The shutdown’s impact on health

It appears that the government shutdown has finally caught up with the CDC . . . none of their Covid demographics were updated this week, and the wastewater data still only goes up till the week ending September 20th . . . I don’t know if the data that they’ve missed will be caught up whenever they get up and running again, or if it will leave a gap in the records that will be lost forever. As taken from R. J, Sigmund. The shutdown’s impact on health .

r.j. sigmund

The shutdown’s impact on health? RSV is stirring, Covid-19 vaccines finally given green light, deadly pasta outbreak, and lots of good news! — Katelyn Jetelina | Your Local Epidemiologist – Helloooo, fall weather. Across the country, the forecast is shifting in more ways than one: the federal government has come to a standstill, impacting public health and potentially healthcare coverage; the respiratory viral season is starting to brew; and a few deaths have been linked to Trader Joe’s precooked pasta. But there’s also plenty of good news—from Covid-19 vaccines finally getting the green light to a Nobel Prize announcement. Plus, I’m answering a question one of my girlfriends texted me this week: 

What’s going on with pediatric Covid vaccines?

The federal government shutdown means most CDC data updates are on pause. States are still reporting, but the CDC is important because it compiles all data into a single national picture. Currently, that picture is incomplete. I’m relying on PopHIVE from the Yale School of Public Health, which combines multiple data sources beyond the federal government, including Google Trends and medical records, to fill in the gaps. (Disclosure: I helped build it.)

• RSV season is starting to brew, with increased activity in Florida. RSV typically emerges in the Southeast and then sweeps across the nation, so this is an indicator that it’s on its way.
• Covid-19 trends continue to decrease, coming off the summer wave.
• Flu activity is still low. The season “officially” starts on calendar week 40, so all epidemiological eyes are now on flu.The respiratory season is slowly getting underway. Now is the best time to get respiratory vaccines before the winter season begins. For local updates, your state’s public health department remains the best source.
• A Listeria outbreak has been linked to precooked pasta. Four people have died, and 20 became severely ill, with all but one landing in the hospital. This is likely an undercount, as some people improve from Listeria exposure without treatment. Products include:
  • Trader Joe’s and Walgreens Cajun Style Blackened Chicken Breast Fettuccine Alfredo
  • Marketside Linguine With Beef Meatballs & Marinara Sauce
  • Albertsons pasta salads

At this point, these products are primarily off store shelves, but they might be in your fridge. The recall affects everything with an October 10 use-by date. If you find them, toss them. As the investigation continues, additional products may be recalled. It’s been more than two weeks since ACIP, the vaccine policy advisory committee, recommended Covid-19 vaccines for everyone over six months old. The acting CDC Director finally  signed off today. Typically, this approval happens within 24 to 48 hours, so the delay was highly unusual. This may seem like a small procedural detail, but that single signature now sets other steps in motion, like state and federal programs purchasing the vaccines. For example, the Vaccines for Children program, which provides more than half of all childhood vaccines in the U.S. at no cost, couldn’t order Covid-19 vaccines until now. That means many children, especially those who are uninsured or underinsured, couldn’t get vaccinated, even if they wanted to.