Health News:

• The FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization for the first at-home flu A, flu B, and COVID test all in one. (FDA)
• After a Legionnaires' outbreak, Grand Rapids, MN will consider chlorinating its water. (MPR)
• Chicago has its first measles case in five years. (Chicago Tribune)
• Texas has seen a state-wide uptick in bacterial meningitis cases. (Houston Chronicle)
• Even healthcare workers have a hard time getting long COVID care. (CIDRAP)
• Today is your last day for free mail-order COVID tests from the government. (LA Times)
• Ground cinnamon sold at grocery stores may contain high levels of lead. (AP)
• There’s renewed hope for an effective HIV vaccine. (NBC)
• Next fall’s flu vaccine will be streamlined after one of the four current strains has stopped circulating. (STAT)
• Oropouche virus, spread by midges and mosquitoes and similar to dengue, is on the rise in Brazil and Peru. (CIDRAP)
• Continued measles outbreaks have the US on track for significantly more cases than last year, and put our status as having “eliminated” the virus at risk. (The Hill)
• The bird flu spreading to marine mammals is leading to growing concern over the possibility of a jump to humans. (CBS)
• Arizona appointed a statewide heat officer to address extreme heat. (AP)
• The FDA issued a warning against serving or selling certain mussels from Newfoundland, Canada due to potential contamination. (FDA)

‍

Mental Health & Substance Use News:

• A recent study followed twins, finding that those who experienced trauma early in life had very different mental health outcomes than their siblings. (NY Times)
• Western Michigan University is placing naloxone in all of its AED stations across campus. (WWMT)

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:

‍

What happened to the guy who got 217 COVID shots? 

First, let us say it right off the bat: don’t do this. Now that that’s out of the way, we can dig in a bit to what happened. A German man received a whopping 217 vaccinations before he was caught. But after he was stopped, researchers asked to examine him to learn more about “hyper vaccination” and what it might do to a body. It turns out not much! He doesn’t appear to have ever gotten COVID, and he didn’t report major side effects. We’re glad to hear that since over-vaccinating can theoretically have serious side effects. While by some measures, he did have much more immunity than someone with just 3 or 4 total doses, by others, the difference wasn’t huge. Still, it’s a pretty remarkable indicator that these vaccines are quite safe and that our immune systems are amazingly adaptable. All this to say, don’t try this at home. There are major risks to taking more than the recommended dose of any medication or vaccine. 

Source: Inside Medicine, NYT

‍

Do measles vaccines wane over time?

According to the official U.S. childhood vaccine schedule, once you’re vaccinated with the MMR vaccine, you’re considered protected for life. The reality is that there is some evidence that the MMR vaccine can wane over time. About 3 out of every 100 people who are fully vaccinated against the measles will get it if exposed, but they’re less likely to have severe symptoms or to spread it to others. Ultimately, waning protection from measles isn’t a main driver in measles transmission and outbreaks. Instead, those who are totally unvaccinated are the vast majority of those at risk. Still, now that measles is back in the U.S. and circulating widely, we might expect to see researchers study this more closely to improve our understanding of how long protection can last. 

Sources: CDC

‍

We are seeing a lot of norovirus-like symptoms right now. Are other ZHH clients seeing the same? What can we do?  

Absolutely. Norovirus case counts are extremely high right now, and this week is around when activity peaked last year, as well. We’re seeing lots of noro-like symptoms reported by employees and quite a bit of community spread. If you have one location with 3 or more employees with noro-like symptoms who worked shortly before they became ill, we highly recommend switching from a program where employees only call off if they’re actively sick, to a daily wellness check for three or four days. Our experience shows that employees are more likely to report vomiting or diarrhea when asked directly than when self-reporting. If you’re seeing noro in your community, have managers focus on the importance of handwashing, remind them to call out if they have any GI symptoms, and to stay home if a household member has noro-like symptoms. Hang in there!

Source: ZHH Noro Action Plan

‍

Best Watch:

We saw this video in a great presentation from the North Carolina Food Safety Advisory Committee’s meeting this week, and highly recommend (though please, wear PPE when cleaning up vomit!):

Spewing robot 'Vomiting Larry': unusual weapon against a highly infectious virus - BBC

‍