Health
What might drive a person to act on air pollution? Dr. Niyi Omotoso, an Oakland pediatrician has asked himself that question. One answer, he believes, is asthma. Omotoso has treated many children with asthma, especially when he practiced in Richmond and San Pablo for 12 years. He saw how the disease disrupted the lives of the children and their families. A concerning UC San Francisco report confirms his experience: Around 25% of Richmond’s population suffers from asthma, almost double the…
After a Contra Costa man’s death from West Nile virus was reported on July 16, the county Health Department is urging the public to take precautions against the mosquito-borne illness. It was the county’s first reported West Nile death since 2006, and California’s only death among five recorded cases this year. Citing privacy laws, the county has released little information about the death, except that the man lived in the eastern part of the county and that health officials have…
Pulsing beats and whirling bodies fill up a cavernous hall at the Richmond Recreation Complex. It’s not Richmond’s newest nightclub — it’s a Thursday evening Zumba class. Located in Richmond Village, the Richmond Recreation Complex offers Zumba and other activities for adults and children. There are volleyball leagues for middle schoolers and adults and drop-in pickleball, just to name a few. The complex offers 10 programs, according to data from Richmond’s Community Services Recreation Department. The newly released winter…
“People of Richmond” is a regular series in which reporters pose a question to people in the community. Answers are presented verbatim, though sometimes edited for brevity. Q: Why do you think chronic sadness is so prevalent among WCCUSD high school students? “I’m a student athlete and I work. Sometimes I feel like I ignore my own feelings so I can get through the day.” (Alejandra, high school senior) “The environment is not safe, so definitely the schools aren’t safe…
“People of Richmond” is a regular series in which reporters pose a question to people in the community. Answers are presented verbatim, though sometimes edited for brevity. Q: Would you cross a picket line of striking workers to receive routine health care? “No I stand with the workers of Kaiser. My mom is a nurse so I understand their struggles.” (Kayla Chin, customer service manager, pictured above) “If I need to see a doctor, I’m going to go see a…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a new recommendation for infants and people above the age of 60 to receive a single-dose of the RSV vaccine, which was approved earlier this year by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The CDC, in a September health advisory, found that the respiratory syncytial virus was spreading in the southeastern part of the country. Cases have steadily increased in California in October and November. The risk of infection from RSV,…
Contra Costa Health officials are advising anyone who visited the California Grand Casino in Pacheco in the past five years to be tested for tuberculosis, after confirming a cluster of 11 cases connected to the site. “We are making this recommendation now because there is new evidence that TB may have spread among people who spent time at the casino from 2018-2023,” Dr. Meera Sreenivasan, Contra Costa County deputy health officer, said in a Thursday news release. The news release…
Colorful balloons decorated the Corrine Sain Senior & Family Community Center Friday, where close to 200 residents came for the “Food as Medicine Fair,” featuring music, yoga, Zumba, health screenings, raffles, lunch and bags of fresh produce and groceries for people to take home with them. More than 20 community organizations participated in the fair, the first of its kind for the center, providing information on everything from social justice to cancer. Sponsored by the Community Housing Development Corp. in…
Nearly 40% of 11th graders in the West Contra Costa Unified School District have reported “chronic sadness,” according to a recent California Healthy Kids Survey. The survey says chronic sadness has been on the rise in the county and the state, across grade levels, since 2017. “This is definitely shocking,” said LaShante Smith, the district’s director of positive school climate, after presenting the survey results at the Sept. 6 school board meeting. Smith said the district is hoping to turn…