Health and Wellness 9

Amid COVID-19 Pandemic, Stop the Spread of Flu

By d-mars.com News Provider

Amid the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, with hospitals and health care workers already overburdened, medical experts say it’s more important than ever to slow the spread of the flu. In a typical year, the flu causes tens of millions of illnesses, hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations, and tens of thousands of deaths in the U.S.

That is why the Ad Council, the American Medical Association (AMA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the CDC Foundation have launched a new campaign, “No One Has Time for Flu.” As part of the campaign, Dr. Susan R. Bailey, M.D., president of the AMA, is sharing important insights about flu vaccination:

• Flu vaccines are safe: The flu vaccine is a safe, effective step that physicians and public health experts recommend to protect patients and their loved ones from getting sick with influenza. This year, doctor's offices and pharmacies are taking steps to ensure vaccines can be provided safely during the COVID-19 pandemic. The CDC recommends that each year everyone 6 months and older (with rare exceptions) get a flu vaccine early in the season, preferably by the end of October, before flu is spreading widely.

• Getting one is important this year: Because you can get flu and COVID-19 at the same time, it’s especially important for people with underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk of serious complications -- and their caregivers -- to get their flu shot. At the community level, the potential impact of a bad flu season during the COVID-19 pandemic could be devastating. Getting a flu shot will help keep others healthy and help make sure health care workers and hospitals have the resources to continue to treat

COVID-19 patients.

• Flu protection is especially urgent for people of color: Due to longstanding health care inequities, Black and Latinx/Hispanic people are disproportionately affected by underlying conditions which can cause both COVID-19 and flu complications. This results in much greater rates of flu-related hospitalizations. Indeed, a new CDC analysis of 10 flu seasons showed that Black people were hospitalized at a rate twice as high as White people.

Black and LatinX/Hispanic communities are also less likely to get vaccinated due to a range of barriers. CDC data shows that in the 2019-20 flu season, Latinx/Hispanic adults had the lowest flu vaccination coverage (38.3 percent), with non-Hispanic Black adults next lowest (41.2 percent).

• Getting vaccinated is easy: Vaccines are often free or offered at very low cost. To learn more about safe, affordable flu vaccination, including where to get one in your area, visit GetMyFluShot.org. You can also view a short video on flu vaccination by visiting, youtu.be/cl7wNuU5IIU.

Source: StatePoint

“No one has time to get sick from flu -- especially this year,” says Dr. Bailey. “Getting a flu shot is one thing we all can do to help protect ourselves, our families and our communities.”

COVID-19 and Face Coverings: The Different Types and Why it Matters

By d-mars.com News Provider

our neighbor is selling fashion masks. Your uncle – expert at everything – wears a sophisticated respirator with a valve. Your dental hygienist wears a medical mask. Your kid is running off to sports practice in a team-supplied neck gaiter. Is there a difference between these face coverings?

In the U.S., over 7 million people have been infected by COVID-19 and over 200,000 have died. According to health authorities, the virus that causes COVID-19 predominantly spreads when people talk, cough and sneeze. In addition to measures such as maintaining physical distancing and frequent handwashing, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently recommends everyone wear a cloth mask when out in public, especially in areas where physical distancing is a challenge, to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Since respirators are in critical supply and the global personal protective equipment (PPE) industry can’t make enough to meet this current demand, respirators and medical masks should be reserved for healthcare workers and other medical first responders.

Wearing a face covering is important: a cloth face covering, such as a reusable mask may help protect others from the wearer. A respirator (when worn properly) helps protect the wearer from airborne hazards around them.

With the COVID-19 pandemic still affecting our daily lives, it's important to know how choosing a face covering can help those on the frontlines to get what they need to continue the fight. One of the world’s biggest manufacturers of N95 respirators, 3M, created a chart, available at news.3m.com, to help explain the differences between cloth masks/face coverings, surgical masks, and N95 respirators. Ultimately, how you live and work should inform the type of mask you wear.

Face coverings and masks: general public and workers. At public spaces and certain workplaces where protection from occupational hazards is not needed, non-medical disposable and cloth masks that cover your nose and mouth completely may help reduce the spread of COVID-19 (along with other measures such as physical distancing and frequent handwashing) by protecting others from exposure to particles generated by the wearer. Designs with unfiltered valves, such as those with drinking straw holes, or any visible gaps, are not sufficient face coverings under some government guidance. General use masks should not be overly tight and should feel comfortable to wear. A face mask is not the same as a medical mask or respirator.

Medical masks: health care workers. Medical masks are designed to be used by health care workers to help provide a barrier to high-velocity streams of liquid, as well as a barrier to particles that might be expelled by the wearer. This second reason is why health care workers wear medical masks – to help protect patients. Patients may also wear them to help protect others around them. Medical masks meet specific standards and are FDA-cleared for hospital use in the U.S. They fit loosely on the face, so do not provide respiratory protection.

N95 Respirators: health care and critical frontline and certain other essential workers. When used correctly, N95 respirators are designed to create a tight seal to the face and provide respiratory protection. Because the entire surface of the respirator is a filter, it is efficient at capturing at least 95% of non-oily airborne particles that the wearer might breathe in, including liquid droplets that may contain viruses and germs. Respirators with valves are not recommended by the CDC for use in certain settings, such as health care environments that require a sterile field.

For more information on different face coverings, visit www.3m.com.

To stay up to date, consult the CDC and other health authorities for the latest guidelines, updates and recommended precautions around COVID-19.

Source: StatePoint

As Clinical Trials Halt, U.S. Covid Cases Surge

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire

li Lilly recently announced that it would pause a governmentsponsored COVID-19 clinical trial because of a potential safety concern.

The drug manufacturer did not specify the concern, but the experimental vaccine is reportedly similar to the one President Donald Trump has claimed cured him of the coronavirus.

Earlier, Johnson & Johnson put the brakes on a COVID-19 vaccine trial after the company noted an “unexplained illness” reported by a participant.

In September, Great Britain officials held off on a potential vaccine when a participant reported a concerning reaction.

The difficulty in producing a vaccine for the deadly virus comes as a new wave of COVID-19 infection has begun.

Data provided by Johns Hopkins University in Maryland revealed that the U.S. surpassed 51,000 new daily cases on Oct. 13, marking the first time in over two months that the number exceeded 50,000.

The average daily number of new cases stands at 48 percent higher than two months ago when 34,354 were reported.

More than 36,000 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized on Oct. 13, the highest number recorded since August.

Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that African Americans remain three times as likely as whites to contract the coronavirus, five times as likely to end up in the hospital, and twice as likely to die from COVID-19

While the race and ethnicity of those who

contract the virus are known in just 52 percent of cases, 7 of the 10 U.S. counties with the highest death rates from COVID-19 have populations where people of color make up the majority, according to data compiled by USA Today.

Of the top 50 counties with the highest death rates, 31 are populated mostly by people of color.

“Put simply, America’s history of racism was itself a preexisting condition,” study authors wrote for USA Today.

Additionally, one report noted that had African Americans died at the same rate as whites; approximately 20,800 Black people would still be alive.

Dr. James Hildreth, the president of the historically Black Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, told the Black Press that his school is among four HBCUs preparing to host on campus COVID-19 clinical trials.

Dr. Hildreth previously advised against any vaccine touted by Trump, where the president exclaimed would be ready before Election Day.

“It’s true that Black people have little trust in clinical trials, and that’s understandable,” Dr. Hildreth stressed. “We’ve engendered a level of trust with communities of color that other organizations just don’t have, and it’s imperative for us as HBCUs to rise to this occasion.”

Dr. Hildreth noted that Meharry’s trial would feature a vaccine made by Novavax.

“I’ll be the first patient,” Dr. Hildreth said, again punctuating the trust that’s needed to secure African American participants.

“By engaging with the four Black medical schools, [participants] will have individuals who look like them, sitting across the table, having these conversations, and we think that’s going to make a huge difference.”

“By engaging with the four Black medical schools, [participants] will have individuals who look like them, sitting across the table, having these conversations, and we think that’s going to make a huge difference.”

The Women Leading the Fight Against COVID-19

By d-mars.com News Provider

Less than 30 percent of the world’s researchers are women, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. However, one team fighting against COVID-19 is not only leading the charge to save lives, but also in empowering women in science, encouraging the next generation of girls and young women to pursue STEM education.

At biotechnology company Allied BioScience, chief science officer Maha El-Sayed, PhD leads a femaledominated team of researchers, and their work has the potential to be a game changer in the fight against COVID-19 and other future viruses. Their product, SurfaceWise2, continuously kills 99.9 percent of viruses, including, most importantly, the virus that causes COVID-19

“When it comes to women in STEM, there’s a lot of untapped potential. It’s my hope that our team can inspire young women to pursue careers in science, and inspire other research teams to bring more talented women into the fold and elevate them to positions where they can drive real change,” says Dr. El-Sayed.

As Dr. El-Sayed explains, human coronaviruses can persist on inanimate surfaces such as plastic, glass, fibers and metals for up to nine days. This makes it critical to protect high-traffic facilities where the contamination of surfaces is continuous, such as schools, stadiums, restaurants, offices and retail spaces. More advanced than comparative products in reducing chemical and disinfectant exposure, SurfaceWise2 was proven in independent

studies conducted by infectious disease experts to be effective against Human Coronavirus 229E, the EPAapproved surrogate, demonstrating the ability to successfully protect against COVID-19. It’s the first such product to be EPA-approved.

So how is it used? Compatible with virtually all surfaces, SufaceWise2 is applied via an electronic spray for efficient, complete and uniform treatment. Droplets are small -- 900 times smaller than an average droplet -- and applied at a force of 75 times greater than gravity, causing a “wraparound effect,” and a natural force of attraction between the sprayed droplets and target surfaces. Once applied, the long-lasting antiviral coating physically breaks down the cells of bacteria and viruses that land on treated surfaces, effectively and continuously killing them without giving the bacteria a chance to mutate and build up resistance.

Despite its potency, this solution is very safe for humans, even in enclosed spaces. Non-toxic, non-irritating, odorless and containing no chemicals that produce harmful vapors or gases, it’s already used by airlines, hospitality and travel companies, and in healthcare spaces. In the coming months, Dr. ElSayed and her team

expect to see further use in professional sporting facilities, restaurant dining rooms, offices, schools and other spaces.

As the nation fights to safely reopen, the work of dedicated, female scientists is making a vital difference in saving lives and in helping businesses, communities and families return to normalcy. To learn more about the work and achievements of Dr. El-Sayed and her team, visit www.surfacewise. com.

“Shedding light on the scientific achievements of women, particularly at this critical time in history, is essential to inspiring the next generation of girls and young women to pursue STEM education and careers in science,” says Dr. El-Sayed.

Source: StatePoint,