Outbreak News:

• Six workers at Germany’s Frankfurt airport contracted malaria, likely from an infected mosquito brought in on a plane. (CBS)
  
  
• Cyclospora keeps adding states: Georgia, Tennessee and Texas are now on the list, bringing the outbreak to 20 states and 11,000+ cases. (Newsweek)
  
  
• A 10-case measles outbreak near Denver cost more than $500,000 to contain, including 7,000+ hours spent tracking down 91 people who needed to quarantine. (MedPage Today)
  
  
• One Texas school district canceled classes this week after the rapid spread of COVID. (Newsweek)
  
  
• The FDA gave the green light to another drug to help prevent New World screwworm in cattle, giving us another tool to help keep it from spreading.  (FDA)

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Health News:

• The FDA gave this year’s updated COVID shots the go-ahead, just as cases are picking back up. The shots target XFG, the variant currently driving most infections. (The Hill)
  
  
• L.A. is taking aim at phenibut, an unregulated “gas station drug” that’s growing in popularity and is marketed as a “brain booster.” (LA Times)
  
  
• Deaths from flu and pneumonia in U.S. adults dropped 29% over 25 years. Adults 55–64 were the one exception, with death rates actually ticking up.  (CIDRAP)
  
  
• The FDA approved a breakthrough new pancreatic cancer drug likely to dramatically change the outlook for people diagnosed with the disease.  (ABC News)
  
  
• And some more good news on the shingles vaccine: two doses may be comparable to daily blood pressure medication for preventing heart attack and stroke. (Guardian)
  
  
• Florida is dropping four vaccines from its required list for public school students, including chickenpox and hepatitis B. MMR, polio and several others are still required. (CIDRAP)
  
  
• Some bittersweet news: Dolly Parton is being celebrated after her passing as one of the great healthcare philanthropists of our time. (BHR)

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Best Question:

We have locations near wildfires in TX, NV and WA. What should we know about employee health? 

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You don’t have to be anywhere near a wildfire to feel the effects. Smoke can travel hundreds of miles, sneak indoors, and cause burning eyes, coughing, headaches, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. It’s especially tough on people with asthma, COPD, heart disease, or diabetes, and pregnant employees. And it’s a challenge for anyone who spends part of their workday outside; restaurant patios and drive-throughs, construction crews, delivery drivers, utility workers, and field teams.

The AQI is your friend here, especially since conditions can change quickly as the wind shifts. If air quality is bad, cut down on time outside when you can. If employees do need to be out there, N95s are the way to go; surgical and cloth masks don’t do much for the tiny particles in wildfire smoke.

Inside, keep the smoky air outside. Close windows, limit how long doors are propped open, and check that your HVAC isn’t happily pulling all that smoky “fresh air” inside. This may also be a good time to have your HVAC filters checked or changed.

Washington employers have a little more homework, with specific wildfire smoke rules around monitoring air quality, training employees, and providing respirators as PM2.5 levels rise. Texas doesn’t have its own wildfire smoke standard, but either way, keep an eye on the AQI and be ready to adjust as conditions change.

Evacuations add another layer. Your location may be outside the evacuation zone, but your employees’ homes may not be. They may need to leave quickly to help family, or may not have access to uniforms, showers, or even their homes. You can’t plan for every situation, but you can build some extra staffing and flexibility into your plan.

And don’t forget the commute. If employees are traveling through heavy smoke to get to and from work, consider making N95s available for the trip home, too.

Sources: CDC, AirNow, WA L&I

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Best Read:

As measles cases rise and kids go back to school for the fall, vaccination rates are declining across the country. We can predict risk in each state - and even more specifically in each county - by looking at these rates. 

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See states’ kindergarten vaccination rates—from highest to lowest | Scientific American

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