Hurricane Response:

• Hospitals across the U.S. are conserving IV fluid supplies after a critical factory for the nation’s top supplier was destroyed in Helene. (NBC)
• Residents of Asheville, North Carolina could be without water for weeks. (NPR)
• Yellow jackets are swarming throughout NC after flooding destroyed their underground nests, prompting a need for Benadryl and EpiPens. (NBC)

Bird Flu News:

• California confirmed the first two human cases of bird flu in the state, both mild conjunctivitis symptoms in dairy workers at farms with cattle outbreaks. (SF Chronicle)
• Fears around bird flu are pushing the race for an mRNA flu vaccine forward. (WIRED)
• Bird flu has killed dozens of tigers, three lions, and a panther since August in Vietnam zoos, possibly spread via contaminated chicken meat. (Gizmodo)

Health News:

• 54 million COVID infections were likely missed in official records once home testing began in the U.S. (CIDRAP)
• This year’s flu shot may be less protective than last season’s, according to data from the Southern Hemisphere, but it still lowers risk of hospitalization by 35%. (CBS)
• Deaths have risen to 11 in Rwanda’s Marburg disease outbreak as its source is still being investigated. (AP)
• The risk of Eastern equine encephalitis has been reduced in several Massachusetts towns. (MassLive)
• More restrooms have adult-size changing tables to help people with disabilities. (KFF Health News)
• Black-colored plastic used for kitchen utensils like spatulas has been linked to banned toxic flame retardants. (CNN)
• Vaccination rates are down to 92.7% for kindergarteners, lower than the 95% threshold that makes it unlikely for one case to spark an outbreak. (AP)
• TX and FL have new policies requiring immigration status from patients at hospitals. Critics say they’re designed to dissuade immigrants from getting care. (Stateline)

Mental Health & Substance Use News:

• Mississippi is offering free bulk naloxone to hospitality groups thanks to recent state laws and federal funding. (Mississippi Today)
• Depression was already rising among Southern California youths, and the pandemic made it worse. (LA Times)
• The CDC warned of overdose risks from fake prescription meds from online pharmacies. (Reuters)

If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or need help, call or text 988.

‍

Best Questions:

Why don’t we know if the Missouri bird flu contacts have antibodies yet?

The CDC announced more than a week ago that they had taken blood samples from five healthcare workers and one household contact of the Missouri bird flu patient in an effort to determine if they have antibodies to H5N1. Since it was too late to test all but one health worker for flu by the time their symptoms were reported, antibody testing is the best way to determine if there was any human-to-human transmission in this case (the one healthcare worker tested was negative for flu). But there’s a catch: the Missouri patient’s H5N1 virus has mutated in a small but important way on its main protein, which means the existing tests might not give accurate results. So CDC is working on making a brand new test, which was even more complicated because the Missouri patient had so little viral material that they had to actually reverse engineer H5N1 virus strains to then use to develop the new test. What does it all mean? Dr. Mike Osterholm from CIDRAP feels that it’s more likely that these other cases will turn out to be “normal” non-H5N1 respiratory illnesses and that H5N1 “will never climb over that bar to sustain human transmission.” We’re hopeful that that’s the case and glad to have CDC show a bit of their work on why this one is taking so long to get answers. In Mike’s words, “We are all just going to have to wait and see.”

Sources: STAT, Osterholm Update

Should we prepare hepatitis A and tetanus vaccines in advance of the next hurricane or flooding?

There are two main vaccinations that your team might consider to help protect employees before a major climate disaster like a hurricane: Hepatitis A and tetanus. In both cases, flooding doesn’t actually increase the risk for either disease, though it does mean that any wounds (which are more common after disasters) are likely to be contaminated. Anyone who has had a tetanus booster (TdP or TdaP included) is protected for up to 10 years, and Hep A is generally just a two-dose vaccination to protect for life. In light of the limited risk,  a mass vaccination campaign is not likely necessary in advance of a storm, but checking to see if your employees are up to date on their vaccinations and offering vouchers or vaccination campaigns to those who are out of date would be a great proactive approach.

ZHH can support employee vaccination tracking, as well as pharmacy vouchers or on-site vaccination campaigns if your team needs support. Just reply here or chat in the app for more info!

Sources: CDC, CIDRAP

Best Read:

After any disaster, we reach for this CDC guide to food safety after power outages to share with teams and employees. For similar info and an even more exhaustive list of foods, you can check out the CDC’s site and this 2-pager from USDA.

Reading this online? Click here to get the ZHH Executive Briefing directly to your inbox!