Results tagged “publichealth”

Oh boy. We just got work from Dennis Herrera's office that the SF Department of Health will come down hard on over three hundred San Francisco restaurants today, invalidating their food safety certifications. According to the City Attorney's Office, "the San Francisco Department of Public Health (DPH) will be notifying 345 San Francisco restaurants that their certification for food safety managers will no longer be recognized as valid as a result of inappropriate testing and certification procedures." Oops. The City Attorney's Office goes on to say, "Officials from DPH also informed state and county public health authorities throughout California of at least 183 additional restaurants outside of San Francisco whose certifications are similarly affected. Another 78 certifications whose holders list no address have also been identified."

A quarantine has been "expanded" at San Quentin due to a probable outbreak of the swine flu epidemic. KTVU reports that "Luis Patino, a spokesman for the federal receiver who oversees medical care at the state's prisons, said Monday that 35 San Quentin prisoners have shown symptoms consistent with the H1N1 virus." What's more, "officials now have isolated 2,100 of the prison's 5,200 inmates. Last week, when the potential cases were limited to one cell block, 800 prisoners were quarantined." All of this, of course, is just precautionary as prison officials are still waiting for test results for confirmation. In related news, Ron Weasley also caught the virus.

Scene from yesterday's budget rally to, like, help save public health. Read more about it over at SFBG.

Following on the heels of yesterday's East Bay flu fatality, making it the third reported H1N1-related casualty in the Bay Area, the World Health Organization upgraded the swine flu to pandemic status today. "The world is now at the start of the 2009 influenza pandemic," WHO Director-General Margaret Chan, MD, warned at a news conference, going on to say, "Countries should prepare to see cases, or the further spread of cases, in the near future. Countries where outbreaks appear to have peaked should prepare for a second wave of infection."

Cabo San Lucas turns into a ghost town, more schools close in the East Bay, WHO raises pandemic threat level to 5, hand sanitizer flying off shelves -- Swine Flu Watch 2K9 is in full effect. As of Wednesday evening, there were "12 confirmed or probable cases" of the piggie flu in Contra Costa, Marin, and Santa Clara counties. However, according to public health officials, keeping track of flu case numbers will be "futile" since it's "spreading too fast to count accurately." (Gulp.) What's more, with so many people afraid that they might have caught the swine flu, hospitals are setting up special flu processing centers. That it to say, triage tents and makeshift screening center are being setup, such as the one in the parking lot of Sutter Delta in Antioch.

After one confirmed case of swine flu and thee other possible cases, two Bay Area schools have closed. First, San Jose's Branham High School will be shut down for a week after a student tested positive. The school will reopen May 6. Then, in Pittsburg, Highlands Elementary School was closed down after three fourth-graders have "probable cases" of the rapidly spreading flu. Thirteen other students "either called in sick or were sent home Tuesday with flu-like symptoms" as well. In related news, the first confirmed death in the U.S. from swine flu was reported, a 23-month-old in Houston, Texas

What with the swine flu breaking out in Sacramento, Marin County, and "the possibility that a California man may have died from the disease" (which, actually, wasn't the case) California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency today. According to Sacto Bee, "Schwarzenegger ordered state agencies to work together in their responses, allowed some departments to enter into contracts for services and materials and waived some certification requirements at public health labs to expand California's ability to test for the virus." ABC News goes on to report that the U.S. should expect more people in different states to be affected by the swine flu outbreak.

The first two cases of swine flu were just discovered last night. Two Marin residents, an unidentified 60-year-old woman and her 20-month-old granddaughter, just tested positive for swine flu. Both of them, it seems, had just returned from a trip to Mexico. According to SFGate, "The woman and child were described as having had a 'moderate' flu illness after their return from Mexico; the child has already recovered and her grandmother is now experiencing only mild symptoms, according to the Marin County officials. Other family members were tested and were receiving medication as a precaution." To find out more information on swine flu hitting the Bay Area, visit www.marinflu.org. (Swine flu fun fact: In Israel, the government officially renamed it "Mexico flu" because pigs aren't kosher.)

While the Feds want you to nix your travel plans to Mexico and Governor Schwarzenegger says California is (allegedly) prepared for Influenza Watch 2K9, Mayor Gavin Newsom's team says there's no need to panic, folks, even though the swine flu will make its way to SF. "Eventually, someone will come forward. No question, you're going to see a lot more cases. That's the nature of any kind of flu," said Newsom. Dr. Mitch Katz, director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, also asked for the public to remain calm, saying, "Were this to become a more serious epidemic, we could dispense [enough medication] rapidly." In the meantime, watch as the swine flu map grows rapidly.

The insane worldwide panic preceding a potential (though unlikely?) worldwide pandemic of swine flu reached new heights today, with Australian flights from California being screened before deplaning and a woman in Hong Kong hospitalized after visiting (gasp!) San Francisco.

View H1N1 Swine Flu in a larger map

Now that swine flu hysteria is taking root, Sacramento County may have uncovered a case of swine flu, according to the Sacramento County Health Officer Dr. Glennah Trochet. This would make it Northern California's first case, with 40 cases already being reported throughout the U.S. "We do have a possible case of a student at St. Mel school in Fair Oaks," claimed Trochet. "Out of an abundance of caution, we have recommended that the school close until we can identify if this virus is indeed the swine flu virus," she said. In related news, the U.S. will begin monitoring the Mexico border, "asking people about fever and illness, looking for people who are ill." Also, the U.S. is asking residents not to travel to Mexico while the public health emergency is underway, even though Obama claims there is not a cause for alarm. (Note: You cannot catch swine flu by eating pork.)

Due to some sort of pepper recall, Chinese food appetizer the egg roll is now also being tainted pepper connected to a salmonella outbreak. According to reports, "California's Department of Public Health is advising consumers not to eat chicken or vegetable egg rolls from EDS Wrap and Roll Foods in Hayward. The item was also sold under the Tien Tien brand name in various sized containers."

A website where official restaurant food safety rankings are easily accessible

As mentioned in today's Chronicle, the idea of a safe-space in which intravenous drug users can shoot up -- without fear of arrests, beatings, rapes, or whatever happens in those movies after heroin's sweet release -- might become a reality. Or at least, discussed in length at this Thursday's all-day symposium hosted by the city Department of Public Health.

Actually, this is some good news:

Gavin Newsom was all raspy voice and bulletproof hair at last night at Cesar Chavez Elementary in the Mission. Despite somebody's command to "Go back to Nob Hill!" Gavin asserted "I'm not going away." He's used that phrase a couple times now. Is that your campaign slogan, homie? We hope not, because you're not exactly the underdog. It's almost April and you still don't have an opponent.

Haight Ashbury Free Clinics' ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Integrated Care Center

Nothing gets our treasure hunting heart pounding as fast as a crowded taco truck tucked away on a parking lot. Unfortunately the delicious meal we wolf down sometimes makes our stomach heave just as fast. Fear not, we've located the healthiest taco truck south of the Department of Public Health.

BoingBoing's David Pescovitz recently posted a call for models by his friend Richard Hansen. And when we say "models" we mean "people with penises," since Richard is working on a book project about everyone's favorite cut of man-meat.

The SF Dept. of Public Health has launched, in conjunction with an organization called Internet Sexuality Information Services, a new website called InSPOT("Internet Services for Partners or Tricks"). InSPOT's offering an e-card service that you can use to send anonymous emails to your on-line hookups to let them know you've been infected with a sexually transmitted disease. (okay, all together -- aaaaaaagh!!!!)