Once considered an infection nearly eradicated, congenital syphilis rates have risen dramatically in California. Community health workers fan out across communities to find and treat patients who are often homeless or battling addiction.
Chronic Disease
The number of congenital syphilis cases has ballooned to rates not seen in two decades. Public health workers say the increase coincides with a decline in funding for public health and a drop in the rate of women accessing prenatal care.
“I think it would be a bit cavalier to all of a sudden say, We’re completely through with it,” Dr. Fauci said at a center event this week.
A pledge to sharply reduce infant mortality by 2023 faces daunting obstacles.
The final story in a series detailing the detrimental health effects of wildfire smoke and the dangers Sonoma County's agricultural workers face.
This is part one in a series from KRCB, in collaboration with the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism 2022 California Fellowship, looking into the harsh wildfire conditions agricultural workers in Sonoma County face.
From providing accurate COVID-19 information to advocating for testing and vaccination with cultural sensitivity, these community healthcare workers were key to serving marginalized Hispanic populations.
Although the upgrades at Cottage Gardens are ongoing, emergency department visits have dropped significantly.
Long-term exposure to the particulate matter released by open agricultural burning has been associated with a suite of health problems, and the communities most affected are majority-Latino.
Nearly two decades of postponing a ban on burning have left clean air advocates dubious that local air regulators will follow through.