Project Firstline, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) infection control training and education collaborative for healthcare workers, is now offering resources in Spanish. Project Firstline materials are designed so that healthcare workers — regardless of their prior training or education — can confidently understand and apply the infection control principles and protocols necessary to protect themselves and their facility, family, and community from the threats of infectious diseases, such as COVID-19. The following are some of the new Spanish-language materials. Project Firstline Facilitator Toolkit in Spanish. The facilitator toolkit is designed to work with the learning styles and busy schedules of a healthcare worker’s team. Whether ...
The number of COVID-19 cases from the Omicron variant continues to rise. Consistent with current understanding of the disease trajectory, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is releasing updated guidance for isolation and quarantine for healthcare workers, decreasing their isolation time after infection with COVID-19. Additionally, CDC is releasing an update to guidance for contingency and crisis management in the setting of significant healthcare worker shortages. These updates provide healthcare facilities with strategies to limit the effects of staff shortages caused by COVID-19 on patient care and note that: Healthcare workers with COVID-19 who are asymptomatic can return to work after 7 days with a negative test, and that isolation time ...
Two years ago, Seattle city leaders passed a 1.75-cent-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks, aiming to reduce consumption of these unhealthy products that contribute to obesity. The tax accomplished its goal – and then some – experts say. Sales of soda, juice, and other sugary drinks dropped by 22% since the soda tax, according to a new study led by Dr. Lisa Powell of the University of Illinois at Chicago. A second study from Powell also found that total sales of added-sugar foods and drinks fell almost 20%, driven largely by the decline in sugary drink purchases. "Our studies show that even after accounting for potential substitution behaviors, like cross-border shopping or selection of other items with added sugars, these taxes have a large, sustained impact on reducing volume ...
Want to play memory and thinking tests and help millions of families with dementia? The Brain Health Registry can help you do that. Researchers at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) developed a registry for adults interested in conducting brain tests that can help the future creation of treatments for Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s, and other brain disorders. Now, they’re partnering with the Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases at UT Health San Antonio to expand brain health research in the Texas region of the United States, through a partnership called STOP-AD. Learn about the STOP-AD Brain Health Registry, how Alzheimer’s is affecting Latinos, and how clinical trials can help us tackle Alzheimer’s and other ...
Viruses are a type of germ that can infect a host body and cause illness, like a cold or COVID-19. A virus uses living things, like animals and people, to make copies of themselves. Then they keep spreading from one living thing to another. Viruses can lead to numerous illnesses, including: bronchitis, the flu, the common cold, and COVID-19. Fortunately, if you know a little bit about viruses, then it’s easier to understand why the things we do for infection control work to stop them from spreading and making people sick. CDC’s Project Firstline, an initiative to inform and train healthcare workers about infection prevention and control, helps us explore the three main parts of viruses:
1. The Genes of Viruses
Genes are the first main part of a ...
Next year in New Orleans, kids won’t be able to order a Coke off the kids menu in restaurants. On Jan. 6, the New Orleans City Council unanimously passed an ordinance that will require restaurants to serve water, milk, or fruit juice with kids meals, according to New Orleans Public Radio. While the ordinance faced some pushback from the soft drink beverage industry, supporters believe this new rule will make a difference in preventing childhood obesity.
What Does the Ordinance Say about Soft Drinks on Kids Menus?
The city health department pitched the ordinance to remove soft drinks and make healthier options as the default beverages on kids menus. New Orleans City Councilmember Cyndi Nguyen put it to a vote. “This is really about helping our young people to stay ...
Latino students take out more student loans to pay for their education than their White peers, adding to a wage gap and harming upward mobility. In fact, even 12 years after graduation, Latino students still maintained over 83% of their loan debt, compared to only 65% for White borrowers, according to a recent report from the nonprofit Student Borrower Protection Center. “Borrowers in majority-Black and majority-Latino neighborhoods shoulder greater debt burdens and struggle when repaying their loans,” according to the Borrower report. “The more segregated a neighborhood grows, the larger the student loan [differences] become, with borrowers in the most segregated areas being up to five times more likely to fall behind on their loans than those in the whitest ...
Many cancer patients in South Texas and beyond experience challenges in access to health care, insurance, immigration, affordable housing, transportation, education, as well as background and linguistic barriers. This can dramatically impact their cancer outcomes. To address this issue, you’re invited to join us for “Targeting Needs in Efforts to Prevent and Reduce Cancer” at 1 p.m. CST on Feb. 10, 2022. This is the second webinar of a new series, “Let’s Improve Health in South Texas and Beyond.” This Zoom webinar will show how health care leaders can participate in speaking up for policy and other changes that address these health differences, beyond providing more sensitive care and/or research. “This webinar will help doctors, nurses, researchers and other ...
Free school meals have been a staple for kids from low-income households for decades, especially Latino kids. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, unions and support organizations successfully fought to bring universal free school meals to students learning from home, with federal support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Then after several extensions, USDA funded school meals through June 30, 2022. But what happens after that? Let’s explore the current state of free school meals, the impact they have on Latino kids, and what the future holds. UPDATE 2/4/22: The Biden administration announced the USDA will change its school nutrition standards for the 2022-2023 school year, reinstating health goals that were rolled back throughout the Trump administration on ...
