Health News Roundup

Diabetes diagnoses doubled for Black youth during the pandemic, and more in this week’s roundup

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Diabetes diagnoses doubled for Black youth during the pandemic
Margo Snipe, Capital B, Sept. 2
Diagnosis of type 2 diabetes doubled among Black children during the first year of the pandemic but decreased among white youth, according to a new study. The trend suggests that the racial disparities already present in type 2 diabetes are deepening. The number of new diagnoses across all racial groups increased by nearly 80%.

As CT opioid overdose deaths rise, settlement funds begin arriving
Jessica Bravo, The Connecticut Mirror, Sept. 19
Despite its smaller size, New London had the state’s highest rate of fatal drug overdoses in 2021. As a result, the city struggles to keep up with the demand for services as opioid addictions and overdoses continue. Although settlement funds from a national lawsuit are starting to arrive, city officials say the funds will not go as far as needed.

Food insecurity in CT higher this year amid inflation, expiration of child tax credit, survey shows
Alex Putterman, CT Insider, Sept. 19
According to new data from DataHaven, 17% of Connecticut adults have been unable to afford food at some point in the past year. This is the highest total in the five years DataHaven has conducted its annual survey. Latinx and Black adults faced higher rates of food insecurity, at 34% and 25% respectively, compared to 11% of white adults.

‘Staggering’ and ‘sobering’: More than 80% of US maternal deaths are preventable, CDC study shows
Nada Hassanein, USA Today, Sept. 19
Roughly 4 in 5 maternal deaths between 2017 to 2019 were due to preventable causes, according to a new federal analysis. The majority of deaths, which were disproportionately Black and Indigenous people, occurred postpartum. The report cites mental health conditions as the top underlying cause, followed by hemorrhage. Experts say the findings indicate the critical need for rigorous postpartum care and mental health resources.

‘Very harmful’ lack of data blunts U.S. response to outbreaks
Sharon LaFraniere, The New York Times, Sept. 20
Decades of underinvestment in public health information systems has crippled efforts to understand the pandemic. State and local health departments have struggled to combine data from disparate sources and pass it along to the CDC. Federal experts say the lack of comprehensive, timely data has hampered the response to both the COVID-19 pandemic and the monkeypox outbreak.