to social distancing restrictions in place...

Race For A COVID-19 Vaccine International Statistic Of The Year

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS

Race For A COVID-19 Vaccine International Statistic Of The Year

Scientists in China published the complete genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 on Jan. 10, 2020. On Dec. 8, 2020, health officials in London began administering an effective coronavirus vaccine to the public. The global scientific community successfully developed a COVID-19 vaccine in just 332 days. CC BY-ND I am a statistician, and this year I was on the judging panel for the Royal Statistical Society’s International Statistic of the Year. Much like Oxford English Dictionary’s “Word of the Year” competition, we choose one statistic that is meant to capture the zeitgeist of the year. The statistic 332 days was the clear, standout winner. After a year of terrible tragedy, economic hardship and sorrow, this number represents an unparalleled collaboration in the history of medicine that gives ho...

For Families Who Need More Than Medical Care – A Hospital That Prescribes Free Nutritious Food

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

HEALTH & WELLNESS

For Families Who Need More Than Medical Care – A Hospital That Prescribes Free Nutritious Food

Being food-insecure – unable to get enough nutritious food to meet your needs – can take a toll on your health. So Dayton Children’s Hospital has begun to screen its patients and their families for this problem and refer them to what it’s calling the “Food Pharm.” This program, which launched about two years ago, currently aims to provide about 55 families per month with enough healthy food, such as whole grain pasta, beans and green beans, to feed a family of four for three days while also connecting them with other resources to help them get through the rest of the week. It’s also taking care to ensure that this one-time donation of nutritious food is culturally appropriate, meaning that people know how to prepare and consume the food they receive and it fits with their culture and bel...

How A Small Clinic In Indiana Found Ways To Overcome Latinos Reluctant To Get Flu Shots

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

HEALTH & WELLNESS, VIDEO REELS

How A Small Clinic In Indiana Found Ways To Overcome Latinos Reluctant To Get Flu Shots

Every year, tens of millions of Americans avoid the flu vaccine. During the 2019-2020 flu season, fewer than half of U.S. adults got the shot. The Latino population is more reluctant than most other groups to get the flu vaccine and often pays a high price with their health. An analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of 10 flu seasons showed the Latino community had the third highest flu-related hospitalization rates of any demographic group. As professors and researchers who study public health, we want to know why the Latino population, in particular, is so wary of the vaccine. Here are a few reasons: Latinos worry about whether the shot is safe. They wonder if it works. They question whether it’s actually needed. Confidence in the vaccine is a major predictor of in...

Here’s How My Team Will Be Getting COVID-19 Vaccines Doses Into Arms Soon

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS

Here’s How My Team Will Be Getting COVID-19 Vaccines Doses Into Arms Soon

In late October, I received an email from a member of the California Department of Public Health. I called the number in the email and a bright happy voice answered and asked if the University of California, San Francisco would be interested in the early release and distribution of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Of course, I said yes. I am the chief pharmacy executive at UCSF Health and associate dean and clinical professor at the School of Pharmacy. My team and I are responsible for the distribution of all medications and vaccines throughout the health system, and I am also the person running much of the COVID-19 vaccine distribution for UCSF. UCSF will be receiving our first allocation of the Pfizer vaccine around Dec. 15 and the Moderna vaccine sometime soon after that. We project that ...

Questions Parents Are Asking, When Can Children Get The COVID-19 Vaccine?

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS

Questions Parents Are Asking, When Can Children Get The COVID-19 Vaccine?

The first U.S. COVID-19 vaccines are expected in clinics in mid-December, and states are drawing up plans for who should get vaccinated first. But one important group is absent: children. While two vaccines are expected to be cleared soon for adult use in the U.S., testing is only now getting started with children – and only with adolescents. There are still a lot of unknowns. As an infectious disease pharmacist and professor who helps manage patients hospitalized with COVID-19, I frequently hear questions about vaccines. Here’s what we know and don’t know in response to some common questions about vaccinating kids for COVID-19. When can my child be vaccinated? Right now, it appears unlikely that a vaccine will be ready for children before the start of the next school year in August. A...

Sensors Monitor And Measure Our Bodies And The World Around Us

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

HEALTH & WELLNESS, SCIENCE

Sensors Monitor And Measure Our Bodies And The World Around Us

Sensors are all around. They are in automatic doors, at cash registers, in doctors’ offices and hospitals. They are used inside the body and outside. Sensors detect aspects of the physical world – matter, energy, force – similarly to a person’s or animal’s senses. But instead of translating the information into nerve impulses, sensors translate them into electrical signals. The signals can be stored, processed on a computer or displayed on a screen. They can be a current or voltage that is constant or varying with time. Sensors answer many important questions such as how well-inflated are a car’s tires, whether ice is building up on an airplane’s wings, whether carbon monoxide is in the air and how much oxygen is in your blood. As an electrical engineer, I work with sensors all the time...

Using The Science Of Memory, New DIY Contact Tracing App Expands The Fight Against COVID-19

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS, TECHNOLOGY

Using The Science Of Memory, New DIY Contact Tracing App Expands The Fight Against COVID-19

Imagine you begin to feel ill on Thursday, a few days after returning from a trip. You’re afraid it’s COVID-19, so you get tested on Friday. Even under good circumstances, it will probably be at least Monday before a contact tracer calls from the health department. And then some phone tag may ensue before you speak with anyone – if you get a call at all. Once a contact tracer does reach you, you will be asked to remember all the people you were in close contact with, starting two days before you began feeling symptoms. That means recalling all the places you went and the people you saw over the past week. It isn’t easy. As time passes, memories fade. Unfortunately, your contacts, unaware they were exposed to the coronavirus, may have already infected others. Concerned about those delays...