Dealing with more bug bites than usual? Mosquitos are at 3 times their normal number in Maryland this summer. (Baltimore Sun)

Thursday Jul 5th, 2018

First came the rains. Now come the mosquitoes.

Populations of the itch-inducing insects have multiplied across Maryland — in many areas up to three times their normal early summer numbers — because of recent storms and flooding that have given them an abundance of water to breed in

“The mosquito-borne illnesses can cause a range of health issues, including infection that can spread to the brain,” said Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana S. Wen.

“These are illnesses that can be fatal,” Wen said, “but are preventable” though practices such as wearing long sleeves at peak times of the day, using repellent and getting rid of standing water.

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The number of Baltimore children with lead poisoning fell 19 percent in 2017, even as more children were tested for exposure to the powerful neurotoxin.

Statewide, the number of Maryland children found to have elevated levels of lead in their blood held steady even as the number of children tested increased by 10 percent, according to a Maryland Department of the Environment report released Tuesday.

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Trump declared an emergency over opioids. A new report finds it led to very little. (Vox)

To much fanfare last year, President Donald Trump ordered his administration to declare a public health emergency over the opioid epidemic. “As Americans, we cannot allow this to continue,” Trump said at the time. “It is time to liberate our communities from this scourge of drug addiction.”

When I’ve asked experts about these approaches, it’s not that any of them are bad. It’s that they fall short. For instance, Leana Wen, the former health commissioner of Baltimore (and soon-to-be president of Planned Parenthood), said that the Support for Patients and Communities Act “is simply tinkering around the edges.”

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Azar Unveils Plan to Help Pregnant Patients Quit Opioids (MedPage Today)

States will get help from the federal government integrating services for pregnant and postpartum Medicaid patients with opioid use disorder under a pilot program announced Tuesday by Health and Hu

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