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Mosquitoes, while small, have caused big problems in Kern. Recently it was West Nile virus, and 70 years ago, it was malaria.
Local history buff George Gilbert Lynch sent me this history on malaria in the county. Interesting reading.
The last epidemic of mosquito-born malaria in Bakersfield...
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In a tearful press conference last week, a few people affected by hospital infections thanked the governor for signing bills that will, hopefully, limit the infections' spread.
(Read "Widow thanks governor for bill to curb health care infections" on Bakersfield.com)
Senate Bill 158,...
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I can't type much right now, but I figure I need to. My finger has
been killing me (feels like arthritis), but screw it.
I guess what I was meant to come here to write was that yes, I am struggling. I am struggling with the very fact that I am going to have to say "enough is...
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A new Web site aims to collect tales of health care troubles due to the Medi-Cal cuts and the budget impasse.
MyCAStory.org features videos, photos and stories from California residents.
According to the site, "Our purpose is to share the stories behind the numbers of everyday Californians...
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A heat-related illness seems to be the most likely cause of Patrick Allen's death.
Allen, who played on Bakersfield Christian High School's football team, died Aug. 16, two days after suffering leg cramps, vomiting and loss of consciousness following practice in 104-degree heat.
(Read...
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Dr. Darshan Shah, one of the most well known plastic surgeons in Bakersfield, was quoted in a recent New York Times story on smoking and plastic surgery.
The story, "Want a Face-Lift? First, Better Stop Smoking," ran Thursday in the newspaper.
“Nicotine causes the tiny blood...
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Have you ever drug tested your kids?
This press release made me think about those home drug test kits often seen in Walgreen's and CVS.
A new home-based hair follicle drug test kit called HairConfirm™ Prescription can detect drug and prescription use as well as usage frequency for up to...
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Local health care providers scratched their heads this morning over what would make residents take the cuts to Medi-Cal more seriously.
The impacts won't only be felt by the poor, they said.
Like many government programs, Medi-Cal took a 10 percent cut July 1 to help make up for the budget...
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I just came across a neat tool.
HealthMap.org plots global disease alerts on a worldwide map. It gets feeds from the World Health Organization, Google News and ProMED, among others, and specifically tracks dozens of diseases, like avian influenza, West Nile virus and HIV/AIDS.
The United...
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Reading Lily Berger's story of battling an eating disorder, I was surprised to see that the disorder began so early in her life.
The Bakersfield native detailed her struggle on the Northwest Voice's Web site. It's a shocking read that delves deep into why she felt compelled to purge.
Here's an...
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Mosquito abatement employees go onto private property without permission from time to time.
This has been done locally to treat abandon pools teeming with mosquitoes (see the photo).
A Pennsylvania businessman, though, considers this trespassing.
From the York Daily Record:
James Yelton,...
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Here's another letter to the editor forwarded to me on the budget cuts to Medi-Cal.
This one is signed by the CEOs of Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, Kern Medical Center, San Joaquin Community Hospital and Mercy Hospitals of Bakersfield.
What do you think? Does this spur you to action?
This...
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Coming up on Ricky's Retreat, the Bakersfield AIDS Project's headquarters, I was a bit taken aback to see the lawn blanketed in shoes.
Seven hundred eighty-four pairs to be exact.
There were high heels, cowboy boots, slippers, flip flops — you name it.
The "visual representation of...
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Will Kern County be ground zero for West Nile virus again this year? Are we doing anything to prepare?
Find out for yourself.
County directors from Public Health Services, Environmental Health Services and the Kern Mosquito and Vector Control District, among others, will talk about their West...
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Several health care bills are working their ways through the Assembly and Senate — many incorporating ideas originally introduced in the governor's health care proposal and other older bills.
According to California Healthline and the L.A. Times, some aim to curb the insurance industry...
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I feel like this week has been all about strokes.
I toured HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital on Wednesday for a story I'm doing about a local choir director who has come back from a stroke. And last night, I had the honor of writing about the Hinojosa family.
Gilberto Hinojosa, 54, suffered a...
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A new report ranks Kern fourth for its teen birth rate.
Sad, yes, but not necessarily a big surprise is the gist of the comments I've heard. (Read "Kern fourth in teenage pregnancy" on the front page of today's Californian.)
Besides breaking the rates out by county, the Public Health...
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Researchers at the University of Washington are looking for people who have tested positive for West Nile virus.
And considering Kern County had the most cases of any county in the country last year, this area seems to be a good place to look.
Below is an e-mail I got about the study. If you...
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The competition is on!
Now Target has announced it's selling more than 300 generic drugs for $4 for a 30-day supply.
(They're also offering some meds at a 90-day supply for $10, just like Wal-Mart unveiled on Monday.)
Here's a list of medicines that are included, listed by condition.
Or look...
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A large coalition of California medical organizations is suing the state over the planned 10 percent cut to Medi-Cal.
Locally, this cut will mean Kern Medical Center will lose $4 million per year in Safety Net Care Pool Funds and $1 million per year in outpatient Medi-Cal funds, KMC CEO Paul...
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Using common sense never hurt anybody.
Here are some tips from Canadian Living on how to avoid West Nile virus:
Fill any holes in the ground around your property with dirt. When it rains, mosquitoes breed in these damp, wet spaces.
Turn over any unused flowerpots in your garden. They...
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Today The Californian held its health fair for employees.
And like most health fairs, this one included several free tests. You have the crack-out-the-calipers body fat test. The slip-this-up-your-arm blood pressure test.
And the it's-just-a-little-prick cholesterol and blood sugar tests.
I...
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A Massachusetts bill aims to add weight and height to the list of characteristics people cannot use to discriminate with.
From the Chicago Tribune:
Currently, people can seek protection under the Americans with Disabilities Act, but they must prove their obesity is a disability and, in some...
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For once, we're not among the worst.
A new study has found that women's life expectancy declined significantly in 180 U.S. counties from 1983 to 1999.
And, happily, Kern County isn't among those.
Most of the counties are in the deep South and Appalachia, according to the study, which was done...
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Testing done by a Chicago newspaper found trace amounts of the bug repellent DEET in the city's drinking water.
"In this age of West Nile virus, Lyme disease and other insect-borne health threats, millions of Americans have made slathering and spritzing themselves with the powerful...
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A representative from the county Public Health Services Department recently went to a San Diego meeting of the minds of valley fever experts.
As relayed to me by interim Public Health Officer Dr. Claudia Jonah, these are the main points to come out of the meeting:
1. Skin test screening
The...
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Paige Atkison's fundraiser at The Ice House last weekend was a success, her mother says.They raised $5,275 to go toward Operation Smile, which cares for children with cleft lips and palates in the Third World. (Read "A good time and a good cause at the salon Saturday" that ran in last...
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Kern stands alone.
The county’s above average number of meningococcal infections aren’t being seen in other counties, state health officials told me today.
Twenty-one Kern County residents have suffered meningococcal infections since Dec. 10, local officials announced Wednesday....
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Almost every health official and expert I've talked to has said roughly the same thing about drug-resistant staph infections: They're a big problem.
One expert even called it an "epidemic."
The state recently made these infections, known as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus...
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Dead, infected birds are usually a harbinger of the West Nile virus season.
I've had a couple of people call me with frustrations over the state's dead bird hot line, 877-WNV-BIRD (877-968-2473).
One woman last week told me an operator of the hot line said the state wasn't picking up birds yet....
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Why is it I always seem to get hungry when I'm surrounded by unhealthy food?
Particularly, this seems to happen when I'm in a convenience store trying to pay for gas or stick to just buying a gallon of milk.
I recently went on a tour of a local 7-Eleven with dietitian Avtar Nijjer-Sidhu,...
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Along with an autistic kid, raccoon parasites and a teenage stalker, Central Valley's own valley fever made an appearance on a re-run of "House" tonight.
To give you some background, House comes to tell a very randy 17-year-old they can't be together. Here's the scene, courtesy of...
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Even with health insurance, prescription medicine can cost the arm and leg it was bought to heal.
I recently finished a story on getting the most for your money when it comes to medicine. Read "Pricey prescriptions: There are ways to cut costs" on Bakersfield.com.
The story includes...
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Natural talent — good.
Steroids — bad.
That seems to be the way it goes with sports nowadays. But some bioethicists are questioning if this should be the case.
In a story in Science Progress by Arthur Caplan, John Harris, a British bioethicist, argues for steroids.
Can...
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Remember David Culberson, who held the reigns of Kern Medical Center for a short time?
Well, he is on to another county hospital, San Joaquin General Hospital, trying his hand at turning that one around too.
Culberson came to KMC in September 2006 with consulting firm The Camden Group after...
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A quarter of teen girls nationwide has a sexually transmitted disease, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This is equivalent to roughly 60,000 teens in Kern County.
From the Associated Press:
Some doctors said the numbers might be a reflection of both...
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Diabetes is a condition that has unfortunately been passed down through families, said one Southern California pediatrician.
Dr. Patricia Riba, a pediatrician with the Community Care Health Center in Huntington Beach, spoke at a recent Latino and health care workshop put on by the California...
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Even if we don't personally pay for low-income people and illegal immigrants to get health care, we will be paying for it in the long run and in other ways.
That's how Dr. Patricia Riba, a pediatrician with the Community Care Health Center in Huntington Beach, feels.
Religion/general assignment...
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Maybe it's not so bad if your teen daughter has a boyfriend after all.
Child Trends, a research center that focuses on children and youth, has found that sexually active teens who are in a "romantic" relationship with their partner and who see their partner socially are more likely to...
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Many people take for granted that health screenings are a good thing.
It's the G.I. Joe mentality: "Knowledge is power, and learning is half the battle."
But unfortunately, not much is said about the downsides of too much testing.
The Association of Health Care Journalists...
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Just in time for the end of cold season, users of Airborne, the herbal supplement that promises to bust colds, can get money under a recent settlement.
The company will refund money to consumers who bought the product as part of a $23.3 million class action settlement agreement, according to The...
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With every milestone, Baby Boomers have redefined what age means.
And it's no wonder. There are only 78 million of them.
I'm focusing more of my efforts on writing health stories tailored to Baby Boomers, that generation of people 43 to 62 years old. This started Sunday with the story...
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A federal advisory panel voted today to recommend flu shots for all school-aged kids.
This change, which is being called the largest expansion of flu vaccine coverage in U.S. history, broadens the scope from children under 5, people over 50 and people with chronic conditions, according to the...
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I spent most of my night Thursday in Kern Medical Center's emergency department — not because I was sick or hurt but because I wanted to find out about the people who work there and the patients who go there for care.
(Look for the story soon in The Californian.)
While I was shadowing,...
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The Bakersfield Planned Parenthood office received its first shipment of Proper Attire condoms -- male condoms marketed to women -- about a week ago, said one of its officials.
They come with a slogan: No entry without Proper Attire.
The idea is to make women more comfortable...
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The debate over who's to blame for obesity — society or the individual — is an interesting one many of you have been involved in on this blog.
It makes me think of this passage from Fed Up! Winning the War Against Childhood Obesity by Dr. Susan Okie. The first sentence is a little...
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When I first saw this bit of news, I thought it was out of The Onion.
A Mississippi bill wants to make it illegal to feed the obese.
From the text of House Bill No. 282:
Any food establishment to which this section applies shall not be allowed to serve food to any person who is obese, based on...
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The GOP candidates didn't talk about health care much in their last debate, so I culled some comments from some of the last few go-arounds.
Some of the themes they hit upon include personal responsibility, government-controlled health care and the role of inflation in the health care crisis.
...
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Super Tuesday is only a handful of days away. Do you know who you are going to vote for?
Unfortunately, I missed the past couple debates. So to help anyone like me get up to speed, below are excerpts about health care from the Democratic debate last night.
(Excerpts from the last Republican...
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If the governor's health care proposal is one of the patients it is trying to help, that patient is gasping for air, bleeding out on the table.
In other words: The Senate Health Committee voted down the proposal yesterday.
From the L.A. Times:
Lawmakers called the plan, which passed the...
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