Health – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com Breaking news from the Farm since 1892 Fri, 01 Sep 2023 05:44:02 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://stanforddaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/cropped-DailyIcon-CardinalRed.png?w=32 Health – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com 32 32 204779320 Experts warn of the West Nile Virus as mosquito season picks up https://stanforddaily.com/2023/08/31/copy-ag-experts-warn-of-the-west-nile-virus-as-mosquito-season-picks-up/ https://stanforddaily.com/2023/08/31/copy-ag-experts-warn-of-the-west-nile-virus-as-mosquito-season-picks-up/#respond Fri, 01 Sep 2023 05:37:55 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1231035 The West Nile Virus, one of the most common mosquito-borne diseases across the U.S. is on the rise. Experts note that while usually harmless, anyone can get infected and can cause multiple symptoms ranging from fever-like symptoms to death.

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With mosquito season in full swing through the end of August, Stanford infectious disease experts have expressed concern over the increase of mosquito-borne diseases like the West Nile Virus (WNV). There are currently over 200 confirmed cases of WNV in the U.S.

Catherine Blish, an infectious diseases professor, said she is concerned for public health and well-being, especially for students and the elderly. 

“My biggest concern is that WNV can cause a range of symptoms in those who are infected,” Blish said. “While many may be asymptomatic, WNV can cause serious neurologic disease and even death, particularly in the elderly or those with underlying chronic medical conditions.” 

There were 75 confirmed WNV cases in California at the time of publication — an increase from 34 this time last year. 

There have been no confirmed human cases in the Bay Area. However, Santa Clara County has confirmed the presence of WNV-positive mosquitoes in Palo Alto and Stanford. The infected area was treated to reduce adult mosquito populations on July 27.

Desiree LaBeaud, a professor of pediatric infectious diseases, said it is important for people to protect themselves from mosquito bites “especially if you’re in those high-risk groups, because you don’t want this virus infecting your brain and your nervous system and causing severe disease.”

What is the West Nile Virus? 

Originating in Uganda in 1937, the virus made its way to New York in 1999, causing a massive nationwide outbreak with over 55,000 people infected. Since then, nearly 3,000 people have died from the virus, according to Medline Plus. Today, WNV is the most common mosquito-borne virus across the United States. 

Infected mosquitoes are able to transfer WNV to humans by biting them, according to the CDC. The virus is transmitted to mosquitoes by birds, who carry WNV through contaminated mosquito bites, and predatory birds such as hawks can also receive the virus after eating sick or infected birds. 

Around 80% of infected humans don’t show any symptoms of WNV, making the virus relatively moderate. Only 20% exhibit fever-like conditions called West Nile Fever. One in five people infected with WNV has a fever with noticeable symptoms like headaches, vomiting or disorientation, according to the CDC

Though most infected people fully recover, fatigue can last for weeks to months. Less than 1% of people develop severe West Nile neuroinvasive disease, which causes permanent brain damage or death, LaBeaud said.

“Even those who have West Nile fever, even after weeks and months after their initial infection, can have long-standing problems concentrating, which can impact work in school,” LaBeaud said.

WNV can cause severe illness to the central nervous system in one out of 150 infected people, according to the CDC. This can lead to encephalitis or meningitis, which is inflammation of the brain or the spinal cord surrounding it. The symptoms can last for weeks, months or might not even go away, with around one in 10 people dying from the inflammation. It is more likely that people over the age of 60 or those with weak immune systems will suffer severe illness if they become infected, LaBeaud said. 

“If you’re having any of those symptoms you should go in, because when you have severe symptoms, you definitely need hospitalization, supportive care and more frequent monitoring,” LaBeaud said. 

The rise of the West Nile Virus

As climate temperatures rise, heavy rain and increasing temperatures may also bring an increased number of mosquitoes, because warmer temperatures and standing water enable easier breeding, LaBeaud said. 

“Climate change is allowing the vectors that can carry WNV to become prevalent in areas where they’ve either been previously eradicated or are establishing new niches,” said Stefan Oliver, a senior scientist at Stanford who researches infectious diseases.  

Currently, no vaccine or antibiotic is available to treat mosquito-borne diseases like WNV, according to the CDC. To avoid getting bitten by an infected mosquito, LaBeaud suggests wearing insecticides and dumping out standing water in places such as dog dishes and flower pots.

However, some insecticides that communities employ widely to try and kill the bugs have become ineffective as mosquitoes become more resistant to them, NBC News reported

The CDC recommends using insecticides with at least one active ingredient, such as DEET, Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus or Picaridin. LeBeaud encourages people to wear loose-fitting long-sleeved shirts and pants throughout August, the peak month for WNV. 

Blish said while she’s concerned for the public’s safety during this time of year, she is thankful for the amount of care people are putting into prevention. 

“I appreciate the public health efforts for mosquito control, and individuals should try to protect themselves from mosquito bites as best they can,” Blish said. 

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‘Be hungry for knowledge’: How FASTR is closing the gender gap in sports science https://stanforddaily.com/2023/05/30/be-hungry-for-knowledge-how-fastr-is-closing-the-gender-gap-in-sports-science/ https://stanforddaily.com/2023/05/30/be-hungry-for-knowledge-how-fastr-is-closing-the-gender-gap-in-sports-science/#respond Wed, 31 May 2023 06:45:21 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1229493 Powered by the Stanford Wu Tsai Performance Alliance, FASTR (which stands for Female Athlete Science and Translational Research) is a research group focused on making optimal health and performance more accessible to female athletes of all ages and abilities.

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This article contains references to disordered eating. 

Megan Roche M.D. ’18 Ph.D. ’23 is a professional trail runner, Stanford epidemiologist and self-proclaimed pizza-lover. But in between bounding up mountains, being a mom and co-hosting the podcast Some Work, All Play, Roche is the lead researcher at the Female Athlete Science and Translational Research program, or FASTR for short.

FASTR is a Stanford Wu Tsai Performance Alliance powered research team focused on filling the “large research gap” in both women’s health and sports science research. 

As an epidemiology Ph.D. candidate, Roche studied female athlete health. While Roche says that female participation in sport is “growing and booming,” the research isn’t following as fast. Only 6% of sports science research focuses on female athletes, according to University of Chester Senior Lecturer Dr. Sam Moss. Roche says that there are plenty of factors that have contributed to this disparity. 

Roche was brought on to FASTR by Emily Kraus, who is currently an Assistant Professor at Stanford’s School of Medicine as well as the program director at FASTR. Roche researched under Kraus as a med student. 

“It’s been fun to piece this program together,” she said. “For me, it worked perfectly, because I was finishing up my Ph.D. in epidemiology. My Ph.D. focuses on female athlete health and research, so I was able to take on the role of research lead in this program and finish up my Ph.D.”  

The gender gap in sports science

One major factor that’s perpetuated the gender gap in sports medicine research is how recently women have been allowed and encouraged into participating in athletics. (From 1928 to 1960, women were banned from running anything more than the 200m in the Olympics.) 

Another factor is that researchers are hesitant to engage with female physiology, due to how hard it is to control for the menstrual cycle’s impact on performance-based studies. 

“[The menstrual cycle] has been thought of as a confounding variable for a long period of time,” said Roche.  

But, to Roche, that isn’t enough of a reason to back off from this research. “I think the more that we dive into menstrual-specific research, we’re realizing that it’s not as related to performance as directly as we thought it is and that it’s better to include to female athletes in studies than exclude them due to factors like the menstrual cycle.”  

Varsity Stanford Lacrosse goalkeeper Olivia Geoghan ’25 concurs. 

“There is this stigmatized idea that the female body is too complex and complicated, dissuading researchers from wanting to dissect all of the complexities,” she wrote.

Stanford Tennis player Alexandra Yepifanova ’25 adds another reason for the increased number of women in sports: equal pay. 

“For centuries, female athletes were paid much less than their male counterparts, so fewer women were inclined to compete in professional sports,” she wrote. “Therefore, until very recently, there has been much less data collected and less research about female athletes.” 

FASTR’s focus and mission

A major focus of FASTR’s research mission is the topic of low energy availability (LEA) and Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S). 

Roche defines low energy availability as “an athlete not getting enough fuel to support the activities that they’re doing.” She says this can happen “inadvertently” through an athlete “exercising too much or not fueling their exercise quite enough.” Or it could root itself in “disordered eating or eating disorders.”

“But then we know there’s long-term health consequences associate with that,” she said.

When calories consumed do not match energy used overtime, low energy availability can develop into a syndrome called RED-S. This syndrome is associated with increased injury risk, impaired bone health, missing or irregular menstrual cycles and more. 

RED-S isn’t a gender specific syndrome, although women seem to present the symptoms of RED-S (menstrual cycle irregularity, disordered eating) more often. RED-S has also been referred to as the Female Athlete Triad, which refers to the triad of low energy availability, decreased bone health and menstrual dysfunction (although some athletes and health professionals criticize this label as outdated and gender-exclusive.)

According to their website, FASTR believes it is important to prioritize “early identification and intervention of the Female Athlete Triad and Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport that is increasingly common in young women.” 

One way to do this is by arming coaches and mentors with knowledge. 

“There’s so much research growing in the female athlete science landscape that there’s a ton of knowledge accessible. Be hungry for knowledge,” Roche advises coaches. “Practice evidence-based coaching. Really learn to support female athletes the best.”

Katie Duong ’23, Stanford women’s soccer player and 2022 student researcher at FASTR, said her experience working with the group was focused mostly on bone health. 

“My main project was taking MRIs at different stages of tibial bone stress injury recovery,” she wrote. The goal of the study was to “use the findings to eventually better inform return to play protocols and see if findings in the recovery process were related to female athlete triad symptoms.” 

Geoghan, who participated in a talk with the FASTR, is grateful for the program’s research mission. 

“By educating female athletes, along with their coaches and athletic trainers, with important information surrounding mental health, fueling, recovery, menstrual patterns and effects, while also encouraging women to be beautifully strong and unique, FASTR enables all female athletes to be at their best,” she wrote. FASTR’s mission has also helped Geoghan in her personal mental health journey. 

Hope for the future

To female Stanford athletes, a research team like this means a lot. Yepifanova, who wants to see more research on how female athletes develop over the years,  wrote that “progress in this field would be a huge step for all women.”

According to Geoghan, this type of research will be major for the health of female athletes. 

“More research on female athletes would be super important not only for enhancing performance […], but also continuing to ensure their health and preventing injury,” she wrote. 

She echoes Roche’s emphasis on equipping the relevant people in a female athlete’s life with knowledge. 

“[More research] will allow female athletes, coaches and doctors alike to recognize risk factors of injury and take preventative measures earlier,” she wrote.

Duong wrote that more research on female athletes and sex specific differences could “lead to more optimal training and treatment for female athletes.” 

And in terms of closing the gender gap, Roche thinks that “huge strides” are being taken. “I think, within ten years, we’ll be at a place where female athlete research is really, really closing in and catching up,” she said. 

Advice for female athletes

Roche encourages female athletes to think of themselves as “long-term” athletes. She says that young female athletes too often get caught up in the “here and now.”

“Think about being an athlete in your twenties, thirties, forties and fifties. In order to do that, we need to treat our bodies well,” she wrote. “We need to feed our bodies well. We need to recover. We need to stay up-to-date on all the top knowledge.” 

Duong advises female athletes to “do things outside [their] comfort zone.”

Whether that be joining a new team, learning a new skill or pushing a physical limit, she says she “truly believe[s] that your mind and body can adapt to almost anything.” 

Geoghan urges female athletes to remember they are people, not just athletes.

“[…] recognize that you are human. Being a human entails emotions. It is ok to take a step back sometimes and take care of yourself,” she wrote. “I went through a period in my sophomore season where my mental health got so rough that I had to take a brief step back from lacrosse, and that was totally ok. You always come first.”

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Stanford-affiliated medical center banned from treating some of state’s sickest children https://stanforddaily.com/2023/05/14/stanford-affiliated-medical-center-banned-from-treating-some-of-states-sickest-children/ https://stanforddaily.com/2023/05/14/stanford-affiliated-medical-center-banned-from-treating-some-of-states-sickest-children/#respond Mon, 15 May 2023 01:15:54 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1227778 John Muir Medical Center has been banned from treating some of California's most seriously ill children, according to investigations by The San Francisco Chronicle. The hospital is Stanford-affiliated.

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Stanford-affiliated John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek has been banned from treating some of California’s most seriously ill children, according to recent investigations by The San Francisco Chronicle.

California regulators with the Department of Health Care Services flagged 47 violations at the center and barred the center’s pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), which is partnered with Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, from treating patients covered by California Children’s Services (CCS). CCS is a public health program that has increased the PICU’s profits since it was first certified to treat patients associated with CCS in 2017.

State regulators investigated the PICU following a series of investigations by The Chronicle into four pediatric patients’ deaths, which The Chronicle claims were preventable. According to Chronicle reporting, one family involved in a lawsuit against John Muir claimed that the center took over the surgery for their daughter, Ailee Jong, “to try to boost its reputation, make money and vault the medical center into the big league of Bay Area children’s hospitals.” 

John Muir’s PICU opened in 2015 under the partnership of Stanford Medicine Children’s Health. According to The Chronicle, the Jong family’s lawsuit alleges that John Muir misrepresented its pediatric program as being equivalent to Stanford’s.

According to a media statement from Ben Drew, Communications Chief at John Muir Health, “The findings by CCS were administrative — updating documentation, policies and procedures — and more than a dozen of the findings were resolved prior to our receipt of the report. CCS did not identify any concerns about the quality of care provided to any patients. We continue to admit and care for patients who require a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit level of care.”

“We are confident that our Corrective Action Plan, which will be submitted by May 16, will be approved, and we will continue to operate our Pediatric Intensive Care Unit as a CCS certified program,” Drew wrote. 

According to The Chronicle, regulators found that John Muir’s PICU is one of only four state-approved PICUs that have “never reached the 350-patient threshold,” with annual numbers fluctuating between about 240 and 320. With only eight beds in its PICU, it is difficult to draw conclusions about the overall quality of patient care in the hospital. 

Another lawsuit, filed by former doctor Dr. Alicia Kalamas, alleges that the hospital prioritized profit over the safety of its patients and ignored the red flags she raised over surgical dangers. According to The Chronicle, in her lawsuit, Kalamas said that she was treated by hospital executives as a troublemaker after her research found that there was a lack of hospital procedures to educate and provide medication for constipation arising from the prescription of painkillers post-surgeries. 

Questions over the quality of care at John Muir were also raised earlier this year after a report by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, a federal agency, documented serious problems with the PICU. The Chronicle reported that federal health regulators threatened to cut federal Medicare funding for the hospital over “the potential for substandard care to go undetected and continue.”

This is not the first time that a Stanford-affiliated hospital has been publicly accused of failing to prevent pediatric patient death. A 2015 Vox investigation into how central line infections are addressed detailed the story of Nora Boström, whose family alleged that medical providers at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital could have prevented Boström’s death. 

John Muir Health is a non-profit group that operates hospitals in both Walnut Creek and Concord. Its hospital in Walnut Creek is a “community hospital,” meaning it does not have a high patient volume or extensive care capabilities like academic centers or children’s hospitals. According to The Chronicle, federal regulators also flagged that hospital officials failed to specify procedures for transferring patients that needed expanded care. 

Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, widely considered a top medical institution, has partnered with John Muir Health for over a decade, with John Muir receiving medical specialists and other resources. The institutions’ partnership was recently extended to 2032 to “continue to meet the needs of patients in the East Bay.” 

In a statement from Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, Media & Public Relations Manager Elizabeth Valente wrote, “We look forward to continuing to work with John Muir Health as they cooperate with the California Department of Health Care Services on any findings and recommendations.”

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Stanford to end COVID-19 vaccination requirement, beginning April 10 https://stanforddaily.com/2023/04/05/stanford-ends-covid-vaccine-requirement/ https://stanforddaily.com/2023/04/05/stanford-ends-covid-vaccine-requirement/#respond Thu, 06 Apr 2023 06:48:05 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1224898 The COVID-19 vaccine requirement will end on April 10, but vaccination will still be strongly recommended by the University. Students and staff who work in healthcare facilities will still require Covid vaccination.

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Stanford will no longer require COVID-19 vaccination from students, faculty, staff and postdoctoral scholars. The vaccine requirement will end on April 10, but vaccination will still be strongly recommended by the University. Students and staff who work in healthcare facilities will still require COVID vaccination.

According to an email sent out by the executive director of Vaden Health Services James Jacobs and medical director of the Stanford University Occupational Health Center Rich Wittman, the decision to remove the COVID-19 vaccination requirement is based on the actions of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).

“Please keep in mind that vaccinations and boosters remain safe, effective tools. They significantly minimize the chances of serious illness, hospitalization, and death related to COVID,” Jacobs and Wittman wrote.

The announcement comes weeks after the University announced that it would end its UberEats meal credits plan for students in COVID quarantine. Instead, students who test positive are instructed to wear a K95 mask, pick up food from a dining hall and eat either alone in a room or outside.

In their email to students, Jacobs and Wittman also noted that the COVID Color testing program for students will end on June 18. Rapid tests are still available for students outside of Arrillaga Family Dining & Commons. The Color testing program for staff, faculty and postdoctoral scholars ended on March 24.

COVID-19 cases among students have seen a decrease this week, according to the COVID-19 dashboard. As of Apr. 3, there are 18 students in isolation. “At this time last week, the comparable number was 42,” the dashboard said.

“Throughout the pandemic, you have taken campus health protocols seriously and taken steps to protect loved ones and vulnerable members of our community,” Jacobs and Wittman wrote. “We encourage you to continue making healthy choices.”

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University to discontinue free UberEats for COVID-positive students https://stanforddaily.com/2023/03/18/university-to-discontinue-free-ubereats-for-covid-positive-students/ https://stanforddaily.com/2023/03/18/university-to-discontinue-free-ubereats-for-covid-positive-students/#respond Sun, 19 Mar 2023 02:44:57 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1224497 As part of the changes, the University will no longer offer UberEats credit to students isolating with COVID-19, instead telling students to pick up meals from dining halls while masked.

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The University is altering its COVID-19 meal delivery protocols in light of “COVID-19 conditions improving at Stanford and more generally in Santa Clara County and the nation,” according to a March 17 email from the Office of the Vice Provost for Student Affairs.

Effective March 27, students who test positive for COVID-19 will no longer receive UberEats meal credits. The email instructed students to wear a K95 mask, pick up meals from dining halls and eat either in their rooms or outside, away from any others.

Students who have recently tested positive for COVID-19 will only retain their UberEats meal delivery privileges until the fifth day of their COVID isolation. If it has been five days since they tested positive, their UberEats credits will end immediately. For the remaining five days of isolation, students are encouraged to pick up meals from the dining hall and take precautions while eating.

Free COVID-19 tests and K95 masks will still be found at Arrillaga Dining Family Commons, and Vaden Health services remain available for students.

Despite Santa Clara County reporting declining COVID-19 case counts, COVID-19 cases have risen on campus since March 6, according to Stanford’s COVID dashboard. As of March 13, 47 students reported positive COVID tests, three times higher than the previous week, the dashboard said.

The most recent emails come after the University temporarily suspended the UberEats meal delivery program on March 12. Students who requested COVID-19 meal deliveries received an email last week informing them of the temporary suspension, which was made “due to a recent unexpected rapid rise in demand.” According to the email, Stanford Dining paused the program to evaluate whether all meal delivery requests met the “appropriate requirements.”

The March 17 email thanked “everyone who responsibly requested meal delivery resources in good faith over the past several years.”

Prior to these changes, students received reimbursements for meal deliveries for the entire recommended 10-day isolation period.

Further information on Stanford’s current response to COVID can be found here.

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Stanford to end Color COVID-19 testing program, still provide rapid tests https://stanforddaily.com/2023/03/09/stanford-to-end-color-covid-19-testing-program-still-provide-rapid-tests/ https://stanforddaily.com/2023/03/09/stanford-to-end-color-covid-19-testing-program-still-provide-rapid-tests/#respond Thu, 09 Mar 2023 08:50:42 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1223716 Stanford is ending its Color COVID-19 testing program, which provided free PCR tests to members of the community. Rapid tests will still be available on campus.

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Stanford will end the Color COVID-19 testing program, but will continue to provide free rapid antigen tests, according to an email sent to the Stanford community on Wednesday by James Jacobs, the Executive Director of Vaden Health Services and Chair of the Stanford University Public Health Steering Committee and Rich Wittman, the Medical Director of the Stanford University Occupational Health Center.

For faculty, staff and postdoctoral scholars, Color testing will end on March 24, at the end of the winter quarter. For students, Color testing will end on June 18, at the end of the spring quarter. The University currently has an overall COVID-19 positive test rate of 0.83% per day and 9.68% per week.

The Color COVID-19 testing program enabled members of the Stanford community to use free PCR tests at designated pick-up and drop-off sites. Under the new system, both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals will not be required to test.  This change in policy comes as the university prepares for the conclusion of the winter quarter and the start of the spring quarter in April.

Stanford officials continue to monitor the rates of COVID-19 on campus to inform the testing program. According to the email, the University collects data about COVID-19 prevalence through wastewater analysis collected from more than 150 buildings on campus.

Although the Color testing program will terminate, the Occupational Health Center and Vaden Health Services can order COVID-19 PCR testing in certain circumstances, according to the email. Additionally, rapid antigen tests, which provide COVID-19 test results to users in 15 minutes, will remain available at designated pick-up sites.

“Rapid testing remains a reliable way to detect individuals who are infectious with COVID, and it has been our primary method for identifying cases on campus since these tests became widely accessible,” Vaden Health Services Executive Director James Jacobs and Occupational Health Center Medical Director Rich Wittman wrote in the email to the community.

Some students say that they worry that this targeted approach may be misleading to those who are not required to undergo routine testing, and believe that testing should continue for all individuals to keep campus safe.

“My biggest concern with this change in policy is that students and faculty will be lulled further into a false sense of security when COVID is still an issue that is still impacting people on and off campus,” Kim Ngo ’26 said. “I personally feel like it would be safer to keep the current policy of required testing [regardless of vaccination status] until the end of the year since testing is not a difficult task and is worth the small effort it takes to prevent spreading COVID.”

Other students argue that the new policy is a reasonable approach to testing and that it strikes a balance between safety and individual freedom.

“It doesn’t change the existing policy that much because before the new policy most people won’t do routine testing unless they have symptoms,” said Yifei Cheng ’26. “It’s not a big change.”

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‘Eating the pizza and moving on’: Fitness coach and content creator Sohee Lee Carpenter ’12 talks college, career and advice https://stanforddaily.com/2023/03/05/eating-the-pizza-and-moving-on-sohee-lee-carpenter/ https://stanforddaily.com/2023/03/05/eating-the-pizza-and-moving-on-sohee-lee-carpenter/#respond Mon, 06 Mar 2023 05:05:11 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1223315 In an interview with The Daily, Sohee Lee Carpenter — Founder and Head Coach at SoheeFit systems — talked about pursuing an unconventional career path after her pre-med days at Stanford and encouraged students to take advantage of their time at Stanford.

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Online coach and entrepreneur Sohee Lee Carpenter ’12 (@soheefit) has amassed over half a million followers on Instagram publishing content focused on reframing people’s relationships with food, fitness and body image. She is currently a fourth-year Sports Studies Ph.D. candidate at the Auckland University of Technology, but barely over a decade ago, she was a Human Biology major and med-school hopeful working on her homework at Old Union until midnight. 

She urges students to cherish their time at Stanford and to redefine their idea of health.

Despite her academic dedication and her fond memories of Stanford, she wishes she had taken further advantage of her time on campus. 

“I went through what it was like to not have a life,” Carpenter told The Daily in an exclusive interview. Though Carpenter’s experience with anorexia nervosa and bulimia ended in her teens, in college, she turned to bodybuilding as another way to control food. 

Carpenter spent her frosh year isolating herself. She turned down invites to social events because she felt it was more important to adhere to the “very strict meal plan” and “aggressive workout program” she had been given by her coach. “I’d basically stay in my room and eat egg whites,” she said, “I wouldn’t go to parties because I wouldn’t know how to navigate the drinks and the other food they had there. And I thought I was the one being healthy.”

She became a certified personal trainer (CPT) during her sophomore year, but at the time, had not planned to use her certification much.

During her junior year, she decided she no longer wanted to pursue medicine, but kept exploring what she called “more traditional career paths,” such as finance.

However, during the last quarter of her senior year, she decided to start online coaching with no “particular plan.”

“I was very naive as an entrepreneur,” Carpenter said. Nevertheless, she believes naïveté helped her have fewer fears and hesitations than she has now as a seasoned business owner. 

Right out of college, she took an internship at a strength and conditioning facility that specializes in baseball athletes. After this internship, she was hired to write for Bodybuilding.com, an online fitness store and forum. She said this gig “connected her to colleagues in the [fitness] industry pretty early on.”

The whole time, however, she’d been building her online coaching career to a point where she was able to coach “basically full-time.”

Online coaching was a “very new” career path at the time, but she knew she wanted to venture further than being “just a personal trainer.” To step up in this field, she went back to school and got her Masters of Psychology at Arizona State University (ASU) in 2018. 

It was during her Masters when Carpenter found herself getting interested in the “eating behaviors” aspect of health and fitness. Much of her current content centers around eating patterns and people’s relationships with food. 

Now, she’s “especially enjoying the content creation aspect of being an entrepreneur.” As of March 2023, she’s posting consistent short-form video content to her audience of 602,000 Instagram and 143,300 TikTok followers. These videos range from explainers on weightlifting form to skits about improving one’s relationship with food.

“My messaging and my branding have definitely changed a lot,” Carpenter said. Back in her undergrad days, her idea of health was defined by dieting and physique. Now, she says her perspective on health is more well-rounded. 

She asks her audience questions like, “Did you know eating ice cream is sometimes the healthiest thing you can do?” She believes that panicking over the unhealthiness of a food can often be more unhealthy than the food itself.

 “Stressing out over the pizza is worse for you than just eating the pizza and moving on. It’s pretty eye-opening to realize people’s view of health actually is,” she said. 

Since college is a transitional time, Carpenter noted that it isn’t atypical for students to fall into disordered eating habits. For many, it’s the first time they have control over “how much or how little they eat.” Although she encouraged students dealing with eating disorders to seek professional help, she believes that “having a social support system is obviously going to be key,” she said.

Some Stanford students have turned to Carpenter’s content for guidance. 

Elli Schulz ’25 wrote that she appreciates the fact that Carpenter has “a lot of research behind her claims, has a realistic, holistic approach to health, and doesn’t make people feel shame about their health journey.”

In trying to heal her relationship with food and exercise, Alisha Iyer ’23 came across Carpenter’s content. She believes that the “pressure to be super ‘healthy’ all the time” at a place like Stanford can be “quite toxic.”

“Sohee’s content has definitely helped me step away from this mentality and be more accepting of my choices not to engage with diet culture,” Iyer wrote. She encouraged other students to engage with her content.

Carpenter pushed students to take full advantage of their time in college.

“You’re going to look back and wish that you’d done more,” she said, “that you’d tried more things, that you’d made more friends, that you’d gone to more events.” 

Her advice spans outside just health and fitness: she encourages students to “take classes outside [their] major and outside of [their] area of interest.” 

“These are times you are never going to get back,” she said. 

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Stanford Hospital security staff join with Teamsters union https://stanforddaily.com/2023/02/08/stanford-hospital-security-staff-join-with-teamsters-union/ https://stanforddaily.com/2023/02/08/stanford-hospital-security-staff-join-with-teamsters-union/#respond Thu, 09 Feb 2023 03:22:03 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1220773 After a struggle to organize that took place last summer, over 150 Stanford Hospital security guards and dispatchers have entered into an agreement with Teamsters Local 856.

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More than 150 security guards and dispatchers at Stanford Hospital are now being represented by Teamsters Local 856, according to a press release from the union released Monday morning. This news comes several months after allegations that Stanford Health Care (SHC) illegally threatened security staff over efforts to unionize in August. 

The recently formed United Security Associates Union (USAU) is composed of security guards and dispatchers at several Stanford Health Care facilities throughout the Bay. According to the press release, they decided to join with Teamsters Local 856 due to its “reputation of delivering strong contracts and representation to its 17,000 members across Northern California.”

Last summer, Stanford Health Care faced a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) complaint from Teamsters after allegedly violating several of the security staff’s NLRB rights. These allegations included threats of replacement by contract security, changes to work assignments since the topic of organization came up, promises of promotion as a reward for not unionizing and more.

A Stanford Health Care spokesperson told The Daily that while Stanford Health Care “respected” its workers’ right to organize, “in this specific instance because the Teamsters represent other work groups besides guards, federal labor law restricts the Teamsters union from pursuing a traditional petition and NLRB election, a fact that the Teamsters have acknowledged and confirmed.”

On Jan. 20, however, the NLRB “certified the results of an election in which a majority of Stanford Heath Care security officers who voted chose to be represented by the United Security Associates Union,” according to a Stanford Medicine spokesperson. 

The spokesperson added that SHC will be “working with the United Security Associates Union on the next steps in this process.”

A Teamsters Local 856 representative has yet to respond to a request for comment. 

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Stanford professor put on Twitter’s ‘Trends Blacklist’ https://stanforddaily.com/2023/01/18/stanford-professor-put-on-twitters-trends-blacklist/ https://stanforddaily.com/2023/01/18/stanford-professor-put-on-twitters-trends-blacklist/#respond Thu, 19 Jan 2023 05:56:08 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1217450 Although the company has denied “deliberately making someone’s content undiscoverable to everyone except the person who posted it,” it was revealed last month that Twitter did have a system in place to restrict visibility of certain users. 

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Stanford Health Policy professor Jay Bhattacharya ’90 MD ’97 Ph.D. ’00 was included on a Twitter “Trends Blacklist” in 2020. The list was released last month by the platform’s new CEO, Elon Musk. Tweets posted by accounts on the “Trends Blacklist” are prevented from trending regardless of how many likes or retweets they receive.

People suspected Twitter for years of shadow banning some of its users, restricting the visibility of their tweets without notifying users. Although the company has denied “deliberately making someone’s content undiscoverable to everyone except the person who posted it,” it was revealed last month that Twitter did have a system in place to restrict visibility of certain users.

The Trends Blacklist was one function designed to reduce visibility. Other visibility-filtering methods the company created include a “search blacklist,” to keep certain accounts from appearing in a Twitter search, and a “do not amplify” function.

The news of the Trends Blacklist has sparked a wide range of reactions and renewed debates on the relationship between censorship, free speech and social media.

During the pandemic, Bhattacharya wrote an open letter with two other medical professors expressing concerns for U.S. lockdown measures and advocating for “focused protection.” Bhattacharya’s proposal — which contrasted with those of other Stanford Medicine faculty and health policy experts — involved people not at high risk of dying from COVID-19 resuming normal activities while directing financial and public health resources towards protecting the most vulnerable. According to Bhattacharya, this would have mitigated the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on students and working class individuals.

Bhattacharya believes that his tweets on alternatives to the Covid lockdowns are why he was included on the list. He has tweeted about the list and told other news outlets that he was surprised to see himself on there.

“I have not been abusive, I’ve not said a single swear word on any of the platforms,” Bhattacharya told NewsNation. “Frankly, I’m not even sure it was political. I was basically arguing for something like the Swedish approach, which is a left-wing, more socialist kind of idea toward school openings and lockdowns.”

The Daily has reached out to Bhattacharya for comment.

The University did not directly respond to The Daily’s questions about the Trends Blacklist and Bhaattacharya’s inclusion but referred The Daily to their guidelines on employee social media use.

The Daily has reached out to Twitter for comment.

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‘Rivals for Life’ blood drive seeks 13th consecutive win over Berkeley https://stanforddaily.com/2022/11/15/rivals-for-life-blood-drive-seeks-13th-consecutive-win-over-berkeley/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/11/15/rivals-for-life-blood-drive-seeks-13th-consecutive-win-over-berkeley/#respond Wed, 16 Nov 2022 05:09:01 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1214182 Stanford Blood Center hopes to bring in their 13th consecutive win in the annual “Rivals for Life” blood drive competition against UC Berkeley this Wednesday.

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Under Elisa Manzanares’ lead, Stanford has beaten Cal for the past 12 consecutive years — but not in football, or any sport for that matter.

After a two-year hiatus, the annual Rivals For Life blood drive competition between Stanford and UC Berkeley is returning on Nov. 16.

The drive will take place at Arrillaga Center for Sports and Recreation from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and at Arrillaga Outdoor Education and Recreation Center from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Daily spoke with Manzanares, an account manager at Stanford Blood Center (SBC), about the history and significance of the drive.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

The Stanford Daily (TSD): How did this Big Game tradition begin?

Elisa Manzanares (EM): Everybody loves a good competition. At the same time, you know, our blood supply always drops really low every Thanksgiving week and over the holidays. But really, it’s just a fun way for both Stanford and Cal to work together. It’s a friendly competition, and it’s really for the community. I mean, the real winners are local patients on both sides. So we have students, alumni, staff, fans, they all come in and donate, and then, in the end, we see who could collect the most units. It’s really just a win for everybody.

TSD: How is this year’s competition looking?

EM: Stanford has won, I’m proud to say, for 12 consecutive years. This will be lucky number 13. Although I will say the appointments are really low right now, I don’t know if it’s a post-pandemic thing or not, but I’ll be very happy if people walk in. I would hate to lose my first one in so long.

TSD: Where does the blood go?

EM: Stanford Blood Center is a truly local blood center. We only service local hospitals: our biggest users are the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital and Stanford Hospital, which are both very large and have large transplant centers and a lot of cancer centers. There are also multiple other [local] hospitals, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Pleasanton, Livermore, UCSF transplant program… we provide them with some blood when they’re having problems.

On the Cal side, the Red Cross Blood Center goes out to Cal, and they’re actually a national center so that could go anywhere in the US. But for our donors that come in here, I always like to let people know you’re helping your neighbor right across the street.

TSD: What impact have you seen this blood drive have on the community?

EM: How often in life can you take an hour and really be somebody’s hero on the court? I mean, your blood is going to get used probably within two or three weeks, depending on your blood type. You can literally see the difference, if you’ve ever seen a person that’s going through treatment. They go in and they’re just pale and they’re tired. They get one or two units of red cells, and they come out and they’ve got color, they’ve got energy. They look like they’ve just got a Triple Shot Venti from Starbucks, and now they can go live their life a little better while they’re going through it.

TSD: How close has it been before?

EM: We’ve got some really tight competition pretty much every year. One of my favorite ones, Cal had done the blood drive the day before we were scheduled to do ours, so I actually knew how much they had collected. We were about an hour before closing the drive and I’m sitting there trying to count up the units and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, we’re gonna lose by like two units.’

Then one of the athletics coaches, Tim Ghormley, of the martial arts program, marched a bunch of his athletes up at the last minute. I said, ‘I think we’re gonna lose by like two units.’ And he’s like, ‘Oh, that can’t happen.’ So we rallied in the last hour of the blood drive, and we ended up winning by six units that year.

Even though I was really tired at the end of the night, I knew we did it. I was driving home and it’s dark and ‘the crowd goes wild’ in my head.

So we need every person to be thinking about it to come out this year. I think it’s gonna be close — I think Cal’s got a good chance this year because my appointments are now low for the drive. It can be a matter of 20 donors.

TSD: Is there anything you want to add about Wednesday’s drive?

EM: No, just come on out, be somebody’s hero, and you can show a little Cardinal pride.

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University urges pandemic precautions during upcoming breaks https://stanforddaily.com/2022/11/14/university-urges-pandemic-precautions-during-upcoming-breaks/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/11/14/university-urges-pandemic-precautions-during-upcoming-breaks/#respond Tue, 15 Nov 2022 04:36:25 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1213895 In a recent communication sent out to the Stanford community, the University encouraged students to get vaccinated and take other necessary precautions as the holiday breaks approach.

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The University encouraged members of the community traveling during the upcoming Thanksgiving and winter breaks to take COVID-19 precautions in a Monday email to the campus community. 

Among the recommendations made in the email, which was signed by Vaden executive director James Jacobs and Occupational Health Center medical director Rich Wittman, the University urged community members to get boosted, mask up in indoor spaces and test before returning to campus.

This winter is the third since the start of the pandemic, and the University’s email follows previous years of seasonal COVID-19 surges. Weekly cases of COVID-19 have been on a steady decline in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, data from the previous two years have demonstrated that notable spikes of reported cases occur during the winter holiday season, with the highest number of cases being reported between November and January.

Campus case counts have not reached last year’s winter peak, where hundreds of students tested positive each week during November and December. Since the beginning of fall quarter, a total of 135 students have tested positive from Color or Stanford PCR COVID-19 tests, according to Stanford’s COVID dashboard.

This winter season also comes with lighter pandemic restrictions than in years prior, both across the nation and at Stanford. In the United States, health restrictions relating to COVID-19 have slowly faded in the past year with Joe Biden stating that “the pandemic is over” in his 60 Minutes interview. Earlier this fall, Stanford joined in on lifting COVID-19 protocols with masks no longer being required in classrooms.

Monday’s email recommended that students, faculty and staff receive the bivalent booster against COVID, citing Stanford’s “highly vaccinated campus community” and the booster’s ability to help reduce the risk of hospitalization and the development of symptoms. While the bivalent booster and other vaccine boosters are not required, Stanford mandates all on-site faculty, staff, postdoctoral scholars and students to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19.

The email also requested that students take COVID tests before returning to campus, listing further information about where free rapid tests are located across campus such as at Arrillaga Family Dining Commons, the Environmental Health & Safety tent at 484 Oak Road and Stanford Redwood City RecWell Center. Masking while in indoor spaces is a way to limit the spread of COVID and other airborne diseases, according to the email.

The University has not announced mandatory pandemic precautions after the return from the break as it has in previous years. California mask requirements were reinstated in December 2021 and indoor University events and gatherings were limited in January.

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Stanford to lift classroom masking requirement https://stanforddaily.com/2022/10/17/stanford-to-lift-classroom-masking-requirement/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/10/17/stanford-to-lift-classroom-masking-requirement/#respond Tue, 18 Oct 2022 06:47:19 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1210366 Although masking in classes is no longer required by the University, instructors will have the option of requiring masks in their classrooms.

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Stanford will no longer require masks in classrooms starting next Monday, according to an email sent to students Monday morning from Vaden Executive Director Jim Jacobs and Associate Vice Provost of Environmental Health & Safety Russell Furr.

The announcement follows the recent decline in COVID-19 cases on campus, with 39 positive student test results in the week of Sept. 26 and 21 in the week of Oct. 3. The case counts mark a steep decline from the numbers during spring quarter, when some weeks saw more than 200 positive student tests. The lower positive case counts, however, coincide with the University’s decision to stop requiring regular testing for students on campus this fall.

Reactions on campus were mixed following the announcement, with some looking forward to interacting with classmates face-to-face and others concerned about the threat posed by the spread of COVID-19.

Program on Science, Technology & Society director Paul Edwards said of the new mask guidelines that there is “no evidence in the medical literature to suggest that taking off masks and doing nothing to prevent its spread is a good idea.” 

Edwards is immunocompromised and has leukemia, making the issue of COVID-19 especially salient.

“I only have half of the functioning immune system,” he said. “While people with my disease have gotten COVID and recovered, not everyone has, and the risk of dying is higher for me. With respect to masking, it’s the most important thing it does to stop people who are sick from spreading it to other people.”

Classroom masking guidelines were also an issue on the table at the Oct. 6 Faculty Senate meeting. 

When asked by political science professor Judy Goldstein to clarify mask requirements, following what Goldstein described as a lack of clarity surrounding classroom masking enforcement, Provost Persis Drell said that the guidelines were under review and that more information would be released soon. 

“I think that our peers are not consistent with what they are doing, but most of them are, in fact, moving away from the mask mandate. I think the key for us is how to do that in a way that, for our faculty who wish to continue to have a mask mandate in the classroom, we support them,” she said.

Harvard, Yale and Princeton also currently have mask-optional policies inside classrooms. 

Aligning with Drell’s statement, individual instructors will continue to have the option of requiring masks during class, according to the email, which added that instructors who are planning to require masks during their classes should inform students in advance.

Students said in interviews before the announcement that they had mixed feelings about the existing regulations.

Shree Ghosh ’26 said that if it were up to her, she would “probably not wear a mask inside classrooms, but it doesn’t hurt to be more safe.” 

“I’ll wear it when they tell me to wear it,” she said.

Another student, Riley Casagrande ’24, said that prior to the announcement, enforcement of current masking guidelines already varied from class to class.

 “Some professors enforce it pretty strongly, and then there are some classes where 50% of the class doesn’t wear masks,” said Casagrande.

Chandra Vadhana R., a visiting postdoc fellow at the Gendered Innovations Lab, said that there is already a balance between students and faculty wearing masks on campus. 

“It has become something of a personal choice right now, to wear it or not. I think that’s fine,” she said.

The email also announced that masking will also become optional on the Marguerite shuttle, Stanford’s free shuttle service, but will continue to be required in healthcare facilities.

Jacobs and Furr also advised students to “stay up to date on COVID immunizations,” citing the new bivalent booster in particular. The boosters are available for free at the Vaden Health Center. Although surveillance testing is no longer mandatory, students should continue to test if they feel any symptoms or have concerns about possible exposure at the Stanford testing locations, the email said.

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The bivalent COVID booster is now available to the public. Here’s what you need to know. https://stanforddaily.com/2022/10/11/bivalent-covid-booster-available-what-to-know/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/10/11/bivalent-covid-booster-available-what-to-know/#respond Wed, 12 Oct 2022 03:40:18 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1209612 What's different about the latest booster, whether students should seek out the shot and where students can get boosted.

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Bivalent versions of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, which protect against the Omicron variant, were authorized for use as a single booster dose in September by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The booster is available for anyone five years old or older. Here is everything you need to know about the new booster.

How is this booster different from the others?

This booster takes the same vaccine that has been used for hundreds of millions of Americans but includes protection against the latest COVID-19 variant, Omicron. Previous vaccines were limited in their ability to protect against the variant. The name “bivalent” comes from the fact that there are two components this booster fights off — the original strain of SARS-CoV-2 virus and the Omicron variant. Data from antibody tests suggest that this bivalent booster will offer better protection against the virus compared to the prior vaccines.

How effective is this booster? 

Because the booster is so new, there is not much data on the long-term efficacy of the booster, experts said. According to medicine professor Dean Winslow, who is an infectious diseases professor expert at the School of Medicine, scientists could not wait the extra six months it would take for efficacy tests, as every day, many people become sick from the new variant. However, the bivalent booster has undergone many clinical trials and has been proven to be safe and more effective than other COVID-19 vaccines, Winslow said.

Is this booster necessary for young and healthy students?

The University is not requiring the bivalent booster at this time but it is recommended for all eligible students, wrote University spokesperson Dee Mostofi in a statement to The Daily. 

While the vaccine protects against serious COVID cases for a long time, protection against mild infection wanes over time, which is why this booster is important for all, regardless of health status, wrote Sarah Rudman, who is the deputy health officer for the County of Santa Clara County Public Health Department, in an email.

The public health department recommends this booster to everyone, including the young and healthy populations, as “keeping each of us free of infection this winter will help protect those around us,” Rudman wrote.

I was recently infected with COVID-19. Do I need the booster?

According to Winslow, most experts recommend waiting at least three months after your last shot or your last infection, which is when your immunity against COVID will begin to wane. For the most “robust immune response,” you should wait about 12 weeks after natural infection to get boosted, Winslow said.

Where can I get the booster?

CVS Pharmacy offers the bivalent booster for anyone over the age of 11, with appointments available online. Students can also schedule booster appointments through Stanford Health Care, which is administering boosters at appointment-only at locations in Palo Alto, Redwood City and San Jose.

This article has been updated to reflect the FDA’s most recent booster guidelines.

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Telehelp Ukraine: The student-run nonprofit providing free medical care to Ukrainians https://stanforddaily.com/2022/10/09/telehelp-ukraine-the-student-run-nonprofit-providing-free-medical-care-to-ukrainians/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/10/09/telehelp-ukraine-the-student-run-nonprofit-providing-free-medical-care-to-ukrainians/#respond Mon, 10 Oct 2022 00:06:04 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1208018 No more than a few days after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Stanford students immediately got to work, formulating ideas and projects that could aid Ukraine and its citizens.

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As Russia began its military invasion of Ukraine in late February, Sol Savchuk M.D. ’24 and Zoe von Gerlach M.S. ’23 were looking for a window into the front lines. They, like so many other Ukrainian students at Stanford, were desperate for a way to help the resistance effort.

“For two days, we were glued to our phones,” Savchuk said. “We were recovering from the shock that this happened in the 21st century, even if we shouldn’t have.”

But rather than thinking of heavy artillery or emergency supplies, the pair were visualizing another form of support — healthcare. Only three days after the initial invasion, the idea for TeleHelp Ukraine had been born. 

TeleHelp Ukraine logo with blue lettering which reads "TeleHelp Україна" next to a yellow dove. The Y overlaps with the dove, forming a stethoscope on the dove.
TeleHelp Ukraine connects people in Ukraine seeking medical to physicians around the world, virtually and free of charge. (Photo courtesy of TeleHelp Ukraine)

Gerlach and Savchuk were intrigued by the idea of combining telecommunication with medical care. Virtual clinical services became more common during the COVID-19 pandemic when medical students around the world were taught to communicate and serve patients through video platforms.

“We initially thought about just putting up the Zoom link, and then we realized how much more complicated it actually is,” Gerlach said. 

TeleHelp’s founders took into consideration many factors, including the physician recruitment process, the type of technology platform needed and what implications the platform had for ease of navigation, even with varying levels of internet connection.

For Savchuk and Gerlach, being able to assign specialists to help their patients while also using their preferred language — Ukrainian or Russian — was essential. 

They noticed other telehealth platforms ran into an issue with solely English-speaking clinicians who signed up to help but weren’t able to efficiently volunteer because of the language barrier with patients. TeleHelp Ukraine uses interpreters, which allows them to utilize international practitioners while avoiding linguistic roadblocks. 

Language barriers “motivated us to provide this specific platform and is what makes TeleHelp Ukraine different and unique from other telehealth solutions,” Gerlach said.

Navigating tough beginnings

Like many new nonprofits, the TeleHelp Ukraine team had initial difficulties reaching patients in need. “Starting an organization like this … from scratch, especially as people who aren’t serious entrepreneurs, definitely came with a lot of challenges,” Gerlach said. 

It took the organization several months to build its platform. They worked to create a strong social media presence during their first few months to reach Ukrainians. 

“Just because you have a product doesn’t mean people know where to find it,” said Eva Morgun, who is the director of operations at Telehelp. 

At only three months old, TeleHelp Ukraine reaches thousands of people a day through platforms like Instagram and Facebook. The organization also employed local news stations, newspapers and word-of-mouth marketing strategies to reach more people.

TeleHelp Ukraine has grown tremendously due to its strong media presence, dedicated team of directors and volunteers and “overarching mission” to help those in need, Savchuk said. Currently, it has over 80 volunteers, 20 interpreters, 100 clinicians and several faculty advisors.

Operations 

Patients can book an appointment through the TeleHelp website, where they choose between categories of available services, ranging from mental health to pediatric care. After filling out some basic information regarding the type of care they need and the language they prefer, they are paired up with physicians and interpreters based on availability. 

Health navigators assist patients in participating in their scheduled appointment in case complications arise. Appointments are three-way calls between the interpreter, physician and patient, which can increase the likelihood of logistical issues. Health navigators provide patients with reliable resources. 

“The Health Navigator [role] is very important because we have a lot of patients in Ukraine who don’t necessarily have the most advanced cell phones, and they probably don’t have updated browsers,” Morgun said. 

Prioritizing mental health

Mental health is one of the top priorities for the entire TeleHelp team due to the lack of awareness in traditional Ukrainian society, Morgun and Solchuk said. They have specifically sought out mental health specialists and it is one of the fields that has flourished since the organization’s founding. 

“Mental health [awareness] in Ukraine has not been the strongest to begin with,” Savchuck said. “When patients started to exhibit signs of mental health problems, Ukraine [policy] wasn’t necessarily prepared to address them.” 

Many residents faced constant trauma such as the fear of loss, separation from families, social isolation and forced migration due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Traumatic experiences have many long-term effects on their emotional and physical health, causing problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety, according to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).

“People are now aware that they need help,” Savchuk said. “Not only patients and refugees, but also volunteers and providers that help these refugees. That’s where [TeleHelp Ukraine] could come in and satisfy their needs.”

TeleHelp has served more than 100 patients, with more appointments and virtual meetings every week. With many patients signing up, the team hopes to widen its range of services, to help as many people as possible.

“Everyone on the team has put in countless hours, days, weeks and months into making this happen,” Gerlach said. ”We can hopefully even continue expanding the services offered, and seeing more and more patients.”

A previous version of this article stated that Zoe von Gerlach was Ukrainian. The Daily regrets this error.

This article has also been updated to reflect increases to the number of volunteers and providers working with TeleHelp.

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Novavax introduces protein-based COVID-19 vaccine option to unvaccinated Americans https://stanforddaily.com/2022/10/02/novavax-introduces-protein-based-covid-19-vaccine-option-to-unvaccinated-americans/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/10/02/novavax-introduces-protein-based-covid-19-vaccine-option-to-unvaccinated-americans/#respond Mon, 03 Oct 2022 02:22:51 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1207961 The Novavax COVID-19 vaccine is the first protein-based COVID-19 vaccine authorized for use on adults in the U.S.. The vaccine offers similar protection to the already available vaccine options, but differs in the distinctive sourcing of its ingredients as well as vaccine type.

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Public health officials and a Stanford microbiology and immunology professor are cautiously optimistic that the first protein-based COVID-19 vaccine option will reach individuals who were previously apprehensive about being vaccinated.

The Novavax COVID-19 vaccine was endorsed by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on July 19, after the Food and Drug Administration authorized it for emergency use earlier in July. The two-dose primary series vaccine has been available since early August.

Produced by the American biotechnology company Novavax, the vaccine is the fourth COVID-19 vaccine authorized for use in the U.S. and the first to use traditional protein-based technology. mRNA vaccines, like those of Pfizer-BionNTech and Moderna, instruct cells to make a recognizable COVID-19 protein with no function on its own; the immune system then develops a response to the foreign protein. The Novavax vaccine, on the other hand, uses a more common and older technology that directly introduces the recognizable protein to build immunity. 

With some having expressed concerns over receiving an mRNA vaccine during the original vaccine distribution, the Novavax vaccine provides an alternate option to the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna mRNA vaccines and the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen viral vector vaccine. 

“In the U.S., we’ve saturated the market of people that want to get a vaccine,” said microbiology and immunology professor Holden Maecker. “The problem was more about reaching people who don’t want to get vaccinated.”

Rajeswari Ponnuswamy, who is a family practice physician at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, said some of her patients declined COVID-19 vaccines over concerns about new technology. 

“Now that we have a vaccine that’s using technology that’s been tested for many years, it’ll be easier to convince patients to get vaccinated because we can give them examples of times they had received a vaccine using similar technology, such as that for Hepatitis B,” Ponnuswamy said.

Novavax is 90.4 % effective at preventing infection and 100% effective at preventing severe symptoms, a comparable efficacy to the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. It also has similar side effects. According to Maecker, experts anticipate that it will likely be similarly limited in preventing infection with the Omicron variant. 

“Novavax trials were done well before Omicron became widespread in the U.S., and so [while] our efficacy estimates are quite high for Novavax,” said CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices Chair Grace Lee. “But those efficacy estimates are in a different period of time.”

What truly differentiates the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine is its manufacturing process. According to the Novavax website, the gene for the spike protein from the COVID-19 virus is given to an insect virus, which is then used to infect moth cells. As the virus replicates within the cell, the protein gene is transcribed into mRNA in the nucleus, causing the cell to make large quantities of the protein. After harvesting and purifying the proteins, they are arranged around a nanoparticle core, which will allow the immune system to recognize the protein from different angles if ever infected. 

The second component of the vaccine is Novavax’s patented Matrix-M adjuvant. An adjuvant is a substance used to increase the immune response to a vaccine, which can help the immune system to recognize an antigen and provide protection for longer. Novavax sources theirs from saponins, a detergent-like compound found within the bark of the soapbark tree in Chile. When the trees are pruned, the bark is ground and processed into two parts, which are both then freeze-dried into powders containing raw saponins. The two powders are mixed with fats to create Matrix-A and Matrix-C particles. When combined, the Matrix-M adjuvant is formed. 

“There is a somewhat novel combination of things in this vaccine,” Maecker said. “But in terms of the class of vaccine, it’s a traditional protein-based formulation.”

According to the CDC, between 26 and 37 million adults in the U.S. are unvaccinated. According to Lee, despite the older technology behind the Novavax vaccine, it is unlikely to sway anti-vaccine anxiety.

A 2022 survey found that “16% of those who are unvaccinated would probably or definitely get a protein-based vaccine, so 84%, despite the availability of a different vaccine platform, are still reluctant to receive a COVID-19 vaccine,” Lee said.

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“Risky” and “unfair”: Students call out Stanford’s new COVID isolation policies https://stanforddaily.com/2022/09/18/risky-and-unfair-community-members-call-out-stanfords-new-covid-isolation-policies/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/09/18/risky-and-unfair-community-members-call-out-stanfords-new-covid-isolation-policies/#respond Mon, 19 Sep 2022 04:50:08 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1208199 The Office of the Vice Provost announced last week that students who test positive will not be offered alternative housing but instructed to isolate in place with their roommates or apartment mates.

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Students criticized new COVID-19 guidelines, which instruct COVID-positive students to isolate in place, leaving roommates and apartment mates to make their own arrangements or remain with their sick housemates.

While the guidelines mark a departure from the University’s two-year-long policy of remote isolation, students with critical health conditions may be eligible for temporary housing if their medical care team has instructed them to not share a living space with someone who tests positive. 

Even students without critical health conditions are “free to request temporary housing,” according to University spokesperson Pat Lopes Harris. According to Harris, these requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, which will involve checking in with all students involved, assessing their needs and responding individually. 

Ishaan Singh ’24 wrote that he’s “most concerned” that roommates are not automatically provided with temporary housing, as this “leaves them scrambling to find their own housing” if they do not want to live with a COVID-positive roommate. The University advised students to take precautions like wearing face coverings, washing hands often and opening windows.

Johanna Flodin ’25 shared Singh’s concern for students and wrote that it was “unfair to force the non-sick roommate(s) to find accommodation.” 

“It would be better to give the sick person an option to either isolate in their room or get Stanford to give them housing,” Flodin wrote. “That way it doesn’t make the non-sick person forced to change their habits and allows for a conversation to be had.”

“I don’t believe [the new policy] is a solution at all,” Lizbeth Hernandez ’25 wrote. “The risk of roommates contracting COVID will be even higher if they’re forced to stay in the same room.” 

She wrote that she thinks “this [policy] will greatly affect low-income students” who cannot afford other accommodations. 

Alexander Worley ’25 echoed this concern, writing that “wealthier students can rent a hotel or otherwise make arrangements to avoid staying with their Covid-positive roommate. But low-income students who cannot afford this are forced to stay with their roommate and likely catch COVID.”

Living with someone that has COVID-19 gives you approximately a 50% chance of catching COVID-19, according to UC San Francisco Department of Medicine chair Bob Wachter. 

Worley wrote that the policy was a “big screw you” to students. He questioned why the University was able to provide isolation housing last year, to what he wrote was likely a much larger number of students than will catch the virus this year. 

Harris wrote that the university prefers to keep the “limited number of spaces set aside for temporary housing” available as much as possible, to respond to “those whose needs are most acute.” Harris did not comment on why spaces were limited.

“We have found over the past two years that students often wish to make their own arrangements, such as temporarily living with campus friends or nearby family. We know these options are not universally available, and we’re here to provide support as needed,” Harris wrote. 

Singh wrote that he was nervous that the lack of temporary housing could lead to further spread of the virus. “If I was a roommate in this situation, I would try to find a friend to stay with, but since I would have presumably been exposed by my roommate, I could be spreading COVID even more.”

The potential of a new variant appearing was especially concerning, Singh wrote. “If another variant comes through, the current policy as it stands could lead to unnecessary pandemonium, as you could have situations where many people get COVID from one original positive person,” he wrote. 

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Students may share rooms with COVID-positive roommates this fall https://stanforddaily.com/2022/09/08/students-may-share-rooms-with-covid-positive-roommates-this-fall/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/09/08/students-may-share-rooms-with-covid-positive-roommates-this-fall/#respond Fri, 09 Sep 2022 02:32:01 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1207809 Students who test positive will isolate place, leaving roommates—unless they have critical health conditions —to share a living space with COVID positive individuals, according to an email about fall quarter COVID and Monkeypox precautions from the Vice Provost.

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COVID-19-positive students will isolate in place this fall, according to a Wednesday email from the Office of the Vice Provost. Roommates without critical health conditions are instructed to take precautions if the person they share their living space with tests positive but continue to live with them, Vice Provost Susie Brubaker-Cole, Dean of Students Mona Hicks, and Senior Associate Vice Provost of Residential & Dining Enterprises Shirley J. Everett wrote in the email.

The move is the latest attempt from University administration to relax COVID-19 guidelines ahead of the 2022-23 school year. But this is not the first time Stanford has asked students to isolate in place. When Stanford ran low on isolation housing during the omicron surge in January, the University told some students to wait the virus out in their room. Now, that policy will be in place for nearly everyone.

Temporary housing may be available for students with certain critical health conditions if they have been instructed by their medical care team not to share a living space with someone who tests positive for COVID-19. These students should contact Student Support, according to the email. The University did not respond to questions about how much space was available and how it would be allocated. 

The University also announced that they have plans in place to care for students who test positive for monkeypox. Students with symptoms of monkeypox or positive test results were asked to contact Vaden Health Services. The University did not respond to a question regarding the type of care that would be provided.

If sharing a room with a COVID-positive individual, students were instructed to wear face coverings as much as possible, keep their windows open, wash and sanitize hands often and avoid sharing personal items. If sharing an apartment, students should stay inside their bedrooms with doors closed, avoid entering bathrooms within 15 minutes of each other, disinfect shared spaces and eat in separate rooms. 

The email also reminded students that new arrivals should use Color to test for COVID-19 on the day of their arrival as well as five days afterward. Rapid tests kits will be available at Arrillaga Family Dining Hall. Masking is required in common spaces, classrooms, healthcare facilities and on the Marguerite. 

“We are looking forward to seeing all of you in a few short weeks. Fall is a very exciting time. It can be challenging, too,” Brubaker-Cole, Hicks and Everett wrote.

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Professors and students support California bill prohibiting the sale of diet pills to adolescents https://stanforddaily.com/2022/08/15/professors-and-students-support-california-bill-prohibiting-the-sale-of-diet-pills-to-adolescents/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/08/15/professors-and-students-support-california-bill-prohibiting-the-sale-of-diet-pills-to-adolescents/#respond Tue, 16 Aug 2022 04:43:47 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1206708 Students and professors offered support for a proposed law prohibiting the sale of over-the-counter weight loss supplements and diet pills to customers under the age of 18 in California.

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A California bill banning the sale of weight loss supplements and over-the-counter diet pills to customers under the age of 18 is one step away from passing in the California State Senate after being approved by the Senate Appropriations committee. Passage of California’s Assembly Bill 1341, health policy experts and student advocates said, is a long overdue step toward rectifying the lack of regulations on weight loss supplements in the diet industry.

The bill, which passed the Senate Health Committee unanimously in early June, would introduce a fine of up to $1000 per infraction for retailers violating its terms. Previously, the bill’s biggest obstacle came from corporate campaigns in the supplement industry. But several companies previously in opposition, including the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, American Herbal Products Association and California Retailers Association, went neutral after recent amendments, which removed requirements to place weight loss supplements behind the counter or in a locked case. 

Although the American Academy of Pediatrics strongly cautions young people against using diet pills for weight loss, a survey published in the “Journal of Adolescent Health” found that 11% of teens have used some form of weight loss supplement in their lifetime, which can result in severe health damages such as heart attacks, strokes, liver failure or even death. 

Bryn Austin, a social and behavioral sciences professor at Harvard University, said that companies that sell weight loss supplements prey on vulnerable consumers like adolescents for profit. Every year, dietary supplements send around 23,000 Americans to an emergency room, and a quarter of these cases are caused by weight loss supplements. 

“Dietary supplements sold with false promises to promote weight loss are not only ineffective, they can be downright dangerous,” Austin said. “Assembly Bill 1341 gives California lawmakers the chance to take meaningful action to protect children in the state from these harmful products.”

Sarina Deb ’23, president of Students Against Eating Disorders, also cautioned adolescents against relying on weight loss products that claim to guarantee quick changes to their physical appearance. As a survivor of the eating disorder anorexia nervosa, Deb said she is grateful her parents prevented her from purchasing diet pills.  

“Diet pills are often gateway drugs to, and behaviors of, eating disorders,” Deb said. “We need to do what we can to protect kids from falling into the trap of engaging in the consumption of these non-scientific, psychologically harmful pills.” Deb was previously an editor at The Daily.

According to Austin, weight loss products are easily accessible in stores and online venues, despite the lack of scientific evidence regarding their health implications. The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, passed by President Bill Clinton in 1994, did not require dietary supplement companies to undergo pre-screening by the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before selling to consumers. As a result, the FDA recalls weight loss supplements containing toxic ingredients only after a reported incident. 

Pediatrics professor Neville Golden said most weight loss supplements work by suppressing the consumer’s appetite or by making them feel full for a longer period of time. While they may help with short-term weight loss, many products have “potentially dangerous side effects such as elevated heart rate, high blood pressure and increased nervousness,” Golden said. 

For long term weight loss, Golden said most physicians would instead recommend lifestyle modifications consisting of making healthy food choices and engaging in daily physical activity. “Diet pills do not lead to weight loss that can be sustained,” he said. 

The mental and physical consequences often far outweigh the potential benefits. A study published in the “American Journal of Public Health” revealed that adolescents who use weight-loss supplements or over-the-counter diet pills are four to six times more likely to be diagnosed with an eating disorder within the next three years. 

Eating disorder rates surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, with hospitals around the United States seeing two times as many patients seeking treatment for an eating disorder. 

“Anorexia took away my personality, happiness and relationships,” Deb said. According to her, prohibiting minors from purchasing over-the-counter diet pills without a prescription is “a step in the right direction” to address some of the harms of unattainable standards created by the diet industry. 

The California State Senate will vote on the bill on Monday, Aug. 22. Until then, Deb and many others can only wait and “hope legislators will do the right thing.”

This article has been updated to reflect when Assembly Bill 1341 will be voted on in the California State Senate. The vote was previously scheduled for an earlier date.

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Travel testing requirements may have only minor impact on COVID spread, Stanford experts say https://stanforddaily.com/2022/08/02/travel-testing-requirements-may-have-only-minor-impact-on-covid-spread-stanford-experts-say/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/08/02/travel-testing-requirements-may-have-only-minor-impact-on-covid-spread-stanford-experts-say/#respond Wed, 03 Aug 2022 02:09:02 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1206380 Experts say the recent rise in COVID-19 cases is part of a complex picture that may include the CDC’s decision to drop testing requirements for international flights in June.

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Stanford experts urge continued precautions amidst rising BA.5-variant COVID-19 cases, despite the CDC’s removal of a testing requirement for international flights on June 10.

COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are rising nationally from a new subvariant known as BA.5, with concerns of increased transmission due to the changed policy.  However, Stanford experts say the CDC’s policy change does not explain the surge of new cases.

“Removing a testing requirement might theoretically increase the number of COVID cases, but it is only one part of a very complex picture,” Stanford Healthcare immunologist and infectious disease specialist Paul Bollyky wrote in a statement to The Daily.

According to epidemiology and population health professor Julie Parsonnet, the risk of infection at both ends of a flight is so high that a testing requirement would not necessarily prevent the “introduction” of the virus. Although airplanes are “less risky than in other environments” due to “their excellent air circulation,” wearing masks should be required on flights, Parsonnet said. 

“Testing in general also does not lower transmission per se,” Bollyky wrote. “It makes intuitive sense that awareness of one’s COVID status might make a person more likely to behave in ways that reduce transmission to others,” but Bollyky is unaware of any models that have quantified the extent of this. 

“There is so much COVID now that restricting travel would likely have very little impact,” Parsonnet said. She attributed the rise in cases instead to a lack of masking among the public: “It’s like everyone is going out in the pouring rain without raincoats and then wondering why they are wet.” 

Still, the experts maintain the importance of continued precautions against the virus.  Stanford Medicine infectious diseases professor Dean Winslow advised people to keep getting tested in order to protect others. The COVID-19 virus mutates rapidly and has become more transmissible and infectious as new variants emerge – BA.5, the most recent one, spreads more efficiently than previous strains, though it is less deadly, according to Winslow. 

Winslow also said that many vaccinated people’s immunity against COVID-19 has decreased since their last booster dose, possibly increasing the number of cases as well. With rising case numbers and waning immunity, Winslow emphasized the importance of wearing a mask and getting vaccinated.

Parsonnet echoed Winslow’s advice and encouraged people to “pay attention to COVID rates in the communities you visit.” 

Though experts expressed uncertainty about the future of the pandemic, they predicted the virus will continue to mutate and evolve. According to Winslow, COVID-19 will become more like seasonal influenza and it is likely yearly booster shots will be needed. “I think it’s going to be with us for quite some time,” Winslow said.

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Q&A: Assistant Secretary for Health talks community-based public health and COVID-19 https://stanforddaily.com/2022/07/13/assistant-secretary-for-health-talks-community-based-public-health-and-covid-19/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/07/13/assistant-secretary-for-health-talks-community-based-public-health-and-covid-19/#respond Thu, 14 Jul 2022 01:22:23 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1205994 In an interview with The Stanford Daily, Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine shared lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic including the importance of community, health equity, and researching post-infectious conditions such as long COVID.

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On June 11, The Stanford Daily sat down with Rachel L. Levine, Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to reflect on her experiences combating the COVID-19 pandemic. Levine was nominated by the Biden Administration in February, 2021 and was confirmed in March. During this year’s Pride Month, Levine — the first openly transgender official confirmed by the Senate — spoke to the Stanford Department of Pediatrics about the pediatric disparities and unequal opportunities that LGBTQ+ youth face. On June 11, she also attended the 35th anniversary display of the AIDS Memorial Quilt at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, recounting the deaths inflicted by the AIDS/HIV epidemic that she witnessed firsthand as a pediatrician in 1983.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

The Stanford Daily [TSD]: What are some lessons that you learned from handling the COVID-19 pandemic?

Rachel L. Levine [RL]:  I think that there are some clear lessons. One of them is that we are truly all interconnected. Literally, the decisions that each one of us make about our health, whether that’s to get tested or to get vaccinated, impact not only ourselves, but they impact our communities, our families. They impact our nation and they literally impact the world. We are all truly interconnected in so many ways.

Another lesson of the pandemic is the importance of public health. And public health sometimes gets lost in the general medical structure that we have in our medical health systems. But public health at the local, state, federal and international level is really critical for the health of our world and our nation and critical to our response to this pandemic. I used to say that cities like San Francisco were the center of the universe, but actually public health is the center of our universe. It’s that important. 

TSD: What is the importance of community-based organizations to expand health access to minority groups?

RL: Health equity is so critical to our work in public health. And of course, I’m at the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where our secretary Xavier Becerra’s priority is that we embed health equity into all of our different work. Health equity has to be the foundation. We can work on that federally, but actually, I think that some of the most important work is community work. I’ll come and visit your community, but I’m not there day by day. 

And so, community health workers, advocates and health and medical workers really are the frontlines on how we bring health equity to many vulnerable, marginalized populations. That, of course, includes the African American community, the Latino community, the American Indian Native Alaskan community, the AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) community and our LGBTQI+ community — there are so many intersections among those communities. So we really appreciate and depend on community health workers, community organizers and stakeholders to do that work.

Levine gives a speech from a stage. A sign on her podium reads "THE AIDS MEMORIAL QUILT 35 YEARS of Love Activism & Legacy"
Levine addresses the crowd at the 35th anniversary display of the AIDS Memorial Quilt (Photo: KATE QUACH/The Stanford Daily)

TSD: What is the federal government doing to aid people who have long COVID, and are there any solutions on the horizon?

RL: Absolutely. Long COVID is going to be one of the medical challenges of our future — our present and our future. The president recognizes that, and he has issued a presidential memorandum asking for two reports, one on the supports and services for patients who have long COVID and the other the National Research Action Plan on Long COVID. My office is coordinating the writing of those reports. We are the lead. I want to acknowledge so many people across the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and across the administration that are contributing to that report. We need to involve the entire medical community and our primary care doctors in that long COVID work. And then we need to work on the research agenda which is being led by NIH and CDC, such as the RECOVER and INSPIRE grants, and across the HHS.

I want to acknowledge specifically the work from the VA and the Department of Defense, both on their research as well as their works in terms of supports and services. And we’re going to develop that action plan. Now, the reports are the beginning: we don’t write the report and go to bed. That is the roadmap to these living documents and this living plan about how we’re going to help people with long COVID. I think you need to take the lessons learned from the HIV epidemic and from COVID-19 itself. We will also develop these programs by taking the lessons we’ve learned dealing with chronic illnesses like ME/CFS (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) and Lyme disease. So that is going to be one of the things that I’m going to concentrate on during my time at HHS.

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Stanford doctors: Monkeypox is no cause for panic https://stanforddaily.com/2022/07/12/stanford-doctors-monkeypox-is-no-cause-for-panic/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/07/12/stanford-doctors-monkeypox-is-no-cause-for-panic/#respond Tue, 12 Jul 2022 22:59:43 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1206064 Monkeypox, a disease characterized by rash-like blisters, is spreading in the U.S., but is rarely fatal and much less transmissible than COVID, say Stanford epidemiologists, cautioning against potential stigma and underscoring the need for community education and prevention.

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As monkeypox cases begin to rise in the United States, Stanford medical experts say there is no need for panic as long as preventative measures are followed, urging the avoidance of stigma around the virus. 

Headlines of monkeypox cases in the United States began to appear in early May. Though less infectious than COVID-19, the virus raised concerns within the federal government of an outbreak — but Stanford experts are cautioning against excessive alarm. 

“We’re not recommending to anyone to not travel because of the risk of monkeypox,” said Jorge Salinas, director of Stanford Hospital Epidemiology/Infection Prevention and Control. “It is safe, and this infection appears to be transmitted primarily through very close, intimate contact.” 

Current monkeypox infections present as painful rash-like blisters that appear across the body, particularly on the face, hands, chest and genitals, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Other symptoms of monkeypox include fever, headache and swollen lymph nodes. These symptoms commonly last 2-4 weeks until full skin recovery.

Stanley Deresinski, a clinical professor of infectious diseases, encouraged a calm and cautious approach to tackling the monkeypox community infection. The best way forward, he said, is through timely education about the development of the virus. 

The first known case of the 2022 U.S. outbreak occurred on May 18, when a U.S. citizen tested positive for monkeypox on arrival back to the United States after traveling to Canada. As of July 1, the U.S. has 460 confirmed monkeypox cases, with 23 cases reported in the Bay Area.

Among U.S. states, California currently has the most cases of monkeypox with 95 confirmed cases, and New York follows close behind at 90, according to a July 1 CDC report. Deresinski expects the number of cases in the state to continue to rise, especially during peak tourism months on the West Coast. 

So far, the monkeypox outbreak has primarily been seen in men who have sex with men. Given a long history of first-affected populations being scapegoated during disease outbreaks, Deresinski said he worries that the LGBTQ+ community may face heightened discrimination. Similar instances of prejudice were seen during the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, which was labeled as a “gay disease,” and during the current COVID-19 pandemic, which has been referred to as the “China virus” or “kung-flu,” inciting racist attacks against Asian Americans.

“Even though we have not yet verified that it’s officially sexually transmitted, we know it’s associated with sexual activities,” said Ashley Styczynski, an assistant professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases and CDC medical officer. “So I think that it potentially risks carrying out some of those themes, seeing issues around stigma and ostracizing people.”

According to Salinas, the important issue is to tackle the larger issue of the virus without harmfully singling out the groups that are currently most affected.

“This [outbreak] has nothing to do with the population. It has everything to do with the virus,” he said.

For Styczynski, the CDC and news broadcasts have so far avoided creating a stigma against afflicted individuals through approachable, specific messaging toward the populations at greatest risk — providing those communities with data on the outbreak and allowing them to feel fully seen and supported in the health conversation. 

“I think it is important to not do what was done with the AIDS epidemic in closing off our minds to imagine that this could affect other populations, because that would be problematic and could be a blind spot in our approach,” Styczynski said.

Salinas, who is currently collecting samples from a monkeypox-infected patient for a small-scale study on the virus, added that, “We would be making a mistake if we think that monkeypox will only be transmitted in [the LGBTQ+ community].”

He recommends continuing to follow the COVID-19 safety measures to combat monkeypox, including wearing a mask in crowded indoor spaces and practicing safe sex measures, with awareness to the infection status of sexual partners. For those who notice newly-developed bodily rashes or any other indication of monkeypox, Salinas suggests having their symptoms diagnosed to prevent further transmission.

After researching and working toward treatment for COVID-19 and monkeypox, Styczynski recognized the need to fund public health institutions and expand community resources — a gap exposed by the pandemic. 

“We have to build our public health infrastructure before we’re ready to take this on in full force,” she said, underscoring the urgency of providing medical and educational resources in areas most impacted by monkeypox.

“We need to have our finger on the pulse early, we need to be paying attention,” Styczynski added. “If we pay attention before it’s a crisis, we can prevent it from becoming one. “But if we wait to care until it’s a crisis, then we will be too late.” 

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Stanford COVID-19 cases skyrocket to 475 https://stanforddaily.com/2022/05/31/stanford-covid-19-cases-skyrocket-to-475/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/05/31/stanford-covid-19-cases-skyrocket-to-475/#respond Wed, 01 Jun 2022 05:17:37 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1205087 Student case counts increased by nearly 50% from the prior week, according to the University's COVID-19 dashboard.

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The University reported 251 new student and 224 new faculty, staff and postdoctoral scholar COVID-19 cases for the week of May 23, according to the COVID-19 dashboard. The case count marks a spring quarter record of 475 total cases.

Student case counts increased by 49% from the prior week, while employee case counts declined by 3%. As of Tuesday, 305 students are isolating, which is an increase from the 218 students reported last week, according to the dashboard.

Elevated case counts coincide with the University’s Friday announcement that undergraduates with housing contracts ending in mid-June are still expected to move out on time even if they test positive for COVID-19 between Tuesday and move-out day.

The Daily reached out to the University for comment regarding whether finals will be impacted by the rise in cases and whether the move-out policy will change.

Stanford’s seven-day positivity rate rose from 8.01% the prior week to 12.20% this week — a rate higher than both Santa Clara County’s 9.1% rate and California’s 7.0% rate. The seven-day positivity rate among employees decreased from 2.42% last week to 2.26% this week. The reported positivity rates include results from Color tests only, according to the dashboard.

The University continues to provide free COVID-19 testing for the campus community, and students who are not fully vaccinated and boosted for COVID-19 are required to test twice weekly. While the weekly testing requirements for vaccinated employees and students were lifted in March and April, respectively, the University strongly recommends testing in the event of symptoms, possible exposure or travel, according to the dashboard.

Masks continue to be strongly recommended on campus and required on Marguerite buses, in healthcare facilities and in classrooms except while speaking.

A total of 4,168 students and 2,384 faculty, staff and postdocs have tested positive through Stanford’s surveillance testing program since June 29, 2020, according to the dashboard.

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Stanford COVID-19 cases jump to spring quarter high of 399 https://stanforddaily.com/2022/05/24/stanford-covid-19-cases-jump-to-spring-quarter-high-of-399/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/05/24/stanford-covid-19-cases-jump-to-spring-quarter-high-of-399/#respond Tue, 24 May 2022 07:29:58 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1204166 Total new cases rose by 12%, based on Stanford’s COVID-19 dashboard update.

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Stanford reported 169 new COVID-19 cases among students and 230 new cases among faculty, staff and postdoctoral scholars for the week of May 16, according to the COVID-19 dashboard.

Case counts rose by 1% among students and 22% among employees compared to the prior week. According to the dashboard, 218 students are in isolation as of Monday, which is an increase from the 208 students reported last week.

“​​We continue to see fluctuations from week to week, and regional and national numbers make clear that COVID-19 remains with us,” University spokesperson E.J. Miranda wrote in a statement to The Daily. “We continue to strongly recommend masking and other precautions, as the University encouraged in last week’s message.”

Stanford provides students with Color COVID-19 tests and requires biweekly tests for unvaccinated students. While vaccinated students are no longer required to test through Stanford’s surveillance system as of April 11, the University emphasized that vaccination, testing and masking can prevent serious illness, according to the dashboard.

The University’s seven-day positivity rate rose from 7.43% last week to 8.01% this week for students and from 2.06% to 2.42% for employees. The number of tests administered to students fell from 2,247 the prior week to 2,109 this week, according to the dashboard. The seven-day positivity rate for students is slightly less than Santa Clara County’s 8.2% rate and above California’s 6% rate.

Peer institutions are experiencing mixed changes in student positivity rates. Harvard reported a decrease to a 2.35% positivity rate, and the University of California, Berkeley reported an increase to a 10.7% positivity rate. Stanford’s 8.01% positivity rate remains above that of Harvard and below that of UC Berkeley.

Of the 230 new employee cases, 94 are included in the University’s testing count. 136 individuals tested outside the University’s surveillance testing system through rapid antigen tests or tested positive earlier than last week but just reported it to the University, according to the dashboard.

A total of 3,917 students and 2,299 faculty, staff and postdocs have tested positive through Stanford’s surveillance testing system since June 29, 2020, according to the dashboard.

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Stanford COVID-19 cases decline to 356 https://stanforddaily.com/2022/05/16/stanford-covid-19-cases-decline-to-356/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/05/16/stanford-covid-19-cases-decline-to-356/#respond Tue, 17 May 2022 04:05:53 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1203497 Total new cases fell by 8%, based on Stanford’s COVID-19 dashboard update. Still, this marks Stanford's second-highest case count since the start of spring quarter.

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Stanford reported 167 new COVID-19 cases among students and 189 new cases among faculty, staff and postdoctoral scholars for the week of May 9, according to the COVID-19 dashboard.

Case counts fell by 33% among students and rose by 35% among employees compared to the prior week. According to the dashboard, 208 students are in isolation as of Monday, which is a decline from the 328 students reported last week. Though total new cases fell by 8%, this is the second-highest case count since the start of spring quarter.

“We anticipated fluctuations in test results and isolation numbers as the quarter progressed and we have seen the numbers rise and fall as the University has resumed more traditional campus activities and operations,” wrote University spokesperson E.J. Miranda in a statement to the Daily. 

Stanford will continue to closely monitor the public health situation on campus, according to Miranda. The University provides students with Color COVID-19 tests and requires biweekly tests for unvaccinated students. While vaccinated students are no longer required to test through Stanford’s surveillance system as of April 11, the University emphasized that vaccination, testing and masking can prevent serious illness, according to the dashboard. 

The University’s seven-day positivity rate fell from 9.32% last week to 7.43% this week for students and rose from 1.57% to 2.06% for employees. The number of tests administered to students fell from 2,671 the prior week to 2,247 this week, according to the dashboard. The seven-day positivity rate for students is greater than Santa Clara County’s 5.8% rate and California’s 3.9% rate.

Peer institutions are experiencing increases in student positivity rates. Harvard reported an increase to a 3.06% positivity rate, and the University of California, Berkeley reported an increase to a 10.3% positivity rate. Stanford’s 7.43% positivity rate remains above that of Harvard but has fallen below that of UC Berkeley.

Of the 189 new employee cases, 77 are included in the University’s testing count. 112 individuals tested outside the University’s surveillance testing system through rapid antigen tests or tested positive earlier than last week but just reported it to the University, according to the dashboard.

A total of 3,748 students and 2,198 faculty, staff and postdocs have tested positive through Stanford’s surveillance testing system since June 29, 2020, according to the dashboard.

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Stanford COVID-19 cases spring to 389 following Admit Weekend https://stanforddaily.com/2022/05/09/stanford-covid-19-cases-spring-to-389-following-admit-weekend/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/05/09/stanford-covid-19-cases-spring-to-389-following-admit-weekend/#respond Tue, 10 May 2022 03:33:58 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1202912 Total new cases rose by 35%, based on Stanford’s COVID-19 dashboard update.

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Stanford reported 249 new COVID-19 cases among students and 140 new cases among faculty, staff and postdoctoral scholars for the week of May 2, according to the COVID-19 dashboard.

Case counts increased by 56% among students and 9% among employees compared to the prior week. According to the dashboard, 328 students are in isolation as of Monday, which is an increase from the 239 students reported last week. The University attributes the rise in cases to travel and gatherings, according to the dashboard.

This case count is the highest reported by the University since the start of spring quarter. The uptick in cases comes after the University welcomed 1,150 admitted students and at least 1,500 guests to campus for Admit Weekend on April 29. Stanford enforced various COVID-19 precautions during the weekend, including prohibiting admitted students from entering student residences.

The Daily reached out to University spokesperson E.J. Miranda for comment regarding how the recent trends compare to Stanford’s expectations.

Stanford continues to provide students with Color COVID-19 tests and require biweekly tests for unvaccinated students. While vaccinated students are no longer required to test through Stanford’s surveillance system as of April 11, the University continues to emphasize that vaccination, testing and masking can prevent serious illness, according to the dashboard.

The University’s seven-day positivity rate rose from 6.09% last week to 9.32% this week for students and rose from 1.35% to 1.57% for employees. The number of tests administered to students rose slightly from 2,628 the prior week to 2,671 this week, according to the dashboard. The seven-day positivity rate for students is greater than Santa Clara County’s 5.8% rate and California’s 3.9% rate.

Peer institutions are also experiencing increases in student positivity rates. Harvard reported an increase to a 2.98% positivity rate, and the University of California, Berkeley, reported an increase to an 8.5% positivity rate. Stanford’s 9.32% positivity rate remains above that of Harvard and UC Berkeley.

Of the 140 new employee cases, 55 are included in the University’s testing count. The remaining 85 individuals tested outside the University’s surveillance testing system through rapid antigen tests or tested positive earlier than last week but just reported it to the University, according to the dashboard.

A total of 3,581 students and 2,114 faculty, staff and postdocs have tested positive through Stanford’s surveillance testing system since June 29, 2020, according to the dashboard.

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Stanford reports 289 COVID-19 cases, first student case decline in three weeks https://stanforddaily.com/2022/05/02/stanford-reports-289-covid-19-cases-first-student-case-decline-in-three-weeks/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/05/02/stanford-reports-289-covid-19-cases-first-student-case-decline-in-three-weeks/#respond Tue, 03 May 2022 03:23:53 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1202317 Total new cases fell by 7% during the fifth week of spring quarter, based on Stanford’s COVID-19 dashboard update.

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Stanford reported 160 new COVID-19 cases among students and 129 new cases among faculty, staff and postdoctoral scholars for the week of April 25, according to the COVID-19 dashboard.

Case counts decreased by 72% among students and increased by 42% among employees compared to the prior week. According to the dashboard, 239 students are in isolation as of Monday, which is less than the 326 students reported last week.

This marks the first week of decreasing student cases since the University lifted its weekly Color COVID-19 testing requirement for vaccinated students on April 11. 

The Daily has reached out to Stanford spokesperson E.J. Miranda for comment on how the recent trends compare to University expectations.

The University’s seven-day positivity rate fell from 7.27% last week to 6.09% this week for students and rose from 1.05% to 1.35% for employees. The number of tests administered to students dropped from 3,039 the prior week to 2,628 this week, according to the dashboard. The seven-day positivity rate for students is greater than Santa Clara County’s 5.1% rate and California’s 3.1% rate.

Many peer institutions are experiencing mixed changes in student positivity rates. Harvard reported a slight increase to a 1.84% positivity rate, and the University of California, Berkeley, reported a decrease to a 5.3% positivity rate. Stanford’s 6.09% positivity rate remains above that of Harvard and UC Berkeley.

Of the 129 new employee cases, 48 are included in the University’s testing count. The remaining 81 individuals tested outside the University’s surveillance testing system through rapid antigen tests or tested positive before this week but just reported it to the University, according to the dashboard.

Stanford continues to provide students with Color COVID-19 tests and require biweekly tests for unvaccinated students. While vaccinated students are no longer required to test through Stanford’s surveillance system, the University continues to emphasize that vaccination, testing and masking can prevent serious illness.

A total of 3,332 students and 2,063 faculty, staff and postdocs have tested positive through Stanford’s surveillance testing system since June 29, 2020, according to the dashboard.

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New hopes and enduring battles: Mental health two years into the pandemic https://stanforddaily.com/2022/04/29/new-hopes-and-enduring-battles-mental-health-two-years-into-the-pandemic/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/04/29/new-hopes-and-enduring-battles-mental-health-two-years-into-the-pandemic/#respond Sat, 30 Apr 2022 05:32:19 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1199231 The chaos of the pandemic posed serious issues for some Stanford students who were dealing with preexisting mental health crises. "I felt like my support system had been ripped out from under me," one student told the Daily.

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Content warning: this article contains references to suicide. If you or someone you know is in need of help, you can call the National Suicide Hotline at 800-273-8255.

Taylor Malina ’24 had already been struggling with her mental health for some time when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Amid social-distancing regulations and periods of long-term isolation, her symptoms were exacerbated due to the loneliness and anxiety that came with the global health crisis.

“Everything was really accentuated for me, because my mom was immunocompromised, so we weren’t really leaving the house,” Malina said. “At a certain point, it became increasingly difficult to reach out for connection, and I was getting stuck in these spirals and not sure how to get myself out of them.”

According to Malina, these downward “spirals” characterized much of her frosh year at Stanford.

Now, more than two quarters into a relatively “normal” school year, Malina says she has adjusted to campus life, and is finding healthy coping mechanisms to deal with enduring challenges. One of these outlets, she said, was a Stanford class called “Laughter & Play for Wellbeing,” which took a whole new approach to mental health.

“It was less of a problem-and-solution manual,” Malina said. “It was more proactive in that it was recognizing that you are already a whole person — but you can really get a lot out of these exercises by forming vulnerable connections.”

Like Malina, many students who struggled with their mental health during the pandemic say that the return to in-person school has positively impacted their mental well-being.

“Transitioning from virtual to in-person learning was a significant adjustment for students, and navigating covid-related uncertainties added to the stress,” Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) Operations Director Oliver Lin told The Daily. “Students have expressed relief and gratitude at being able to connect with one another again in person.”

The return to normal has also been a huge relief for students whose mental illness struggles escalated into crisis over the pandemic.

For example, Nina ’23 (pseudonym) has struggled with suicidal thoughts, self-harm urges, emotional dysregulation and mood swings her whole life. The pandemic heightened these symptoms, ultimately leaving her in a state of emergency.

“When I first started college, I felt that I had a good support system, and thought my mental health was doing a lot better than it had before,” Nina said. “When the pandemic started and there were a lot of sudden changes for people, including having to leave campus abruptly, I felt as though my support system had been ripped out from under me, and that I had lost any progress I made in my mental health all at once.”

For Nina, the isolation induced by the pandemic led to increased suicidal thoughts, and after an attempt, she was sent to a treatment center where she received help throughout much of the pandemic.

According to Nina, her experience at the center, coupled with the return to in-person school, was integral in getting her to a stable place.

“That combination — it saved my life,” she said.

Rebecca Pizzitola ’25 had a similar experience.  Like Nina, she credits the return to normalcy with a positive turning point in her mental wellbeing.

“The pandemic exacerbated my depression a lot,” Pizzitola said. “The only thing that kept me getting up in the morning was going to school, so the fact that I had to sit in my room all day doing school made my depression and anxiety that much worse.”

She says she hasn’t suffered a major depressive episode since arriving on campus for her frosh year in the fall. “After spending 15 months doing school online in my room, just having a change in environment and more autonomy helped a lot.”

Coming back to in-person school has had a positive impact on many students’ mental health. Yet for others, it brought on a new set of challenges.

“Many students have experienced stress and anxiety through the re-entry process,” Lin said.

One stressor, according to Malina, is the fact that members of her class — the sophomore class — are all trying to integrate despite having had vastly different experiences during the covid year. For some members of the Class of 2024, the last academic year consisted of living at home with parents, caring for sick individuals and social isolation. For others, it looked like forming connections with classmates through living in different places around the country.

“The sophomore class felt divided at the beginning of the school year,” Malina said.

For others who struggle with social anxiety or generalized anxiety, re-integrating into a fast-paced, social environment has been difficult.

CAPS Clinical Director Amy Wilkinson said, “Many Stanford students are now existing from a new, often destabilized baseline as they strive to obtain an education in a very competitive and fast-paced environment. We hear from students that they feel they are going against the prevailing Stanford culture when they acknowledge systemic stressors, or when they prioritize basic things like adequate rest, social connection, caring for family or mental health care.”

A junior who asked to remain anonymous for privacy reasons said, “I think at first I had more social anxiety coming back to school than anticipated — and that became more apparent as time went on.”

One downside of coming back to in-person school, the student said, is comparing yourself to others more frequently.

“I think that social comparison is definitely more common now that I am around more people,” the junior said. “I think comparison can trigger a lot of anxiety or feelings of inadequacy, and it has also brought up feelings of inadequacy in my body image.”

The student said, however, that a silver lining of the mental health struggles so many people experienced during the pandemic is a “shared experience of hardship” that has deeply bonded them to many of their peers.

“Everyone experienced covid so differently — but having some sort of shared struggle allowed me to feel closer to my peers. Whereas, coming to Stanford I felt as though I was alone in my struggles,” the student said.

A senior who also asked to be identified by class year for privacy reasons agreed that the pandemic impacted their mental health in both positive and negative ways.

“I think in some ways it made things worse, in terms of overall anxiety about what’s going on in the world and uncertainty — but in other ways it made it easier because of decreased social interaction,” the senior said.

The student, who accesses therapy and psychiatry through CAPS and off-campus referrals, said that the transition back to in-person school was more difficult than anticipated.

“I take over 20 units every quarter, so commuting to classes takes a lot of time, and I completely underestimated how hard the transition from online learning to in-person learning would be,” the student said.

The student added that the pandemic really allowed them to slow down, so the return to school felt very rapid.

“I was consistently less busy during the pandemic — a complete shift from what I was used to — so coming back to the rush of school was so difficult,” the student said.

But the 2021-22 school year has been difficult for reasons beyond the transition back to in-person learning, according to both CAPS clinicians and students. Amid international turmoil, including Russia’s war on Ukraine, students are left with uncertainty and anxiety.

“Stanford is an international community, with at least a quarter of the student population being international students,” Wilkinson said. “Many are also first-generation students in the United States. Traumas from war and conflict affect members of our international community intensely. Their communities, their families and their sense of basic safety are threatened. It is critical that we come together as a community to support students when they are impacted by events in their home countries.”

Stanford affiliates have also experienced several devastating losses of students in the past 12 months — losses which experts say have significantly affected the fabric of the community.

Helen Hsu, CAPS Outreach Director, said, “The loss of several students in these past years has been hugely impactful on the entire community. Grief is a long-term process, and some members of the community are more affected due to previous losses or stressors.”

For some Stanford students, suicide hits very close to home.

Conner Oberhauser ’25 was only 14 years old when he attempted to take his life. His suicide attempt followed years of debilitating social anxiety that made it difficult for him to interact with peers and go about his daily life.

“Every time I spoke I felt like I did something wrong,” Oberhauser said. “It got so bad that I wasn’t able to speak to my friends — I would just go home straight to my room.”

After his attempt, Oberhauser was admitted to a psychiatric ward, where he was put on medications and treated with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).

“I had to actively work and tell myself that these things weren’t true — that I am not worthless, that I do have value,” the frosh said. “But I knew that if I wanted my mental health to get better, it’s something that I had to take control of.”

Channeling his struggles into action, Oberhauser started a public-speaking platform — he went around to conferences and schools in his home state of Nebraska to talk about combating mental health stigma.

When coming to Stanford for the 2021-22 school year, Oberhauser said he expected all of his problems to disappear.

“Like many students, when I got into my dream school, I expected to be living my dream every day,” he told The Daily. “But classes are hard, and it definitely does affect your mental health, especially when it’s a common experience to base our worth on our grades, on productivity and what we get done.”

Conner Oberhauser smiles for a photo in front of trees. His tshirt reads "Unafraid,  Unbroken, Uncaged, Unsilent. NoStigmas"
Conner Oberhauser ‘25 was only fourteen years old when he attempted to take his own life. He has since become an outspoken advocate for destigmatizing mental health. “You need to want to get better,” he told the Daily. “It’s not something that anyone else can do for you.” (Photo: THOMAS YIM / The Stanford Daily)

Oberhauser says he has struggled to balance friendships, work, exploring campus, extracurricular activities and all of the other things with which students engage in their first few quarters on campus.

Moreover, he said, like other students, he found transitioning out of the pandemic as someone with social anxiety to be difficult.

According to Oberhauser, what truly helped him stay grounded was getting an Office of Accessible Education (OAE) letter for classes to help mitigate some of the challenges that come with dealing with anxiety and ADHD.

“Just having that letter — not even using it — takes a lot of anxiety away,” he said.

When asked what advice he would give to someone currently struggling, Oberhauser had three things to say.

“The first piece of advice I’d give is to accept that you are going through something. If you don’t accept it, you won’t be able to get help.”

His second piece of advice was to reach out “to friends, family, professors, RAs, RFs or the suicide hotline number — because although mental illness is so stigmatized, it’s not something you should ever have to go through on your own.” 

Finally, he said, “You need to want to get better. It’s not something that anyone else can do for you.”

The aforementioned junior student emphasized that students should never be afraid to share their struggles with loved ones.

“Sharing your struggles doesn’t burden the people that care about you,” she said. “You deserve love and care. Sometimes when initially seeking support, you might initially be faced with discomfort and support that doesn’t feel helpful, and it can be a process to connect with the right people that adequately meet you where you’re at and address your needs. So be patient — healing takes time.”

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Stanford COVID-19 cases jump to 312 amid continued rise  https://stanforddaily.com/2022/04/25/stanford-covid-19-cases-jump-to-326-amid-continued-rise/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/04/25/stanford-covid-19-cases-jump-to-326-amid-continued-rise/#respond Tue, 26 Apr 2022 05:50:09 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1201611 Total new cases rose by 44% during the fourth week of spring quarter, based on Stanford’s COVID-19 dashboard update.

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Stanford reported 221 new COVID-19 cases among students and 91 new cases among faculty, staff and postdoctoral scholars for the week of April 18, according to the COVID-19 dashboard.

Case counts increased by 53% among students and by 25% among employees compared to the week before. According to the dashboard, 326 students are in isolation as of Monday, an increase from the 212 students reported last week.

This is the second consecutive week of rising student cases. The increasing cases coincide with the University lifting its Color COVID-19 weekly testing requirement for vaccinated students on April 11. The University attributed the recent rise in cases to travel and gatherings, according to the dashboard.

University spokesperson E.J. Miranda wrote in a statement to The Daily that “the dashboard contains the most current information available.” Miranda also referenced a Thursday email from Associate Vice Provost of Environmental Health & Safety Russell Furr that included updates on COVID safety guidelines. According to the email, masking will continue to be required in classrooms and on Marguerite buses until further notice.

“We will continue to closely monitor the public health situation on campus and update the community on any new protocols or policy changes,” Miranda wrote.

Stanford continues to provide students with Color COVID-19 tests and require biweekly tests for unvaccinated students. While vaccinated students no longer have to test through Stanford’s surveillance system, the University continues to emphasize that vaccination, testing and masking can prevent serious illness, according to the dashboard.

The University’s seven-day positivity rate rose from 4.73% last week to 7.27% this week for students and rose from 0.74% to 1.05% for employees. The number of tests administered to students dropped from 3,045 from the prior week to 3,039, according to the dashboard. The seven-day positivity rate for students is greater than Santa Clara County’s 4.2% rate and California’s 3.1% rate.

Many peer institutions are experiencing mixed changes in student positivity rates. Harvard reported a slight decrease to a 1.6% positivity rate, and the University of California, Berkeley, reported an increase to a 5.9% positivity rate. Stanford’s 7.27% positivity rate remains above that of Harvard and Berkeley.

Of the 91 new employee cases, 35 are included in the University’s testing count. The remaining 56 individuals tested outside the University’s surveillance testing system through rapid antigen tests or tested positive earlier than last week but just reported it to the University, according to the dashboard.

A total of 3,172 students and 2,012 faculty, staff and postdocs have tested positive through Stanford’s surveillance testing system since June 29, 2020, according to the dashboard.

This article has been corrected to reflect that there were 312 total COVID-19 cases during the week of April 18 . The Daily regrets this error.

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Queer students face enduring mental health challenges, look for support in community https://stanforddaily.com/2022/04/21/queer-students-face-enduring-mental-health-challenges-look-for-support-in-community/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/04/21/queer-students-face-enduring-mental-health-challenges-look-for-support-in-community/#respond Fri, 22 Apr 2022 06:42:30 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1200917 Some queer students expressed relief with the return to normalcy after the pandemic; others cited enduring challenges such as the search for a queer community.

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Content warning: this article contains references to suicide. If you or someone you know is in need of help, you can call the National Suicide Hotline at 800-273-8255.

17 months into the pandemic in August of 2021, Vivek Tanna’s ’22 mental health crisis was induced by “the perfect storm” of events. Tanna had a sense of community before the pandemic, but the geographic distance and virtual scattering all weighed on him heavily.

“In retrospect, I held it together for as long as I could,” Tanna said.

Tanna explained that he was being “pulled in every direction, and all the stars aligned.” As a queer student, he was living multiple lives. 

“There’s my life at Stanford, where I’m as ‘out’ as possibly can be,” Tanna said. “But at the same time I hadn’t come out to my parents because I didn’t feel that it was the right time. I was living these two lives, and I just didn’t have the energy to uphold that boundary anymore.”

“All of the boundaries kind of collapsed” in the thick of what he described as a manic episode. Tanna called 911, and came out to his parents over FaceTime in front of police officers.

A previous Daily article chronicled the struggles of queer students who, like Tanna, were out at Stanford, but hid their LGBTQ+ identity when the pandemic sent them back to their hometowns.

Some students, reflecting back upon the pandemic today, said that it forced them into a state of reversion to old feelings and habits.

“I think a lot of us regressed a lot when we went home because of the pandemic,” Thom Henri ’22 said. “Moving back into my parents’ home was really bad for my identity — I felt shame and resentment over being gay in a way that I hadn’t for years. I thought I’d left that behind when I graduated high school.”

Today, months into a relatively “normal” school year, some queer students say that the return to school has allowed them to truly find themselves and feel supported.

“I don’t know when exactly things got better for me — I moved back out, lived with friends and somewhere along the way picked back up the pieces of my identity,” Henri said. “I’m not sure I ever wholly processed the regression I felt or the ways my identity and pride feel more fragile than I thought they were.”

Some queer students like Henri, however, face enduring mental health challenges in the pursuit of community and a sense of identity.

In the United States, queer people are diagnosed with mental illnesses at higher rates than their non-queer counterparts. In fact, although 4.5% of the US population identifies as LGBTQ+, over 39% of people in this category reported having a mental illness in the past year. LGBTQ+ youth are also four times more likely to seriously consider suicide and attempt suicide than their peers. Interviewees similarly pointed to the fact that several of the students who have died at Stanford in the past few years have identified as queer.

“We see queer students unfortunately face a range of challenges that may affect their mental health,” Weiland Health Initative Program Manager Marissa Floro told The Daily. According to Floro, Weiland Health Initiative seeks to “promote mental health and wellness across the spectrum of gender identities and attractions through education, training and clinical services.”

Some of these challenges, Floro said, include “coming out to oneself and others, dealing with microaggressions, misgendering/deadnaming and hate from people and systems on and off campus.”

Other challenges include understanding and managing the impact of hate on one’s body and mental health, and trying to find resources and assistance in a heteronormative, cisnormative, ableist and white supremacist world, according to Floro. These come, she said, in addition to the challenges that many college students face like depression and anxiety.

A sophomore student who asked to remain anonymous for privacy reasons has struggled with his mental health for several years, an issue which he says is intertwined with his queer identity.

According to the student, his journey of grappling with his queer identity even led to some suicidal ideations. He was ultimately diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a label which he said added new challenges to his identity.

“Having these two sort of identities, queer and disabled, I think gave me new insight into the barrier that I thought existed being queer,” the student said. “It’s a hard category to be in.”

The student added that after the pandemic settled down and he was able to come to school in person for the first time, his mental health started to improve, which he attributes to reading the book “The Obstacle is the Way” and joining the Stanford Mental Health Outreach (SMHO) club. 

“Being involved in mental health conversations and being aware has really helped me interact with other Stanford students and find a community that’s friendly and open to discussion,” the anonymous student said.

Interviewees stressed that being queer is an integral aspect of their identity that comes with a lot of joy.

“I think I initially saw it as a barrier, but now it’s just an aspect of my identity that allows me to relate to a huge group of people,” the sophomore student said.

“The queer aspect is inescapable at all times,” Tanna added. “Even when there’s a struggle, queer people can also feel a lot of joy, the kind of joy that comes from queer connections, from queer liberation. I think there’s a kind of deep satisfaction and possibility there. Being queer is not at all just a sob story.”

The struggle to find a queer community at Stanford, however, has presented mental health challenges for some queer students, according to Tanna. 

“I don’t think there’s one centralized community at Stanford, although there are pockets of queerness all over the place that aren’t always visible,” Tanna said. “It can be very isolating for people.”

Tanna partially attributed that this lack of a core community to Stanford culture, saying, “Students are overcommitted, the quarter system moves so fast and Stanford flake culture is so big — it just does not lend itself well to a strong queer community.”

Henri explained that questioning students may face additional mental health challenges by this lack of community.

“I don’t think there is a good space for questioning students on campus — and so much of queerness is being in a state of questioning,” they said. “Every single queer person has spent time in a questioning state, so the way our queer communities cater more to those who are already ‘out and proud’ does a disservice to those who are still trying to figure things out and unsure where to go.”

Floro encouraged students to access resources through the Weiland Health Initiative, whose mission is to “promote mental health and wellness across the spectrum of gender identities and attractions through education, training and clinical services.”

“I have been honored to have been in multiple workshops, group spaces, and individual therapy sessions where I witness students feeling empowered, feel like they can be their whole selves, and feel like they’re not alone,” Floro said. “I have seen students cry in relief at being among other students that understand what they’re going through. I have watched students blossom in their relationships and their time at Stanford as they connect to themselves and their own values.”

Author’s note: If you or someone you know is in a similar situation, there are available resources both on and beyond campus.

CAPS and Weiland offer a range of services, including individual therapy and hormone replacement therapy consultations for students in California. For students outside of California, they can also offer support for real-time needs and care management consultations to help arrange for local support if needed. CAPS also has a 24-7 support line for urgent needs: 650-723-3785.

From Weiland Health Initiative Representatives:

The Weiland Health Initiative provides a full range of services for students:

Clinical services: Weiland provides brief individual therapy, group therapy (QTrees starting this quarter!), individual check-ins called Weiland connects sessions, hormone replacement therapy and gender-affirming surgery mental health support consultations.

Advocacy services: In conjunction with QSR, Weiland provides financial support called the QT Fund (application opening next week!) to help students in their gender and attraction journeys. Weiland also has done various trainings and programs to help bring queer inclusivity to sports teams, academic departments, other clinicians, and staff groups.

Learning and work opportunities: In addition to hiring student workers called Weiland Health Associates (apply now to join our team!), Weiland also teaches lectures throughout the academic year as well as classes that you can take for credit (Wellness 140: Wellness through Queerness & Wellness 191: Peer Education on Comprehensive Sexual Health Education).

Programming: Weiland also provide different workshops and programs throughout the year to help cultivate queer community and wellness; for example, they hold Queer Yoga every Tuesday at 4:30, facilitate workshops for specific intersections of identity, collaborate with student groups and community centers like the WCC, and have held spaces to explore nutrition, non-Western modes of healing, and self-care in moments of high distress.

Queer Student Resources continues to provides resources to connect students, including Trans& meetings, affinity groups, student staff and professional staff. Students can also join the listservs of various queer student groups like La Familia, BlaQs and Queer & Asian, as well as the the Vaden Flourishing Alliance listserv to be notified of events, new programming, and opportunities to connect.

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BA.2 subvariant makes its way to campus https://stanforddaily.com/2022/04/20/ba-2-subvariant-makes-its-way-to-campus/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/04/20/ba-2-subvariant-makes-its-way-to-campus/#respond Thu, 21 Apr 2022 04:28:08 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1200991 BA.2 is a subvariant of the Omicron virus, and likely represents the majority of COVID cases on campus.

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The BA.2 subvariant is here — the omicron substrain accounts for nearly 80% of COVID-19 cases at the Stanford hospital, according to Benjamin Pinsky, the medical director of the Clinical Virology Laboratory for Stanford Health Care.

Although Color Genomics does not genotype their Stanford samples, Pinsky said that the student cases on campus likely mirror what the lab is seeing in the surrounding community.

The BA.2 subvariant makes up more than 72% of COVID-19 strains in the United States and is more transmissible than BA.1, the other subvariant of omicron, according to Monica Gandhi, the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Associate Chief of Infectious Diseases.

BA.2 is more infectious than the previous BA.1 strain, but those infected with omicron early on will have good cross-immunity with BA.2, according to UCSF epidemiology professor George Rutherford M.D. ’75.

While Pinsky estimates that BA.2 is 30% more transmissible than BA.1, Rutherford explained that it does not cause more severe disease symptoms than earlier iterations of omicron.

For those who are vaccinated and boosted, Gandhi says that the BA.2 is not a cause for additional concern compared to previous variants. According to her, the vaccines generate memory B cells that can recognize different variants as they emerge and trigger the production of T cells that amplify the body’s response to a virus and help recruit cells to attack the pathogen directly.

“With hospitalizations at our lowest point since the early days of the pandemic, if you are vaccinated and boosted, there is no reason to take any extra precautions at this time,” Gandhi said. ICU admissions and deaths, as markers of the most severe disease symptoms, also continue to fall.

“This is a normal part of viral evolution, and we’ll continue to see more changes going forward,” Rutherford said.

The best defense against COVID-19, according to Gandhi, is hybrid immunity: vaccination after having been infected previously. Even one dose of the vaccine after infection is encouraged.

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Stanford COVID-19 cases increase to 217 during first week without mandatory testing for vaccinated students https://stanforddaily.com/2022/04/18/stanford-covid-19-cases-increase-to-217-during-first-week-without-mandatory-testing-for-vaccinated-students/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/04/18/stanford-covid-19-cases-increase-to-217-during-first-week-without-mandatory-testing-for-vaccinated-students/#respond Tue, 19 Apr 2022 05:18:44 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1200634 Total new cases rose by 12% during the first week without mandated testing for vaccinated students, based on Stanford’s COVID-19 dashboard update.

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Stanford reported 144 new COVID-19 cases among students and 73 new cases among faculty, staff and postdoctoral scholars for the week of April 11, according to the COVID-19 dashboard.

Case counts have increased by 20% among students and decreased by 1% among employees compared to the week before. According to the dashboard, 212 students are in isolation as of Monday, which is an increase from the 147 students reported last week.

The rise in student cases comes after the University lifted the Color COVID-19 weekly testing requirement for vaccinated students on April 11.

Stanford spokesperson E.J. Miranda did not comment on how these numbers compare with University expectations. “The dashboard contains the most current information available,” Miranda wrote in a statement to The Daily. 

Stanford continues to provide students with Color COVID-19 tests and require biweekly tests for unvaccinated students. While vaccinated students no longer have to test through Stanford’s surveillance system, the University continues to emphasize that vaccination, testing and masking can prevent serious illness, according to the dashboard.

The University’s seven-day positivity rate rose from 2.61% last week to 4.73% this week for students and fell from 0.89% to 0.74% for employees. The number of tests administered to students dropped from 4,604 the prior week to 3,045, according to the dashboard. The seven-day positivity rate for students is greater than Santa Clara County’s 2.6% rate and California’s 2.1% rate.

Many peer institutions are experiencing increases in student positivity rates. Harvard reported an increase to 1.7% positivity rate, and the University of California, Berkeley reported an increase to a 4.2% positivity rate. Stanford’s 4.73% positivity rate remains above that of Harvard and Berkeley.

Of the 73 new employee cases, 24 are included in the University’s testing count. The remaining 49 individuals tested outside the University’s surveillance testing system through rapid antigen tests or tested positive earlier than last week but just reported it to the University, according to the dashboard.

A total of 2,951 students and 1,977 faculty, staff and postdocs have tested positive through Stanford’s surveillance testing system since June 29, 2020, according to the dashboard.

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Stanford nurses prepare for first strike in 20 years https://stanforddaily.com/2022/04/15/stanford-nurses-prepare-for-first-strike-in-20-years/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/04/15/stanford-nurses-prepare-for-first-strike-in-20-years/#respond Fri, 15 Apr 2022 07:55:51 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1200477 According to a Wednesday press release, the Committee for Recognition of Nursing Achievement has notified Stanford Health Care of its intent to strike beginning April 25 — a decision that comes just days after a strike authorization vote, which saw 93% of nurses support a work stoppage.

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The last time that Stanford nurses went on strike against Stanford Health Care (SHC), nurse Fred Taleghani had no idea what was coming. The year was 2000 and Taleghani had only been at the institution for a year. At the time, the nurses’ union — the Committee for Recognition of Nursing Achievement (CRONA) — was far smaller than it is today.

“I wasn’t particularly prepared,” Taleghani said. “But I understood the importance of us needing to go out collectively.”

Over two decades after Taleghani walked out, nurses are lining up again to strike against Stanford Hospital and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. According to a Wednesday press release, CRONA has notified SHC of its intent to strike beginning April 25 — a decision that comes just days after a strike authorization vote, which saw 93% of nurses support a work stoppage. Nurses’ previous contracts expired on March 31 after months of negotiations between CRONA and SHC, who meet for scheduled talks every three years. 

The hospitals have “secured the services of licensed, qualified, experienced replacement nurses to ensure patient care remains uninterrupted” during a potential strike, according to Dale Beatty, the Chief Nurse Executive and Vice President of Patient Care Services for SHC, and Jesus Cepero, the Chief Nursing Officer and Senior Vice President of Patient Care for Stanford Children’s Health.

“Both hospitals will remain open and our community can continue to count on the safe, high-quality care it has come to expect from Stanford Health Care and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital,” they wrote.

Taleghani, who is still a nurse at Stanford, sees parallels between CRONA’s 2000 strike and its current efforts to win fairer nursing contracts. The central issue at hand — the ability to attract and retain nurses — is something that Taleghani said has been complicated by the disconnect between nurses and hospitals in negotiations.

“The way the hospitals have presented the issues at the table, they’re seemingly oblivious to the current state of nursing,” Taleghani said.

One key issue that has been a constant throughout negotiations is staffing. SHC has “a definite staffing issue,” according to Stanford clinical nurse Rachel Gratz-Beken, who said this has impacted her ability to care for patients. According to Gratz-Beken, intensive care unit nursing shortages at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital have sometimes pushed her nursing unit to care for critical patients. But her unit is often clinically inappropriate for many of the critical patients it receives. Caring for these patients takes resources away from her unit, which in turn exacerbates staffing issues, Gratz-Beken said.

“It’s a cyclical process,” she said. “It could be prevented if we had more critical care nurses to help out.”

Beatty and Cepero defended the hospitals’ previous efforts to increase staffing, writing to The Daily that both hospitals have “made significant investments in nurse staffing in recent years, even as many hospitals face unprecedented staffing challenges.” According to Beatty and Cepero, the clinical nurse population at Stanford Health Care has increased by 36% since January 2019, while the clinical nurse population at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital has increased by 24.5% in that same timespan. 

Mental health has been another area of continued emphasis for CRONA, especially as staffing issues have placed a physical and mental burden on nurses. Overwork has been an issue for nurses, according to Taleghani, contributing to a “challenging recruiting environment” for the hospitals. Nurses have continuously called for increased paid time off as part of their efforts toward a better work-life balance. 

“This is not just about us,” Taleghani said. “It’s about making this into a sustainable career.”

According to Beatty and Cepero, the hospitals’ current package to nurses includes proposals aimed at furthering the hospitals’ “commitment to enhanced nurse staffing and wellness,” as well as “market-leading pay.” 

But according to registered nurse David Hernandez, while it is true that Stanford nurses have remained among the highest paid nurses in the country, this figure ignores the significantly higher cost of living in the Bay Area compared to other geographical regions. Many nurses live a significant distance away from the hospitals, Hernandez said, and these long commuting times have contributed to their sense of burnout.

“I’m not competing with a nurse in Wyoming to buy my first home here in the Bay Area,” Hernandez said. “I’m competing with entry level people getting hired at Facebook who are making pretty good amounts of money.” 

Beatty and Cepero wrote that while the hospitals “are disappointed that the union has chosen to strike,” their goal “has always been to reach a mutually acceptable agreement through good faith negotiations.”

According to Hernandez, CRONA remains “willing to work with the hospital to avoid a work stoppage.” Still, the union is also prepared to strike if needed to achieve a fair contract, he said.

“Am I hopeful that an agreement will be reached before the deadline? I’m hopeful, but I’m not counting on it. I’m fully prepared to move forward with the strike as planned,” Hernandez said.

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Stanford COVID-19 cases drop to 194 as testing mandate is lifted for vaccinated students https://stanforddaily.com/2022/04/11/stanford-covid-19-cases-drop-to-194-as-testing-mandate-is-lifted-for-vaccinated-students/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/04/11/stanford-covid-19-cases-drop-to-194-as-testing-mandate-is-lifted-for-vaccinated-students/#respond Tue, 12 Apr 2022 04:17:10 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1200038 Total new cases fell by 3.5% during the last week of mandated testing for vaccinated students, based on Stanford’s COVID-19 dashboard update.

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Stanford reported 120 new COVID-19 cases among students and 74 new cases among faculty, staff and postdoctoral scholars for the week of April 4, according to the COVID-19 dashboard.

These case counts coincide with the final week of mandated Color COVID-19 testing for vaccinated students. The University lifted the testing requirement for these students on Monday.

Case counts have decreased by 13% among students and increased by 17% among employees compared to the prior week. According to the dashboard, 147 students are in isolation as of Monday — a drop from the 208 students last week.

“We anticipated a rise in positive test results as students returned from spring break, and we are encouraged by the most recent data that show the numbers of students in isolation and those testing positive have declined,” University spokesperson E.J. Miranda wrote in an email to The Daily.

Miranda wrote that mandated testing will continue for non-boosted students and for faculty, staff and postdocs who are not fully vaccinated.

Stanford continues to provide students with Color COVID-19 tests and require biweekly tests for unvaccinated students. While vaccinated students no longer have to test through Stanford’s surveillance system, the University continues to emphasize that vaccination, testing and masking can prevent serious illness, according to the dashboard.

The University’s seven-day positivity rate rose from 2.01% last week to 2.61% this week for students and fell from 0.92% to 0.89% for employees. The number of tests administered to students dropped from 6,866 the prior week to 4,604. The seven-day positivity rate for students is greater than Santa Clara County’s 2.3% rate and California’s 1.7% rate.

Many peer institutions are experiencing increases in student positivity rates. Harvard reported an increase to 1.37% positivity rate, and the University of California, Berkeley reported an increase to a 2.30% positivity rate. Stanford’s 2.61% positivity rate remains above that of Harvard and Berkeley.

Of the 74 new employee cases, 30 are included in the University’s testing count. The remaining 44 individuals tested outside the University’s surveillance testing system through rapid antigen tests or tested positive earlier than last week but just reported it to the University, according to the dashboard.

A total of 2,807 students and 1,963 faculty, staff and postdocs have tested positive through Stanford’s surveillance testing system since June 29, 2020, according to the dashboard.

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Stanford COVID-19 cases increase to 201 during first week of spring quarter https://stanforddaily.com/2022/04/05/stanford-covid-19-cases-increase-to-201-during-first-week-of-spring-quarter/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/04/05/stanford-covid-19-cases-increase-to-201-during-first-week-of-spring-quarter/#respond Tue, 05 Apr 2022 07:00:10 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1198869 Total new cases increased by 84% during the week of March 28, based on Stanford’s COVID-19 dashboard update.

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Stanford reported 138 new COVID-19 cases among students and 63 new cases among faculty, staff and postdoctoral scholars for the week of March 28, according to the COVID-19 dashboard.

Case counts have increased by 73% among students and increased by 117% among employees compared to the prior week, during which several students were away from campus for spring break. According to the dashboard, 208 students are in isolation as of Monday, compared to 91 last week. This number is higher than reports from the last five weeks, but fewer than reported at the beginning of winter quarter. The University attributed this uptick in cases to students returning to campus from the break, according to the dashboard.

“We anticipated a rise in positive test results as students returned from spring break,” University spokesperson E.J. Miranda in a statement to the Daily wrote. “We strongly recommend masking on-site, regardless of vaccination status. We will continue to closely monitor the public health situation on campus and will update the community on any new developments or policy changes.”

Stanford continues to provide students with Color COVID-19 tests and require weekly testing for vaccinated students and biweekly tests for unvaccinated students. The University plans to lift the testing requirement for fully vaccinated students on April 11, but it continues to emphasize that vaccination, testing and masking can prevent serious illness.

The University’s seven-day positivity rate fell from 3.80% last week to 2.01% this week for students and rose from 0.34% to 0.92% for employees. The seven-day positivity rate for students is greater than Santa Clara County’s 1.80% rate and California’s 1.60% rate.

Of the 63 new employee cases, 32 are included in the University’s testing count. The remaining 31 individuals tested outside the University’s surveillance testing system through rapid antigen tests or tested positive earlier than last week but just reported it to the University, according to the dashboard.

Peer institutions are experiencing various changes in student positivity rates. Harvard reported an increase to 0.91% positivity rate, and the University of California, Berkeley reported a decrease to a 1.9% positivity rate. Stanford’s 2.01% positivity rate remains above that of Harvard and Berkeley, but is closer to the two schools’ positivity rates than it was last week.

A total of 2,687 students and 1,938 faculty, staff and postdocs have tested positive through Stanford’s surveillance testing system since June 29, 2020, according to the dashboard.

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Stanford COVID-19 cases increase to 109 as students and staff return from spring break https://stanforddaily.com/2022/03/28/stanford-covid-19-cases-increase-to-109-as-students-and-staff-return-from-spring-break/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/03/28/stanford-covid-19-cases-increase-to-109-as-students-and-staff-return-from-spring-break/#respond Tue, 29 Mar 2022 05:36:13 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1197991 Case counts have increased by 237% among students and decreased by 9% among employees compared to the week prior to spring break, according to the University's COVID-19 dashboard.

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Stanford reported 80 new COVID-19 cases among students and 29 new cases among faculty, staff and postdoctoral scholars for the week of March 21, according to the COVID-19 dashboard.

Case counts have increased by 237% among students and decreased by 9% among employees compared to the week prior to spring break. According to the dashboard, 91 students are in isolation as of Monday. This number is higher than reports from the last four weeks, but fewer than reported at the beginning of winter quarter. The University attributed this uptick in cases to students returning to campus from spring break.

“We anticipated a rise in positive test results as students returned from spring break,” University spokesperson E.J. Miranda wrote in an email to The Daily. 

In a Monday email, Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne wrote that the University is “keeping a close eye on COVID as the presence of the BA.2 subvariant increases in many parts of the world.” Tessier-Lavigne also reminded members of the Stanford community that tests remain available for all students, faculty, staff and postdocs. He encouraged all individuals to take a test if they are feeling symptoms, concerned about exposure or returning from travel. 

Miranda did not comment on whether Color tests provided by the University test for the variant or whether there are any contingency plans, such as changing testing policies or reinstating the mask mandate, if the BA.2 variant surges. 5,340 Color COVID-19 tests were administered during the week of March 21, which is a drop from the 7,442 tests administered during the prior week. These testing numbers do not include rapid antigen tests.

Stanford continues to provide students with Color COVID-19 tests and require weekly testing for vaccinated students and biweekly tests for unvaccinated students. The University plans to lift the testing requirement for fully vaccinated students on April 11.

Stanford’s seven-day positivity rate rose from 0.68% the week before break to 3.8% this week for students, and fell from 0.42% to 0.34% for employees. The seven-day positivity rate among students is greater than Santa Clara County’s 1.80% rate and California’s 1.30% rate for the first time in 2022.

Of the 29 new employee cases, 11 are included in the University’s testing count. The remaining 18 individuals tested outside the University’s surveillance testing system through rapid antigen tests or tested positive earlier than last week but just reported it to the University, according to the dashboard.

Peer institutions are experiencing various changes in student positivity rates. Harvard reported a decrease to a 0.84% positivity rate, and the University of California, Berkeley reported an increase to a 2% positivity rate. Stanford’s 3.8% positivity rate is above Harvard’s and Berkeley’s, which had spring breaks prior to Stanford’s.

A total of 2,549 students and 1,881 faculty, staff and postdocs have tested positive through Stanford’s surveillance testing system since June 29, 2020, according to the dashboard.

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COVID-19 cases drop to 69 as Stanford rolls back indoor masking https://stanforddaily.com/2022/03/07/covid-19-cases-drop-to-69-as-stanford-rolls-back-indoor-masking/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/03/07/covid-19-cases-drop-to-69-as-stanford-rolls-back-indoor-masking/#respond Tue, 08 Mar 2022 07:14:53 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1197272 Total new cases fell by 29% this week, according to Stanford’s COVID-19 dashboard update.

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Stanford reported 44 new COVID-19 cases among students and 25 new cases among faculty, staff and postdoctoral scholars for the week of Feb. 28, according to the COVID-19 dashboard.

Compared to last week, case counts have decreased by 34% among students and 17% among employees. As of Monday, 62 students are in isolation, according to the dashboard, which is 30 fewer than the University reported on Feb. 28.

The decrease in case counts coincide with the University lifting its indoor mask mandate on Wednesday. Masks are still required in classrooms until the beginning of spring quarter, but students and professors may remove face coverings while speaking.

“We continue to be encouraged by the declining number of positive cases and students in isolation,” University spokesperson E.J. Miranda wrote in an email to The Daily. “We will continue to closely monitor the public health situation on campus.”

11,368 Color COVID-19 tests were administered during the week of Feb. 28, which is a drop from the 14,128 tests administered during the prior week. The decrease comes after the University lifted the testing requirement for fully vaccinated employees on March 1. These testing numbers do not include rapid antigen tests.

Stanford continues to provide students with Color COVID-19 tests and requires weekly testing for vaccinated students and biweekly tests for unvaccinated students. The University plans to lift the testing requirement for fully vaccinated students on April 11.

Stanford’s seven-day positivity rate fell from 1.06% last week to 0.76% this week for students and increased slightly from 0.18% to 0.20% for employees due to reduced testing. The seven-day positivity rate on campus remains lower than Santa Clara County’s 2.10% rate and California’s 2.50% rate, which have both significantly declined since last week.

Of the 25 new employee cases, 11 are included in the University’s testing count. The remaining 14 individuals tested outside the University’s surveillance testing system through rapid antigen tests or tested positive earlier than last week but just reported it to the University, according to the dashboard.

Peer institutions are experiencing varying changes in student positivity rates. Harvard reported an increase to a 1.13% positivity rate, and the University of California, Berkeley reported a decrease to a 2% positivity rate. Stanford’s 0.76% positivity rate is below both Harvard’s and Berkeley’s.

A total of 2,400 students and 1,845 faculty, staff and postdocs have tested positive through Stanford’s surveillance testing system since June 29, 2020, according to the dashboard.

The University continues to monitor COVID-19 variants and enforce weekly COVID-19 testing, regardless of vaccination status. Stanford also continues to emphasize that vaccination, testing and masking can prevent serious illness, according to the dashboard.

This article has been corrected to reflect that the testing requirement will be lifted on April 11. The Daily regrets this error.

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Stanford rolls back mask requirement https://stanforddaily.com/2022/03/01/stanford-rolls-back-mask-requirement/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/03/01/stanford-rolls-back-mask-requirement/#respond Wed, 02 Mar 2022 07:41:33 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1196422 Stanford’s decision to lift its indoor mask mandate comes after Santa Clara County lifted its own mandate amid declining case counts. Masking will still be required in classrooms until the beginning of spring quarter, but “individuals may remove face coverings while speaking,” Provost Persis Drell wrote in a message to the community.

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Stanford will lift its indoor mask mandate on Wednesday in accordance with new Santa Clara County guidelines, but will strongly recommend masking on-site regardless of vaccination status, according to a Tuesday email from the University.

The announcement follows the Santa Clara County Public Health Department’s announcement of a transition away from an indoor mask mandate to “a strong recommendation.” Santa Clara County is the last county in the Bay Area to lift its mask mandate following California’s decision to lift the statewide mandate on Feb. 15. Now, amid sharply decreasing case numbers, both county-wide and at Stanford, the University is relaxing its requirements.

“With this transition, we encourage everyone to respect the choices that individuals will make about their own masking in many settings,” Provost Persis Drell wrote in the email. “We expect that some members of our community will choose to continue masking in meetings and other indoor settings, for example.”

Masking will still be required in classrooms until the beginning of spring quarter, but “individuals may remove face coverings while speaking,” Drell wrote. Stanford will also continue to require face coverings in health facilities and public transit, including Marguerite buses and vans and carts with multiple people. Childcare facilities will continue to require masking until March 11.

Drell added that departments and units should not make their masking requirements more restrictive than the University’s.

In Santa Clara County, the policy change is a sign of public health progress — this week, the county reached all three COVID-19 benchmarks it had previously set, according to a press release. COVID-19 cases in the county have remained under 550 cases each day for a week, and the county reached the other benchmarks of an 80% vaccination rate along with stable COVID-19 hospitalizations last month.

The Santa Clara County Public Health Department still strongly recommends masking in indoor public settings, due to concerns of at-risk populations and the effects of long-COVID. The state of California continues to require masking in high-risk settings such as K-12 schools, public transportation, healthcare facilities and long-term care facilities.

Still, Stanford’s decision to lift the mask mandate may only be temporary. The last time that Stanford suspended its masking requirement was in June 2021, but the policy was reinstated in August following a rise in COVID-19 cases on campus.

Drell specified that the policies are subject to change, noting that the University will “monitor conditions and re-evaluate” the classroom masking requirement after the beginning of spring quarter.

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Stanford COVID-19 cases drop to 97 amid continued decline  https://stanforddaily.com/2022/02/28/stanford-covid-19-cases-drop-to-97-amid-continued-decline/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/02/28/stanford-covid-19-cases-drop-to-97-amid-continued-decline/#respond Tue, 01 Mar 2022 04:41:38 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1196131 Total new cases fell by 47% this week, according to Stanford’s COVID-19 dashboard update.

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Stanford reported 67 new COVID-19 cases among students and 30 new cases among faculty, staff and post-doctoral scholars for the week of Feb. 21, according to the COVID-19 dashboard.

Compared to last week, case counts have decreased by 48% among students and 43% among employees. As of Monday, 92 students are in isolation, according to the dashboard, which is 75 fewer than the University reported on Feb. 22.

14,128 Color COVID-19 tests were administered during the week of Feb. 21, which is a drop from the 18,105 tests administered during the prior week. These testing numbers do not include rapid antigen tests. 

Stanford continues to provide students with Color COVID-19 tests and requires weekly testing for vaccinated students and biweekly tests for unvaccinated students. The University plans to lift the testing requirement on March 1 for fully vaccinated employees and March 11 for fully vaccinated students. The University also announced on Monday that it will provide two free rapid tests for all undergraduates starting Tuesday. 

Stanford’s seven-day positivity rate fell from 1.65% last week to 1.06% this week for students, and from 0.33% to 0.18% for faculty, staff and postdocs. The seven-day positivity rate on campus remains lower than Santa Clara County’s 2.80% rate and California’s 2.90% rate, which have both significantly declined since last week.

Of the 30 new employee cases, 14 are included in the University’s testing count. The remaining 16 individuals tested outside the University’s surveillance testing system through rapid antigen tests or tested positive earlier than last week but just reported it to the University, according to the dashboard.

“We are encouraged by the continued decline in the number of students in isolation and those testing positive,” wrote University spokesperson E.J. Miranda in an email to The Daily. “We had hoped to see such reductions as the omicron wave subsided.”

Unlike Stanford, peer institutions are experiencing increases in student positivity rates. Harvard reported an increase to a 0.69% positivity rate, and the University of California, Berkeley, reported an increase to a 2.7% positivity rate.

A total of 2,356 students and 1,835 faculty, staff and postdocs have tested positive through Stanford’s surveillance testing system since June 29, 2020, according to the dashboard.

The University continues to monitor COVID-19 variants and enforce weekly COVID-19 testing and masking requirements, regardless of vaccination status. Stanford also continues to emphasize that vaccination, testing and masking can prevent serious illness.

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Stanford reports 182 new COVID-19 cases as student cases decline https://stanforddaily.com/2022/02/22/stanford-reports-182-new-covid-19-cases-as-student-cases-decline/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/02/22/stanford-reports-182-new-covid-19-cases-as-student-cases-decline/#respond Wed, 23 Feb 2022 06:38:09 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1195393 New cases fell by 23% for the week of Feb. 14, according to Stanford's COVID-19 dashboard.

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Stanford reported 129 new COVID-19 cases among students and 53 among faculty, staff and post-doctoral scholars for the week of Feb. 14, according to the COVID-19 dashboard.

Compared to last week, case counts have decreased by 30% among students and 7% among employees. As of Tuesday, 167 students are in isolation, according to the dashboard, which is 100 fewer than the University reported on Feb. 14.

18,105 Color COVID-19 tests were administered during the week of Feb. 14, which is slightly more than the 18,085 tests administered during the prior week. These testing numbers do not include rapid antigen tests. Stanford continues to provide students with Color COVID-19 tests and require weekly testing for vaccinated students and biweekly tests for unvaccinated students. Stanford will lift the testing requirement on Mar. 1 for employees and on the third week of spring quarter for students. 

Stanford’s seven-day positivity rate fell from 2.14% last week to 1.65% this week for students, and from 0.38% to 0.33% for faculty, staff and postdocs. The seven-day positivity rate on campus remains lower than Santa Clara County’s 2.80% rate and California’s 3.60% rate, which have both significantly declined since last week.

Of the 53 new employee cases, 34 are included in the University’s testing count. The remaining 19 individuals tested outside the University’s surveillance testing system through rapid antigen tests, or tested positive earlier than last week but just reported it to the University, according to the dashboard.

“We are encouraged by the most recent data on our COVID dashboard that show the numbers of students in isolation and those testing positive have declined,” wrote University spokesperson E.J. Miranda in an email to The Daily. “We will continue to closely monitor the public health situation on campus. The most current information on the university’s COVID-related practices and protocols is available in the Feb. 17 update.”

Peer institutions are also experiencing declines in student positivity rates. Harvard reported a drop to a 0.54% positivity rate, and the University of California Berkeley reported a drop to a 2.1% positivity rate. Stanford’s 1.65% positivity rate is above Harvard’s and below Berkeley’s.

A total of 2,289 students and 1,821 faculty, staff and postdocs have tested positive through Stanford’s surveillance testing system since Jun. 29, 2020, according to the dashboard.

The University continues to monitor COVID-19 variants and enforce weekly COVID-19 testing and masking requirements, regardless of vaccination status. Stanford also continues to emphasize that vaccination, testing and masking can prevent serious illness, according to the dashboard.

This article has been updated to include a comment from University spokesperson E.J. Miranda.

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Stanford reports 240 new COVID-19 cases, rise in student cases https://stanforddaily.com/2022/02/14/stanford-reports-240-new-covid-19-cases-rise-in-student-cases/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/02/14/stanford-reports-240-new-covid-19-cases-rise-in-student-cases/#respond Tue, 15 Feb 2022 04:10:56 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1194322 The 60% increase in student cases is largely due to social gatherings, according to the University.

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Stanford reported 183 new student and 57 new faculty, staff and post-doctoral scholar COVID-19 cases for the week of Feb. 7, according to the COVID-19 dashboard.

Compared to last week, case counts have increased by 60% among students and decreased by 54% among employees. As of Monday, 237 students are in isolation, which is 79 more students than were reported on Feb. 7. According to the dashboard, the increase in student cases is largely due to social gatherings.

18,085 Color COVID-19 tests were administered during the week of Feb. 7, which is slightly fewer than the 18,972 tests administered during the prior week. These testing numbers do not include rapid antigen tests. Stanford continues to provide students with Color COVID-19 tests and requires weekly testing for those who are vaccinated. Unvaccinated students must test twice a week.

Stanford’s seven-day positivity rate rose from 1.25% last week to 2.14% this week for students, and it fell from 0.71% to 0.38% for faculty, staff and postdocs. The seven-day positivity rate on campus remains lower than Santa Clara County’s 4.80% rate and California’s 6.20% rate, which both significantly declined since last week.

Of the 57 new employee cases, 36 are included in the University’s testing count, and the remaining individuals tested outside the University’s surveillance testing system, such as through rapid antigen tests, or tested positive earlier than last week but just reported it to the University, according to the dashboard.

“A rise in cases is consistent with increased gatherings as the quarter has progressed,” wrote University spokesperson E.J. Miranda in an email to The Daily. “We will continue to closely monitor the public health situation on campus and update the community on any new protocols or policy changes.”

Peer institutions are experiencing mixed changes in student positivity rates. Dartmouth reported a drop to a 2.9% positivity rate, and Northwestern reported a slight increase to 2.78%. Both are above Stanford’s 2.14% positivity rate.

A total of 2,160 students and 1,784 faculty, staff and postdocs have tested positive through Stanford’s surveillance testing system since Aug. 31, 2020, according to the dashboard.

The University continues to monitor the COVID-19 variants and enforce weekly COVID-19 testing and masking requirements, regardless of vaccination status. Stanford also continues to emphasize that vaccination, testing and masking can prevent serious illness, according to the dashboard.

This article has been updated to include a comment from University spokesperson E.J. Miranda.

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