No pertussis in California last year deaths

LOS ANGELES (AP)--California has not been a single death of whooping cough in 2011, the first year since 1991, that is there were no deaths in the State of the highly contagious disease, health officials said Tuesday.

The news comes after the State has experienced an outbreak of whooping cough in 2010 when the 9 000 have been infected. Too young to be fully immunized children are most vulnerable to the disease. Ten babies died after exposure of adults or older children.

Cases of pertussis, also known as pertussis, dropped to 3,000 last year, and authorities expected to see how this year is before declaring the epidemic to the course.

"Everything which seems to indicate we'll position in this direction," said epidemiologist State Dr. Gil Chavez.

Public health officials credited the decline of greater awareness, more rapid diagnosis and a new State law requiring that middle and high school students get a booster shot before starting school.

At the peak of the epidemic, doctors have been encouraged to identify pertussis in the beginning, to send babies infected at the hospital and quickly treat those diagnosed.

"We worked very hard on that and I believe that it has been successful, said pediatrician Dr. James Cherry, of the University of California at Los Angeles."

The California Department of Public Health has also given free vaccines to hospitals and broadcast public service announcements in English and Spanish.

"People rallies and got vaccinated and it makes a huge difference, Chavez has."

Cases of pertussis tend to run in cycles, with a peak of all five years. It is a highly infectious bacterial disease which, in rare cases, can be fatal. Pertussis begins like a cold but leads to cough severe which may last for weeks.

A study in the journal Pediatrics 2009 revealed that the children to be vaccinated against whooping cough are 23 times more likely to get the disease than vaccinated children.

Among vaccinees, authorities recommend a vaccine booster in children older and adolescents to protect themselves against vaccine to offshore.

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California bans use of tanning beds by minors

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LOS ANGELES | Sun Oct 9, 2011 5:15pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Minors in the state of California will no longer be allowed to use tanning beds after Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill on Sunday prohibiting anyone under the age of 18 from using ultraviolet tanning devices.

California is the first state in the nation to ban minors from using tanning beds, legislators said.

Previously, California had banned minors under the age of 14 from using tanning beds, but allowed those between 14 and 18 years of age to use tanning beds with parental consent.

The bill was part of a cluster of legislation signed on Sunday designed to "improve the health and well-being of Calfornians," according to a statement from the Governor's office.

"I praise Gov. Brown for his courage in taking this much-needed step to protect some of California's most vulnerable residents -- our kids -- from what the 'House of Medicine' has conclusively shown is lethally dangerous: ultraviolet-emitting radiation from tanning beds," the bill's sponsor, state Senator Ted Lieu, said in a statement.

"If everyone knew the true dangers of tanning beds, they'd be shocked. Skin cancer is a rising epidemic and the leading cause of cancer death for women between 25 and 29."

The law will go into effect on January 1, 2012, according to Lieu's office.

(Reporting by Mary Slosson. Editing by Peter Bohan)

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Top court considers California Medicaid cuts

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WASHINGTON | Mon Oct 3, 2011 1:50pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court opened its new term on Monday and considered whether Medicaid recipients and medical providers may sue California for cutting reimbursement rates in the healthcare program for low-income Americans.

The justices heard arguments in a case that centered on the plan by California's lawmakers in 2008 to slash Medicaid payments to doctors, hospitals and other medical providers to help reduce the state's massive budget deficit.

The providers sued to stop the cuts from taking effect on the grounds it would violate federal law. The cash-strapped state said the 10 percent cuts would save more than $700 million.

Washington attorney Carter Phillips, representing those who challenged the cuts, argued before the Supreme Court that an appeals court in California correctly ruled in blocking the cuts for violating federal law.

California Deputy Attorney General Karin Schwartz and Deputy Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler, who argued on behalf of the Obama administration, said only the government can enforce the federal law and private citizens have no right to sue.

After the arguments, the Supreme Court took the case under advisement, with a ruling expected early next year.

Medicaid, administered by the states with partial reimbursements from the federal government, can account for a third of a state's spending. It provides health insurance to more than 55 million people.

The 2009 economic stimulus plan boosted the rates of reimbursements for states, with the caveat that they not cut Medicaid spending. As that money ends, though, so does the requirement and states are eager to find new places for savings as their revenues remain well below pre-recession peaks.

The housing bust, financial collapse and economic recession created the largest drop in states' revenues since the 1980s, and California has been particularly hard hit.

Earlier this month, the state reported its August revenue was $65 million below forecast, which could force California to slash spending more. It recently closed a $10 billion budget gap with cuts and expectations of improving revenue.

Even though the recession officially ended more than two years ago, states had to cut spending and hike taxes to a close a total of about $100 billion in budget gaps for the fiscal year that started in July. Many states targeted Medicaid payment rates.

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California lettuce recalled over listeria fears: FDA

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WASHINGTON | Fri Sep 30, 2011 11:01am EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - True Leaf Farms of Salinas, California, is recalling 90 cartons of chopped romaine lettuce because of potential contamination from listeria monocytogenes, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Friday.

The recalled romaine was shipped between September 12 and 13 to Church Brothers, a food service distributor in Oregon who distributed it to at least two other states, Washington and Idaho, according to a Thursday statement on the FDA website.

The romaine affected by the recall has a September 29 use-by date, the statement said.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Greg McCune)

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California Farm Recalls Lettuce Over Listeria Fears

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A California farm said Thursday it was voluntarily recalling bags of chopped romaine lettuce because of possible contamination with listeria, though no illnesses have been reported.

True Leaf Farms of Salinas announced the recall of 90 cartons that were shipped to an Oregon food service distributor. From the distributor, it might have gone to at least two other states, Washington and Idaho.

The Food and Drug Administration notified the company that a sample from one bag taken as part of a random check tested positive for listeria.

MORE: Listeria-Laced Cantaloupe: 6 Things You Need to Know

Federal health officials say they've gotten better at detecting the germs that cause food poisoning, so they are seeing them in produce more often.

The recall covers product with a use by date of Sept. 29. The bag and box code is B256-46438-8.

California health officials are looking into the contamination, said Ken August, spokesman for the California Department of Public Health, but have not yet determined how the lettuce became contaminated.

"Anytime there is a contaminated food product, we are concerned and take steps so that it's removed from shelves as quickly as possible and to notify consumers," he said.

Listeria rarely shows up in produce, but an outbreak linked to cantaloupe from a Colorado farm has caused at least 72 illnesses, including up to 16 deaths, in 18 states.

August said the state is working with the company to verify the distribution of the produce being recalled. Most of the lettuce was sold to California institutions such as restaurants and cafeterias, he said, and only a small amount went to retail in other states, August said.

The Salinas Valley is known as the "Salad Bowl of the World" for its production of lettuce and numerous other crops.

Lettuce currently picked at the farm is safe to eat, said Steve Church, CEO of Church Brothers, which sells and markets the farm's produce. The company is working with the FDA, Church said, to determine if there are any problems at the farm and is taking more time to sanitize its produce.

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