Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
States Scramble To Act As Youth Suicide Rates Climb
Between 2006 and 2014, the suicide rate among Americans 19 and under rose from 2.18 to 2.72 per 100,000 people. At least 36 states have experienced an increase, but the problem is especially dire in Utah, where the suicide rate rose from 2.87 to 6.83 during that period. Among the possible causes cited by suicide experts is a decline in the use of psychiatric medicines and the rise of cyberbullying. Whatever the reasons, a number of states, over the last five years, have adopted measures to try to reverse the trend. (Ollove, 9/28)
The World Health Organization said Tuesday that 92 percent of people breathe what it classifies as unhealthy air, in another sign that atmospheric pollution is a significant threat to global public health. A new report, the W.H.O.’s most comprehensive analysis so far of outdoor air quality worldwide, also said about three million deaths a year — mostly from cardiovascular, pulmonary and other noncommunicable diseases — were linked to outdoor air pollution. (Ives, 9/27)
Global health authorities on Tuesday declared the Americas free of endemic measles, the first region to be so certified. The hemisphere’s last case of endemic measles — meaning one that did not spring from an imported strain — was in 2002. Normally, it takes three years without cases to declare a disease eradicated from a region, but in this instance it took 14 years. (McNeil, 9/27)
In theory, clostridium difficile (aka C. diff) does not seem like a tough problem to solve. Yes, it’s a deadly bacterial infection that sickens almost a half-million people and contributes to some 29,000 deaths every year, the vast majority in hospitals and other healthcare settings. And yes, it has recently become both more common and more deadly. But the weapons needed to defeat this bug are inexpensive and straightforward: soap, gloves, disinfectants, and the proper use of antibiotics. (Interlandi, 9/27)
Judy Maggiore remembers looking in the mirror in college, perplexed by her body's disproportion. "I was skinny. I was a stick. The upper part of my body was really, really thin. You could see my ribs!" exclaims Maggiore. "But from the waist down, it was like there were two of me or something." (McClurg, 9/27)
