We are excited to keep working on these lil’ doses of public health for you! (Thank you for your feedback: We’ll highlight at least one piece of good news, answer the poll, and include a “weather report.”)
Let’s dive into this past week in public health!
Your “weather” report for the week
Covid-19 infection levels are “high,” while flu and RSV have yet to take off.
Consider wearing a mask to protect yourself against Covid-19. It may be a good time to get your fall vaccines. Check here for a YLE guide on timing.
Good news: More people are dialing 988
September 8th was 988 Day—a day to raise awareness of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, which only 18% of adults are aware of. The three-digit number has been available for two years at no charge.
Dialing this number connects people with a network of crisis call centers, so that when a person calls, a trained crisis counselor answers, provides emotional support, and helps connect people with other resources. More and more people have been using this resource, which means more people are seeking help and more suicides are being prevented.
(Source: KFF; Annotations by YLE) Note: Before 988, there was a hotline, but it had a longer number and was not mandated by law. See the fantastic historical infographic here.
Everyone can act to help save the life of someone who may be suicidal with these five steps:
CDC confirmed another human case of H5 (also known as bird flu)—marking the 14th American to test positive. (Before this year, we had one case in our history.)
This case is unique because the person had no known contact with animals. In other words, we don’t know how they got infected. The risk remains low to the general public because there are no signs of onward spread.
At this time, we epidemiologists have more questions than answers:
How did this person get infected? Discovering this entails patient interviews with a long list of questions. (Did she drink raw milk? Attend any animal event? Etc.) In this case, there are no signs or signals with a clear route of exposure.
What clues can the virus provide? Sometimes, the genomics of a virus (gathered after swabbing the patient) can provide clues. The problem is that laboratory scientists don’t have a large enough sample in this case, so it’s hard to get a full picture. From what we have, the virus that infected this patient is close to what’s circulating among cows. But, we don’t even know if it’s H5N1. (It could be H5N3, for example.)
How many people are we missing? The patient had significant underlying health problems, so was hospitalized. This case happened to be picked up by the hospital surveillance system. This is great, but how many human cases have we missed this year?
We need to ramp up testing to prevent this from becoming a pandemic.
Dengue lands in California
California (specifically Los Angeles) confirmed a locally acquired dengue case for the second year. We would have been shocked to find dengue—a mosquito-borne illness known as “break-bone fever”—in California a few years ago. However, it’s becoming an annual thing now. While scientists predict that, by 2050, the probability of dengue in California will still be low, it’s almost guaranteed to be in the South. Given mosquitos’ migration patterns due to climate change, we must wait and see what these mosquitoes have in store for us.
Predicted future spread of Ae. aegypti— the darker the color, the higher the probability of Dengue by 2050. Figure Source: Nature
Public health is front and center in the presidential debate
Public health is inherently political—elected officials determine federal and state budgets—but unfortunately, it’s becoming increasingly partisan. Topics like routine childhood vaccines and pandemic preparedness are finding themselves on the list next to more historically partisan topics like national healthcare and, of course, access to reproductive healthcare.
The most significant underlying difference between U.S. political parties is the prioritization of public health—each ranks collective good against individualism differently.
Three public health topics were directly discussed during the debate:
Childcare and parental leave. You may wonder, what does this have to do with public health? More and more studies directly link the two. For example, a recent study found a protective effect between paid leave and infant hospitalizations, mainly for RSV.
Reproductive health and abortion:
No, there is no such thing as a post-birth abortion. This rumor stems from palliative care for newborns. Some states have laws, as they should, to withdraw care if they have a fatally ill newborn—born too early to survive. This law allows parents to peacefully spend the last few hours with their child without wires and machines.
While the vast majority of Americans support a woman’s right to choose, 10 (of 21) states with abortion bans or limits don’t even have an exception for pregnancies resulting from sexual assault.
Affordable Care Act. Both candidates said healthcare is too expensive, but neither presented a clear plan to improve the Affordable Care Act. Trump said he has “the concepts of a plan,” while Harris said she has plans to “strengthen the Affordable Care Act.”
Reader question grab bag
One reader asked, “HPV was just for girls when it came out. Why were boys added?”
This is a story about following the science—updating policy based on an improved understanding of a disease.
When first introduced in 2006, HPV vaccines were only approved for girls. This is because only girls were included in the clinical trial. Very little was known about the epidemiology of HPV in boys at the time, and we knew that HPV can cause cervical cancer (and girls have cervixes). Interestingly, after girls started getting vaccinated, researchers found a noticeable decline in genital warts for boys, presumably from decreased exposure. (Unlike other vaccines, like Covid-19, the HPV vaccine can often generate the immunity that prevents viral infection.)
Around the same time, an HPV clinical trial was being conducted among boys. After promising results (and considering the burden of disease for boys, cost-effectiveness, the impact of male vaccination given low vaccination coverage in women, and equity), FDA and CDC approved the vaccine for boys—making the U.S. the first country to do so. Since then, many countries have followed suit, and there has been overwhelming evidence that the vaccine benefits continue to outweigh the risks.
Do you know…
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As requested, you can find the answer if you scroll all the way down the email.
You’re now caught up on public health nuggets for the week! Have a great weekend.
Love, YLE
“Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE)” is founded and operated by Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, MPH PhD—an epidemiologist, wife, and mom of two little girls. The main goal of this newsletter is to “translate” the ever-evolving public health science so that people will be well-equipped to make evidence-based decisions. This newsletter is free to everyone, thanks to the generous support of fellow YLE community members. To support this effort, subscribe below:
Answer for the poll: First passed in 1976, the Hyde Amendment is a law that barred the use of federal funds to pay for abortion, with exceptions to save the life of a person or if the pregnancy arises from incest or rape.
Answer from last week: 1988! This year, the World Health Assembly resolved to eradicate polio globally. This led to the establishment of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a public-private partnership that provides polio vaccines to children, tracks the status of the virus, and responds to outbreaks. As of October 2023, there are only two countries with regions of endemic transmission of polio—Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Yet another fascinating, informative installment from Team YLE. Thank you so much. The segment on HPV offered a really interesting window into how changes in practice can occur as the result of smart (!) research.
I also want to add a further note of applause to Team YLE for the incredibly helpful fall vaccine information sheet. I sent it out to friends and family and received thanks from many, in particular for the help it offered in trying to figure out what timing would be best for them. One person specifically noted how grateful he was for the information, as it saved his household such a lot of time trying to research this on their own. Well done, Team YLE!
Some/most CVS stores have the updated 2024-2025 Novavax Covid vaccine, yet when you book your appointment online, they don’t let you specify manufacturer. It’s hard to get through to the pharmacist to verify which vaccines they have on hand. Still, I was able to get the Novavax shot a few days ago, and the pharmacist was kind enough to let me see the box and syringe, both of which were clearly labeled “Novavax” and “2024-2025,” which gave me assurance I was getting the right shot. Added bonus: no vaccine hangover the next day.
Yet another fascinating, informative installment from Team YLE. Thank you so much. The segment on HPV offered a really interesting window into how changes in practice can occur as the result of smart (!) research.
I also want to add a further note of applause to Team YLE for the incredibly helpful fall vaccine information sheet. I sent it out to friends and family and received thanks from many, in particular for the help it offered in trying to figure out what timing would be best for them. One person specifically noted how grateful he was for the information, as it saved his household such a lot of time trying to research this on their own. Well done, Team YLE!
Thanks for the great update.
Some/most CVS stores have the updated 2024-2025 Novavax Covid vaccine, yet when you book your appointment online, they don’t let you specify manufacturer. It’s hard to get through to the pharmacist to verify which vaccines they have on hand. Still, I was able to get the Novavax shot a few days ago, and the pharmacist was kind enough to let me see the box and syringe, both of which were clearly labeled “Novavax” and “2024-2025,” which gave me assurance I was getting the right shot. Added bonus: no vaccine hangover the next day.