Bird Flu News:

• The amount of infectious H5N1 viruses in raw milk rapidly declined with heat treatment in lab research conducted by scientists at the National Institutes of Health. (NIAID)
• USDA reports suggest that containing a bird flu outbreak in dairy cows will be challenging. (STAT)
• Some standard pasteurization methods may not clear H5N1 from milk that was heavily infected. (Medpage Today)
• Newly released wastewater data suggests Michigan is a national hot spot for bird flu. (Detroit Free Press)

Health News:

• The FDA's updated guidance for fall COVID vaccines advises manufacturers to consider using the KP2 strain lineage, which better matches current circulating strains, instead of the previously identified JN1 strain. (FDA)
• Certain antidepressants, blood pressure pills, and other common drugs make you more susceptible to heat-related illness. (NY Times)
• A new study shows a 70% increase in the number of children requiring advanced respiratory support when hospitalized with RSV during the 2022-23 season. (CIDRAP)
• A study of an mRNA cancer vaccine to prevent melanoma had very exciting results, cutting the risk of death or recurrence nearly in half. (Guardian)
• Climate change is deadly, but exactly how deadly depends on who is counting and how. (NPR)
• CDC warns people not to "kiss or snuggle your bearded dragon"  following 15 cases of Salmonella linked to the reptiles. (CDC)
• A new report found unsafe levels of E. coli in Paris' Seine River less than 2 months before the Olympics. (Independent) 
• An FDA advisory committee unanimously supported the investigational drug donanemab for treating early Alzheimer's disease. (NY Times)
• Dozens of hikers, and possibly hundreds, visiting waterfalls near the Grand Canyon are reporting illness, likely to be norovirus.  (NPR)
• Indiana University Health will eliminate noncompete clauses for its primary care physicians in a new policy that goes into effect on December 15, 2024. (Medpage Today)

Mental Health & Substance Use News:

• Tens of thousands of patients with A.D.H.D. may face disruptions to their care after two executives of a major telehealth company that distributed A.D.H.D. drugs were indicted on charges of healthcare fraud. (NY Times)

• The surgeon general has called for warning labels on social media platforms about their potential to harm teens’ mental health. (NYT)

If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or need help, call 988 or message the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. 

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Best Questions:

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If H5N1 kills 50% of people who get it, and COVID just killed 1% in the U.S., would a bird flu outbreak in humans be catastrophic? 

This is where casual reporting of case fatality numbers can actually be really misleading. Yes, overall, since it first spread to people in 1996, about 50% of the people diagnosed with H5N1 have died. But there’s a huge caveat, which is that worldwide, very few people have been tested, so very few have been diagnosed. In fact, a study from back in 2012 looked at antibodies for H5N1 and found that up to 2% of the 12,500 people they looked at might have had prior infection, which would put the overall infection fatality ratio (IFR) much, much lower than 50%. On top of that, humans likely have some protection from other forms of flu that we’re exposed to regularly. That said, we do know certain mammals - like seals and the cats on the Texas dairy farms - do have very high mortality rates from this bird flu, so it’s going to be a matter of monitoring for mutations that allow more human-to-human transmission and then assessing the severity of illness. So rest assured, this stat sounds scarier than it actually is. 

Sources: YLE, CDC, Science

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What can we do to protect employees during this week’s extreme heat impacting up to 75 million people? 

There are two important steps you can take for employees working outdoors or in spaces that aren’t adequately cooled. First, plan to provide more frequent breaks and access to shade. Most importantly, provide lots of cold water and actively encourage employees to stay hydrated. These should be part of your heat plan.

Certain medications make people more susceptible to heat - diuretics, ACE Inhibitors and beta blockers, certain antipsychotics and antidepressants, and some ADHD drugs can make you dehydrated, sweat less, or not know when you’re thirsty. Employees working in heat and taking these medications may require extra precautions or adjustments to their work schedules.

HeatRisk is a tool from the CDC and National Weather Service that helps managers determine whether to implement your heat plan. If you’re in a state with a heat standard (CA, CO, MN, NV, OR, or WA), be sure you're meeting state regulations. 

Sources: NPR, HeatRisk, NYT

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Best Listen:  

The Zero (Half) Hour

Roslyn is joined by Lorraine Martin, CEO of the National Safety Council, to talk about Naloxone and opioid overdoses in the workplace. The NSC is a non-profit dedicated to preventing injuries and death, both in public and in the workplace.

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