-Heads up, Henry County! Fatal drug overdoses continue to be the leading cause of unnatural death in Virginia since 2013, followed by gun and motor vehicle-related deaths, according to recent VDH data. Fatal overdoses are still projected to be higher than pre-pandemic. The Virginia areas with the most opioid overdose deaths in 2021 are Petersburg, Richmond, Hopewell and Portsmouth cities and Henry County, respectively, according to a VDH forensic epidemiologist.
Virginia localities can now get a look at the estimated money they will receive from multibillion-dollar national opioid settlements, to help with prevention and treatment in the ongoing opioid crisis. The recently established Opioid Abatement Authority released a lookup tool for localities to search the projected settlement funds estimated through fiscal year 2039.
News You Can Use
COVID Updates
Yes, it's still with us....
Here we go again: For the first time in several months, another wave seems to be on the horizon in the United States. In the past two weeks, reported cases have increased by 53 percent, and hospitalizations have risen by 31 percent. Virus levels in wastewater, which can provide an advance warning of spread, are following a similar trajectory. After the past two years, a winter surge “was always expected,” Nash said. Respiratory illnesses thrive in colder weather, when people tend to spend more time indoors. Thanksgiving travel and gatherings were likewise predicted to drive cases, Anne Rimoin, an epidemiologist at UCLA, said. If people were infected then, their illnesses will probably start showing up in the data around now. “We’re going to see a surge [that is] likely going to start really increasing in velocity,” she said. . . . It is maddening that, this far into the pandemic, “stay put and watch” seems to be the only option when cases start to rise. It is not, of course: Plenty of tools—masking, testing, boosters—are within our power to deploy to great effect. They could flatten the wave, if enough people use them. “We have the tools,” said Nash. The Atlantic 12/9/22
-On November 22, the Biden Administration announced a six-week campaign through the end of the year urging Americans to get their updated COVID-19 vaccine. ● As winter and holiday gatherings approach, more Americans getting their updated vaccine will help avoid thousands of preventable COVID-19 deaths. ● The six-week campaign will focus on reaching seniors and the communities that were hardest hit by COVID-19, by making it even more convenient to get vaccinated and increasing awareness through paid media. VDH 12/8/22
-On December 8, the FDA amended the emergency use authorizations (EUAs) of the updated (bivalent) Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines to include use in children down to 6 months of age. ● Children 6 months through 5 years of age who received the original (monovalent) Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine are now eligible to receive a single booster of the updated Moderna COVID19 Vaccine two months after completing a primary series with the monovalent Moderna COVID19 Vaccine. ● Children 6 months through 4 years of age who have not yet begun their three-dose primary series of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine or have not yet received the third dose of their primary series will now receive the updated (bivalent) Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine as the third dose in their primary series following two doses of the monovalent Pfizer-BioNTech COVID19 Vaccine. ● Children 6 months through 4 years of age who have already completed their three-dose primary series with the monovalent Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine will not be eligible for a booster dose of an updated bivalent vaccine at this time. VDH 12/8/22
Change the Perception
‘Willpower Does Not Differ by Neighborhood’
Philadelphia Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole called on public health leaders and society at large to revisit their perceptions of American youth amid nationwide crises of overdose, gun violence, and youth mental health.
Speaking at the 5th annual Bloomberg American Health Summit recently in her city, Bettigole said adolescence is an “amazing moment” where public health professionals can change the course of a person’s life. But too often, teens are viewed “as individual bad actors who are responsible for their own problems through bad decisions,” she said. “Willpower does not differ by neighborhood,” said Bettigole. “The urge to pick up a gun has everything to do with the things around the teen and not the teen themselves.” Bettigole urged public health practitioners to dig into the systemic contributors to the challenges youth face—from lead poisoning and asthma to drugs and, of course, gun violence. Global Health News 12/7/22
