Health News:

• COVID antivirals (like Paxlovid) are underused, even for high-risk patients. (CDC)
• Tulsa’s health department is warning of a norovirus surge. (KTUL)
• An employee worked in the meat department of a grocery store in Philadelphia while symptomatic with Hepatitis A. (Inquirer)
• A new study suggests that closing the toilet lid before flushing doesn’t actually prevent virus particles from spreading. (CIDRAP)
• The Library of Congress is collecting an oral history of the pandemic, and people can record their stories for posterity. (Washington Post)
• The medical world is concerned after the U.S. sold its helium stockpile. MRI machines need thousands of liters of liquid helium, and a shortage could have grave consequences. (NBC) 
• In a huge win, Scotland found zero cases of cervical cancer in women born between 1988-1996 who were fully vaccinated against HPV at age 12-13. (STAT)
• Meanwhile, cervical cancer deaths are rising in the U.S. in low-income areas. (Axios)
• Syphilis is up 244% in Minnesota over the past 10 years. (CBS)
• Bearded dragons are associated with an outbreak of a rare strain of salmonella across the US and Canada.. (NY Times)
• There’s been an increase in deaths as medical tourism has risen in the Dominican Republic. (MedPage Today)
• Food grown on the International Space Station is more susceptible to bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli, and could lead to foodborne illness outbreaks in space. (Forbes)

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Mental Health & Substance Use News:

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• A newly proposed bill would fund mental health treatment with tax revenue from gambling, citing research that links gambling to escalating mental health issues. (Guardian)
• West Virginia has the nation’s highest overdose rates, and a bill decriminalizing drug test-strips will head to the governor there this week. (AP)
• Experts are sounding the alarm on a new wave of the opioid crisis in the U.S.  (Guardian)

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:

What are “forever chemicals” and how will their ban impact restaurants? 

Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are known as “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down in the body or in nature. They’ve been linked to cancer and other harmful health effects. PFAs are often used in grease-proof food packaging and takeout containers. Dozens of states have proposed or passed laws banning PFAs in food packaging or in a few cases, for any products made or sold in those states. The EPA has proposed banning or restricting 6 specific kinds of PFAs, but there’s still no major federal regulation yet, leaving a complicated mess of state laws. Major restaurant groups and companies, including McDonald’s, Target, and Ikea have set a date for having zero PFAs in their products and packaging. If you haven’t started looking at your packaging, consider an audit, and a reasonable goal for phasing anything with PFAs out that aligns with state regulations in the areas you operate. 

Source: Food Safety, Washington Post, FDA

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What should we be doing in light of how many TB reports there are?

TB is on the rise right now, and we’ve seen a number of active TB cases among our client base here at ZHH. Generally, the risk of workplace transmission of TB is low since it requires being in very close proximity to someone with active TB disease in their lungs or throat. Make sure your managers know that employees shouldn’t work with a new, bad cough (it’s not just COVID we’re worried about!). If employees have signs of TB, like coughing up blood or phlegm from deep in their lungs, they should see a doctor and consider getting tested. If you do have an employee with active TB themselves or a household member with active TB, keep them out until they share a doctor’s note clearing them to work in a foodservice setting, if applicable. 

Source: CDC 

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Is JN.1 more severe? 

The short answer is that we don’t know if JN.1 is more severe than previous variants. Some initial lab data show that on a microscopic level, it’s more severe, but that hasn’t yet translated into hospitalizations, so it may not mean anything in practice. But it’s still early to tell, and scientists are keeping a close eye on it. So far, none of the Omicron sub-variants have actually translated to more severe disease, only more transmissible viral spread. We hope that will continue to prove true with this and future variants. 

Source: YLE

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Best Read:

A Drug-Decriminalization Fight Erupts in Oregon | The New Yorker

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