Convention is almost here!

Look for your official “Know before you go” e-mail coming soon, with everything you need to, well, know before you go to the Georgia Pharmacy Convention.

Speaking of … it’s not too late even if you haven’t registered — just come to the registration desk on Amelia Island and our friendly staff will take care of you!

Swamp things

You’ve heard of “food deserts”? Now, with stores like CVS selling more food than grocers, the concern is “food swamps” of cheap, over-processed food … and the health concerns that go with it.

It was was found but now it’s lost

Or at least it could be. Measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, but thanks to the efforts of anti-vaxxers the disease has made a comeback — and that could cost the country that “eliminated” status. It’s more than a name; there are billions of tourist dollars at state, for starters.

Pile on Purdue

There are lots of analogies to be made, but we’ll go with “blood in the water.”* California, Hawai’i, Maine and Washington, D.C., have joined 45 other states in suing Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family as individuals for its/their role in the opioid crisis.

* Another would be how British warships swarmed the crippled Bismarck, but that’s a bit of an obscure reference

Breathing room

CVS Health is planning to build 1,500 “HealthHub” locations by the end of 2021 as it works to expand its healthcare footprint.

The stores have an increased focus on health services, including a wellness center and more chronic care management for diseases like diabetes. In those stores, CVS is committing about 20% of the physical store space to health endeavors rather than snacks or other convenient store supplies.

Small signs of major epidemics

UGA researchers have developed a new mathematical model that may predict the emergence of epidemics, as well as the effectiveness of vaccine programs. The team published “The statistics of epidemic transitions” in PLOS Computational Biology.

In short (and not doing the team justice), the model looks at the small changes that take place over long periods of time — mutation rates, lack of vaccination, broader contact between people — that hit a tipping point leading to an epidemic. That epidemic may seem to come out of nowhere, but the small signs were there. And now UGA knows to look for them.