Health Data

Wasting no time to start on his pledge last week to remove all vaccine mandates in Florida, Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo quickly removed four of them from school immunization requirements starting as soon as December. He can remove only those four unilaterally but pledged to push lawmakers to abolish “every last one of them.”The four vaccines soon to be stripped from those required for public and private school attendance fight Hepatitis B, Varicella (chickenpox), Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib), and a fourth one that fights Pneumococcal bacteria that causes pneumonia, meningitis and other bacterial infections, a Florida Department of Health representative confirmed on Sunday. All of those vaccines are recommended for school-age children by state and federal health authorities and medical associations.

The Estero corridor is becoming a beacon for some of the most advanced, cutting-edge cancer treatment.Southwest Florida Proton opened last December on Estero Parkway and now Curadel Pharma is seeking to build a 43,000-square-foot cancer treatment facility and headquarters two miles away on Corkscrew Road.Curadel officials made their request last week to the Estero Planning Zoning & Design Board at a public informational meeting.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service is issuing a public health alert for ham salad products containing Food and Drug Administration regulated breadcrumb products that have been recalled by Newly Weds Foods due to concerns that the products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. FSIS is issuing the public health alert to ensure that consumers are aware that these products, which bear the USDA mark of inspection, should not be consumed. As more information becomes available, FSIS will update this public health alert. Consumers should check back frequently because additional products may be added.

The deaths caused by Vibrio vulnificus bacterium were in Hillsborough, Bay, Broward and St. Johns counties, according to the Florida Department of Health.

The Lee County Board of Commissioners Tuesday voted unanimously to remove fluoride from Lee County water. Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo came to the meeting to speak strongly in favor of removing fluoride. Ladapo has issued statewide guidance to remove fluoride from water. He has also gone on the record to oppose Covid-19 vaccinations.

Registered nurse members of the National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United protested Thursday morning asking for safe staffing levels and patient safeguards amidst the rapid introduction of artificial intelligence technologies. The nationwide protests included nurses at HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital in Port Charlotte.

In the health news this week, Florida Department of Health is rolling out an initiative to provide overdose prevention kits, and the new 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is reaching more Americans than the previous 10-digit number.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation has been conducting its annual Kids Count study data every year since 1990. The goal it to give state legislators, public…

Women are drinking more heavily, and alcohol is behind a growing number of their deaths, according to a Washington Post analysis of federal health…