Three Things Thursday highlights three things I am paying attention to as an epidemiologist each week.
This week I am paying attention to a foodborne outbreak in frozen fruit, the cases of pediatric pneumonia (worldwide), and the new JN.1 COVID subvariant. All three stories include news of (potentially deadly) diseases that could ruin your holidays. There is no need to panic, but being aware of each of these public health headlines should help you to remember that —
Disease outbreaks somewhere are actually disease outbreaks everywhere.
Vaccines are safe and effective.
Disease spread can be prevented when we break chains of transmission, whether that be by throwing away contaminated food or staying home when we are ill.
Here’s your guide for staying healthy throughout the holiday season.
In addition to reading the guide, please take five minutes to read the latest news I am paying attention to and some additional helpful hints for staying healthy this holiday season.
Hoping this post helps to educate and empower you
to be healthy and create healthy communities.
Foodborne Disease Outbreak
More than 200 individuals in 38 states have been diagnosed with Salmonella. The source of the illness is cantaloupe. Malichita and Rudy brand whole cantaloupes have been recalled, as have pre-cut fruit products made with recalled whole cantaloupes. This includes fruit cups and frozen fruit products.
A complete list of recalled products can be found here.
CDC is concerned about this outbreak because the illnesses are severe and people in long-term care facilities and childcare centers have gotten sick. Do NOT eat pre-cut cantaloupes if you don’t know whether Malichita or Rudy brand cantaloupes were used.
Most people infected with Salmonella experience diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps. However, some people — children younger than 5 years, adults 65 years and older, and individuals with weakened immune systems — may experience more severe illnesses that require medical treatment or hospitalization. Salmonella can be deadly.
My advice — do NOT eat cantaloupe until further notice. And if you have fruit cups or bags of frozen fruit that contain cantaloupe in your house, get rid of them now. Seriously, throw them away.
Take cantaloupe off of all of your holiday menus, including brunch.
Pediatric Pneumonia Cases
Last week I wrote about reports of pediatric pneumonia cases in China. In the past week, the number of pediatric pneumonia cases has increased, as has the number of countries with cases. CDC reports that they are using multiple surveillance systems to track pediatric pneumonia cases.
On December 1, the CDC reported that —
“The percent of emergency department visits diagnosed with pneumonia among patients aged 5–17 years is similar to pre-pandemic years, and it remains lower than that seen among younger children.”
The increases in pediatric pneumonia we have seen so far (during Fall 2023) are NOT caused by a new virus. Instead, these increases are caused by viruses and bacteria we expect to see during the respiratory illness season.
To prevent severe illnesses, like pneumonia caused by viruses or bacteria, everyone is advised to —
Be sure you are up-to-date on all of your vaccines.
The list of vaccines that can prevent severe illnesses like pneumonia includes flu, RSV, COVID, pneumococcal, and pertussis.Seek medical care if you — have a fever higher than 103*, have trouble breathing, become dizzy (or lose consciousness), or start to wheeze.
Prevent disease spread by — staying home if you are sick, quarantining from others who are sick, masking (if you are sick or in a high-risk, crowded space), covering your cough, and increasing ventilation.
JN.1 COVID Subvariant
A new COVID subvariant has emerged and it is spreading quickly.
JN.1, another Omicron subvariant, was first detected in the U.S. in September and is termed “a notable descendent lineage” of Omicron subvariant BA.2.86 by the World Health Organization.
At this point, the (public health) world is just watching JN.1. Nearly half of all COVID cases in Europe are being caused by JN.1, which means in the coming weeks we should know more about how many severe infections, hospitalizations, and deaths are caused by JN.1, The expectation is that JN.1 will become the dominant subvariant in the United States in the next few weeks.
The rise of a new subvariant + a lot of holiday celebrations could be bad news.
Only time will tell…
What we do know right now is that the Fall 2023 COVID boosters are effective against hospitalizations and deaths caused by JN.1.
If you have not received your fall booster shot, now is the time to get vaccinated!
Questions about any of the news this week? or other news stories that have crossed your desk? Please ask me about them —
And please share this post with your friends & family.