public health
The Santa Ana winds, wildfires, and health
PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
Wildfires raging in and around Los Angeles have killed five people, displaced thousands, leveled entire neighborhoods and blanketed the region in toxic smoke. And as of Thursday afternoon, there were warnings of more "fire weather ahead."
The health effects of wildfires are varied, worrisome and, perhaps even more frightening, still somewhat unknown. Here's two examples. One recent study linked more than 52,000 early deaths to chronic exposure to wildfire smoke's dangerous particulate matter. Another report found that childhood asthma exacerbations skyrocketed 76% in the wake of a 2018 California wildfire. Further complications? The deleterious health effects often compound for communities of color.
I usually wait until autumn to read Joan Didion's unnerving essay, first published in 1967, about wildfires and the Santa Ana winds. But thanks to fossil fuel-driven climate change, I re-read it the same day that I wished someone a happy new year.
Stay safe, everyone in L.A.
health disparities
A med school readout on enrollment, post-SCOTUS race in admissions ruling
Data on the first medical school class selected since the Supreme Court banned the consideration of race in admissions in June 2023 show a marked decline in enrollment for students of color, reports STAT's Usha Lee McFarling.
Many people who advocate for equity in medicine said they were saddened to see the numbers but not surprised. The data validated the concerns of those who feared the decision would lead to less diverse medical school classes and ultimately a less diverse medical workforce, harming efforts to end the country's deeply rooted racial health disparities.
"The upsetting issue here is that medical schools have had the opportunity to take on holistic admissions processes with multiple successful examples to emulate that have preserved and not used the banned tactics… and yet they do not update their approaches," Kameron Leigh Matthews, a family physician, posted on BlueSky.
Read more in Usha's story.
H5N1 bird flu
First Opinion: The Trump Administration must continue emerging disease threat surveillance
The advance of H5N1 bird flu in the United States is an acute reminder of the risks we face from emerging biological threats, according to former Food and Drug Administration commissioners Scott Gottlieb and Mark B. McClellan.
The funding for health surveillance initiatives established after the Covid-19 pandemic is slated to lapse, and the investments could be scrapped altogether in response to a broader political backlash against public health measures. But funding these programs needs to be a top priority of the incoming Trump administration, Gottlieb and McClellan write in STAT.
Basic public health protections augment our national security protections, as rogue states maintain formidable biological weapons programs. The best bulwark against these risks is a robust system to detect such threats before they take hold in our population. Read more about this issue from the former FDA heads.
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