MINNEAPOLIS — The state’s death toll from H1N1 flu has increased to 58 after state officials completed their investigations of three deaths in October and November.
The Minnesota Department of Health released its weekly update of flu statistics on Wednesday. It shows flu infections of all kinds remain only sporadic in the state.
There were no outbreaks of flu-like illness in long-term care facilities last week and only one in schools. There were no new confirmed cases in the state’s hospitals.
The department releases few details about H1N1 flu deaths, but in this case says they were a man from Dakota County, a man from Benton County and a woman from Carver County. Their ages ranged from 20 to 59.
Mayo Clinic is launching two research-based consumer applications for iPhone and iPod Touch this quarter, the first in a variety of mobile health products and services supporting the goal of making Mayo’s expertise available to anyone, anywhere, anytime.
Associated Press
ST. PAUL — The Minnesota House is poised to try to override Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s veto of a bill to preserve an expiring state health care plan for the poor.
A House vote expected today would determine whether Pawlenty’s veto stands.
The Democratic-controlled Senate voted last week to override the veto. Majority House Democrats would need at least three Republicans to cross party lines to finish the job.
Democrats say there is urgency to act before Pawlenty’s administration starts transferring the patients on the expiring plan into another plan designed for a different group.
The Republican governor vetoed legislation to extend the General Assistance Medical Care program for more than 30,000 poor adults. The program is ending April 1 after Pawlenty withdrew funding last year.
MPCA press release:
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has issued an air pollution health alert for Rochester and the Twin Cities for Thursday through Saturday. As of 1 p.m. on Thursday, pollution monitors in the Twin Cities and Rochester indicate fine particle levels are approaching a level considered unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Light southeasterly winds and surface high pressure are encouraging fine particle transport and buildup in the region. Fine particle levels are expected to continue to build through Saturday morning, and will begin to fall as surface high pressure moving over the Northern Plains generates moderate north-northwesterly winds. These winds will disperse pollutants and are expected to lead to good Air Quality Index (AQI) levels on Sunday, Feb. 14.
By Thursday evening, AQI levels in the Twin Cities and Rochester are expected to reach 107, a level considered unhealthy for sensitive groups. On Friday, the AQI is expected to peak between 110 and 120. By the end of the day Saturday, air quality is expected to improve to moderate conditions and should be good by Sunday.
Duluth News Tribune
The number of Minnesotans who don’t have health insurance coverage rose nearly 27 percent between 2007 and 2009, according to a study released Friday by the Minnesota Department of Health.
The number of people without health coverage rose from 374,000 in 2007 to 480,000 last year — about 9.1 percent of the state’s population. The study, conducted in conjunction with the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, blamed a decline in the percentage of Minnesotans who had employer-sponsored health-care plans — from 62.5 percent to 57.2 percent.
”The economic recession has had a clear impact on health insurance access and affordability,” said Sanne Magnan, Minnesota commissioner of health, in a prepared statement.
Minnesota is one of the first states to report 2009 health insurance coverage.
Olmsted County Public Health said this morning that it has “several reports of vomiting and diarrhea likely caused by norovirus.”
“Norovirus is the most common cause of foodborne disease in Minnesota and the rest of the United States,” the agency says. “It causes vomiting, diarrhea, and aches that can incapacitate people for up to two days.”
You get norovirus from exposure to “the stool and vomit of ill or recently ill individuals.”
“If such individuals do not wash their hands thoroughly, the virus stays on the hands and can be passed easily to other household members through food, and commonly touched surfaces such as utensils and door handles,” Public Health announced. The virus can be spread for up to 24 hours before symptoms occur by infected people, and for up to 72 hours after recovery.
ST. PAUL — A soon-expiring health care program for 28,000 low-income adults will survive a month longer than anticipated.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s administration said Wednesday that the General Assistance Medical Care program will remain in place until April 1, a month longer than previously announced.
Human Services Commissioner Cal Ludeman says the extension results from lower costs in operating the program. It is still due to fade away though because Pawlenty vetoed continued funding for it.
GAMC covers very low-income adults — some homeless, others with incomes as low as a couple thousand dollars a year. The administration plans to move some into MinnesotaCare, a premium-based public insurance program.
Legislative Democrats say they’ll try to revive GAMC during a session that begins next week.
ST. PAUL — Nearly 370 new HIV cases were diagnosed in Minnesota last year, marking a 17-year high and a 13 percent increase over 2008, the Minnesota Department of Health reported today. The 2009 total was up to 368 from the 326 cases reported the year before, according to the department’s preliminary report.
The increase is primarily among males ages 15 to 24, said Peter Carr, manager of the department’s HIV/AIDS section. HIV is an infection that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS. While there’s no clear answer for why HIV infections are on the rise, Carr had suspicions. He said it could be the result of complacency about the disease, particularly among young, gay men. He also said the Internet has made it easier for gay men seeking casual sex to find each other.
“It’s way easier than connecting with someone in a bar,” he told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis. “That high efficiency may be contributing to greater levels of anonymous sex.” So safe sex education also should move to the Internet, he said. “We need to be taking a look at how we can use Internet and social media sites to connect with people in that generation,” he said.
Carr said it’s a real increase and not the result of increased testing, nor is it a product of an increasing population. There were 6.6 new infections per 100,000 residents in 2008 and 7.5 such cases per 100,000 residents in 2009.
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — The University of Minnesota Medical School’s Twin Cities campus is seeing a record number of applications.
The school received 3,360 applications for the 2010-11 academic year. That’s about 100 more than last year.
The Minnesota Daily reports the number of applicants to the school has been rising steadily since 2003 and has nearly doubled since 2001. Nationwide, the number of applicants to medical schools has been relatively stable over the past four years, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Associate dean for admissions Paul White says the real success is not the rise in applicants — it’s the rise in well-qualified applicants.
White says the number of students who enroll in the Twin Cities campus Medical School each year stays at about 170.
Senate Democrats passed a landmark health care bill Thursday that could define President Barack Obama’s legacy and usher in near-universal medical coverage for the first time in the country’s history.
The 60-39 vote on a cold Christmas Eve morning capped months of arduous negotiations and 24 days of floor debate. It also followed a succession of failures by past congresses to get to this point. Vice President Joe Biden presided as 58 Democrats and two independents voted “yes.” Republicans unanimously voted “no.”
The tally far exceeded the simple majority required for passage.
The Senate’s bill must still be merged with legislation passed by the House before Obama could sign a final bill in the new year. There are significant differences between the two measures but Democrats say they’ve come too far now to fail.
