Three Things Thursday highlights three things I am paying attention to as an epidemiologist each week. This week I’ve had my eye on local and global disease outbreaks and policy changes; details are below. Amid the world “burning with measles,” this week I watched my youngest kid walk out the door each morning to celebrate Dr. Seuss (whose birthday is Saturday). Yesterday he wore wacky/crazy socks (for Fox In Socks) and today he left the house wearing a huge cowboy hat (The Cat In The Hat). Tomorrow he’s planning to wear his panda pajamas for PJ Day (Green Eggs & Ham).
His school is celebrating books, reading, and all the fun that is Dr. Seuss this week.
While Dr. Seuess and disease outbreaks are not directly connected (aside from the fact that this week’s three things are happening during the same week we celebrate Dr. Seuss), I think that there are (at least) three lessons Dr. Seuss taught us in his books that are worth remembering before we dive into this week’s public health news (which is just not good).
First Dr. Suess lesson — the value of reading.
Dr. Suess’s mission was to help children learn to read. He said —
“The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
Health & reading are intimately linked. Low literacy impacts every aspect of an individual’s life — education, employment, health, and well-being. While the world is burning with measles and (locally) Hepatitis A, may we all remember the value reading has on our health.
Second Dr. Suess lesson — perseverance.
Did you know, in real life Dr. Suess’s first book, And To Think Thank I Saw It On Mulberry Street, was rejected 27 times before it was published by Vanguard Press? Think about it…what if he just gave up? What if 25 rejections were just too much? And he just stopped pursuing publishing this book? The world would be a different place. But Dr. Suess persisted. He was committed to his mission — the value of reading — and sought to get his work out into the world. Despite rejection after rejection, he was focused on his goal and kept working until he got the first book published. Despite the hardship. Despite people telling him ‘no.’
He stayed true to his mission.
Third Dr. Suess lesson — an individual can make a difference and change the world.
In The Lorax, Dr. Suess writes —
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.
It’s not.”
Despite misinformation. And politicians who are assuming the role of physicians, virologists, and clinical researchers. And despite a chunk of the population who has forgotten (or just doesn’t care about) the consequences of measles infections or polio, whooping cough, or diphtheria. Despite how hard it is to get folks to understand the value of prevention.
Despite it all. Someone — like me and you — needs to care!
If Dr. Suess were alive today, I can imagine him writing a book about diseases. And I can imagine a line from that book going something like this —
Speaking of pathogens… let’s look at this week's news. Here are your three things.
Hoping this post helps to educate and empower you
to be healthy and create healthy communities.
Local Case of Hepatitis A
The Erie County Health Department (about 30 miles north of my home) has identified a case of Hepatitis A in an employee at the Cracker Barrel in Erie, PA (Interstate Dr). Hepatitis is a highly contagious liver disease that is primarily spread via contaminated food or water (sick person goes to the bathroom and does not adequately wash their hands; they then work in the kitchen and prepare food for customers for weeks while contagious).
Anyone who ate at the restaurant (dine-in or take-out) between Feb 15-21 should be vaccinated for Hep A immediately. And individuals who ate there Jan 30-Feb 14 -- are advised to monitor for symptoms. Symptoms include yellow skin or eyes, upset stomach, fever, dark urine or light-colored stools, and diarrhea.
If you are reading this, live near me, and ate at the Cracker Barrel in Erie recently, please get in touch with your doctor or call the Erie County Health Department at 814-451-6707. I’m also happy to talk with you if you think you may have been exposed —
Spring COVID Booster Approved for Americans 65+
Yesterday the ACIP — CDC’s vaccine advisory committee — voted to approve a spring COVID booster for all Americans who are 65 years of age and older.
To be honest, I was surprised that a spring booster was approved for everyone 65 and older. Based on the data shared at yesterday’s meeting (which is available online), a spring booster shot is needed for individuals (of all ages) who did not get a booster shot in the fall, the very old (maybe 75+), and those who are at extreme risk from a COVID infection (individuals in heart failure or with serious heart disease).
The three things I took away from yesterday’s meeting were —
First, vaccine uptake in the fall booster was abysmally low. Approximately, 1 in 5 adults (18+) went out and got a fall booster.1
Second, despite low uptake, the vaccine was highly effective at preventing symptomatic COVID, keeping people out of the hospital, and preventing death.
Third, a spring booster will be of the greatest benefit to those who did not get their fall booster, particularly older adults and those with underlying medical conditions.
If I were 65+ — I would NOT be rushing out for a spring booster. And as the daughter of two parents who are both 65+ — I am not recommending that they rush out to get a spring booster either. If my grandmother were still alive (living in her retirement home well and in her 90s), we’d have a conversation about her risk and maybe I’d recommend a spring boost.
The real work that needs to be done — is to increase the uptake of the fall booster. Yesterday’s meeting was not about individuals who have received every booster as recommended for the past three years. Yesterday’s meeting was a moment of defeat — where the public health community had to sit with the fact that 80% of adults did not listen to recommendations in the fall and decided not to get a COVID vaccine.
Sitting with that is uncomfortable.
The World Is Burning With Measles
This is not new news. Measles continues to rip through our communities.
In just the first two months of 2024, 35 cases have already been reported in 15 states including California, Minnesota, Florida, New York, and Louisiana (in all of 2023, there were a total of 58 cases during the entire year).
The Surgeon General of Florida is defying all public health logic and practice and is allowing exposed unvaccinated children to attend school. Measles can be spread asymptomatically — so the chain of infection in Florida grows without an end in sight. Expect to see the number of cases throughout Florida increase for the foreseeable future.
Measles cases continue to increase around the globe. In Burkina Faso, for example, nearly 1300 cases of measles have been reported, including four deaths. More than half of the world’s countries will be at a high or very high risk of measles outbreaks by the end of the year unless urgent action is taken, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Measles vaccines have never been more important.
And while I understand and value parents being allowed to make the best decisions for their children, getting vaccinated CANNOT an act of individualism or an individual decision. Getting vaccinated is part of the common good. It is part of the social contract we made with one another when we agreed to live in communities together, go to schools together, play on the same playgrounds, and share the same air at work, church, stores, and places of fun (trampoline parks, amusement parks, museums, movie theaters, etc…).
We get vaccinated to protect ourselves and to stop disease transmission.
We get vaccinated to protect others, especially those less than a year old and cannot get their measles vaccine. And those with compromised immune systems.
We get vaccinated for the greater good.
We get vaccinated because we love one another.
We get vaccinated because living in community and being surrounded by other healthy individuals is the bedrock of healthy communities.
We get vaccinated. All of us do.
And (in an attempt to tie this whole post together) being kind to others and ensuring that everyone is healthy and lives in a healthy environment is something else that Dr. Suess taught us. In Yertle the Turtle, the turtle at the bottom of the pile reminds us —
“I know up on top you are seeing great sights,
but down here on the bottom,
we, too, should have rights.”
Questions? Comments? Other connections between Dr. Seuss & health?
And please take a moment to share this post with your friends and family.
Epi(demiology) Matters is written by Dr. Becky Dawson, PhD MPH — an epidemiologist, teacher, mom, wife, and dedicated yogi. She is a tenured professor at Allegheny College, Research Director at a community hospital, and an exclusive contributor (all things health & medicine) at Erie News Now (NBC/CBS). Her goal is to create healthy communities for all. She writes Epi Matters — first & foremost because epidemiology does matter (to all of us) and she hopes that each post will help to educate and empower readers to be healthy and create healthy communities.
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Data shared yesterday —
Thanks for keeping us informed with facts..........