WP Perspectives – April 18, 2022

Posted on by krislandrum
Perspectives cover

Focus on Facts

  • Two-plus years into the Covid-19 pandemic, you probably know the basics of protection: vaccines, boosters, proper handwashing and masks. But one of the most powerful tools against the coronavirus is one that experts believe is just starting to get the attention it deserves: ventilation. Henry Herald, 4/11/22 Read more.
  • Respiratory backwash. "The challenge for organizations that improve air quality is that it's invisible," said Joseph Allen, director of the Healthy Buildings Program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. CNN, 4/10/22
  • A UVA Biocomplexity Institute, in tandem with VDH, forecasting models suggests that the BA.2 variant may cause a minor surge even though case rates are still declining in most of the state. The model suggests case rates may double by May and reach 20,000 weekly cases by June, with a peak expected in this particular scenario at some point in July. 13 News Now, 4/12/22  Read more.
  • The World Health Organization (WHO) is monitoring 2 new Omicron subvariants—BA.4 and BA.5—to check whether they are more contagious or life-threatening than their predecessors. Deutsche Welle  Global Health News 4/12/22
  • The FDA greenlit the first COVID-19 breath test for emergency use authorization last week; the breathalyzer can show results in under 3 minutes—but positive tests will need to be followed up with a PCR test. Read more.  Axios 4/15/22 The InspectIR COVID-19 Breathalyzer is able to identify five volatile organic compounds tied to the coronavirus in a person’s breath by using a technique known as gas chromatography gas mass-spectrometry, delivering results in less than three minutes, according to the FDA. WFXR Health News. WFXR 4/15/22

COVID test site

 

News You Can Use

COVID-19 Vaccines for Children and Teens

kid vaccinated

COVID-19 can make children and teens of any age very sick and sometimes requires treatment in a hospital.

Help protect children ages 5 years and older, especially from severe disease, hospitalization, or death by getting them vaccinated against COVID-19. Getting eligible children and teens vaccinated against COVID-19 can help keep them:

  • From getting really sick if they do get COVID-19
  • In school or daycare
  • Safely participating in sports, playdates, group activities

There is no way to tell in advance how children or teens will be affected by COVID-19. However, those with underlying medical conditions or who have a weakened immune system are more likely to get severely ill from COVID-19.

Those without underlying medical conditions can also experience severe illness. Almost half of children younger than 18 years old hospitalized with COVID-19 have no underlying conditions. Learn more.   CDC

Lessons Learned

It turned out the most important medical shortage during the pandemic was human beings. When Covid-19 first hit the US health care system, the biggest concerns about responding to the crisis were about physical infrastructure: Would hospitals have enough ventilators or physical space to care for a surge of patients? But the shortfalls that limited the American response were ultimately about the country’s human infrastructure: There were not enough nurses in hospitals, not enough staff in long-term care facilities, not enough public health workers. Vox 4/7/22 Read more.

  •  The U.S. military’s mission (relating to COVID-19) is now to take their experiences to help shape the size and staffing of the military’s medical response so the Pentagon can provide the right types and numbers of forces needed for another pandemic, global crisis or conflict. One of the key lessons learned was the value of small military teams over mass movements of personnel and facilities in a crisis like the one wrought by COVID-19. WSLS 4/11/22  Read more.Army COVID workers

The Epi-Center

Epidemiology is the science at center of public health.

- New, highly transmissible versions of the omicron variant have been detected in New York and Europe, the latest evidence of the coronavirus’s ability to change its genetic profile. It is too soon to tell how far the new subvariants might spread or how sick they might make people, said Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, but scientists are “watching and learning” in real time. New York officials announced that so far this month, two new omicron subvariants, dubbed BA.2.12 and BA.2.12.1, have accounted for 90 percent of new cases in the central part of the state. The United Kingdom reports more than 1,000 cases of another new subvariant, called omicron XE, representing less than 1 percent of that country’s infections. One XE infection has been reported in Hawaii, among a handful of cases in the U.S as of Friday.  Washington Post 4/15/22

- A booster shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine increases immune defenses in school-aged children, especially against the omicron variant of the coronavirus, the companies announced Tuesday. Pfizer and BioNTech said they will now request authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for boosters for 5-to-11-year-olds. The boosters in their study, which has not yet been published or peer-reviewed, were given six months after children were fully vaccinated. School-aged children receive a lower dose of the vaccine — a third of what older adolescents and adults get — and some experts have debated whether a higher dose is needed. Washington Post 4/15/22

COVID-19 Data

Franklin County
Henry County
Martinsville
Patrick County

Cases

1,841
2,443
435
672
Over the past 13 weeks by date of illness

Deaths

40
36
11
13
Over the past 13 weeks by date of death. 4/15/22

DATA, DATA

New Local Health Rankings Available

New WPHD County Health Rankings have been posted to the West Piedmont website: https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/west-piedmont/county-health-rankings/ You can see here how localities in the district compare to each other and to the rest of Virginia.

We believe in a future where everyone has opportunities to be healthy and to thrive. Many factors impact how long and how well we live. Our data show how these factors shape community conditions, while highlighting the stark differences in health that stem from injustices and barriers to opportunity. For more information: www.countyhealthrankings.org

(STIs) including gonorrhea, syphilis rose during 1st year of pandemic: CDC

STIs "are not patiently waiting for the pandemic to end," the CDC said…. "There were moments in 2020 when it felt like the world was standing still, but STDs weren't," Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of CDC's National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, said in a statement. ABC News 4/12/22.

To see how Virginia fares in the numbers of sexually transmitted illness (STIs), see the counts by state: https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/std-rates-by-state

The health departments in the West Piedmont Health District offer education, screening tests, exams, and treatment for STIs. Learn more and schedule an appointment. Completely confidential. Includes HIV testing. Call your local health department for clinic times.