Illinois’ infant mortality rate has improved, though Black infants continue to die at disparately higher rates, according to a report released Thursday by the Department of Public Health. [Health News Illinois]

There were 5.6 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2021, the most recent full year of data. The rate is down roughly 0.9 deaths from 2018. 

In 2021, Illinois saw 132,228 live births and 743 infant deaths, which occur before a child’s first birthday. 

Agency Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said that while progress has been made, the report “highlights that despite significant public health efforts, unacceptable racial and ethnic disparities persist.”

“IDPH, along with our partners, will continue to focus on the recommended strategies and key resources to improve health outcomes for pregnant people and their newborn infants,” Vohra said.

The mortality rate for Black infants is nearly three times higher than for infants born to white, Latinx or Asian women. According to the report, the inequity is “heavily influenced” by trends in deaths due to prematurity and sudden unexpected infant death, with Black infants being more than four times as likely to die of the latter than white and Latinx infants.

Prematurity and fetal malnutrition, birth defects, sudden unexpected infant death and complications with pregnancy or delivery caused about 70 percent of all infant deaths. 

The disparities align with an IDPH report released last year that found Black women are twice as likely to die from any pregnancy-related condition and three times as likely to die from pregnancy-related medical conditions as white women.

Thursday’s report also found the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent recovery had little impact on overall trends in Illinois. Between 2020 and 2022, COVID-19 factored in 10 infant deaths, according to IDPH provisional data for 2022.

The national rate for infant deaths in 2021 was 5.4 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Vohra noted that maternal and infant health has been a major focus for policymakers in recent years. 

The current state budget includes $23 million for efforts that address disparities, like supporting community birth centers, establishing a diaper pilot program and creating child tax credits for low-income families.

A new law approved by the General Assembly this spring will task insurers with covering all pregnancy, postpartum and newborn care provided by perinatal doulas or licensed certified professional midwives. That includes home births and home visits. Coverage will also expand to home visits by board-certified lactation consultants and recommended products like breast pumps and feeding aids.

Another new law creates a task force within IDPH to identify and address healthcare disparities, including maternal and infant health rates.

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NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. suicides last year remained at about the highest level in the nation’s history, preliminary data suggests. [AP]

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A little over 49,300 suicide deaths were reported in 2023, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That number that could grow a little as some death investigations are wrapped up and reported.

Just under 49,500 were reported in 2022, according to final data released Thursday. The numbers are close enough that the suicide rate for the two years are the same, CDC officials said.

EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.

U.S. suicide rates have been rising for nearly 20 years, aside from a two-year drop around the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. So “a leveling off of any increase in suicide is cautiously promising news,” said Katherine Keyes, a Columbia University public health professor who studies suicide.

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Life expectancy declined in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., from 2018 to 2021, with New Mexico experiencing the largest decrease and Massachusetts the smallest, according to a new report from Forbes Advisor. [Beckers] 

To determine the states where life expectancy is falling the most and least during that period, the Forbes Advisor Life Insurance team examined the most recent data available from the CDC.

The states where life expectancy decreased the most, per the analysis:

1. New Mexico (-5.44%)

2. Mississippi (-4.96%)

3. Arizona (-4.7%)

4. West Virginia (-4.57%)

5. Louisiana (-4.5%)

6. Alaska (-4.49%)

7. Alabama (-4.13%)

8. Tennessee (-4.11%)

9. Arkansas (-4.10%)

10. Kentucky (-3.98%)

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Foster City, Calif., September 20, 2024 - Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) today announced it is issuing a voluntary recall of one lot of Veklury® (remdesivir) for Injection 100 mg/vial, to the consumer level. Gilead received a customer complaint and confirmed the presence of a glass particle in the vial during the company's investigation. [MedPageToday]

Risk Statement: The administration of an injectable product that contains glass particles may result in local irritation or swelling in response to the foreign material. The glass particulate can potentially travel, through the blood vessels, to various organs and block blood vessels in the heart, lungs or brain which can cause stroke and even lead to death. To date, Gilead has not received any reports of adverse events related to this recall.

Veklury® (remdesivir) for Injection 100 mg/vial is indicated for the treatment of COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients (birth to less than 18 years of age weighing at least 1.5 kg) who are:

• Hospitalized, or
• Not hospitalized and have mild-to-moderate COVID-19 and are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death

Veklury® (remdesivir) for Injection 100 mg/vial may only be administered in settings in which healthcare providers have immediate access to medications to treat a severe infusion or hypersensitivity reaction, such as anaphylaxis, and the ability to activate the emergency medical system (EMS), as necessary.

The product being recalled is the lyophilized form of Veklury® (remdesivir) for Injection 100 mg/vial packaged in single dose clear glass vials in powder form. Veklury lot # 47035CFA was distributed nationwide in the United States, beginning 16 July 2024. NDC, lot, expiration date and distribution dates can be found in the table below.

Product Description	NDC	Lot #	Expiration Date	Distribution Date to Wholesalers
Veklury® (remdesivir 100mg for injection)	61958-2901-02	47035CFA	Exp. Date 11/2025	07/16/2024 to 08/07/2024

Gilead is notifying its distributors and customers via UPS next day air mail to pharmacies and is facilitating the return of any remaining vials from the affected lot. Facilities that have Veklury® (remdesivir) for Injection 100 mg/vial which is being recalled should stop using the affected lot and return the product vials per the instructions in the letter.

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Sixteen community health centers in Illinois will receive $9.5 million to expand mental health and substance use disorder services. [Health News Illinois]

Last week, the Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced $240 million for more than 400 community health centers.

“Health centers have a proven record of success in reaching underserved communities,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “This funding expands their access to essential behavioral health services that will benefit entire communities.”

See the awardees.

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In Vermont, there’s been a 22% decline in drug deaths in 2024. In King County, Washington, the first half of the year saw a 15% drop. Ohio? Thirty-one percent fewer overdose deaths so far. And Missouri had a 34% decrease in the second quarter.. [Nice News]
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Those places have all been hotspots in the opioid epidemic, and the sudden, swift declines seen this year could indicate a national street drug death drop of around 15% — higher than the CDC’s recent estimate of 10.6%, a rate already being celebrated as a win.
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That’s according to Nabarun Dasgupta, an expert at the University of North Carolina. He recently released an analysis of the “unprecedented” numbers, which could correspond to 20,000 fewer deaths in 2024. “This is exciting,” Dr. Nora Volkow, head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, told NPR. “This looks real. This looks very, very real.”
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It’s not just researchers who are seeing the trend: The people working to fight the epidemic on the ground are noticing changes, too. “A year ago when overdose deaths continued to rise, I was really struggling with hope,” said Brad Finegood, who directs the overdose crisis response in Seattle. He added: “Today, I have so much hope.”

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The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, a division of HHS, has partnered with other federal agencies and health systems to create a national safety alliance as part of broader commitments from the federal government to reduce preventable harm and improve care quality industrywide. [Beckers Clinical Leadership]

The alliance was among efforts shared at the White House Sept. 17 during a forum on patient safety hosted by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology — a working group of more than two dozen thought leaders in the academic, government and private sectors. AHRQ first shared the concept of a national safety alliance in 2023, with more details emerging at the forum. 

Eight things to know:

1. The National Action Alliance for Patient and Workforce Safety is a collective of federal agencies, heath systems, medical associations, policymakers and patient groups that will work together to apply evidence-based harm reduction strategies across all populations and settings, according to an AHRQ overview. The first area of focus will be hospital care settings.

2. The alliance will rely on a total-systems approach to safety improvement and align with the  National Action Plan to Advance Patient Safety, which aims to reduce preventable harm by 50% by 2026. Participating systems will conduct a baseline safety assessment to identify priority areas for improvement. Through the alliance, they'll have access to implementation support, funding opportunities and other resources to support improvement efforts.  

3. On Nov. 1, the alliance will release an initial version of a dashboard to monitor the nation's progress toward eliminating preventable patient and workplace harms across all settings.

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Firearm homicides are a leading cause of death in the US among individuals younger than 44 years,¹ with over 21 000 deaths from mass shootings between 2014 and 2022.² In response to the 2018 Parkland high school shooting that killed 17 people, Florida’s legislature enacted a red flag law permitting the temporary removal of firearms by law enforcement officers from individuals posing a danger to themselves or others. Florida is one of the few politically conservative and largely profirearm states to pass a law restricting gun ownership.^3 [JAMA]

Research into how red flag laws affect firearm-related homicide mortality is scant, with inconclusive findings.⁴ However, red flag laws may reduce firearm-related suicide mortality.^4,5 We estimated the association between Florida’s red flag law enactment and firearm and nonfirearm homicide and suicide rates.

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A growing number of U.S. adults are hesitant to get recommended vaccines this fall, a new survey found. [Fox News]

The poll, which included 1,006 people, found that only 43% of respondents have gotten or plan to get the COVID vaccine.

Only a slight majority (56%) of adults said they have gotten or plan to get the flu shot this fall.

COVID VACCINE DISTRUST GROWING AMONG AMERICANS, SURVEY FINDS: ‘SHOULD BE A PERSONAL CHOICE’

The poll also found that 37% of those who have gotten vaccines in past years plan to skip the shots this season. 

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COVID-19 isn’t slowing down. In at least 42 states, COVID cases, emergency room visits and hospitalizations all spiked this summer. In June, more than 1 in ­50 Americans 65 and older went to an ER and were diagnosed with COVID, more than double last summer’s rate, a rise ­attributable to the highly contagious ­omicron strains known as FLiRT. [AARP.ORG/Bulletin] 

FLiRT strains account for the majority of new cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Summer spikes happen when people huddle inside in air-conditioning for Father’s Day, graduations and similar events. But older Americans should be concerned about what lies ahead. For the past two years, COVID infections among people 65 and older were highest between Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day, peaking around Christmas each year. “It is likely we will see more cases as we move into fall/winter,” says Pragna Patel, M.D., senior adviser for long COVID at the CDC. For the past two winters, more than 1 in every 20 Americans 65 and older wound up in an ER with COVID symptoms.

FLiRT variants spread easily, having mutated to evade some antibodies. They don’t appear to cause more serious symptoms—doctors see everything from mild colds to severe respiratory infections. It’s not that they’re any less deadly, but most of us have acquired a certain degree of immunity to COVID-19.

Still, older adults remain at risk. Early this summer, hospitalization rates for those 65 and older were roughly 14 times higher than for adults under 50, according to the CDC. For older Americans, then, protecting ourselves is critical. Here’s how.

▶︎ Get your vaccinations up to date—pronto. Vaccination is still paramount for preventing COVID and decreasing the risk of severe illness and death, says Sara F. Martin, M.D., medical director of the Adult Post-Acute COVID Clinic at Vanderbilt University. If you’re due for your next shot, there’s no reason to wait: Updated 2024–2025 COVID vaccinations from Moderna, Novavax and Pfizer are expected to roll out this month. Medicare Part B continues to cover the vaccine, as do most insurers, but it’s best to check in advance. Some insurers only cover the vaccine when it’s administered in network. And yes, it’s safe to get your flu shot at the same time.

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