Georgian’s death appears linked to bacteria in aromatherapy spray used in home

A Georgia resident died this summer of a rare disease caused by bacteria that appears linked to an aromatherapy spray, the CDC said Friday. The Georgian died of melioidosis, and was one of four people infected with bacteria similar to that found in a contaminated spray sold at some Walmart stores. The spray, “Better Homes…

Blacks’ vaccination rates rise as many overcome hesitancy, obstacles

Story updated The devastating impact of the Delta variant helped push John Arthur Brown into action. Brown, an Atlanta photographer, had been reluctant to get vaccinated. “I was the hesitant one,’’ he said. His doubts were based on how quickly the Covid-19 vaccines were developed. He had what he called a mild case of Covid…

Georgia getting ‘plenty’ of antibody drugs despite feds’ restrictions

Despite new federal supply limits, Georgia has received enough shipments of monoclonal antibodies to treat patients newly exposed or infected by Covid-19, state officials said Thursday. Concerns about supply shortages of these powerful antibody drugs have emerged in states that are heavy users of the treatment, including Georgia. With about 70 percent of these lab-created…

Mounting deaths fuel school bus drivers’ Covid fears

By Andy Miller and Phil Galewitz Natalia D’Angelo got sick right after school started in August. She was driving a school bus for special education students in Griffin-Spalding County School System about 40 miles south of Atlanta and contracted Covid-19. One of her three sons, Julian Rodriguez-D’Angelo, said his mother, who was not vaccinated against…

Georgia to get less monoclonal antibodies as feds take over supply

A recent surge in demand for powerful Covid antibody drugs has generated concerns about supply shortages in states that are heavy users of the treatment, including Georgia. About 70 percent of these lab-created drugs are being used in the Southeast. With that uneven distribution, federal health officials recently decided to take over supplies and allocate…

Commentary: Mandates needed to fight Covid

Vaccines and masks are two powerful weapons that people can use against Covid-19. But Georgia is failing to use those weapons effectively, a new GHN Commentary argues. Dr. Harry Heiman, a public health expert at Georgia State University, says that with so many Covid outbreaks in schools, “all kindergarten through Grade 12 schools should institute…

A Covid crisis that was not inevitable

By Dr. Harry J. Heiman Our current crisis was not inevitable. Eighteen months ago we faced the collective challenge of a global pandemic the likes of which we had never seen. This required a tremendous learning curve in the understanding and response by a public health workforce that had been chronically underfunded and understaffed. Against…

School-aged children at center of latest Covid surge in state

About 60 percent of current Covid outbreaks in Georgia are occurring in K-12 schools across the state, public health officials said Tuesday. That’s seven times more than the child outbreaks in previous virus surges, Cherie Drenzek, the state epidemiologist, told the board of the Department of Public Health. Cases, hospitalizations and deaths among children have…

How is Georgia managing Medicaid managed care?

By Rebecca Grapevine and Andy Miller Just before Frank Berry left his job as head of Georgia’s Medicaid agency this summer, he said the state “will be looking for the best bang for the buck” in its upcoming contract with private insurers to cover the state’s most vulnerable. But whether the state — and Medicaid…

Lead-contaminated Atlanta neighborhood may be put on federal clean-up priority list

The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to add a westside Atlanta area that’s contaminated with lead to the Superfund program’s National Priorities List (NPL), which would allow more federal funding for clean-up. The Superfund program, created in 1980, has the responsibility of identifying dangerously polluted sites around the nation, cleaning them up and when possible,…