A Unified Government committee on Monday night gave preliminary approval to mandatory reporting of influenza.
Juliann VanLiew, UG Health Department director, requested an ordinance be passed requiring health care providers such as hospitals, clinics, doctors and laboratories in Wyandotte County to report flu cases to the Health Department.
Currently, it’s not a reportable illness to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Measles, tuberculosis, chicken pox, polio and COVID-19, and many other illnesses, are reported to the state health department.
COVID-19 has some symptoms in common with the flu, including a fever, cough, sore throat and runny nose, although not everyone has all these symptoms. One of the differences between the two seems to be that people with COVID-19 sometimes lose their sense of smell and taste, and COVID-19 sometimes leads to more serious illnesses, according to the CDC website.
The current state rules in Kansas require flu to be reported only when it is involved with the death of a child, VanLiew said. Kansas City, Missouri, currently requires flu cases to be reported to health officials, she said.
VanLiew said this change could make a big difference at the local level. The Health Department wants to better understand the difference of flu and COVID-19 and its spread, and how it affects the population, she said. It would allow the department to monitor and respond to both influenza and COVID-19.
The proposed ordinance requires lab-confirmed flu cases to be reported to the Health Department within seven calendar days, and it would use a simple form, she said.
Also, she said the Health Department is not collecting protected personal information about flu cases, but more general information, such as date of diagnosis, age, and Zip Code.
The proposed ordinance says violation would be a misdemeanor. Repeated patterns of failure to report could be reported to licensing boards, according to the proposed ordinance.
The UG Administration and Human Services Committee voted unanimously Monday night to send the ordinance on to the full UG Commission on Nov. 5.
The Health Department stated recently that it plans to offer flu shots this year.
For differences and similarities of the flu and COVID-19, visit https://www.cdc.gov/flu/symptoms/flu-vs-covid19.htm.
Wyandotte County reported an additional 89 COVID-19 cases on Monday, for a cumulative total of 8,125, according to the UG COVID-19 webpage. There were no additional deaths reported, with a cumulative total of 164.
The state of Kansas reported an additional 2,446 cases since Friday, for a cumulative total of 78,676, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. There was one additional death, for a cumulative total of 976. According to the KDHE, during the weekend, the KDHE disease surveillance system, EpiTrax, received an update, automating a process that was previously done manually. About 300 cases from today’s update are attributed to that review, according to KDHE.
At the University of Kansas Health System, there were 29 active COVID-19 patients in the hospital, down from 30 on Friday, with nine patients in the intensive care unit, the same as Friday, and four patients on ventilators, down from six on Friday, according to Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at KU Health System. There were 37 other patients hospitalized because of COVID-19 but in the recovery phase, an increase from 30 on Friday. HaysMed in Hays, Kansas, reported 17 COVID-19 patients, an increase from 16 on Friday, and four of those are in the recovery phase.
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at KU Health System, at the KU Health System news conference Monday morning was concerned about the rise in COVID-19 cases in the nation and in the Kansas City area, especially with the flu season near. Dr. Stites noted there has been a reported 35 percent increase in COVID-19 positive rates in the two-week rolling average nationally. He encouraged everyone to get a flu shot and to remember to observe the rules of infection control, wear a mask, wash hands and socially distance.
Vaccine development
Dr. Hawkinson said COVID-19 patients in the hospital are in a wide age range, some without symptoms and others had a lot of symptoms.
Dr. Hawkinson said a culture change is necessary, and the pillars of infection prevention must become part of the culture change to beat the virus.
Dr. Matthias Salathe, chair of internal medicine, said the AstraZeneca vaccine trial is back on at KU. The vaccine trial had paused after doctors investigated an incident with a patient in England. The FDA has approved the restart of the trial here.
Some of the trials have reported a 30 percent effectiveness rate, and the doctors are waiting to see the data from the results before making recommendations, he said. They don’t expect a COVID-19 vaccine to be like the measles vaccine, which was 99 percent effective. But any protection is better than nothing, he said. If it turns out not to be highly effective, all the masking and distancing probably won’t go away, but it will be safer with it.
Dr. Akinlolu Ojo, executive dean of the KU School of Medicine, said it was possible that a significant portion of the population could get a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the first quarter of 2021. He said the trials might have enough information by the end of the year to determine whether each of the different vaccines would be effective.
Production is already underway and information in the public domain indicated 100 million doses could be available by December, Dr. Ojo said. The CDC has already started preparations with public health departments throughout the nation to make plans for distribution, he added.
Dr. Stites offered some tips for coping, from the University of Wisconsin:
• Accept that life will continue to be difficult for a while.
• Look for activities new and old that continue to fulfill you.
• Expect less from yourself–cut yourself some slack and give yourself some grace.
• Choose to move: Make physical activity a priority.
• Avoid “doom scrolling”—limit social media exposure and be mindful of the types of news you consume.
Free COVID-19 testing available
A free COVID-19 pop-up test will continue from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, at All Saints parish, 811 Vermont, Kansas City, Kansas.
The pop-up test is through Vibrant Health and the Wyandotte County Health Equity Task Force.
The Unified Government Health Department has moved its COVID-19 testing from the 6th and Ann location to the former Kmart at 78th and State Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas. The hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Tests are free for those who live or work in Wyandotte County.
The tests now are open to asymptomatic people as well as those who have symptoms or have been exposed to COVID-19. Check with the UG Health Department’s Facebook page to see if there have been any changes in the schedule because of the weather or for other reasons. Bring something that shows that you live or work in Wyandotte County, such as a utility bill.
For more information about the new testing site at the former Kmart location, visit https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/10092020_newtestingsitewyco.pdf.
The KU doctors’ news conference is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/1673915212776660.
The UG COVID-19 webpage is at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.
The KDHE’s COVID-19 webpage is at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/.
The Unified Government COVID-19 hub outbreak map is at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/.
To see an NEA list of schools that have had COVID-19 cases, visit https://app.smartsheet.com/b/publish?EQBCT=aa3f2ede7cb2415db943fdaf45866d2f.
The KC Region COVID-19 Hub dashboard is at https://marc2.org/covidhub/.
The CDC’s COVID-19 webpage is at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html.