As the summer rages on, coronavirus infection rates continue to climb across the country. States such as Texas, Arizona and Florida are seeing record spikes on an almost daily basis. As of July 15, there were more than 3.41 million infections and at least 134,000 deaths from the virus in the US, and it’s not done.

Unfortunately, in the midst of all this bad news another negative trend is emerging. Some states are seeing an increase in the number of young people being admitted to the hospital for COVID-19. That flies in the face of a commonly held belief that young people don’t get seriously ill from the coronavirus.

It remains true that the majority of people being hospitalized for COVID-19 are older Americans, and the death rate in the younger population is still very low. But the new reports from hospitals across the country are proving not only that more young people are getting infected but that they’re also getting sick enough to require hospitalization.

At one Arizona hospital, six COVID-19 patients in their 20s were admitted by a physician during one shift on Sunday. Most of those patients, the physician noted, were young, healthy individuals before contracting the virus. Across Arizona, people between the ages of 20 and 44 make up 20 percent of currently hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

At a Houston hospital, more than 60 percent of the patients hospitalized by the coronavirus in March and April were over the age of 55, while about 20 percent were under 55. In June and July, the percentage of patients under 50 climbed to 40 percent.

The rising infection rate in younger people may be explained by the fact that a high percentage are overweight and have a history of smoking or vaping. These risk factors can contribute to the development of a severe illness from the coronavirus. Young people are also more likely to gather in large crowds, attend parties and shun social distancing, believing they are immune to the virus.

And then there’s Florida, one of the worst coronavirus hotspots. According to a report released July 10, at least 31 percent of children who were tested for the coronavirus recorded positive. As part of a state initiate, 54,022 Florida residents under 18 were tested and 16,797 tests came back positive. The positivity rate for Florida’s entire population is approximately 11 percent.

This report comes as Florida, along with many other states, debates the risk of returning students to school this fall. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children and adolescents are “less likely to be symptomatic and less likely to have severe disease” from COVID-19 infection. But they can still carry the virus and infect others.

In May, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an advisory about a severe inflammatory condition discovered in children believed to be associated with the coronavirus called MIS-C. Florida’s pediatric report notes there have been 13 cases of MIS-C in children under 18 in the state.

To be fair, not all states have experienced a rise in infections and hospitalizations of younger patients. Some states, such as Colorado and Idaho, report that their age distribution has remained fairly flat. In California, the average age of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 has decreased, but only slightly, from 64 at the beginning of the pandemic to 57 in early July.

Another key finding in the ongoing fight against COVID-19 is that the most disproportionately affected young people are those of color, especially those who have underlying medical conditions. And young people of color are more likely to experience chronic health conditions associated with poor COVID-19 outcomes.

Common chronic conditions affecting minorities include diabetes, obesity, asthma, hypertension and heart disease. These conditions increase the risk of severe illness and hospitalization from COVID-19. They affect people of color, including young people, at higher rates than non-Hispanic whites, putting them at higher risk for serious COVID-19 infections.

For everyone’s sake, continue to practice the recommended safety precautions: Wash your hands frequently, wear a mask in public and stay 6 feet away from others.

Bad news: More Florida women getting breast cancer.

Good news: Death rate now among nation’s lowest.

When I scanned the first sentence of her Facebook post, I thought at first that it was just another attempt to raise awareness for a worthy cause that would eventually ask me to do my part in the fight by sharing the post with others.

If only it had been.

“I have breast cancer,” it said.

In the paragraphs that followed, my friend explained how she had known for a week that the two-centimeter lump she found last month was malignant. She then talked about the uncertainty, the fear and the battle ahead, and how she planned to kick cancer’s, um, rear end.

It’s an all too familiar post. In the past few months, my pastor’s wife made a similar announcement on Facebook.  Last week, a former colleague who survived breast cancer 12 years ago told me she is having another biopsy.

It’s no wonder we are seeing more of these posts. According to statewide figures from the Florida Department of Health, the breast cancer incident rate increased from 137.6 to 161.7 per 100,000 women between 2006 and 2016.

In 2016 alone, doctors diagnosed 16,721 new cases of breast cancer among women.  Last year, 2,955 women died from breast cancer. That translates to a death rate of 18.5 per 100,000 women.

In 2018, Glades County topped the list with a death rate of 41.9 per 100,000 people, though deaths totaled five. Other counties with high rates included Holmes, Walton, Franklin, Wakulla, Dixie, Gilchrist, Lafayette, Marion, Citrus, Pasco, Nassau, Brevard, Okeechobee and Hendry. Counties reporting the lowest rates were Calhoun, Liberty and Washington, all of which reported no deaths.

Nationally, the good news is that Florida is among the states with the lowest death rates. After peaking in 1999 and 2000 at 24.4 deaths per 100,000, the rate has decreased, with 19.7 in 2016, according to the latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Though researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville say a vaccine could be available in eight years, the best ways to prevent breast cancer right now is to adopt a healthy lifestyle and get regular screenings to ensure early detection.

So, we’ll continue to wear our pink, participate in three-day walks, and support our friends who make those heartbreaking social media announcements as much as we possibly can.

We’ll also perform regular self exams and screening mammograms as soon as they’re due. No procrastination. Taking care of ourselves is critical, especially if we are taking care of others. Thankfully, we have help in that endeavor.

To make sure every woman is able to get a screening, the Florida Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program provides free or low-cost mammograms to women who are residents of Florida, 50-64 with no insurance and low income. To see if you qualify, call your county Health Department.

The annual number of reported cases of hepatitis A in the state of Florida is on the rise yet again and at an alarming rate, according to figures released by the Florida Department of Health.

January 1, 2018 – August 17, 2019

After reported cases of hepatitis A in Florida more than doubled between 2016 and 2017 and nearly doubled between 2017 and 2018, the number of cases reported in Florida since then has more than quadrupled.

From January 1, 2018 to August 17, 2019 (the day the department’s report came out), 2,226 cases of hepatitis A were reported across the state. Of those 1,266 cases, 77 were reported during the last week covered by the report.

Hepatitis A is a vaccine-preventable, communicable disease of the liver that is caused by the hepatitis A virus, or HAV. It is typically transmitted from one person to the next through the fecal-oral route or through the consumption of contaminated food or water.

Symptoms of hepatitis A include fatigue, low appetite, stomach pain, nausea and jaundice but usually resolve within two months due to antibodies that are produced in response to the virus and protect against reinfection for life.

A vaccination is the best way to prevent the disease and such vaccinations are recommended by The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for all children a year old or older.

Vaccinations are also recommended for anyone who is homeless or living in an unstable housing situation or anyone who is at an increased risk of infection, including people using injection and non-injection drugs, people with chronic liver disease or blood clotting disorders.

The outbreak of the virus in the state of Florida began in 2017, when the number of reported cases of hepatitis A jumped from 122 a year earlier to 276. That number nearly doubled in 2018 to 548 cases.

Counties that reported a hepatitis A case in week 33 (8/11/19–8/17/19) are outlined in black. Since January 1, 2018, 98% of cases have likely been acquired locally in Florida.

With that number already exceeded, the surgeon general of the state of Florida, Scott Rivkees, declared a public emergency on Aug. 1, 2019, saying the declaration was a “proactive step to appropriately alert the public to this serious illness.”

Rivkees encouraged people to be vaccinated against the virus, which had spread the most through Pasco (374 cases), Pinellas (344) and Volusia (208) counties at the time the report was released.

Orange County, Hillsborough County, Marion County, Manatee County and Hernando County had all reported more than 100 hepatitis A cases at the time of the report, with Lake County falling just shy of that number with 98 reported cases.