Boston reported its first pediatric flu death since 2013 as flu illnesses surge across the country. (CIDRAP)
Flu cases appear to have peaked in NYC, after reaching the highest levels in a decade. (NY Times)
The antiviral Tamiflu is in short supply in some parts of the U.S. (Bloomberg)
Even though this season’s flu shot isn’t a perfect match, it can still offer some protection. (ABC)
There have been 76 new measles cases in 9 states this week, as the U.S. inches closer to losing its measles elimination status. 20 of those cases were in Utah. (Brown Pandemic Center, Utah.gov)
Norovirus is high in most of the U.S. (though still only medium in the West), but still lower than it was at this time last year. (Brown Pandemic Center)
A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report says the FDA needs sharper focus on foodborne-illness prevention. (CIDRAP)
New Medicaid restrictions may lead to over 2 million missed cancer screenings, a new study found. (STAT)
New dietary guidelines emphasize meat and dairy, and suggest limiting sugars and highly processed foods. (ABC)
The latest CDC childhood vaccine schedule guidelines mean that U.S. kids will get fewer vaccines than peer nations. (STAT)
A new study found that cockroach toxins may contribute to asthma. (WUSF)
We know that the timing seems suspicious, but it’s actually really, really bad out there. New York had over 70,000 cases last week – the highest number ever recorded. The CDC estimated that over 11 million people have been sick with the flu so far this season. The combination of people traveling and gathering for the holidays is a double whammy - it means that Christmas week was bad, then New Year's week was even worse. It leads some managers to think their team might be trying to pull one over on them, but the numbers don’t actually support that.
ZHH has done audits to check how many employees that call out sick using our Sick Call Program had previously requested the day off and been denied. Fewer than 3% had requested it off, and of that number, more than half had requested it off just a few days earlier because they were already sick and knew they wouldn’t be better by their next scheduled shift.
So yes, for every 100 employees calling out sick, there may be one that’s BS-ing. But 99% of them are well and truly sick. It just so happens that it’s actually because of the holidays that so many workers are sick.
The good news? Other than MLK Jr. Day coming up soon, there aren’t any major holidays to contend with for a while. The bad news? Flu hasn’t actually peaked in most parts of the U.S., which means we have at least a few more weeks of these crazy high numbers. That means you can expect employees to call out sick. Focus on handwashing, don’t force sick employees to work, and consider staffing up for the next two weeks or so to account for call-outs.
After major changes to the childhood vaccine schedule, there is a LOT of confusion around “shared clinical decision making.” This article from CIDRAP does a good job explaining what it means and what Americans think it means.