Latest news with #CentersforDiseaseControl
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Church hosts conference to address mental health in the Black community
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), in 2023, suicide was the third leading cause of death among African Americans ages 15 to 34 in the U.S. Pastor Dianne Young with the Healing Center says this is why her church gathered professionals from across the country to educate people about depression and break the silence surrounding suicide in the Black community. 'We want to be able to let people talk freely about their struggles. We mention that we have them, but we don't talk about it,' said Pastor Young. Her church hosted the National Suicide and Black Church Conference at Southwest Community College. 📡 for Memphis and the Mid-South. 📧 and have the latest top stories sent right to your inbox. 'There was a theory that it didn't happen to Black people or African-Americans, but we found out it did from our own personal experiences,' she said. Executive Director of the American Psychiatric Association Foundation, Rawle Andrews Jr., says the stigma surrounding depression among Black people stems from three things: fear, shame, and discrimination. 'We were already thought to be less than human or second class, and then when I tell you I'm struggling with a mental health condition, now I'm leaning into the perception that I'm less than. I'm less than human,' said Andrews Jr. The APA says some of the common warning signs include talking or writing about death, withdrawal from friends and family, dramatic mood changes, and increased alcohol or drug use. 'If you don't see that person for a couple of days and their body language changes, get interested. Get curious,' said a workshop speaker. 'This is teaching you all to recognize, not diagnose, because when you diagnose somebody inappropriately, that can feel like a judgment or a label. Don't do that.' If you or someone you know is experiencing a crisis, experts encourage you to call the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Chicago Tribune
11-06-2025
- Health
- Chicago Tribune
Donna Vickroy: Even the best swimmers can drown so learn to respect water
Before you head into the water this summer, make sure you know how not to drown. About 4,000 unintentional drowning deaths occur annually in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Every summer we learn about them happening in local pools or at a Lake Michigan beach or along vacation-popular coastlines. Water can be a relief during hot weather. It can be a comfort, and a thrill. But it can also be dangerous. According to the USA Swimming Foundation, drowning is the leading cause of unintentional death in the United States for children ages 1 to 4 and the second leading cause for children under the age of 14. It also states that African American children ages 5 to 10 are nearly six times more likely to drown in a swimming pool than their Caucasian peers. If a parent does not know how to swim, according to the foundation, there is only a 19% chance that a child in their household will learn to swim. Wyatt Werneth, spokesperson for the American Lifeguard Association and founder of the Drown Zero International Project, said the first step toward preventing drowning is, 'Learn to swim, America.' If you know how to swim and have water confidence, Werneth said, 'you're already ahead of the game.' But even the best swimmers would struggle in battle against a powerful rip current, he said. And that's why everyone also needs to take precautions to prevent drowning. Begin any water outing with a safety check, said Werneth, a former Fire/Ocean rescue chief, U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard veteran and celebrity stunt performer. Prevention means dressing kids in bright orange, the color the rescue community uses for easy visibility. It means having a flotation device at the ready because you should never try to rescue someone without one. And it means assigning a designated water watcher during any kind of water outing. 'Make sure there are lifeguards on duty,' he said. 'Lifeguards have super powers in that they can prevent a 911 call from happening.' Give your designated water watcher a whistle and authority to safeguard the family, he said. 'Even if you swim where there's a lifeguard, you should still be accountable for your family.' Watch the weather, he added. In Florida, 'lightning strikes kill more people than shark attacks.' Learn to identify rip currents, although that can be tricky, Werneth said. Remember the adage, 'Wherever there's a dip, there's a rip.' 'If you're on the beach and your stuff is getting wet but people on either side of you are dry, you're in a dip,' he said. 'That's the channel. You want to stay out of that.' Rip currents can be turbulent and move in circles, making them nearly impossible to swim against, Werneth said. 'If you get caught in one, try to relax and signal for help,' he said. If you see someone in distress — moving slowly in the water, flipping on their back — first, call for help. 'Don't attempt to rescue anyone without a floatation device,' he said. 'Seventy-five percent of the drownings I've dealt with over the years are people trying to rescue someone else. So many times, the person in distress is brought to safety but the rescuer doesn't make it,' he said. His Drown Zero initiative is working to install flotation ring stands in all areas where there is the potential for someone to end up in distress. He recalled the tragic story of Ted Hunt, a former lifeguard who saved a woman from drowning but subsequently lost his own life while vacationing in Florida. 'There was no flotation available and he drowned,' Werneth said. 'Today there is a flotation device station dedicated to him at Cocoa Beach.' In the absence of a life ring, Werneth said, a cooler, boogie board or even a beach ball — anything that floats — can be used to help rescue someone who is drowning. Leslie Dorworth, spokesperson for the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, has safety tips that can be applied in any water situation, but particularly for the Lake Michigan beaches, where wind and waves can quickly create powerful rip currents, structural currents near piers and longshore currents. 'On top of the dangerous currents, rapidly shifting weather, deep drop-offs and uneven lakebeds make the southern shoreline of Lake Michigan the most dangerous stretch of water in the Great Lakes when it comes to drownings,' according to the IISG website, Dorworth's tips include: 'Always swim with a buddy, designate a water watcher, wear a properly fitted life jacket and know the water, which means looking for signs of dangerous conditions such as flags or structural currents.' Don't be afraid to ask the lifeguard about the safest spots for children to swim. If you find yourself in a dangerous situation, remember this catchphrase: 'Float first then figure it out.' 'Rip currents can move faster than Olympic swimmers,' Dorworth said. 'Swimming against them will exhaust you.' Instead, flip on your back, float, wave one arm and call for help. If you can, swim across the current — parallel to shore — until you are free of it and can head back to shore, Dorworth states. And, remember, Lake Michigan water can be cold. Dorworth recommends beachgoers take frequent breaks. If you're caught in cold water, 'pull arms and legs close to the body to preserve heat,' she said. In addition, parents should review with their children 'what to do in case something goes wrong' before heading out, she said.
Associated Press
11-06-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
Hundreds of laid-off CDC employees are being reinstated
NEW YORK (AP) — More than 460 laid-off employees at the nation's top public health agency received notices Wednesday that they are being reinstated, according to a union representing the workers. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed reinstatement notices went out to the former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employees, but provided few details. About 2,400 CDC employees lost their jobs in a wave of cuts across federal health agencies in early April, according to a tally at the time. Whole CDC programs were essentially shut down, including some focused on smoking, lead poisoning, gun violence, asthma and air quality, and workplace safety and health. The entire office that handles Freedom of Information Act requests was shuttered. Infectious disease programs took a hit, too, including programs that fight outbreaks in other countries, labs focused on HIV and hepatitis in the U.S., and staff trying to eliminate tuberculosis. An estimated 200 of the reinstated workers are based in the CDC's National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention, HHS officials confirmed. Staffers at a CDC lab that does testing for sexually transmitted diseases are being brought back, said one CDC employee who wasn't authorized to discuss what happened and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Also reinstated are an estimated 150 employees at the CDC's National Center for Environmental Health, including people staffing a lab that works on lead poisoning, according to the union and employees. Layoffs at federal agencies were challenged in lawsuits, with judges in some cases ordering federal agencies to halt terminations of employees. Officials at HHS have never detailed how they made the layoff decisions in the first place. And they did not answer questions about why the notices went out, or how decisions were made about who to bring back. HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said the agency was streamlining operations and that 'the nation's critical public health functions remain intact and effective.' 'The Trump Administration is committed to protecting essential services — whether it's supporting coal miners and firefighters through NIOSH, safeguarding public health through lead prevention, or researching and tracking the most prevalent communicable diseases,' he said. This is not the first time that employees at the Atlanta-based agency were told they were being terminated only to then be told to come back. After an earlier round of termination notices went out in February, about 180 CDC employees in March were told to come back. __ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
How close are we to getting a vaccine for Lyme disease?
Diana Moser has, to the best of her knowledge, not contracted Lyme disease, a welcome status quo that might be credited to the tick-repellant clothing she wears in the yard of her East LaHave, N.S., home, or to the insect spray she squirts on herself, or to just plain-old luck. Or, it's possible the good fortune is due to what some are hoping is a "game changer" in the fight against the disease, which is caused by tick-borne bacteria and, if left untreated, can lead to severe heart, joint and nervous system symptoms. Moser is one of dozens of people in Nova Scotia, and more than 9,000 in the eastern United States, Eastern Canada and parts of Europe, who are taking part in clinical trials for a vaccine against Lyme infection. "I think it's incredibly important to have," she said of a vaccine, noting she knows at least four people who have contracted Lyme disease, including one who has had it multiple times. "It's such a tricky disease, like when you get Lyme, so many things can happen. It causes joint pain, it causes inflammation. It really affects your system in a deep and abiding way." There were more than 27,000 cases of Lyme disease recorded in Canada between 2009 and 2024, the majority of those in the last four years. Actual infection rates are higher, however, because cases go undetected or unreported, according to the federal government. In the United States, over 89,000 cases were reported in 2023 to the Centers for Disease Control. In one study, researchers used insurance claims data to estimate that nearly half a million people a year may be diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease. The vaccine furthest along the research pipeline is the collaboration between multinational pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and European vaccine company Valneva SE, with Phase 3 clinical trials scheduled to run to the end of December. WATCH | How close are we to getting a vaccine for Lyme disease?: A Pfizer spokesperson said if trials are successful the company could potentially apply in 2026 to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency for approvals to market the vaccine. There is no timeline for a similar application to Health Canada. The clinical trials have targeted areas where Lyme disease is endemic. Participants were chosen for their increased risk, including landscapers in tick-infested areas, people who do a lot of hiking or gardening, or who have dogs that routinely come home with ticks attached. Like all participants, Moser doesn't know if she has been injected with a course of the real vaccine and a booster, or simply been given a placebo, although she hopes to learn which it is once the trials end. Some, but not all, blacklegged ticks carry Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. The ticks are tiny, living in woods, shrubs and long grass, attaching themselves to humans or animals that brush past the vegetation and then feeding on their blood. When they bite, some of their stomach contents, including the bacteria, are eventually discharged into the bloodstream. In most cases, the tick must be attached for at least 24 hours before a person is infected. The Pfizer-Valneva vaccine prompts the human body to create antibodies to a protein on Borrelia burgdorferi, according to Dr. Joanne Langley, a pediatrician with the Canadian Center for Vaccinology, a Halifax-based group helping conduct the clinical trials in Nova Scotia. Ideally, if a Borrelia burgdorferi-carrying tick latches on to the skin, the vaccinated immune system will recognize the bacteria and attack and clear it, preventing Lyme disease, Langley said. "It could be really a game changer for how we try to deal with Lyme infection," she said in an interview, adding that half of people who contract the disease don't even remember being bitten by a tick. "It would be really great if we could be a little more carefree in the woods and just walking around our environment." Found widely in the eastern United States, the first colony of blacklegged ticks in Canada was discovered in the 1970s in an Ontario provincial park on Lake Erie. It has since become established in six provinces. In Nova Scotia, which has some of the highest tick numbers, populations are growing both in rural and urban areas, according to the provincial government. What has perplexed some people who ritually pick ticks off their pets or who have been infected with Lyme is why it has taken so long to develop a vaccine, especially given Lyme vaccines for dogs have been available for years. A Lyme vaccine for humans did hit the market in 1998, but was pulled in 2002 by the company that developed it, citing poor sales. Its reputation had been damaged by reports of adverse reactions, even though the FDA didn't find any evidence it was causing harm. Thomas Hart, a microbiologist who studies Lyme disease at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, said the controversy "just chilled the whole field." "That's part of why we're only now seeing momentum again and bringing the Lyme disease vaccine actually through clinical trials in to market," he said. Hart has not been involved with the Pfizer-Valneva work, but said it's a "real promising vaccine" and it will be a "big deal" if approved. But it's not the only vaccine research. For instance, Hart said, scientists are examining vaccines aimed at deterring ticks from simply feeding on humans, protecting people not just against Lyme disease, but from other tick-borne infections. Another strain of research attacks the problem from an imaginative angle — small food-like pellets coated in vaccine to inoculate, of all things, mice. It's an idea conceived by Dr. Maria Gomes-Solecki, a veterinarian and microbiologist at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Mice and ticks, she said, infect each other with Borrelia burgdorferi. Vaccinating mice attempts to break the cycle. That brings down the prevalence in an area of ticks that have the bacteria, which in turn cuts the risk of humans getting Lyme disease. "One strategy alone is not enough to control this disease," she said in an interview. The company US Biologic has been marketing the product for about a year and a half, according to president Chris Przybyszewski. Pellets can tossed using a scoop — at intervals at the sides of trails, for instance — or deployed near homes in small circular "stations." The product is aimed at homeowners, golf courses, summer camps, outdoor athletic facilities and pest-management outfits. The company is also working with governments to deploy it on public lands, he said. The pellets, shaped like acorns, don't provide any nutritional value and don't attract other animals, Przybyszewski said. But the mice will eat them, he said, and research shows they can cut the rate of infected ticks in an area by 75 per cent. There are plans to eventually bring the product to Canada, he said, with US Biologic likely to begin seeking approval this year or next. "I think it's just incredibly important that we pay more attention to this kind of concept, really focusing on products and programs that can make a difference and really create a new way of stopping infectious diseases," he said. For Colin Chase, a participant in the Pfizer-Valneva vaccine clinical trials, ticks are a fact of life, both as someone with a deep love of the woods, and as a volunteer search and rescuer who routinely clambers through dense Nova Scotia forests. Searchers take the full range of precautions, he said, examining each other for the tiny creatures, stripping down before they go inside their homes and throwing their clothes in the dryer and then the washer. Many have a favoured anti-tick spray they swear by. But even with those efforts, ticks can still sneak in and become embedded on the skin. If a vaccine is safe and effective, Chase said, why wouldn't someone take advantage? "Because otherwise the alternative is, 'Oh, I'm not going to go in the woods. I'm going to disconnect myself from the natural environment.' And there's so much beauty in the woods," he said. MORE TOP STORIES
Forbes
11-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
VR: Bridging The Employment Gap For Americans With Disabilities
Paul Toomey is the President of Geographic Solutions. He's an expert in labor market data, workforce development and unemployment insurance. getty Nealy one in four adults in the United States reported having a disability in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Despite representing a significant portion of the population, individuals with disabilities face disproportionate challenges in securing employment opportunities. As of April 2025, the unemployment rate for people with a disability (8.2%) was twice as high as those with no disability (3.6%), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) programs play a crucial, yet often overlooked, role in helping individuals with disabilities overcome barriers to employment. As the American workforce continues to evolve amid technological advancements and shifting economic landscapes, VR programs can serve as an important bridge connecting skilled workers with meaningful employment opportunities. They also offer a strategic approach to expanding labor force participation while also creating pathways to economic independence for millions of Americans with disabilities. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and its subsequent amendments, including significant expansions through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), established the framework for today's VR programs. These landmark legislations aim to empower individuals with disabilities to find gainful employment, become economically self-sufficient and contribute to their local communities and economies. The scope of VR services is intentionally broad to address the diverse needs of individuals with physical, cognitive or mental health disabilities. These services can include career counseling, skills training, career placement, post-employment support and workplace accommodation. However, the importance of VR extends beyond assisting individuals with disabilities in finding jobs. It plays a pivotal role in fostering a more inclusive and equitable society by helping to break down barriers that have historically excluded individuals with disabilities from the workforce. According to the BLS' latest report, only 22.2% of Americans with disabilities are currently participating in the workforce, compared to 65.6% of individuals without a disability. Bridging this gap and creating new pathways for people with disabilities not only has the potential to transform an individual's life, but can also provide significant benefits to businesses and the U.S. economy as a whole. If businesses actively participated in hiring individuals with disabilities, they would have access to a talent pool of millions of skilled, highly motivated workers. A 2023 Accenture study found that companies that actively embrace disability inclusion see nearly double the revenue and 2.6 times more net income. Researchers also found that these companies are 25% more likely to outperform in terms of productivity compared to their industry peers that don't prioritize inclusion. Additionally, studies have shown that individuals with disabilities are great problem solvers and tend to have lower absenteeism rates. They also report high job satisfaction, which can lead to lower employee turnover and higher returns on investments in training and development. The future of VR programs is being driven by technological advancements, changing societal attitudes and a deeper understanding of disability inclusion. To effectively tailor VR services to the unique needs, preferences and goals of each individual, many state agencies and businesses are exploring assistive technology and digital tools to provide greater accessibility. This includes the integration of AI into specialized software and other adaptive tools. AI-powered tools can assist with job matching, skills assessment and personalized training. AI also has the potential to streamline case management processes, enhance client services and improve employment outcomes for people with disabilities. However, human oversight is still recommended to combat potential bias. The rise of remote work opportunities has also opened new doors for individuals with disabilities, providing them with greater flexibility, accessibility and savings in commuting time and expenses. Building on the lessons learned from flexible work arrangements, state agencies have adjusted their VR services to offer training for individuals to learn digital skills, remote communication tools and effective strategies for working from home. I believe businesses can do the same. VR plays a crucial role in fostering a more inclusive and economically vibrant society and workforce. VR programs can not only empower individuals with disabilities to secure meaningful employment, but they also provide them with valuable skills, resources and support to help them achieve financial independence. These services also unlock an untapped and highly motivated talent pool for businesses. As technology and changing societal attitudes continue to reshape the employment landscape, it is crucial that we continue to invest in programs that eliminate barriers to employment, bridge the persistent employment gap and cultivate a society that acknowledges the unique potential of an individual with a disability. Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
