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Morning Briefing

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Wednesday, Jun 15 2022

Full Issue

Air Pollution Kills Older Black People At Higher Rates: Study

The higher death risk for older Black adults, found as part of a study by consulting group Industrial Economics, is three times higher than for white adults. Also: racial disparities during the baby formula crisis, measles cases in Minnesota, West Nile virus in Texas, and more.

Older Black adults are three times more likely to die of air pollution than older white adults, according to a new study. The findings are part of a data analysis聽released聽this month聽by Industrial Economics, a聽consulting group commissioned by the Environmental Defense Fund. Researchers analyzed Environmental Protection Agency and聽U.S. Census data, health and mortality data of Medicare recipients, as well as findings from previous聽peer-reviewed studies on older adults鈥 exposure聽to air pollutants, to determine who is聽most at risk and by how much. (Hassanein, 6/15)

More on health and race 鈥

When Yolanda Owens went to a聽La Leche League meeting in Columbus shortly after聽the birth of her first daughter, Cooper, in 2015, she quickly felt out of place.聽The nonprofit, which offers education and support for families who wish聽to breastfeed,聽was only made up聽of white mothers at that particular聽meeting, leaving the 38-year-old Pickerington resident the lone Black woman in the room.聽And a few weeks prior, when聽Owens delivered Cooper聽at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital, nurses assumed she was not planning to breastfeed, she said.聽(Walker, 6/15)

Alerts are issued for measles, West Nile virus, and rabies 鈥

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) said today that it has begun an investigation into two confirmed measles cases. The infections are in two preschool-aged children in Hennepin County who reported symptoms shortly after returning from a country where measles is endemic. Neither child was vaccinated, and one was hospitalized because of measles complications. MDH says it is working to notify people who may have been exposed and has notified healthcare providers in the state to be alert for patients with signs or symptoms of measles. (6/14)

A mosquito sample from a Frisco pool trap has tested positive for West Nile virus, according to city officials. It is the first positive sample reported in Frisco this year, the city said, and was found in a trap in the Creekside at Preston neighborhood, near the intersection of McCommas and Michelle Drives. 鈥淭he city is increasing surveillance efforts in public areas of that neighborhood and in the Panther Creek Estates and Dominion at Panther Creek neighborhoods,鈥 the news release said. 鈥淣o treatment will be scheduled for application at this time.鈥 The city鈥檚聽GIS Mosquito Dashboard聽displays the location of the sample, as well as locations of positive pool traps from last year. No human cases of West Nile virus are confirmed in Frisco this year, according to the release. (Caplan, 6/14)

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is warning visitors who may have come in contact with a bat while at an outdoor Malibu area restaurant to see a doctor for possible exposure to rabies, a fatal neurological disease. Public health officials were notified that a bat flew into a dining area at the Malibu Caf茅 at Calamigos Ranch and one person and possibly more handled the bat, which came in proximity of a group of children, the agency reported. (Scauzillo, 6/14)

And parents are warned about Fisher-Price rockers 鈥

Fisher-Price and U.S. product safety regulators are telling parents not to let their infants fall asleep in the company's rockers after 13 infants died in the devices between 2009 and 2021. The deaths happened when the babies fell asleep in Fisher Price's Infant-to-Toddler and Newborn-to-Toddler rockers. The company, along with U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, said the rockers should never be used for sleep and infants should never be left unsupervised or unrestrained in them. (Ott, 6/14)

This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
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