RSV Vaccine, Avian Influenza Spread, and Lessons Learned from a COVID Outbreak
Three Things Thursday
Three Things Thursday highlights three things I am paying attention to as an epidemiologist each week.
Before diving into this week’s three things, I wanted to share two things.
First, yesterday I had the honor of being interviewed by a former student, who is a (amazing!!) writer for MedPageToday. Her article — Does COVID Vaccination Really Lead to Wonky Periods? — includes a few quotes from me. So proud of her work and excited to be quoted in an article in such a great publication. Be sure to check it out.
And second, my classes have ended and I’m nearing the end of the semester (more than half of my grades are submitted). In my mind, it is summer, despite the fact that it snowed here yesterday.1 With summer on the horizon, I am going to begin a (at least) six-part summer health and safety series beginning on Monday. The series will cover sunburns/skin cancer prevention, ticks, water/swimming safety, fireworks/glowsticks safety, food safety at summer picnics, and travel tips. If there are other summer health and safety topics you’d like me to cover, please let me know —
And now onto this week’s Three Things Thursday. This week’s three things include the new RSV vaccine, the global spread of avian influenza, and a recent COVID outbreak at a CDC conference (oh — the irony).
Hoping these posts help to educate and empower you
to be healthy and create healthy communities.
FDA Approves the First RSV Vaccine
RSV — respiratory syncytial virus — is a highly contagious virus that can cause lower-respiratory tract disease (LRTD), which can lead to life-threatening pneumonia and swelling of the small airways in the lungs. Each year 177,000 older adults are hospitalized and 14,000 die from RSV infections.
Yesterday, FDA announced the approval of the first RSV vaccine for adults aged 60 years and older. According to Peter Marks, MD, PhD, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research —
"Today’s approval of the first RSV vaccine is an important public health achievement to prevent a disease which can be life-threatening and reflects the FDA’s continued commitment to facilitating the development of safe and effective vaccines for use in the United States.”
The vaccine — named Arexvy and manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline — was determined to be both safe and effective. According to clinical trial data, the vaccine reduced the risk of RSV-related LRTD by 82.6% and lowered the risk of severe LRTD by 94.1%.
The adverse effects associated with Arexvy include injection-site pain, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and joint stiffness/pain.
IMPORTANT — the CDC must recommend the use of Arexvy before shots can be given. It is expected that CDC will recommend the vaccine following the meeting of its vaccine advisory committee on June 21-22.
It is also important to note that the Pfizer RSV vaccine for older adults is expected to be approved by FDA later this month (and then recommended by CDC in June). And the Pfizer vaccine for infants — who are at the most risk for severe RSV infections — is expected to be approved before the end of 2023.
Global Spread of Avian Influenza
H5N1 — a strain of influenza circulating in birds and mammals — has officially been named a PANZOOTIC. Aka a pandemic in wild animals.
While the number of new cases of H5N1 in animals and birds is declining (slightly), the virus is spreading into new areas and infecting new species of animals.
During the past week, there was an outbreak of H5N1 at a mink farm in Spain. 50,000 minks were killed. News of the sick minks made international news and was even highlighted on The Weather Channel.2 The virus also spread to birds in Gambia (where the virus has not been reported previously).
Additionally, 3500 sea lions in Peru died of H5N1 last month. And to date, 60 million farm-raised birds in the United States have died of H5N1 or been killed to slow the spread of disease.
The US government, specifically the Department of Agriculture, is currently testing four vaccines that could prevent birds from contracting and spreading H5N1. If one of these vaccines is safe and effective, a mass vaccination program in poultry could/would commence. This type of mass vaccination program in poultry would be a first of its kind.
The testing of the vaccines will take at least another 18-24 months.
So only time will tell…
Please note — H5N1 rarely causes disease in humans. Of the few human cases, all reported close contact/work with poultry. The reason H5N1 does not show up in humans often is because the receptor that the virus binds to (in order to infect an individual) is found deep/low within the respiratory track. And other immune defenses do not allow the virus to get that far. In birds, minks, and other mammals, the receptor is higher in the respiratory system, making those animals more vulnerable to infection.
The public health community is monitoring H5N1 because there is concern that one of the current species with H5N1 could become a mixing vessel — where the virus would have a chance to mutate and turn into something that could more easily infect humans and spread from person-to-person.
There is NO NEED to be alarmed at this point in time.
This is information. Not a warning.
COVID Outbreak Linked to a CDC Conference
About a week ago, epidemiologists and public health professional from around the country gathered for an in-person conference in downtown Atlanta. About midway through the conference, a handful of attendees reported being diagnosed with COVID-19. As of Tuesday, 35 cases of COVID were linked to the conference.
While it is a little ironic that the most recent outbreak of COVID is tied to CDC, this outbreak is a (friendly) reminder that —
COVID is still spreading and causing disease.
If you are sick (regardless of the cause and regardless of how severe/mild your symptoms), stay home and isolate yourself from others.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus has changed. A previous COVID infection or vaccination will not prevent you from becoming ill, but it will help you fight off the infection faster. And your symptoms should be milder (be on the look out for pink-eye as a COVID infection symptom).
(As it was in pre-pandemic times and as we were reminded — the hard way — by COVID) When you gather with others, diseases can spread. We can pass influenza, COVID, strep throat, RSV, and norovirus to each other. We can also share things like lice or bed bugs. There is a risk associated with getting together, but there is a risk of being lonely, too. Life is one big risk-benefit analysis — each moment we are weighing the risks and making decisions. Let’s not forget this.
At this point in the pandemic, most of the world’s population has some amount of immunity and the virus has evolved to be less virulent — the risk of getting severely ill is low. The risk of depression, anxiety, and loneliness is over-the-top high. We need to get together with each other (so long as no one is sick). We need each other — professionally and personally.
I am so happy that the CDC conference was held in-person. Does it suck that people got sick during the conference? Absolutely. But who hasn’t gotten sick while traveling? Who doesn’t have a story that involves the whole family getting sick after a big holiday where you were all together?
This most recent outbreak is not life-or-death. Nor is it an opportunity for us to point our fingers at CDC and say I told you so…
This outbreak is a reminder — that in order for us to be healthy as individuals, we need healthy communities. My being health relies on you and vise-versa. We need to fight for healthy communities, sick leave, equitable access to healthcare, affordable healthy care, and open and clear communications about illness and risk.
Questions? Want to know more? Please let me know.
And be sure to share this post with others!
My backyard yesterday morning —
A little crazy when your weather app alerts you to a influenza outbreak among minks