Health News:
- Food banks and nonprofits are facing a ‘perfect storm’ of surging demand as food aid runs out tomorrow. (CNN)
- RFK Jr. has softened his stance on Tylenol, saying there’s not “sufficient” evidence that Tylenol causes autism. (Hill)
- COVID and flu can triple your risk of a heart attack. (NY Times)
- Human H5N1 cases can be asymptomatic, and the virus likely has spread between humans, a new CDC study finds. (CIDRAP)
- Meanwhile, avian flu was detected in house mice in Washington state. (CIDRAP)
- A ‘likely’ first case of measles has been identified in Salt Lake County, UT, but the patient is refusing testing and not cooperating with health officials. (Fox)
- Two more deaths have been reported in the Listeria outbreak linked to ready-made pasta. (CNN)
- International air travel and packed flights fueled the spread of flu and COVID during the pandemic. (CIDRAP)
- Coronavirus found in Brazilian bats has expanded the map of global pandemic risk, though there’s no evidence of transmission to humans. (Bloomberg)
- Moderna’s new, lower-dose COVID shot is available and marketed toward people 65 and older. It’s slightly more effective and has similar side effects, though it might make your arm a bit less sore. (SF Chronicle)
- Anaheim Ducks star Chris Kreider missed hockey games this week while quarantined due to hand, foot and mouth disease. (Yahoo)
Best Questions:
What can we do to support our employees who rely on SNAP benefits and other food aid?
Despite some common misconceptions, a whopping 70% of adults who rely on SNAP food benefits are actually fully employed, according to the government. This is an employee health issue, no doubt about it. Employees experiencing food insecurity are twice as likely to have poor physical and mental health, more emergency room visits, and more inpatient hospital stays.
Many states are stepping up to try to fill the gap, but a huge amount of food aid comes directly from the federal government. It’s almost guaranteed that millions of Americans will have a harder time getting food starting tomorrow.
So what can you do as employers?
- For restaurants, consider allowing employees to bring home extra staff meals. You may choose to ask to see SNAP cards, or just to offer it freely during this temporary period so that they can bring it home for any family or friends who might need food.
- Taking it further, some restaurants are providing free meals for kids, or for anyone who comes in and shows their SNAP cards.
- Host a canned food drive for team members and guests to contribute to your local food bank.
- Encourage managers to discuss options with team members. It can be awkward, but employees who feel supported are less likely to have health issues and more likely to stay with your company.
Sources: GAO, NJ, Forbes
Does the new info about H5N1 bird flu spreading between humans mean there’s a higher pandemic risk?
This is a great question, and the first thing we wondered when we saw the headline from the latest JAMA review by CDC researchers. Bottom line up front, we don’t think this actually changes the pandemic risk at all - just shows how little we know about this virus, and how huge the gaps in surveillance are that allow it to spread unnoticed.
Ultimately, this review found two things of note:
- There have been at least 18 cases of asymptomatic infection in humans around the world - from Vietnam and Pakistan to Spain and the UK. Many of these were found from contact tracing or testing household contacts of a known case.
- There was at least one asymptomatic case in Pakistan that’s believed to be from human-to-human transmission from infected, symptomatic siblings.
We’ve long said that if we start to see cases passing between humans, that’s when we’d start to worry about the pandemic threat of bird flu. But this isn’t cause for panic yet. First, it’s only one case. And though, taken together, these two facts indicate that we may be missing a large number of cases in people without symptoms, it also doesn’t show that people are infecting each other with dangerous levels of the virus, or beyond their immediate household.
Ultimately, this review shows us that we need to be studying H5N1 more closely. In the U.S., we don’t have a lot of hope for that, given the conditions of funding for public health research, but this is another good reminder that global health affects us all. Our hope is that research around the world can benefit all of us, as we work to close the surveillance gaps and keep a closer eye on this virus.
Sources: JAMA, CIDRAP
Best Read:
We’re living in a unique moment in time. We’re old enough to have lived through the near-eradication of once-deadly diseases through vaccines, but now seeing them return with a vengeance. This article is about what’s happening with diphtheria in Somalia, but it’s also happening right here at home with whooping cough and measles.