On Monday, the department posted a message on Facebook, announcing that Sgt. Jenson died over the weekend surrounded by family, friends, and colleagues.
Sergeant Jon Jenson was part of Fort Worth Police for 26 years, but his family didn't know a lot about his day-to-day there.
When he was home, it was all about family," said Vickie Jenson, his wife.
So, she was surprised when he came home one day with a Lifesaving Award.
"I said, What is this? He goes, Oh, they had a banquet, I didnt go,'" she laughed.
Turns out, he had helped rescue an older man who thought he was back in World War II.
"He called commandsWorld War II commands, and was able to get the man out of the tunnel and into safety," Vickie recalled.
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One of her fondest memories is getting married in the rain in March of 2001.
There was a certain song that was playing that we danced to," she said.
All moments she and her kids are now holding onto after COVID-19 shattered their lives.
I started to get better after a week, he did not. He started getting worse," said Vickie.
They contracted the virus in mid-August, and she said her husband was in and out of the hospital from then on.
Vickie said her husband got the virus while on the job.
I was always scared of him getting COVID because he already had lung problems, he hashes an asthmatic," she said.
She said after being on an ECMO, Jenson's liver and kidney started failing. An ECMO machine pumps blood outside the body, allowing the patient's heart and lungs to rest.
"He went from...breathing oxygen, to a mask, to the highest form of ventilator, like within 24 hours or so," Vickie said.
They said their goodbyes to the 57-year-old on Saturday.
We were there to hold his hand whenever he passed and it was very hard," she said, looking at her two kids.
I think the things that really made him great was the things that everyone has been saying for forever," said Jenson's son, William, "Hes just a loving, caring father and husband, and very honest, very thoughtful.
Vickie said he loved babies and animals and was a caring person.
Anytime anybody needed anything, he was the first one to jump up and help or whip out his wallet if anybody needed something-- to pay for flowers or anything. He just, he was always the first one to jump up and say, Ill do it," Vickie said.
She said he always wanted to take care of his team, too-- buying Christmas presents for them every year and, she found out over the last few days, sometimes surprising his staff with food.
Thats just the things that he did. And he didnt ask for anything in return," she said.
Vickie said she felt one last moment as they transported Jenson's casket, and their song started playing over the radio.
"As soon as we got out of the car, it started raining. And then as soon as we got in the car, it stopped," she said. "Its like I knew he was there."
Members of the Fort Worth Police Department are remembering Jenson for being "a great husband, father, friend and leader."
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From 46% to 61% of adults receiving mpox vaccination at two US public health clinics reported a decrease in sexual behaviors tied to viral transmission, including one-time encounters, sex partners, dating app or sex venuebased sex, and group sex, according to a study published late last week in Sexually Transmitted Diseases.
The study, led by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers, involved 711 adults seeking mpox vaccination at two clinics in Washington, DC, who completed questionnaires from August to October 2022.
Median participant age was 32 years, 52.0% were White, 20.5% were Black, 14.6% were Hispanic, 7.9% were Asian, 2.0% were multiracial, 0.3% were American Indian/Alaska Native, and 9% had HIV. Most participants were men who have sex with men (MSM) (61.0%), 27.0% were women, and 3.8% were men who have sex with only women.
During the 2022 multicountry mpox outbreak, more than 30,000 mpox cases were reported, mainly among MSM. "Decreases in U.S. mpox cases were likely accelerated by a combination of vaccination and modifications to sexual behaviors associated with mpox virus transmission," the researchers wrote.
Many participants reported fewer one-time sexual encounters (60.8%), sex partners (54.3%), less dating app or sex venuefacilitated sex (53.4%), and less group sex (45.6%). A total of 39% to 54% reported no change in these behaviors, and 0.4% reported an increase.
While reported cases of mpox continue to be low, individuals may return to behaviors and practices that they engaged in prior to the outbreak. In turn, behavior mitigation strategies may only be implemented as temporary protective measures, underscoring the importance of mpox vaccination for continued protection.
A greater proportion of Black participants reported decreases in all four behaviors since learning about mpox (61% to 76%), compared with White participants (41% to 54%). Also, a higher percentage of participants with HIV than those without HIV said they were engaging less in these activities (72% to 82% vs 43% to 59%).
"While reported cases of mpox continue to be low, individuals may return to behaviors and practices that they engaged in prior to the outbreak," the authors wrote. "In turn, behavior mitigation strategies may only be implemented as temporary protective measures, underscoring the importance of mpox vaccination for continued protection."
Matthew Horwood/Getty Images
TEMPERATURES have recently taken a dip in London, where I live, and, at home, I have been digging out my jumpers. At work, the winter feel is reinforced by a surge of interest in covid-19, with rising reported UK cases leading to familiar concerns over pressures on hospitals.
Because there is now much more population immunity to covid-19, it seems unlikely we would go back to restrictions on public mixing and so on. But in hospitals, where people are more vulnerable, there are questions over whether they should be reintroducing measures like staff wearing masks and having stricter isolation policies.
A pair of studies sheds new light on the SARS-CoV-2related multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), with Dutch researchers finding that previous COVID-19 infection helps protect children against the condition, and a US study showing that low-dose corticosteroids and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) were tied to shorter hospital stays and less severe disease.
Both studies were published in the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.
For the first study, a team led by Leiden University researchers conducted an international study involving 564 hospitalized pediatric COVID-19 or MIS-C patients from March 2020 to December 2022. The children were from the Netherlands, Curacao, and Surinam.
Most children hospitalized for COVID-19 (239/375; 64%) had a respiratory tract infection. About one third of admitted children (136/375; 36%) had primarily nonrespiratory COVID-19 symptoms (eg, fever, gastrointestinal symptoms).
Of the 375 COVID-19 patients, 36% required supplemental oxygen, and 9.3% were admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU). Risk factors for severe disease were age older than 12 years, a history of neurocognitive developmental abnormalities, and underlying chronic lung conditions.
Over one third (36%) of COVID-19 patients were severely ill. Of these patients, 26% were admitted to an ICU, 15 needed mechanical ventilation, 2 received extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), and 1 patient with severe underlying conditions died.
Of the 189 MIS-C patients, 43% had severe illness. All severely ill patients were admitted to the ICU. Five patients required mechanical ventilation, and none died. The gastrointestinal (90%) and cardiac (75%) systems were most often involved.
Our data supports the notion that, similar to adults, prior immunity protects against severe sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infections in children.
Most COVID-19 cases were from wild-type variant predominance (34%), followed by the Delta period (25%). The incidence of MIS-C was highest during Delta predominance (4.0 cases per 1 million people), with a steep fall-off when Omicron emerged (1.2 per million). No MIS-C cases were documented after July 2022. MIS-C patients younger than 5 years had milder illness than their older counterparts.
Children had less severe infections during the Omicron than during preceding variant periods. After population immunity rose due to COVID-19 vaccine rollouts and previous infections, the incidence of COVID declined except for in infants younger than 1 year, in whom the rate remained stable.
"Our data supports the notion that, similar to adults, prior immunity protects against severe sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infections in children," the study authors wrote. "Real-time reporting of accurate and high-quality data is feasible and impacts clinical and public health decision-making."
In the second study, a team led by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers obtained data on 233 MIS-C patients at four children's hospitals in Florida, Georgia, Arizona, and Missouri from March 2020 to March 2021. Median age at MIS-C onset was 9 years.
Patients who received high-dose steroids and aspirin had increased rates of severe outcomes and longer duration of treatment, indicating that patients with severe illness may have been selected for these treatments.
The most commonly administered treatments were corticosteroids (88.4%), aspirin (81.1%), IVIG (77.7%), and anticoagulants (71.2%). Compared with patients without respiratory symptoms, those with respiratory involvement were less likely to be given IVIG and steroids on the same day (44.1%).
After adjustment for confounding variables, patients given IVIG within 1 day of hospitalization were less likely to have a hospital stay of 8 days or longer (relative risk [RR], 0.53). Patients given low-dose steroids on their first day of hospitalization were less likely to develop ventricular dysfunction (RR, 0.45), have increasingly elevated troponin levels (an indication of heart damage; RR, 0.55), or remain hospitalized for at least 8 days (RR, 0.46).
"Patients who received high-dose steroids and aspirin had increased rates of severe outcomes and longer duration of treatment, indicating that patients with severe illness may have been selected for these treatments," the researchers wrote. "Furthermore, treatment with IVIG and low-dose steroids within 1 day of hospitalization lowered the risk of severe outcomes, illustrating that prompt treatment is essential for better outcomes among patients with MIS-C."
November 01, 2023
2 min read
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Antibiotic use among critically ill patients hospitalized with COVID-19 declined between 2020 and 2022, researchers found.
Antibiotics are commonly prescribed to patients who have COVID -19 even though they do not treat viral infections, Christine Kim, PhD, MSPH, senior health scientist at CDC, told Healio.
We updated a previous analysis of hospital discharge records in PINC AI Healthcare Data through June 2022 to characterize inpatient antibiotic use in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. The main objective of this analysis was to evaluate changes in antibiotic use and identify opportunities for improving prescribing practices, she said.
To do so, Kim and colleagues conducted a retrospective analysis of adults aged 18 years and older who were hospitalized in the U.S. and included in the PINC AI Healthcare Data (PHD) Special Release COVID-19 edition (PHD-SR COVID-19) a hospital-based, all-payer database that contains inpatient discharge records from participating general acute-care, nonfederal U.S. hospitals.
Researchers used this cohort to calculate the monthly proportion of hospital discharges in which patients received at least one dose of an antibiotic during their hospital stay and stratified by critical care status, days of therapy (DOT)/1,000 patient days (PDs) and length of therapy/1000 PDs, according to the study.
In total, 1,142,752 adults were hospitalized and discharged with a COVID-19 diagnosis between March 2020 and June 2022, with most patients (69.9%) receiving an antibiotic during their hospital stay 88.1% of which were started at admission.
According to the study, antibiotic use rates were higher among critically ill patients compared with those among noncritically ill patients (903 DOT/1,000 PDs vs. 763 DOT/1,000 PDs). These patients were more likely to be older, critically ill, have longer hospital stays and higher in-hospital mortality.
Overall, the study showed that among noncritically ill patients discharged in 2020, 71.1% received an antibiotic of whom 92.3% were started on admission vs. 62.1% in 2022, of whom 88.2% were started on admission. The largest decreases in antibiotics were observed for azithromycin (40.2% to 30.9%) and ceftriaxone (46.6% to 39.9%).
Hospital antimicrobial stewardship programs are critical in leading efforts to decrease early initiation of unnecessary antibiotics among patients hospitalized with COVID-19, Kim said. With increasing cases of respiratory viruses this season, stewardship programs also support optimizing the use of diagnostic testing and appropriate antimicrobial treatment, including antiviral therapy, to improve the evaluation and treatment of patients hospitalized with respiratory infections.
Kim added, Clinicians should follow national or hospital treatment guidelines for patients with COVID-19.
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The Michigan Department of Natural Resource (DNR) yesterday reported the first detection of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in a deer in Ogemaw County, which is in the north central part of the lower peninsula.
The deer was a 4-year-old doe that was skinny, drooled, and showed no fear of people. The University of Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in Madison confirmed the findings. CWD has now been found in 13 of Michigans 83 counties.
Chad Stewart, MS, the DNRs deer and elk specialist, said intensive surveillance had been done. "In light of this new detection, we are offering additional opportunities for those interested in getting their deer tested for CWD in Ogemaw County," he said. Officials said a drop box for CWD testing will be available in the area starting November 3.
Stewart said CWD isnt common in Michigan deer, and the hunting community continues to play a key role in helping with testing efforts. The DNR said it regularly tests around areas where CWD is detected as a way to detect the disease early. In 2021, it started a rotational approach, selecting a group of counties for testing each year with a longer-term goal of testing all Michigan counties.
The focus this year is counties in the northwestern lower peninsula and a few counties where more herd information is needed.
Michigans first CWD detection occurred in 2015, and, since then, more than 137,000 wild deer have been tested. The deer in Ogemaw County is the 251st to test positive.
CWD is a prion disease that causes neurodegeneration, similar to "mad cow disease," in several cervid species, or members of the deer family. The disease hasnt been shown to jump to people, but health officials urge people to avoid eating infected animals and to use precautions, such as wearing rubber gloves and minimizing contact with brain and spinal tissues, when processing deer.
DeSantis campaigns in NH with Florida surgeon general who rejected CDC COVID-19 guidance
Updated: 6:33 PM EDT Nov 1, 2023
Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis campaigned in New Hampshire on Wednesday with the Florida surgeon general, touting their sometimes controversial response to the COVID-19 pandemic.During the COVID-19 pandemic, DeSantis and Dr. Joseph Ladapo weren't afraid to steer Florida away from certain guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."They decided that healthy people should be quarantined, and that had never been done before," DeSantis said. "And you had schools the CDC pushed this; Joe and I rejected it but they would say if one kid got positive for COVID, then anyone in the class, even if they were healthy, had to go home and isolate for two weeks. It was terrible for families."Ladapo became a controversial figure in the medical community during the pandemic when he said healthy children should not be vaccinated against COVID-19, which went against recommendations from the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics. He said the negative impacts of the COVID-19 response should have been balanced against the danger of the virus."Record rates of alcohol abuse, drug abuse, overdoses, kids. I mean, it's crazy," Ladapo said. "Can you imagine that double-digit percentages of children have thought about suicide?"DeSantis is targeting a certain kind of primary voter, but talking about the pandemic also helps him draw a contrast with the GOP frontrunner, former President Donald Trump."The CDC director under Trump at one point said I think holding up a mask 'If we do this for six weeks, the pandemic will be over," DeSantis said. "That was false."
Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis campaigned in New Hampshire on Wednesday with the Florida surgeon general, touting their sometimes controversial response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, DeSantis and Dr. Joseph Ladapo weren't afraid to steer Florida away from certain guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"They decided that healthy people should be quarantined, and that had never been done before," DeSantis said. "And you had schools the CDC pushed this; Joe and I rejected it but they would say if one kid got positive for COVID, then anyone in the class, even if they were healthy, had to go home and isolate for two weeks. It was terrible for families."
Ladapo became a controversial figure in the medical community during the pandemic when he said healthy children should not be vaccinated against COVID-19, which went against recommendations from the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics. He said the negative impacts of the COVID-19 response should have been balanced against the danger of the virus.
"Record rates of alcohol abuse, drug abuse, overdoses, kids. I mean, it's crazy," Ladapo said. "Can you imagine that double-digit percentages of children have thought about suicide?"
DeSantis is targeting a certain kind of primary voter, but talking about the pandemic also helps him draw a contrast with the GOP frontrunner, former President Donald Trump.
"The CDC director under Trump at one point said I think holding up a mask 'If we do this for six weeks, the pandemic will be over," DeSantis said. "That was false."
PADUCAH Educators state-wide are trying to close the gap for students who retained less knowledge from hybrid learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Kentucky Department of Education released the state's test results on Tuesday for the 2022-2023 Kentucky Summative Assessment, a benchmark exam given in grades 3 through 8, 10, and 11.
The results showed most schools had a yearly incremental increase since 2020, but it is clear that growth needs to continue.
While most high schools in western Kentucky exceeded the state average, some fell below.
The Kentucky Summative Assessment grades the assessments using Novice, Apprentice, Proficient, and Distinguished.
Schools strive for students to receive Proficient and Distinguished grades. Apprentice is considered below average, and Novice is considered far below standard.
State-wide, the average percentage of high school students that earned a Proficient or Distinguished in reading was 44%. The state-wide average in math was 33%.
Paducah Tilghman High School and Marshall County High School were the only schools to perform below the state average.
The graph below shows how students in western Kentucky performed on the state assessments last year and the year after COVID.
With a few exceptions, schools are seeing improvement in student performance since switching back to in-person classes, and educators are motivated to do what it takes to close the gap.
Ballard Memorial High School tested 12% above the reading average and 33% above the math average.
Ballard Memorial High School tested 12% above the reading average and 33% above the math average.
Principal Tim Adams said the school has programs to maximize student learning.
"We utilize two things here at school. We utilize mastery prep for the ACT, and we utilize i-Ready, which is for our sophomores and freshmen in math and reading," Adams explained.
The i-Ready software allows the administration to assess areas where students need more help.
Principal Tim Adams said the school has programs to maximize student learning.
"Incrementally, we assess those students three times a year, and that allows us to get feedback on their learning...and make adjustments in their instruction," Adams said.
Adams said by preparing students for college and integrating them into career pathways at the Career Technical Center, they receive a quality education.
"When you combine those together, we challenge our students academically in math, science, English, and social studies, but we also provide them the career areas as well," Adams said.
McCracken County High School tested 7% above the state average in reading and 7% above the average in math.
McCracken County Superintendent Josh Hunt said the schools in the district conduct benchmark assessments.
"What we do is take the data from the benchmarks and look at it just like we would state testing data. We look for the gaps. We look at where our weaknesses are," Hunt said.
By adjusting the curriculum throughout the year, students' weaknesses are addressed.
"A lot of our professional learning committees, our communities, and our meetings with our staff are about finding out as we go to more of an individualized approach," Hunt said. "Let's know where each student is and if their individual needs are being met."
Ballard County Schools and McCracken County say ARPA funding during COVID has been a big help to teachers and staff over the past three years.
They've used it to help with tutoring and other student services, but next September, that money will run out.
School officials with Ballard say they hope it won't impact test scores, but they say it is a possibility.
A survey presented to the CDC shows vaccination rates for the latest COVID-19 booster are in the single digits. Health experts are urging people to get the shot.
Author: 13newsnow.com
Published: 11:09 PM EDT November 1, 2023
Updated: 11:09 PM EDT November 1, 2023
Nearly four years since the COVID-19 pandemic first plunged Americas education system into turmoil, schools across the country are still fighting to recover from widespread disruptions to student learning and mental health. Many hope to focus their efforts not only on academic recovery and acceleration but also on comprehensive and transformative school redesign.
The term school redesign typically refers to restructuring at the system level meant to address longstanding inequities and facilitate stronger teaching and learning. Redesign is a community-based process that involves transforming not only the physical environment of schools but also the policies and procedures that drive classroom instruction and organize the school day.
School redesign is challengingand given constraints around time, finances, staff capacity, school schedules, credit systems, and a lack of data about what works, it is often also not easily scalable across districts and states. Consequently, a central question remains as state and federal governments look to reimagine education in the wake of the pandemic: How can policymakers promote and scale innovation in school design? The recommendations in this article outline actions that state and federal policymakers can take to foster thoughtful, transformative school redesign and pave the way for community-driven innovation.
Credit systems based solely on hours of instruction, such as the Carnegie unit, do little to address students individual needs. This traditional model holds seat time constant while making learning the variable. However, several states are leading the way in implementing innovative competency-based models that center content mastery as the basis for high school graduation. In Iowa, Kentucky, and Oregon, school districts have the option to offer proficiency-based credit to students who have successfully completed course requirements or otherwise demonstrated mastery of standards. Maine and New Hampshire require all their districts to base credit systems on mastery of course content or state standards. Research has shown that these systems are associated with increased intrinsic motivation and self-management skills among students, particularly in math courses.
Schools must recognize that learning can and does take place outside the classroom. Work-based learning opportunities, internships, apprenticeships, part-time jobs, after-school programs, service learning, at-home learning, and community-based projects all provide valuable opportunities for building knowledge and skills. Rhode Island and New Hampshire have embraced a credit for learning approach to personalize students individual graduation pathways and award credit for out-of-school experiences. Policies such as these improve student engagement and better prepare students for college and careers by recognizing and validating multiple forms of experience and community-based funds of knowledge.
The drawback of offering more flexibility in learning programs, however, is that some students, particularly those who are already marginalized, may fall through the cracks. Robust data collection and transparency are therefore essential to ensure that all students needs are being met in school. Statewide longitudinal data systems that collect students information from their entry into early childhood education to their entry into and participation in the workforceoften referred to as P-20W systemsare key for monitoring school redesign initiatives and making evidence-based decisions that meet student needs. Texas provides the Texas Public Education Information Resource website, which combines multiple sources of data on all the states public school students with reports on teacher certification and school district staffing. Similarly, California recently established its Cradle-to-Career Data System to gather a variety of data points, including students socioeconomic circumstances, in a centralized hub that families, educators, and policymakers can access in their pursuit of equitable educational outcomes. Strategies and systems such as these will help ensure that all students are seen and supported throughout their educational journeys.
To ensure that federal funding is available for states seeking to redesign their assessment systems, Congress should maintain and expand investments in the Competitive Grants for State Assessments (CGSA) program and the Innovative Assessment Demonstration Authority (IADA). Both can play a key role in promoting innovation in response to COVID-19. Funding should be prioritized toward states implementing personalized and competency-based learning approaches. Additionally, Congress should permanently eliminate the original seven-state cap on IADA participation to enable more states to take advantage of redesign opportunities in the future, as well as expand flexibility for states to establish their own timelines for innovative pilot programs. Most importantly, Congress should authorize the IADA to provide federal funding opportunities to support the startup costs associated with state pilot projects in order to incentivize equitable participation. These changes will help address the variety of challenges that participating states have experienced in implementing the authority.
The U.S. Department of Education should assemble and support peer-to-peer interstate learning networks to examine the effectiveness of innovative assessment models in improving student learning outcomes, as well as scale best practices from pilot programs and ongoing redesign efforts. The National Equity Projects District Redesign Network provides an excellent example of a local-level learning network in which participants come together for the purpose of transforming schools. Congress should consider appropriating the funds necessary to revive the Department of Educations State Support Network, a four-year initiative that, before ceasing operations in 2020, brought states together and offered technical assistance for school improvement efforts. As public schools continue to grapple with transforming schools while addressing the effects of the pandemic, state collaboration and federal support are more important than ever to taking advantage of this pivotal moment for the national education system. Finally, Congress should continue to invest in targeted professional development for educators and school leaders in order to expand educators capacity to implement school redesign initiatives from the ground up.
Top-down mandates alone cannot drive the reimagining of public education. Equally necessary is locally driven transformation from the inside outtransformation based on the unique strengths and needs of individual communities. However, state governments still hold an important role in school transformation, including expanding flexibility in scheduling and graduation requirements while holding schools accountable for student outcomes. Further, both state and federal governments can and should fund equitable pilot and seed projects targeted toward schools that have the least capacity and greatest need to restructure their learning environments. This will empower schools to redesign teaching and learning for the generations to come.
