Health News:

• At least 4 cases have been reported at Chicago’s largest migrant shelter, raising concerns about the possibility of a larger outbreak. (NBC)
• Paxlovid is under-prescribed due to a high price tag and very little info about a subsidy program that offers free doses to many Americans. (KFF Health News)
• The WHO declared a global pandemic 4 years ago. Since then, over 6 million Americans have been hospitalized, over 1.8 million Americans died, and over 4.5 million have had long COVID. (ABC)
• Former President Trump says he will not “give one penny” to any school with a vaccine or mask mandate, currently in place in all 50 states and D.C. (The Hill)
• Nearly 300 people may have been exposed to measles at a California hospital after a child went for treatment. (CNN)
• The USDA announced four more U.S. mammals infected with H5N1 avian flu, including skunks and a mountain lion. (USDA)
• Oropouche virus is being closely watched in South America, with new human cases in Bolivia after recent cases in Brazil and Peru. (CIDRAP)
• An Italian chef was jailed after serving raw clam risotto and sickening wedding guests. (Times)
• Some health care providers could be losing up to $1B per day due to the Change Healthcare cyber attack. (Axios)
• During the pandemic, one flu strain disappeared, and another might be on its way toward extinction. (Bloomberg)
• A New Mexico resident died of the plague, the state's first case since 2020. (Scripp’s)
  
  

Mental Health & Substance Use News:

• The percentage of adolescent doctor visits for mental health issues and psychiatric medications has nearly doubled since 2006. (NY Times)
• Narcan is tough to find in Texas pharmacies. (Texas Tribune)
• Oregon’s governor will sign a bill re-criminalizing drug use after disappointment in the results of the state’s previous decriminalization law. (Reuters)

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. 

Best Questions:

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Why can someone return to work 48 hours after noro if they are still shedding virus? 

Generally, someone with norovirus symptoms (severe vomiting and/or diarrhea) should stay home until at least a full 48 hours after their symptoms have ended because that’s the time that they’re shedding the highest amount of virus. In reality, someone with noro could spread the virus for up to two weeks afterward or even longer. If we excluded everyone for the full amount of time they shed the virus, it would be a huge financial burden, so it’s not realistic. But the good news is that good hand hygiene can prevent the spread of noro and drastically reduce the risk of an outbreak. It’s very important to make sure your employees don’t return until they’ve been symptom-free for a minimum of two full days and that they’re hyper-focused on hand washing, especially the first week after they return. 

Source: CDC

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What would it mean if public schools no longer had vaccine mandates? 

Public health officials are concerned after former president Donald Trump said earlier this week that he wouldn’t give “one penny” to any schools with vaccine or mask mandates. Right now, every single state and D.C. have vaccine mandates for routine childhood immunizations that prevent devastating diseases like polio, mumps, measles, and whooping cough. If federal funding were withheld from schools that require vaccination, it would have a massive impact. If routine childhood vaccination requirements were removed, public health experts fear we’d see the return of dangerous diseases that they’ve worked for generations to eliminate in the U.S., like polio. Trump’s campaign spokesperson said in an email to a Hill reporter that he’s only referring to COVID vaccines, which is reassuring. Still, politicization and polarization of vaccines is likely to cause continued drops in routine childhood vaccination uptake. 

Source: The Hill

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Why doesn’t hand sanitizer work against norovirus?

Norovirus is particularly hard to kill because it has a strong protein shell called the capsid that surrounds its core. A quick squirt of hand sanitizer isn’t usually enough to break that strong shell and destroy the virus. In fact, even hand washing needs to be vigorous to kill noro. It takes 30 full seconds of washing with hot water and soap, including the backs of the hands and under the nails. If you have noro in your community, or if you have an employee who is just returning 48 hours after their noro-like symptoms ended, it’s important to reiterate just how important very thorough hand washing is for preventing the spread. 

Source: YLE

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Best Read:

A genetic quirk protects some people from norovirus. Can vaccines help the rest of us? - BBC

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