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Hey, Yahoo readers. Rebecca right here — filling in for Kaitlin and sharing the most recent and best in well being and wellness information.
Right here’s what our crew labored on this week:
And right here’s what else the web was buzzing about:
Biden has COVID — and he is not the one one
President Biden tested positive for COVID this week. Though the White Home says he’s vaccinated and boosted and experiencing gentle signs, consultants say the 81-year-old’s age places him at larger threat for issues from the virus. The president is self-isolating at his dwelling in Rehoboth Seaside, Del., and taking the antiviral remedy Paxlovid.
What it means:
Biden’s prognosis coincides with a surge in summertime COVID infections — a seasonal development that we’ve grown accustomed to because the begin of the pandemic — with a brand new variant often called KP.3 answerable for about a third of the cases within the U.S.
However whereas infections are on the rise, adherence to COVID-era etiquette has waned. Throughout a couple of public appearances after his optimistic COVID check on Wednesday, the president did not mask up — which the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention says is an “additional strategy” for stopping illness unfold, however not required when contaminated.
Mpox may very well be mutating to develop into extra contagious
A new strain of mpox (previously referred to as “monkeypox”) may very well be spreading extra simply between people. Officers first grew to become involved a couple of extra contagious model of the illness — which causes painful rashes and influenza-like signs and may be deadly in some instances — throughout an uptick in instances within the Democratic Republic of Congo in late June. To this point this yr there have been greater than 11,000 instances and 445 deaths within the nation, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
What it means:
Mpox is normally transmitted via direct contact with the bodily fluids or sores of an contaminated particular person, and 91.4% of instances have been linked to sexual contact, in line with WHO. However consultants fear that this new pressure seems to unfold extra simply.
Dr. Michael Ryan, government director of WHO’s Well being Emergencies Programme, stated it was a priority that public well being officers don’t have “an entire understanding of the dynamics of neighborhood transmission right now within the likes of Congo.”
Nevertheless, the excellent news is that vaccines and antivirals are nonetheless efficient at combating mpox, in line with Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious illness skilled and senior scholar at Johns Hopkins College Heart for Well being Safety.
The 988 Suicide and Disaster Lifeline turns 2
Tuesday was the two-year anniversary of the 988 Suicide and Disaster Lifeline. Launched in July 2022, the lifeline connects anybody experiencing suicidal ideas or psychological health-related misery to disaster counselors 24/7 through name, textual content or chat.
“I’m proud to announce that 988 has answered greater than 10 million contacts — that’s 10 million instances an individual obtained confidential disaster care via telephone, textual content or chat,” White Home home coverage adviser Neera Tanden touted at a press convention on Tuesday.
What it means:
Hannah Wesolowski, chief advocacy officer on the Nationwide Alliance on Psychological Sickness (NAMI), instructed NPR that “total, I believe it is doing nice and it is saving lives.”
She notes that reply charges are excessive and that individuals’s wait instances to speak to a disaster counselor on the telephone are down. However Wesolowski stated that “there’s nonetheless a good quantity of labor to do to ensure everybody’s wants are getting met.”
Since its inception, the Biden-Harris administration has invested $1.5 billion into 988 and its greater than 200 name facilities nationwide. Particular person facilities nonetheless rely closely on state and native funding, so customers’ experiences can differ by state and even county.
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