WP Perspectives – October 17, 2022

newsletter cover quote: "It is a mistake to believe that children do not get sick, or severely sick, from COVID." -- Dr. James Campbell Prof. of Pediatrics, U of Maryland School of Medicine

Focus on Facts

-Virginia ranks among the top 10 states when it comes to vaccinating children for COVID-19.  The older a kid gets, the more likely they are to be vaccinated – which makes sense, says Christy Gray with VDH, partially because most children in Virginia in the 5 and under category aren’t allowed to get vaccinated at pharmacies.… Last week Gray said it’s really important pediatricians and family doctors have the vaccine on hand at appointments to lower the vaccine barrier for families with young children. … she says childhood vaccination rates are following the same patterns as adults: higher in urban areas, lower in rural ones. But when more kids are vaccinated there’s a community benefit: a lower chance of disruptions in schools and daycares. Read about it.

-Parents of young children in Virginia are now able to seek a free bivalent pediatric COVID-19 booster vaccine for their children aged five years and older, VDH announced today, following the recommendation of the booster vaccines by the CDC on October 12. The Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent booster is now available for children aged 5  to 11 years with a dosing of a third of the adult dose. The Moderna bivalent booster is now available for children aged 6 years to 11 years with a dosing of a half of the adult dose and for children and adolescents aged 12 years through 17 years with a dosing identical to Moderna’s adult vaccine.

-Per the updated EUAs from the FDA on 10/12/22, the monovalent mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are no longer authorized for use as a booster dose for individuals five years and older.

-The US extended the COVID-19 public health emergency for the next 90 days amid a potential winter surge, the Biden administration announced; 300+ Americans are still dying from the disease each day. The Hill

 

-Need another reason to avoid COVID-19? Long COVID can set you back a decade in exercise gains.

-What that means: People with long COVID have lower endurance and find working out much harder than people of similar ages who caught COVID but recovered, a new study found.
-What experts say: That this phenomenon, called exercise intolerance, should be considered a symptom of long COVID, which afflicts millions of Americans. Washington Post 10/14/22

News You Can Use

Illustration of computer monitor with graphs and charts to demonstrate a data portal.Health Improvement Data Portal Launched

VDH and the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association (VHHA) have launched a new portal that will dramatically improve access to health data for public health, health care providers, and community partners.

VDH and VHHA partnered with the Center for Applied Research and Engagement (CARES) to develop the Virginia Community Health Improvement Data Portal, a tool that provides users with comprehensive information on the health status of their communities.

The portal allows users to track health-related data and analyze specific areas of concern, such as infant mortality, chronic disease or injuries. Users can identify trends and analyze data at a granular level and can visualize data on maps that meet the specific needs of a project.

The portal can be accessed at vdh.virginia.gov/data/ and phvi.wpengine.com/data-portal/.
-For more information about community health improvement in Virginia, visit virginiawellbeing.com/.
-For more information about the Partnering for a Health Virginia Initiative, visit phvi.wpengine.com/.
-For more information about CARES, visit careshq.org/about/.

Equity Tip

Inclusive Halloween

Illustration of cute Halloween characters: Frankenstein, and alien, Dracula, and a werewolf.With spooky season in full swing, it’s a good time to remember that cultural appropriation is never in style.

Halloween is a scary celebration of creativity, candy and costumes. It’s the one time of year when you can come to class dressed as a unicorn, zombie or your favorite fictional character. However, it is not an excuse to mock someone else’s culture, racial, ethnic or gender identity.

Whether it is intentional or not, wearing certain costumes has real consequences and negatively impacts the people that deal with this kind of discrimination every day. Let’s keep Halloween safe and inclusive by leaving culturally insensitive, racist and sexist stereotypes at the grave.

Putting it simply: to avoid costume stress, think before you dress.

Still unsure? Check out some creative ideas and ask yourself:

  • Does my costume make fun of human traits, identities, cultures, or race?
  • Does my costume represent a culture that is not my own?
  • Does my costume reduce cultural or identity differences to stereotypes?
  • How would someone feel if they saw you wearing their identity as a costume?

Do your part to help keep Halloween safe and inclusive by starting a conversation with your friends and family.  Thanks to University of British Columbia for these tips.

~Pamela Chitwood, Population Health Community Coordinator, Pamela.chitwood@vdh.virginia.gov 540-484-0292 ext. 223

Kids . . . Sick & Anxious?

  • The United States is seeing a significant spike in respiratory illness among children. Sick kids are crowding emergency rooms in various parts of the country, and some pediatric hospitals say they are running out of beds. But this uptick in illness has largely been due to viruses other than the coronavirus, like RSV, enteroviruses and rhinovirus.While respiratory infections typically surge in the winter months, experts say that this year the season has started much sooner, and that numbers are unusually high. "Rates are as high as 25% of those [who have] tested positive for RSV. That is quite unusual for October, we would typically start to see higher rates in November, December and January," said Dr. Ibukun Kalu, a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases at Duke Children's Hospital in Durham, North Carolina.  National Public Radio 10/11/22

 

  • Children and adolescents ages 8–18 should be screened for anxiety, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended, following findings that 7.8% of 3–17-year-olds had an anxiety disorder in 2018–19—a number that may have risen during the COVID-19 pandemic. STAT   Global Health News 10/12/22

 

  • Three stars are born! Check out our CHWs as they address common questions about children and COVID-19 vaccination. A series of 5 commercials were created and will air on BTW 21 along with being posted on our  West Piedmont Health District Facebook page

 

OPINION

Please Just Get the Dang Updated COVID Booster Shot

Photo of young African American male showing arm with bandaid where vaccination was received.

It's good for you, it's good for your community, and it's widely available right now.

This time last year, the Omicron variant of COVID-19 had not yet been detected. By mid-January, it had overtaken other coronavirus variants, pushing new cases above 800,000 per day—eight times the daily numbers recorded in December. Almost as many people were dying each day as at any other point in the pandemic. Last winter was terrible. . .

So we’re here to say: Please just get the thing. More than 8,000 people died of COVID-19 in September.
And with a temperature dip the stakes rise. An increase in transmission amongst people who aren’t protected with a booster could threaten to further strain the healthcare system.

“In the hospital I’m still seeing many people admitted who developed severe COVID, and they're preventable,” says Dr. Cohen. “I want to be really clear that the biggest value of these boosters is really in preventing hospitalization, severe disease and death.”

But a booster will also almost certainly protect you as well. Even “mild” cases of COVID can be quite unpleasant, and getting the shot could be the difference between avoiding infection and spending an achy couple of days on the couch.

Reprinted in part from GQ, 10/11/22

COVID-19 Data

Franklin County
Henry County
Martinsville
Patrick County

Cases

1,255
1,651
337
539
Over the past 13 weeks by date of illness

Deaths

5
16
5
2
Over the past 13 weeks by date of death. 10/17/2022

What is "Healthy" Food?

The FDA is poised to add new restrictions to the use of the term "healthy" on food products.

The agency announced a proposed rule that "would align the definition of the 'healthy' claim with current nutrition science," including the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

  • Under the current rule, about 5% of packaged foods are labeled as "healthy," according to the FDA.
  • “Healthy food can lower our risk for chronic disease. But too many people may not know what constitutes healthy food,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. "FDA’s move will help educate more Americans to improve health outcomes, tackle health disparities and save lives.”

Why it matters: More than 80% of U.S. residents "aren’t eating enough vegetables, fruit and dairy," while "most people consume too much added sugars, saturated fat and sodium," the FDA said.  Six in 10 American adults have chronic lifestyle-related diseases. The goal is to make healthy choices easier, the FDA said yesterday.

Between the lines: The new rule would require that "healthy" foods:

  • "Contain a certain meaningful amount of food from at least one of the food groups or subgroups," such as fruits, vegetables and dairy.
  • Contain limited amounts of saturated fat, sodium and added sugars. For example, a "healthy" item cannot have more than 10% of the daily recommended amount of sodium per serving.

October is National Bullying Prevention Month. 

Graphic from StopBullying.gov

When adults respond quickly and consistently to bullying behavior they send the message that it is not acceptable. Research shows this can stop bullying behavior over time. Parents, school staff, and other adults in the community can help kids prevent bullying by talking about it, building a safe school environment, and creating a community-wide bullying prevention strategy. Be an Upstander (not a bystander).

 

Healthy Halloween graphic with carved pumpkin and seeds spilling out of its mouth.