(NEW YORK) — Some schools across the United States have been closing early in an attempt to stem influenza outbreaks.
In Maine, students at Casco Bay High School in Portland were dismissed early on Friday, Dec. 2, due to 32% of pupils and staff members out sick with the virus, according to a news release from the school.
Two other schools in the state, Harpswell Community School and Mt. Ararat Middle School, both of which are north of Portland, announced closures Tuesday, Dec. 6, “due to student illness” and will reopen Dec. 7 after the buildings are “deep cleaned.”
Additionally, in southeastern Kentucky, the Bell County School District, announced schools would be closed Monday, Dec. 5, and Tuesday, Dec. 6.
“This break will hopefully allow our students and staff to recover from all the sickness that has been going through our community,” Superintendent Tom Gambrel wrote in a letter to the community.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows nearly every U.S. state is reporting either “very high” or “high” levels of flu-like activity.
What’s more, the hospitalization rate, which sits at 16.6 per 100,000, is the highest it’s ever been at this point in the season since 2010-2011, or as far back as statistics are available.
An infectious diseases expert told ABC News that school closures are not sustainable in the long-term and schools should focus on other interventions to stem outbreaks.
“I think what we’ve learned from the pandemic is that school closures are really a last resort and should be avoided at all costs because of the impact it has on kids, the broad impact on kids and their parents,” Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor, said.
Studies, including one from the Netherlands, have suggested that remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic led to learning losses and increased learning disparities among students.
Brownstein said the primary focus should be on vaccination. As of Nov. 19, only 40% of children in the U.S. aged 6 months and older have received their flu shot, CDC data shows.
“Flu vaccination remains the cornerstone for reducing flu in the population,” he said. “The rollout has been slow this season despite potentially being the worst season of flu we’ve seen in a decade.”
Brownstein continued, “What I’m worried about is the upcoming holiday season, travel, mobility, mixing. It presents an opportunity for flu virus to spread so getting that flu shot is imperative.”
Additionally, he recommended schools stress that students and staff stay home when sick, make sure everyone is practicing hand hygiene – including washing hands with soap and water – and ensuring that classrooms are properly ventilated.
“These are all things we should focus way before we should ever consider closing schools,” Brownstein said. “Schools closures should be reserved for really challenging situations.”
(NEW YORK) — There’s been a substantial increase in firearm-related deaths in the United States over the past three decades and Black men are the most affected, according to new research from a team of emergency room doctors. They’re 23 times more likely to experience firearm-related homicide than white men, the study showed.
“Gun violence is an incredible scourge in our country. Gun violence affects everybody, and that’s an important thing to recognize. However, it affects certain groups far more than others. Black men speak to one of the greatest disparities, if not the greatest disparity,” co-author Eric Fleegler, associate professor of pediatrics and emergency physician at Harvard Medical School, said in a statement.
In a study published in the Journal of American Medical Association, Fleegler and colleagues analyzed disparities in firearm-related deaths between 1990 and 2021. They showed firearm-related homicides are greatest among Black men between 20 and 40 years of age. Firearm-related violence for Black men is at a 28-year high, the analysis found.
“There are these hotspots where firearm fatalities are happening more frequently, and interventions need to be catered to where those are happening. We’re seeing huge rates of firearm-related homicides among young Black and African American males — that’s the population where we may need to think about implementing violence prevention strategies,” said co-author Chris Rees, an assistant professor of Pediatrics and Emergency medicine at Emory University School of Medicine.
To reframe firearm violence as a public health crisis, the American Medical Association, one of the nation’s largest doctor associations, established the first taskforce on firearm violence prevention in November.
“We cannot continue to live this way…In movie theaters, houses of worship, hospitals, big cities and small towns, firearm violence has shattered any sense of security and taken lives. As physicians, we are committed to ending firearm violence by advocating for common-sense, evidence-based solutions, and this task force will be key to that ongoing effort,” Jack Resneck Jr. president of the American Medical Association, said in a statement at the launch of the taskforce.
Experts say there’s a range of factors contributing to the high rates of gun deaths among Black men.
“Weak gun laws cause more damage in places that have been subjected to systemic racial inequalities,” said Jeffrey Gardere, a clinical psychologist, and an associate professor at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Medical associations like the AMA have called for more gun laws over the years to combat firearm violence — but there was no governmental action until this past June, when Congress passed the first gun law in 30 years.
But gun laws alone will not solve the societal issues that contribute to firearm violence among Black males.
In places where unemployment rates are higher, where there isn’t equal access to safe housing, and where public infrastructure is neglected, people may be more exposed to dangerous behavior, Gardere said. Addressing those issues “would help Black and Brown people, especially males, be able to avert gun violence — whether as victims or as perpetrators,” he said.
Reframing firearm violence as a public health issue means affected communities need to be at the table as vocal members of any taskforce.
“The next step I’d like to see is addressing things at the community level and taking into account what communities think is feasible. I don’t think any community wants to see higher rates of firearm fatalities,” said Rees.
All hands are needed to solve this continually escalating problem.
“Unfortunately, in our country, the firearm epidemic is getting worse at an accelerating pace,” Fleegler said.
Faith Crittenden, MD MPH is a resident physician in pediatrics from Yale–New Haven Children’s Hospital and contributing correspondent of the ABC News Medical Unit.
(NEW YORK) — Dr. Edith Bracho-Sanchez says she knows firsthand the worry that comes with being a parent amid what some health experts are calling a “tripledemic,” with high rates of flu, respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, and COVID-19.
Bracho-Sanchez is a pediatrician at Columbia University in New York and the mother of a 14-month-old son who had to be taken to the hospital earlier this year to be treated for pneumonia after having a viral illness.
“It was really, really scary,” Bracho-Sanchez told ABC News’ Good Morning America of her son William’s illness, from which he eventually recovered. “So in addition to relating to my patients, of course, as their pediatrician, I am relating in this moment as a mom who has had her own child get sick and develop a complication from a viral illness this season.”
After a harsh fall season, flu and respiratory illnesses continue to show no signs of slowing down this winter.
Currently, 44 U.S. states as well as New York City, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico are reporting “very high” or “high” levels of influenza-like activity, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data released last week.
Pediatric bed occupancy has steadily remained the highest it has been in the last two years; last month, the CDC issued an official health advisory in response to the rise in respiratory infections in children.
The ongoing higher rates of flu, RSV and COVID-19 come at a time when children tend to be indoors more often due to colder weather, and when families tend to be busy with school activities and holiday gatherings.
Bracho-Sanchez said her son attends daycare and they hope to gather with their family for Christmas, so she is taking extra precautions now to help prevent illness.
“As a mom right now, so much feels out of my control,” said Bracho-Sanchez. “But I am trying to prevent the things that I can prevent.”
Here are six steps Bracho-Sanchez said she is taking to help protect her son’s health amid the “tripledemic.”
1. Keeping up-to-date on vaccinations: Bracho-Sanchez said her son has been vaccinated against COVID-19 and influenza, which she recommends for all kids ages 6 months and older.
“I have peace of mind knowing that even if he is exposed to either one of those illnesses, he is much less likely to develop severe complications because I have vaccinated him,” she said. “I trust the vaccines. They are safe.”
Children ages 6 months and older are eligible to get a flu vaccine as well as a COVID-19 vaccine, with “rare exceptions,” according to the CDC. Both vaccinations are free and are widely available to doctors’ offices and local pharmacies.
Bracho-Sanchez said it is safe for children to get both their flu and COVID-19 vaccine shots at the same time.
She also said it’s important for adult caregivers and loved ones of children to also get vaccinated against both the flu and COVID-19.
2. Watching for symptoms: Bracho-Sanchez said it’s a reality that most children will develop at least one cold this season, and that most will recover at home and have no lingering complications.
There are times, as Bracho-Sanchez said she experienced, that a child needs additional medical help, so she said she continues to watch for those symptoms in her own son.
Those symptoms include dehydration, a fever that lasts for three days or longer, and a child who is worsening or experiencing respiratory distress, according to Bracho-Sanchez.
“A child who’s breathing fast or who looks like they’re having trouble breathing, like they’re having to work so hard to breathe, that is the sign to go seek help,” she said. “And any child who had been getting better at home and all of a sudden seems to worsen, the fevers had gone away and now they come back, or they had been perking up a little bit, and all of a sudden, they really seem like they’re not acting like themselves, that is a child that needs to be seen as soon as possible.”
3. Limiting indoor gatherings: Bracho-Sanchez said she is limiting the parties and indoor gatherings that she and her husband and son attend to only those that are “really meaningful.”
“We want to see family this holiday season. Our family is getting vaccinated, and we’re not going to cancel those gatherings,” she said. “But perhaps things that are less meaningful to us, we’re going to skip this season.”
She continued, “We’re still going to playgrounds. We’re still doing outdoor play dates when we can, when the weather allows it, because he’s still a child and it’s important for us to live our lives as best we can and prioritize the things that are meaningful to us.”
4. Wearing face masks: Bracho-Sanchez said she and her husband continue to wear face masks when in crowded, indoor spaces, even if they are no longer mandatory.
“It does no harm and it can actually bring you some protection,” she said of mask wearing in crowded spaces. “Kids over [age] 2 do really, really well with masks if you teach them and if you normalize it for them.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics says face masks should not be worn by children under age 2. It recommends face masks be worn by several groups of people, including those over age 2 who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 and by families with babies under 6 months of age who cannot be vaccinated.
5. Staying home when sick: Bracho-Sanchez said if her son is experiencing cold or flu-like symptoms like a fever or a runny nose or cough, she will keep him home from daycare to help prevent the spread of germs.
“I know so many of us have missed work, have had to cancel other activities when our kids get sick because so many colds are going around,” she said. “But as best we can, let’s keep them home if they are sick.”
6. Washing hands: Bracho-Sanchez said she encourages families, including her own, to continue the good hand-washing habits that so many people developed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Hand-washing can absolutely help us prevent COVID-19, influenza, RSV, and so many other things that are circulating right now,” she said. “So absolutely keep up the hand-washing, keep up the hand-sanitizing when you don’t have access to a sink and let’s keep teaching our children and getting them in that habit.”
Hans Gutknecht/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Health officials are making another urgent push to encourage flu and COVID vaccinations, as multiple respiratory viruses swirl around the country inundating both pediatric and adult hospitals. About 75% of pediatric hospital beds are filled and flu hospitalizations are at the highest level in a decade, for this time in the season.
“Levels of flu-like illness, which includes people going to the doctor with a fever, cough or sore throat are at either high or very high levels in 47 jurisdictions and that is up from 36 jurisdictions just last week,” said Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during a telebriefing today.
This week, the CDC is observing National Influenza Vaccination Week to encourage everyone over 6 months and older to get a flu shot. Experts say it’s not too late to get vaccinated.
“I want to emphasize that flu vaccines can be lifesaving and importantly, there is still time to get vaccinated to be protected against flu this season and its potentially serious consequences,” said Walensky.
This flu season has been one of the most significant in recent memory with nearly 9 million illnesses, 78,000 hospitalizations and 4,500 deaths from flu so far, according to CDC estimates.
This year’s flu vaccine, as well as the updated COVID booster, have been formulated to better protect against currently circulating strains. Experts say you can get both shots at the same time.
“You can get both [flu and COVID] vaccines at the same time. I know everyone’s tired of getting shots. We all have booster fatigue. But understand, you could get really, really sick this year and ruin your holiday celebrations if you don’t get vaccinated,” said Dr. Sandra Fryhofer, board chair of the American Medical Association during the CDC telebriefing.
Those who have received the updated COVID booster have a 15 times lower risk of death from the disease, according to CDC data. Those over the age of 5 are currently eligible for the shot, while Pfizer and BioNTech have just submitted an application to the FDA to authorize the shot as a booster in children 6 months through 4 years of age, according to a press release out today.
COVID hospitalizations are beginning to trend upwards again as well, with those over the age of 70 seeing a nearly 28% increase in the past week.
While there are vaccines available for flu and COVID, RSV is another threatening virus that has especially impacted pediatric hospitals – a virus with no vaccine currently authorized in the U.S.
If you do get diagnosed with flu and COVID, there are antivirals available that can reduce the impact of symptoms as well as the possibility of severe illness and death.
“There are specific antivirals for flu and specific antivirals for COVID. But flu antivirals don’t work for COVID and vice versa. And the only way to know for sure what you have is to get tested,” said Fryhofer.
Experts also reiterated the importance of staying home when sick in addition to getting your shots.
“Please stay home when you’re sick. Share your love by not sharing your sickness. This holiday season, please get vaccinated, it’s the best way to protect yourself, it’s the best way to protect your loved ones and it’s the best way to protect your community,” said Dr. Sandra Fryhofer.
(PORTLAND, Ore.) — Between 2000 and 2020, reports to poison centers for child and teen marijuana use increased by 245%, according to a new study from the Oregon Health and Science University.
The researchers analyzed more than 330,000 reports in the National Poison Data System over the last 20 years and found the increase in marijuana rates was the most of any substance, with the largest increase between 2017 and 2020.
Alok Patel, ABC News medical contributor and pediatrician at Stanford Children’s Health, said he’s not surprised. “Marijuana is readily accessible, in multiple forms, whether at a store, from a friend or relative, or online,” he told ABC News.
Alcohol use reports slowly decreased across the same time frame and were surpassed by marijuana in 2014, according to the study.
Edible marijuana preparations accounted for the highest increase in calls to poison centers, while dextromethorphan, used in cough medicine, had the highest number of cases across the 20-year period, accounting for 15% of reports. This was followed by benzodiazepines, such as Valium and Xanax, which made up 7.5% of cases.
Marijuana had the highest number of calls from 2018 to 2020. Older male teens ages 16 to 18 were the most likely to be involved with the reported cases, regardless of the substance, the study found.
The reports to poison centers were calls from health professionals, public health agencies or the public for exposures to any substance where there was a health concern and intentional misuse. The calls may have come in because people used the drug improperly, took it to achieve a high or overdosed. Deaths from any substance were rare (0.1%) and most deadly ingestions were in older adolescents.
Overall, between 2000 and 2020, the substances most commonly responsible for calls to poison centers were over-the-counter medications, household products, or common childhood prescriptions, like Benadryl, Tylenol or anti-depressant medications.
In the study, the authors wrote that they suspected the rapid increase in reports of child marijuana use, particularly between 2017 and 2020, may be related to the recent legalization of marijuana across the nation. However, this will require more research to clarify.
“These are important conversations that need to happen alongside conversations about legalizing marijuana,” Patel said. “While it is true that other substances are far more dangerous when ingested, this doesn’t mean marijuana is harmless… We still have a lot to learn about the long-term effects of marijuana use in the developing adolescent brain.”
Surya Manickam, MD MSc, is a resident physician in pediatrics at Columbia University/New York-Presbyterian Hospital and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.
(LOS ANGELES) — Los Angeles County may soon reimpose indoor mask mandates as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to rise in the area.
During a press conference Thursday, LA County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said the largest county in the United States had reached “medium” COVID-19 transmission levels and will require face coverings if it reaches the “high” category.
As of Dec. 1, Los Angeles County is averaging 2,490 new COVID-19 infections every day, the highest number recorded since Aug. 26, according to health department data.
Ferrer said the real count is likely much higher due to several people testing positive with at-home rapid tests and not reporting the results to health officials or due to people not testing at all.
Additionally, there are currently 1,164 residents hospitalized in the county due to the virus, which is the highest number of patients seen since Aug. 11.
Daily deaths are still relatively low at 14, but the figure could rise because COVID-related fatalities tend to lag a few weeks behind case and hospitalization increases, Ferrer noted.
“There is this common line of thinking that the pandemic is over and COVID is no longer of concern, but these numbers clearly demonstrate that COVID is still with us,” she said.
Two weeks ago, county officials said they were “strongly recommending” that residents wear masks in indoor public settings but stopped short of requiring them after the COVID-19 case rate hit 100 per 100,000 residents.
Currently, the weekly rate is 185 per 100,000 and Los Angeles County would likely be considered “high” if it reaches 200 per 100,000.
If cases keep climbing at the same rate, Ferrer said the county will likely reach the “high” category by next week.
According to Ferrer, mask requirements will return if Los Angeles County sees daily average hospital admissions exceed a rate of 10 per 100,000 and if more than 10% of staffed inpatient beds are being occupied by COVID patients. Both are benchmarks set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Given both the increases in hospitalizations and the lack of certainty in the winter trajectory for COVID-19, continuing some common-sense mitigation strategies that we know work to limit transmission and illness, including masking and being up to date on vaccines and boosters, remains a very sensible approach,” she said.
Health department data shows 73% of all residents are fully vaccinated but the percentages vary widely by age.
Seniors aged 65 and older have the highest rate with 92% fully vaccinated while children between ages 6 months and 4 years have the lowest rate with just 6% fully vaccinated.
(NEW YORK) — The U.S. is facing a surge of respiratory viruses, mainly driven by COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.
Flu and RSV have appeared earlier than usual and have particularly affected children, leading to 78% of pediatric hospital beds being full, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
All three viruses have symptoms that are similar, which can make them difficult to tell apart. But knowing which virus a person has can help them receive proper treatment or, if need be, let them know if they need to isolate.
Here are some questions to consider when trying to determine if you have COVID-19, flu or RSV.
What are the symptoms?
COVID-19, flu and RSV are more similar to each other than they are different in terms of symptoms.
One of the only symptoms exclusive to one virus and not the others is loss of taste and smell, which has been a hallmark symptom of COVID-19.
However, public health experts told ABC News the absence of one of the symptoms does not mean a patient doesn’t have a particular virus and that the only way to be sure is to get tested.
“In most cases, if anybody has generic symptoms, such as fever, cough, runny nose, there’s going to be no real way to distinguish which one is which without a test,” Dr. Scott Roberts, an assistant professor and the associate medical director of infection prevention at Yale School of Medicine, told ABC News.
How quickly did symptoms come about?
Flu symptoms typically appear rather quickly while symptoms of RSV and COVID-19 appear more gradually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
COVID-19 has an incubation period of two to 14 days while RSV has an average incubation of about five days but can be anywhere from two to eight days.
By comparison, flu has an incubation period of one to four days.
“So, if somebody says, ‘I went to Thanksgiving party yesterday where someone had flu and the next day I had a fever,’ I can already tell you that’s flu,” Roberts said. “I know it’s much too fast for it to be COVID.”
How old is the patient?
Public health experts told ABC News that depending on how old a patient is can affect the severity of the disease.
For example, RSV is most severe for infants younger than six months older and young children, particularly those with weakened immune systems or congenital lung or heart disease.
“Children under six months of age and children maybe a little bit older who have underlying medical conditions or who were premature, end up with the shortness of breath and the difficulty breathing because their airways are just so small, and they don’t have a lot of reserve there to move air through the small air passages when they’re inflamed,” Dr. Shira Doron, an infectious disease physician and hospital epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, told ABC News.
However, relatively young and healthy adults are not likely to have a severe case of RSV if they get infected.
“In children, we tend to see a lot more of the sort of bronchiolitis respiratory issues with RSV,” Dr. Allison Bartlett, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Chicago Medical Center, told ABC News. “Adults, when they get RSV, it tends to be a like a cold. It’s just like one of the colds that you would get every year.”
With COVID-19, age is the number one risk factor when it comes to severe disease and death.
As of the week ending Nov. 19, Americans aged 65 and older make up 92% of all deaths from the virus, according to an ABC News analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
What treatments or precautions do I need to follow?
“Not everyone needs to be tested; our pediatricians’ offices and hospitals are overloaded,” Bartlett said. However, figuring what the illness is can help treat the patient and potentially family members or close contacts, she said.
For example, with COVID-19, it’s important to follow CDC guidelines, which include isolating for at least five days — or longer if symptoms don’t improve — and wearing a mask around others.
Additionally, they can be prescribed Paxlovid if they are at risk of severe illness.
With flu, patients can receive Tamiflu to shorten the course of their illness as long as it is given early on and people who are exposed to flu can receive the treatment to prevent them from getting sick.
However, the most important thing a person can do if they are infected — when possible — is to stay home.
“If you’re really, really sick, go the hospital. If you’re not that sick, and it looks like a common cold, then you stay home and don’t infect people,” Doron said.
(NEW YORK) — Pumpkin seed oil, zinc and other nutritional supplements may help with hair loss, according to new research published in JAMA Dermatology.
Researchers in Boston and Miami reviewed 30 different studies — some had men participating, while others focused on women, and another looked at hair loss in children — and found nutritional supplements with the best potential benefits from several hair loss brands and natural supplements.
A few of the brands include Viviscal, Nourkrin, Nutrafol, Lamdapil and Pantogar, and potentially beneficial supplements include the likes of capsaicin and isoflavone, omegas 3 and 6 with antioxidants, apple nutraceutical, total glucosides of paeony and compound glycyrrhizin tablets, zinc, tocotrienol and pumpkin seed oil, according to the findings, published Wednesday.
All of the supplements in the study reportedly had mild to no side effects.
Whether or not the supplements work may depend on the person and the type of hair loss that person is experiencing, according to health experts.
The study reported that zinc improved hair thickness and density, apple nutraceutical showed increased hair density and hair formation, and Viviscal showed improvements in hair counts and decreased hair shedding.
ABC News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton, who has shared her own COVID-related hair loss journey, said the supplements noted in the research are “widely available.”
She said treatment options will be individual to each person.
“I think the bottom line here is that you have to get at, pardon the pun, the root cause of your hair loss, because it’s not one size fits all,” Ashton said Friday on ABC’s Good Morning America. “But if you look at how these supplements produced the results that they did, according to this compilation of studies, they varied.”
Ashton recommends speaking with a dermatologist to discuss treatment options and what works best for a specific type of hair loss. She said the evidence is still emerging on the beneficial effects of supplements for hair loss.
“I want to emphasize these results can vary,” said Ashton. “They can be mild. They can be more significant, but for people suffering with significant hair loss issues, usually a visit to a dermatologist is step one.”
Ashton said she found success by varying her hair styling techniques, in addition to diet and supplements.
“It’s not just about diet and nutritional supplements, but I think the key thing here is evaluate your particular situation,” she said. “For me, diet was a big contributing factor, but then resting your hair from styling or coloring damage and my favorite, those clip-on ponies and wigs, can be really, really helpful.”
Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILE
(WASHINGTON) — Health officials are warning of a “triple threat” of flu, RSV and COVID-19 across the country and hospitals are continuing to see a surge in pediatric RSV cases.
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy joined GMA3 to discuss how people can best prepare themselves for the winter months, what this flu season will look like, and how the federal government is working with hospitals and health care workers across the country.
GMA3: Doctor, good to have you with us, as always. I know you have to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time, but we’re talking about flu, RSV and COVID. Can you give us an idea, though, which one of these is kind of your leading concern, given what we’re seeing in hospitals?
MURTHY: Well, it’s so good to be with all of you again. Look, I think we have to be cognizant that all three; COVID, RSV, and the flu are threats… The good news is that we are not powerless in the face of these viruses. There is something we can do to help prevent our kids and adults from getting these.
And this is very personal for me too, my two small kids who are 4 and 6. They’ve both been sick this winter with various viruses. I was in the emergency room myself with my daughter, who was ill a couple of weeks ago. So I know how this feels for parents who are scared and worried out there.
Well, with COVID and the flu, the good news is we have vaccines available and the most important job of these vaccines is to save your life and keep you out of the hospital. And by that measure, they are working well.
So I would urge parents to please get your children and get yourself vaccinated for COVID and the flu. You can do that at the same time by the way. For RSV, it turns out that that virus spreads similar to other viruses.
And taking measures like staying home if you’re sick, avoiding contact with those who are sick, making sure you’re washing your hands regularly. These can all help us with reducing the spread of the virus.
Let’s keep this in mind because it’s more important than ever, especially as hospitals are filling up, children’s hospitals in particular, that we take these measures because they’re one way that we can take care of our kids, but also relieve the strain on health care workers.
GMA3: Dr. Murthy, I hope you don’t mind us asking, though, as you mentioned your kids, are the little ones okay?
MURTHY: Well, thank you so much for asking. Yes, thankfully, we were blessed to be able to get good care for my daughter. Their doctors and nurses took great care of her and she was in the hospital for about the better part of a day, but was able to come home. And she’s much better now. Thank you.
GMA3: And Vivek, it’s Jen. Nice to talk to you again. I want to stay on RSV for a second because as you know, there are some hospitals in certain parts of the country that are at or approaching 100% capacity for their pediatric beds, even though elderly people are also affected by RSV. What in particular is being done at the hospital level to help them with resources that they need?
MURTHY: Yeah, I’m glad you raised this because I think many people may not realize this strain on our hospital systems right now. And this is a strain not just due to RSV, but for the last two and a half years.
Our nurses, doctors, pharmacists, health care workers have been dealing with waves of COVID, and they are under great strain now. We have been cognizant of this and working very closely with health care systems, with the medical associations and with states and local jurisdictions directly.
We’re doing several things. Number one, we’re offering them direct support when they need it in terms of personnel, ventilators, equipment. We are also working closely with them to coordinate so that across a given region or a state, beds can be utilized and at the most efficient, so that even if one hospital doesn’t have beds, they can work with other institutions that may have space, you know, in their region.
And we’re staying closely aligned with them to provide additional trainings and support as needed. So we’re all in this together.
We’re going to stay working closely with these institutions to make sure they have the resources they need. But keep in mind that if you want to help the hospital systems one of the most important things you can do is to get vaccinated for COVID and flu, to reach for Paxlovid, which is a medication to treat COVID-19 if you’re in a high risk group. These are some of the best ways to keep people out of the hospital, and our hospitals need all the support that they can get right now.
GMA3: Dr. Murthy, I want to talk about influenza now. According to the CDC, two thirds of states here in this country are reporting high or very high levels of influenza-like activity. Talk about why we’re seeing these high numbers so early and what your concerns are heading into the winter months.
MURTHY: Hmm. So it’s a good question. The last couple of years have been very unusual for flu and RSV. You know, during the early years of COVID, when people were isolated, taking precautions, including wearing masks, we actually saw very low rates of flu and RSV compared to normal years.
And now as we come back to normal and as you know, more and more people are getting back to their day to day lives. We’re seeing these viruses come back and at some point they will equilibrate.
But this year, we have seen RSV and flu come earlier than normal. The good news with RSV is we’re in some parts of the country is starting to see a slowing, if you will, of the rate of rise. And that might indicate that a peak may be coming soon. We don’t know exactly when that will be, but those are some promising signs across the country.
But the bottom line is, you know, we can’t let up our guard. We have to take the precautions that we need to prevent the spread of these viruses, like washing our hands, wearing masks in crowded indoor spaces, and like making sure that we’re staying home if we’re sick. And of course, again, with COVID and flu, please get vaccinated as soon as you can. Winter is here. Cases are high and we want people to be protected.
GMA3: What’s your prediction right now? A potential COVID surge this winter, given what you’re seeing right now?
MURTHY: Well, I think we have to be prepared for the fact that we will see a rise in COVID cases in some parts of the country. We’re already seeing cases start to go up. But I do think that we will be in a better place than we were in the last two winters when we had surges.
And the reason I think we’ll be in a better place is that we have more people who have protection, either from vaccinations or from prior infection. We also have medications like Paxlovid to treat those who are in high risk groups like the elderly.
So the bottom line is, I do think we’ll be in a better position, but we need people to use these tools. And one thing that’s worth underscoring is if people are up to date with their vaccines, if they’ve gotten especially the updated COVID-19 booster vaccine… gotten your last shot two months or out, you’re now eligible to get.
If you updated your vaccines and if you reach for Paxlovid, you know, if you are in fact, in a high risk group and get sick, your chances of dying from COVID are really, really low. And so right now, we’re losing between 300 to 400 people a day to COVID-19.
The most — and most of those deaths are actually preventable if you’re up to date with your vaccines, if you reach for medications like Paxlovid, if you do get sick and we want people to know about that so they can be safe.
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering updating its blood donation policy, which currently places some restrictions on blood donations from sexually active gay and bisexual men.
In a statement, an FDA spokesperson said, “While we can’t comment on what might be in the content of the guidance, we can say that the screening policy we put forward will be gender neutral and science-based.”
The announcement on Wednesday was made on the eve of World AIDS Day, a day to spread awareness of and dismantle the stigma associated with the disease.
Public health experts and advocates said relaxing restrictions doesn’t only help battle stigma but could also help address future blood shortages.
“The plan for the FDA to revise its donation guidelines is absolutely a step in the right direction because what it does is it’s going to move the criteria from a population-centered approach to a risk-approach,” Dr. Perry Halkitis, dean of Rutgers School of Public Health whose research focuses on HIV and disparities in the LGBTQ population, told ABC News.
A ban on gay and bisexual blood donors began during the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s, which primarily affected gay and bisexual men. The FDA banned all donations from men who have sex with men in 1985 in response to the crisis.
This restriction remained in place until 2015, when the policy was changed to allow such donors to give blood if they abstained from sex for one year. In 2020, amid severe blood shortages during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA shortened the abstinence period to 90 days.
“At the time of the initial epidemic, we had no way of identifying and testing for AIDS and HIV,” Ayako Miyashita Ochoa, an adjunct professor at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs whose research focuses on HIV-related health disparities, told ABC News. “What radically shifted over the decades is that testing came online a long time ago, So, at the point in which we were able to identify the virus, I believe that the lifetime deferral became outdated.”
If a policy change is implemented, gay and bisexual men in monogamous relationships can donate without abstaining from sex. It follows several other Western countries that have recently dropped bans or eased restrictions including the United Kingdom, France, Greece and the Netherlands.
Activists said these restrictions are based solely on identity rather than individual risk because the ban even applies to gay men who are monogamous, test HIV negative and practice safe sex.
“There is a perception that being a gay or bisexual person is in and of itself unsafe,” Sarah Warbelow, the legal director at Human Rights Campaign, told ABC News. “We have to differentiate between what are behaviors that place people at risk — and that’s all people at risk –” and identity based restrictions.
“Not every gay man is the same, not every bisexual man is the same, not every straight person is the same,” Halkitis added. “And so recognizing that people are — within each population — diverse is a much better way to assess the risks that people take and then deciding based on people’s risk.”
The American Red Cross and the American Medical Association have both supported a risk-based approach to donor eligibility.
The FDA said there is no “specific timeline” for the update because the agency is currently collecting and analyzing data from multiple sources. However, in a statement to ABC News, the FDA says the evidence analyzed so far will “likely support a policy transition” that focuses screening blood donations based on each person’s HIV risk.
In 2020, the FDA launched a study called ADVANCE to look into alternative solutions to its current policy. The FDA is currently reviewing research from the American Red Cross, OneBlood and Vitalant to determine if eligibility based on an individual’s risk can replace the current time-based deferral system while maintaining the safety of the blood supply.
Despite the growing research on HIV/AIDS, as well as the success in tackling and treating the illness, the shame and stigma against the LGBTQ community remains.
“As LGBTQ leaders and medical experts have been saying for years: bans and restrictions on blood donations from gay and bisexual men are rooted in stigma, not science,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD.
She continued, “Giving one set of rules to some people, and another set of rules to others, based purely on identity, is blatant discrimination. This fight is not over until all LGBTQ Americans who want to donate blood are met with the same protocols as other Americans.”
Experts say the updated policy will also help address the national blood shortage and, in turn, save lives. In January 2022, the American Red Cross said it was facing its worst blood shortage in more than a decade.
A 2014 study co-authored by Miysahista Ochoa found that eliminating the ban could increase the donation supply by 2% to 4%, bringing in more than 615,000 pints of blood every year.
“That isn’t a small amount,” she said. “That 2 to 4% count is roughly calculated to a million lives saved.”
