More measles in Georgia

Three more cases of measles have been confirmed in Cobb County, bringing the annual total to 11 — which is more in 2019 than in the entire previous decade. And yes, at least two of them were unvaccinated.

Help us cross the finish line

We still need your support to reach our $10,000 goal and cross the finish line!

The Georgia Pharmacy Foundation provides scholarships, offers a free CE series to help Georgia pharmacists stay mentally healthy, and recently launched a free path to becoming a Champion for Opioid Safety.

The foundation’s annual giving campaign is coming to an end soon. As a community, we have raised $4.500 and still need to raise $5,500. If you haven’t already, we urgently ask you to donate today so we can provide the best opportunities for our members and our communities across the state.

Donate now $50 or $100 to help us cross the finish line: GPhA.org/foundation2019.

No ban on flavored e-cigarettes

After promising a ban on flavored vaping products (and raising the purchase age to 21), Donald Trump changed his mind and decided to ‘study the issue more.’

Go easy on those brakes

The opioid crisis has led to more tapering of prescription dosages, but in many cases that tapering is happening much faster than health official recommend. So finds a new study out of UC San Diego.

“Tapering plans should be based on the needs and histories of each patient and adjusted as needed to avoid adverse outcomes. Unfortunately, a lot of tapering occurs due to policy pressures and a rush to get doses below a specific and sometimes arbitrary threshold. That approach can be detrimental in the long run.”

So much for health records going digital

Physicians said that electronic health records were harder to use than Microsoft Excel, giving EHRs an “F” rating for useability.

• Google search: A
• Microwave ovens, ATMs, and Amazon: B
• Microsoft Word, DVRs, and GPSes: C
• Microsoft Excel: F
• Electronic health records: An even lower F

Keto vs the flu

Mice who eat a high-fat, low-carb diet — aka a ketogenic diet — appear to resist the flu better than those on a traditional diet, according to a Yale study.

[The diet] activates a subset of T cells in the lungs not previously associated with the immune system’s response to influenza, enhancing mucus production from airway cells that can effectively trap the virus, the researchers report.

Speaking of the flu…

It’s ramping up in the South, and this year’s strain is “a little bit unusual.”

Among school-aged children, influenza B is the most common strain. Among adults 65 and older, nearly 75% of the viruses are H3N2. For other adults, flu is equally divided between H1N1 and H3N2 strains.

Seller’s market

The Trump administration said again (on Friday) that it will allow Americans to purchase prescription medication from other countries, although it’s unclear what other countries those would be. Canada has made clear it will not allow the bulk sale of medications to the U.S., and there has been no talk of importing from anywhere else.