Tracking Workplace Transmissible Diseases

• In today’s Recommendations for Industry, we discuss tracking other (non-COVID 19) workplace transmissible diseases including Legionnaires Disease. Read more below.
• The WHO is warning of the “strong likelihood” of new and possibly more dangerous variants. Watch WHO’s discussion on Youtube. The new center of the pandemic is now Indonesia!
• Canada is re-opening its borders! The border will first reopen on August 9^th to Americans. Starting August 9^th, U.S. fully vaccinated citizens and permanent residents from the US will enter Canada. Additionally, Canada’s vaccination rates have now surpassed the U.S.
• As we’ve seen in the U.S. Risk Matrix, CIDRAP reports that US-COVID-19 cases are up 140% in the past 2 weeks; in fact, COVID-19 cases continue to climb, driven by areas of low vaccinations. Hospitalizations have increased by 34% and deaths increased by 33%.
• Half of all hospitalized COVID-19 patients will develop complications. Additionally, recent studies are showing that “long-haul” COVID-19 individuals often have more than 5 symptoms in the first week of infection.
• The COVID-19 vaccine will better protect you than an infection. But more importantly, it’s much safer to get the vaccine than to be infected with COVID-19.
• The NYT discusses the Beta variant. While it has been shown to evade the immune system, it can still be effectively controlled by vaccination.
• Pfizer is now seeking full FDA vaccine approval! The goal for the FDA’s decisions is January 2022.

Public Health & Food Safety:

• Monkeypox is now confirmed in Texas.
• Public Health of England has issued a warning after norovirus cases in England have returned to what they were prior to the pandemic. This is also seen in childcare facilities in New South Wales, Australia. Although hand sanitizers are effective in reducing COVID-19, it has little impact on norovirus.

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Tracking Workplace Transmissible Diseases

Even as we continue to see COVID-19 cases increase around the world, with some significant hotspots in the U.S. as well, TAG is also seeing indications of other workplace transmissible disease issues.

Just as we referenced Johns Hopkins resources to develop TAG insights and recommendations throughout COVID, we are now closely following other science-based resources to track global news about 14 human transmissible diseases – where they are being identified and what that means to you.

Using the real-time, disparate data sources of Healthmap.org as the base, TAG filters and assesses the results of the 14-illness search, for timeliness, relevancy, and impact. We will be providing these assessments in our weekly newsletter, discussing what they mean to your business – and sending updates and guidance should we detect a significant occurrence of any disease of concern.

Our recent tracking has shown some recent and ongoing occurrences of Legionellosis (Legionnaires Disease) illustrative of disease that can be transmitted from water. Legionellosis is a waterborne disease that infects the lungs when inhaled, and the Legionella organism can grow in stagnant ambient water systems and be spread through water aerosols from fountains, air conditioning units, hot tubs – even fire hose and suppression systems.

As workers return to the office and administrative areas that may not have been used for some time – using drinking fountains, turning on air conditioning, etc., the potential exists for the unused systems to have built up such bacteria and disseminate the contaminated aerosol into the air.

As shown by the Oregon outbreak in which the source is continuing to evade public health officials, it can be difficult to trace an outbreak once it starts. Another outbreak at a hotel in Minnesota is currently under investigation as well. Therefore, TAG recommends that businesses take preventive steps prior to reopening un- or little-used areas of facilities. These can include engineering controls and sanitation such as testing and treating the water and inspecting and flushing systems.

TAG is continuing to track workplace transmissible diseases across the US and around the world to help businesses stay ahead of outbreaks and keep their workers and businesses healthy.

• In last Thursday’s Recommendations for Industry, we discussed the potential for increased case rates potentially necessitating re-masking mandates. What does that mean for you, your business, and your employees?
• The Delta variant is the dominant COVID-19 variant, globally; in fact, global COVID-19 deaths have begun to rise with illnesses jumping over 10% over the past week. Countries with the greatest cases, this last week, include Brazil, India, Indonesia, the UK, and Columbia. Despite an increase in vaccines being shipped/delivered to Asia (which has seen their worst surge in COVID-19 infections), Indonesia has surpassed India as Asia’s new COVID-19 epicenter.
• The Delta variant now accounts for 58% of all COVID-19 cases in the United States; we see this in the Risk Matrix in last week’s newsletter & Recommendations for Industry! Similarly, hospitalizations of younger children (due to the Delta variant) have risen in two states, including Mississippi. Despite this, rates of vaccine hesitancy are still high in states (many of which have the highest COVID-19 cases).
• After Pfizer’s briefing with the FDA/CDC, both the FDA & CDC announced that nothing has changed and that fully vaccinated Americans don’t need a booster vaccine shot (at this time).
• Based on a recent real-world study from Israel, Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine has been found to be safe and have 78% efficacy in preventing infections in pregnant women.
• A recent publication in Lancet with data from South Africa has found that there is a potential that the Beta variant of COVID-19 may be deadlier (with a 30% increase of in-hospital death).
• “Children are not just little adults”; why the COVID-19 vaccine isn’t available for kids, yet!
• In last Tuesday’s Recommendations for Industry, we discussed TAG’s new whitepaper on how the pandemic has led to a shift in worker mindsets and what that means for your business. Read more here.
• Although the CDC and FDA have both issued statements that a booster shot against COVID-19 is not needed (at this time, based on current information), Pfizer is expected to discuss vaccine boosters (and its need) with officials in the next few days.
• Additionally, the WHO Director-General is encouraging Moderna and Pfizer to focus on supplying the COVAX vaccine supply (to push down vaccine inequities globally) rather than simply focusing on creating boosters. At the same time, in Israel, COVID-19 booster shots are being offered to at-risk adults.
• The CDC has issued new guidance for schools this fall, emphasizing reopening as “many students have suffered from months of virtual learning.”
• The FDA has added another warning for the J&J vaccine, now indicating that there is a very small potential risk of Guillan-Barré syndrome which has been identified in 10 individuals out of 12.8 million people who have received the vaccine. Altogether, the J&J vaccine is still safe.

Public Health & Food Safety:

• Five European countries (Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands) are investigating Salmonella illnesses associated with tahini and halva from Syria
• There are new changes to the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (National List); these changes will go into effect on July 26.
• A recent study from UGA found that 60% “of cattle fecal samples contained multiple strains of Salmonella that traditional testing methods missed” and that “one out of every 10 samples tested positive for Salmonella Reading, a drug-resistant serotype of Salmonella.”