Flu Season Halftime Report, More Measles, and Books & Health
Three Things Thursday
Three Things Thursday highlights three things I am paying attention to as an epidemiologist each week. This week we are halfway through flu (aka respiratory virus) season, and cases have started to decrease across the country. At the same time, we are seeing a surge in measles cases worldwide, with countries across Europe declaring national emergencies as the number of cases grows.
And finally, while we were making dinner on Sunday, my daughter shared a SHOCKING statistic about how much the average American reads in a year. And what I really should be saying is how shockingly little the average American reads each year. Below I will share that statistic (you MUST keep reading) and discuss some of the important links between reading/literacy and health.
Hoping this post helps to educate and empower you
to be healthy and create healthy communities.
Decline In Respiratory Viruses
We are currently right in the middle of respiratory illness season.
It is officially halftime.
I am happy to report that we are seeing a decline in all three of the major respiratory illnesses in the United States. The number of patient visits to healthcare providers for respiratory illnesses is decreasing (only 4.7% of all visits).
The number of hospitalizations and deaths caused by the influenza virus also decreased during the past week.
COVID test positivity, emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and deaths are also decreasing. And the amount of SARS-CoV-2 virus in our wastewater is on the decline.
And the number of RSV cases is also decreasing.
It appears that the huge wave of illnesses we experienced in early January (right after the holidays) was the seasonal peak for all three viruses. We are now (fingers-crossed) on the downward slope. And while there may be some increases in disease here and there in the months to come, the surge in cases for this season is (likely) behind us.
BUT — this does NOT mean you will not get sick.
Respiratory illness season does not end until May. And even after that, the viruses are still around (they are just not as prevalent).
The potential to become sick with flu, RSV, or COVID still exists (and always will). And we all must continue to follow this recipe for preventing the spread of disease from person to person —
Get vaccinated.
It is not too late to get your COVID, flu, or RSV vaccine. May is still many, many weeks away. If you are not vaccinated, go out today and get your shots. They are safe and ever-so-effective.Practice good hygiene.
Washing our hands after we use the bathroom, when we get home from school/work/activities, and before we eat. We sneeze into our elbows and cover our coughs. We also bring fresh air into our home whenever possible (the weather has been somewhat cooperative).Stay home if you are sick.
And we should all agree to this — stay home when you are sick. Give yourself time to rest and recover and break the chain of infection. Protect others. And isolate yourself from those you live with. Protect them from getting sick. Remember — you are most contagious (with any disease) when you have symptoms.
The news this week is definitely positive. There are fewer illnesses in our communities.
BUT —
The risk of getting sick still exists.
We are not out of the woods… yet.
Measles
Public health officials around the world are working hard to combat the rising number of measles cases. In the US, there are cases in Philadelphia, Camden (NJ), Washington state, Virginia, and (just announced a hot-second ago) Georgia. Across Europe, measles cases are increasing at an “alarming” rate. The UK has declared measles a “national incident.” Other countries have declared national emergencies as small outbreaks of disease have spiraled into larger measles outbreaks.
There has been a 45-fold increase in the number of measles cases in Europe between 2022 and 2023. More than 21,000 individuals have been hospitalized and five people have died of measles.
Each of these cases, hospitalizations, and deaths were
PREVENTABLE with the measles vaccine.
According to a post on ProMed yesterday —
“More than 3.4 million children under the age of 16 are unprotected and
at risk of becoming ill from the disease.”
This increase in measles cases and the growing number of children who are at risk is an indicator that vaccination rates have dropped and our community-level immunity has been disrupted.
More bluntly — this is an indicator that our communities are unhealthy.
The need to advocate for vaccinations has never been greater.
We cannot afford — the healthcare cost, missed work days, missed days of school, hearing loss, immune system amnesia, and the stress — caused by each case of measles.
The measles vaccine is safe & effective.
Make sure you and your loved ones have been vaccinated.
Reading & Health
On Sunday while we were making dinner, my daughter — who is an avid reader — ran into the kitchen to inform us all that 51% of Americans read less than two books during 2023.
She was shocked. And honestly, so was I.
Reading is really important.
According to Dr. Suess (yes, only the best sources here) —
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
From a health perspective, reading is really healthy for you. It can increase your empathy toward others. It helps you to relax. And it helps you to sleep better (mainly because you get off your screen before bed).
“Reading affects a host of everyday medical processes, everything from understanding discharge paperwork and drug labels, to selecting healthy foods and understanding immunizations, as well as understanding legislation that affects healthcare. Medical literacy also helps patients to have intelligent conversations with healthcare workers about their own bodies.
On the internet, medical literacy also includes being able to determine correct health information from the large amount of medical misinformation available. Doing your own research sometimes makes things worse.”
So this year I’m committing to reading more.
And I want to talk more about reading. And talk about the importance of not just reading for fun (which is important) but learning to read and analyze the health/epidemiology literature.
To that end — please be sure you are following along with my series Your Guide to Reading the Epidemiological Research. And let’s be friends on GoodReads. I have already finished two books this year; plan to finish a third this weekend.
Join me. And commit to reading more in 2024.
Have questions? or comments?
And be sure to share this post & all the others with your friends and family —
While regulations for the internet are overdue and mental health problems in children have increased alarmingly I am asking when are any CEO's of gun manufacturers or the NRA going to be subjected to such questioning to ensure the safety of kids? Also I question the geographical knowledge of some of the senators (Tom Cotton to be specific) and their racist questioning was abhorrent!
Does the reading have to be books? People might be reading blogs (like yours!), news outlets, magazines, or listening to podcasts to stay up to date with health information (or for enrichment/fun). Is there something magical about reading books moreso than other sources?