Three Things Thursday highlights three things I am paying attention to as an epidemiologist each week.
Happy 4th of July!
This week I want to cover fireworks safety as well as vaccine updates. It’ll be a quick read; hope you are all spending today outside with friends and family. If you need a summer health and safety refresher (including how to have a safe summer picnic), please (re)read this post.
Hoping this post helps to educate and empower you
to be healthy and create healthy communities.
Fireworks & Sparkler Safety
I love fireworks.
And when I was in high school I had the opportunity to give tours of local fireworks launching sites each 4th of July (this got me out of lifeguarding a holiday free swim at the pool where I worked — awesome). The most important thing I learned while touring people around the space where a fireworks show is being set up is —
Safety first, first.
Fireworks are awesome. But fireworks shows should be left to the professionals. Each year approximately 11,500 people are treated in the ER for fireworks-related injuries (think: burns as well as blown-off fingers).
If you decide to put on your own fireworks display or (even) allow your kids to play with sparklers, here is a list of how to do so as safely as possible…
First, never allow kids to play with fireworks or sparklers without supervision. Talk with them about the risks of fireworks/fire and ensure they know the below rules.
When setting off fireworks or playing with sparklers, have water nearby. I recommend having a hose on hand, but a bucket of water will do.
Never pick up or try to relight a firework that did not ignite.
Do not point sparklers or fireworks at yourself or others.
Soak used fireworks and sparklers in the water before putting them in the trash.
And please remember… fireworks and alcohol are a bad combination.
And concerning sparklers — they burn VERY hot. Like 1000*F (yes, that is 3 x zeros!). Be sure kids are keeping their sparklers away from others and at arm’s length from their face Make sure hair is pulled back and no one is wearing loose clothing and playing with a lit sparkler.
When the sparklers are done sparking, put used sparklers in a bucket of water (hot tip pointed down into the water).
Avian Flu Vaccine Development
As the number of mammals, including humans, with avian influenza (H5N1) continues to increase — the public health community is taking steps to prevent a pandemic. On Tuesday, the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) awarded Moderna $176 million to develop a vaccine for H5 influenza viruses.
According to Moderna’s press release —
“The project award will support late-stage development for an mRNA-based vaccine to enable the licensure of a pre-pandemic vaccine against H5 influenza virus. This subtype of influenza virus causes a highly infectious, severe disease in birds called avian influenza and poses a risk for spillover into the human population. The agreement also includes additional options to prepare and accelerate responses to future public health threats.”
In the meantime, the public health community is collaborating with farmers and departments of agriculture to determine how to protect farm workers from exposure to H5N1. Currently — four individuals have been diagnosed with H5N1 this year; all have been exposed to dairy cows.
The development of a vaccine will ensure that we can prevent disease before it occurs (if H5N1 begins to spread easily from person to person). This is public health in action.
Preventing a possible pandemic is NOT cheap. Testing, production, distribution, and administration of vaccines is big business — but the development of these vaccines now will make us all safer and healthier in the future.
Public health for the win!
Fall 2024 Vaccine Updates
CDC has approved the Fall 2024 vaccine schedule. The recommendations are straightforward —
Everyone (>6 months) should receive an influenza and a COVID vaccine.
You can receive both shots at the same time.
Both vaccines should be available by mid-September. As we get closer to that date, I’ll provide updates and recommendations regarding when you should schedule your vaccine appointments (or walk into a local pharmacy). Stay tuned…
We (in the public health/medical community) are hopeful that in the fall of 2025 a combination (single shot) COVID + flu vaccine will be available. The combination shot is in the works — Moderna is at it again.
Fingers crossed that this fall is the last time we have to receive two jabs…
Hope you all have a wonderful long weekend.
I’ll be offline this weekend so that I can enjoy my friends and family. We’ll be out hiking, kayaking, and swimming.
If you have questions, please leave a comment. I’ll reply on Monday.
Hope you can get offline this weekend (close that computer and put away your phone!). Get outside. Enjoy your people.
But before you do so, please share this post with your friends and family. Only together — with accurate information — can we create healthy communities.