WEBVTT - 11-24-25 Sloan with Steven Feagins 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:02.480 Going to be an American idiot. 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:05.320 Kick it off the holiday season this week seven hundred 0:00:05.400 --> 0:00:07.800 W Scott's Loan Show, And of course with that is 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:12.840 seeing friends and associates, coworkers, family, and others, and that 0:00:12.840 --> 0:00:15.240 means to come in close contact. And it is also 0:00:15.280 --> 0:00:17.680 the start of the Hey, I'm going to get six seasons, 0:00:17.840 --> 0:00:19.560 and some of us already had a had start on 0:00:19.600 --> 0:00:23.200 this one. Hamlin County is seeing a rise in pediatric 0:00:23.360 --> 0:00:26.360 RSV hospitalizations and usually early in the season. The other 0:00:26.400 --> 0:00:28.720 thing you need to know is that for the second 0:00:28.760 --> 0:00:32.000 consecutive year, it looks like this flu season is going 0:00:32.080 --> 0:00:34.360 to be pretty bad. That's because of a new mutation. 0:00:34.520 --> 0:00:37.200 On the show on seven hundred WW is the medical 0:00:37.240 --> 0:00:40.160 director of Hamlin County Public Health, doctor Stephen Vegans. Good morning, 0:00:40.159 --> 0:00:40.519 how are you? 0:00:41.720 --> 0:00:43.040 Thanks got good morning? How are you? 0:00:43.440 --> 0:00:48.400 I'm well today tomorrow? Yeah, I'm well today tomorrow. 0:00:48.479 --> 0:00:48.919 I don't know. 0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:52.400 We'll find out here. Good to have you back, and 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:54.600 I know you're really busy. Thanks for taking time out. 0:00:54.800 --> 0:00:56.840 So first of all, let's start with the RSV thing. 0:00:56.840 --> 0:01:00.440 We're seeing a rise number of hospitalizations unusually early this year. 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:03.960 What's driving that, well, RC is one of the Big 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:07.800 three restaurants and social bars, COVID and influenza. Uh, and 0:01:07.840 --> 0:01:11.920 it just proportionately impacts kids, basically very young. And so 0:01:12.240 --> 0:01:15.880 you know, we've last year we saw a pretty significant 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:18.840 RC season in children. This year we actually start a 0:01:18.880 --> 0:01:22.280 little bit earlier. So typically all this season starts, you know, 0:01:22.319 --> 0:01:27.120 after October one towards Thanksgiving. We started seeing cases in September. 0:01:27.280 --> 0:01:30.200 Why is that. It's probably just a combination of a 0:01:30.240 --> 0:01:33.080 bunch of stuff. Kids being out and about as well 0:01:33.120 --> 0:01:36.240 as adults. So and there's a there's some now now 0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:40.280 some vaccines for mothers so that the kid doesn't get 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:43.240 r C as well as older adults. But yeah, it's 0:01:43.280 --> 0:01:47.080 just a part of the respiratory season, and we're saying 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:50.160 it and especially especially as we go into the holidays. 0:01:50.200 --> 0:01:54.640 Okay, it hits our elderly people just as likely to 0:01:54.680 --> 0:01:55.640 get r SCV as a child. 0:01:57.280 --> 0:02:00.000 Yeah, And so in fact it impacts the very young 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:02.600 in the very old. And that's why these are these 0:02:02.680 --> 0:02:04.920 vaccines are now out for you know, eight seventy five 0:02:04.960 --> 0:02:07.880 and upright, it's fifty enough and so all the stuff 0:02:07.880 --> 0:02:10.880 that you find yourself in the hospital for, even to 0:02:10.919 --> 0:02:16.000 some extent fluence restorts and citial virus, and so you've 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:18.720 got the young that may be impacted by the old 0:02:19.000 --> 0:02:20.720 and the old that may be impacted by the young. 0:02:20.800 --> 0:02:23.000 And so the important thing is to wash your hands, 0:02:23.280 --> 0:02:24.880 do all that stuff. You're gonna let have told you. 0:02:24.919 --> 0:02:28.160 But also if you are eligible, there's some vaccinations now 0:02:28.200 --> 0:02:29.400 in the last two years. 0:02:29.639 --> 0:02:30.720 Yeah, how does that present? 0:02:30.760 --> 0:02:32.680 By the way, it's art because you know, I don't 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:34.040 know what we called it back in the day, but 0:02:34.080 --> 0:02:35.960 it seems like a it's another one of those no 0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:38.240 illnesses you guys in Hamlin County Health made up. 0:02:39.919 --> 0:02:42.720 No, we didn't make it up. You know the key, 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:44.519 it's all about markets. 0:02:44.560 --> 0:02:47.040 It's all about marketing. 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:51.680 Yeah, well we just report the data. But it's it's 0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:55.720 like a lower respiratory track, so you know the cold. Uh, 0:02:55.760 --> 0:02:58.200 the typical coronavirus is upper restory cogs that. 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:05.160 We're losing your cell. You're there, doctor Stephen Fagin's into 0:03:05.200 --> 0:03:07.959 the lungs. Yes, Oh, we're losing your We'll lost you 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:08.560 there for a minute. 0:03:09.880 --> 0:03:12.200 Oh try about that. Yeah, So barses that can kind 0:03:12.200 --> 0:03:14.280 of get down in the lungs are the ones you 0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:16.519 got to kind of worry about. And so that's when 0:03:16.560 --> 0:03:23.080 you you know, the. 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:25.760 Kind of cutting. Now you're cutting your cat. I'll pause 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:27.600 for a second. Maybe you can get another bar on 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:27.959 your phone. 0:03:27.960 --> 0:03:28.080 There. 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:31.600 It's doctor Stephen Fagan's medical director Hamlet County Public Health. 0:03:32.080 --> 0:03:34.360 With the cold weather now here, the wet weather and 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:38.040 of course being around family and friends and big crowds 0:03:38.120 --> 0:03:40.320 as we like to do during the holidays, and then 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:42.360 being inside of course as an element of this thing 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:46.320 too or see an RSV cases hospitalizations spiking already. We 0:03:46.400 --> 0:03:48.680 know that it is deadly and children, especially if it's 0:03:48.720 --> 0:03:51.240 left untreated. And uh, we're talking about the warning signs. 0:03:51.360 --> 0:03:53.200 So are you saying, is it is it cough? Is 0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:54.480 it fever? Is both of those? 0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:57.920 Yeah, it's most a favor as well as cough. And 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:01.040 so you know, if you're very young, and they always 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:02.160 tell you if you have a feed you need to 0:04:02.200 --> 0:04:03.880 go to hospital, especially if you're in that first month 0:04:03.880 --> 0:04:07.160 of life, and so those first six months are very 0:04:07.440 --> 0:04:10.960 susceptible and that that's the kind of problem that you'll see. 0:04:11.000 --> 0:04:13.600 And you also that's why you have those bulbs to 0:04:13.640 --> 0:04:15.880 clear out the nose from all the congestion as well, 0:04:15.880 --> 0:04:18.400 so you can kind of reade that. Yeah, fever and 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:21.880 cought is what the first start can be. 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:24.720 Gotcha. Yeah, I'm a big fan of the upper respiratory. 0:04:24.760 --> 0:04:28.080 Having one of those nasal rinses, the netty pot things 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:31.120 work pretty much kind of gross, but especially in an 0:04:31.120 --> 0:04:34.080 allergy season. I use it not often, but pretty much 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:35.719 you're around if I'm a little bit stuffy, just to 0:04:36.000 --> 0:04:38.320 kind of clean the pipes out a little bit. So 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:40.240 we have RSV, but we also have the flu too, 0:04:40.279 --> 0:04:41.760 so let's talk about that. I think that's the one 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:44.200 that's going to affect a lot more people. It's a 0:04:45.160 --> 0:04:48.000 so explain how the flu vaccine works. People go, well, 0:04:48.080 --> 0:04:50.520 let's why I don't get the vaccines because it doesn't work. 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:52.160 It's not worked last year, it's not going to work 0:04:52.200 --> 0:04:54.599 this year. Why can't they get this right? It'd be 0:04:54.600 --> 0:04:56.760 the typical question that gets asked, how do you answer that? 0:04:58.040 --> 0:05:01.599 Yeah, so the flu vaccine for then from having bad flu, 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:04.560 finding yourself in the hospital or find yourself in the 0:05:04.560 --> 0:05:07.400 emergency department. The reason employers like you to get the 0:05:07.440 --> 0:05:10.360 flu vaccine. It also keeps you able to work, and 0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:14.599 so it doesn't decrease transmission, although it can some, but 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:17.360 it does it really decreases just how bad the flu 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:18.520 is when you get it. 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:22.880 Yeah, And also we look at what is happening in 0:05:22.920 --> 0:05:26.359 half the world away right whereas now summer, you know, 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:29.040 on the other half Australia, for example, we look and 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:31.440 see what diseases they get in the winter and go, okay, 0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:33.720 that's going to be part of our annual vaccine here 0:05:33.720 --> 0:05:36.039 in America. And sometimes now two years in a row 0:05:36.560 --> 0:05:38.719 we missed the mutation. In this case, it's called the 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:40.320 H three N two What is that? 0:05:41.839 --> 0:05:45.279 Yeah, So we characterized by H or ema gluten or 0:05:45.400 --> 0:05:49.240 in neuromenidase, and so it's the hema gluten that helps 0:05:49.279 --> 0:05:50.880 the virus get into the cell, and that's what you 0:05:50.960 --> 0:05:54.920 vaccinate against. The neuromenidase is what the canna flu and 0:05:55.000 --> 0:05:58.400 the anti viarls work against. And so we're always looking 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:03.120 to see if the H part changes and arch of 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:05.560 the typical year when they have to decide what's the 0:06:05.600 --> 0:06:07.440 vaccine is going to have in it because it takes 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:10.520 six months to produce, you look at the southern hemisphere 0:06:10.520 --> 0:06:12.680 like Australia to see what it's going to be like 0:06:12.800 --> 0:06:16.360 for up here, and so between summer and going into fall, 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:18.880 it looks like yes, there was not just a small 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:23.080 but a pretty significant change actually changing from one subclaim 0:06:23.320 --> 0:06:27.320 to another. As you mentioned previously, United Kingdom is seeing 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:31.960 a significant flu season. Japan of the places saw a 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:35.160 significant flu season, and we did have a big ah 0:06:35.200 --> 0:06:37.440 three in two flu season last year, one of the 0:06:37.480 --> 0:06:40.200 biggest months they had in five years here, both locally 0:06:40.279 --> 0:06:43.480 and nationally. So who knows what's coming up? 0:06:43.480 --> 0:06:47.000 We'll see right right are you what's the scoreboard saying 0:06:47.040 --> 0:06:49.840 right now? I know you have the tracker the gateway 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:52.040 on your website, but does it look like it's going 0:06:52.080 --> 0:06:53.640 to be a particularly bad flu season again? 0:06:55.080 --> 0:06:59.479 Well, and actually what we're showing is a lower hostilization 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:02.920 rate for influenza than the five year average would show. 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:06.480 But the reason for that is that the High Department 0:07:06.520 --> 0:07:09.320 of Health change their data to something called Clinton Sinc 0:07:09.400 --> 0:07:12.640 October one, and so we're not sure. We think it's 0:07:12.680 --> 0:07:16.200 reporting lower than actual because if you go to actual hospital, 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:19.840 we're higher than what we typically were over the five 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:21.600 year average. So we have a little bit of data 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:25.320 reporting issue. Subjectively, it looks like we're higher, but we 0:07:25.360 --> 0:07:26.920 are reporting slightly lower. Right now. 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:30.640 The vaccine better for kids or adults. 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:33.440 It's best for both six months and up. Go get one. 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:36.840 It's about fifty percent effective, which doesn't sound like much, 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:40.040 but it does a lot. If you're feeling bad against 0:07:40.160 --> 0:07:44.040 hospitalization and er visits and having bad flu, well. 0:07:43.920 --> 0:07:47.240 We see at some point a combined combined vaccination. Doctor 0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:50.040 Stephen Fagin's you get the flu and an RSV in 0:07:50.080 --> 0:07:50.680 the same one. 0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:55.240 Now, probably not that there's a potential combined COVID and 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:57.800 flu vaccine, but I will tell you if you're an 0:07:57.840 --> 0:08:02.080 adult and you qualify, you can get RSC vaccine, influenza vaccine, 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:04.200 and COVID vaccine all at the same time. It'd be 0:08:04.240 --> 0:08:06.160 a good thing to do before the holiday. 0:08:06.240 --> 0:08:08.680 How we do it on covid By the way, we've 0:08:08.680 --> 0:08:11.720 talked about RSV and the flu. I mean, obviously COVID 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:15.480 was major headlines five years ago, but diminishing ever since. 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:18.120 Is that like a false sense of security? 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:21.320 Well still here still puts feature in the hospital, not 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:24.360 as much as as it did. It's almost something that 0:08:24.360 --> 0:08:26.000 we kind of we kind of deal with. We do 0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:29.440 have some antivirals, just like flu. If you do have 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:31.560 a positive COVID test, it's good to start the anti 0:08:31.680 --> 0:08:34.920 viral within two days of the first symptoms. But it's 0:08:35.200 --> 0:08:37.120 it's still here. It's one of the big three that 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:38.880 we that we monitor. 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:41.000 Uh, but it's not we're not seeing the fatality rights 0:08:41.000 --> 0:08:43.640 because we've done a lot they heard immunity. 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:48.320 We got some kind of community less combination combination vaccine 0:08:48.360 --> 0:08:53.240 and prior prior vaccine and stuff, and it's mutating less 0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:56.160 fast than it used to, and so that's also well. 0:08:56.480 --> 0:08:58.640 And so we do have the experience and it's just 0:08:59.080 --> 0:09:02.160 one of the virus is now. We definitely definitely don't 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:06.080 see the fatalities that we saw with this when it 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:07.120 first started. 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:08.960 Which we kind of do, but five years ago much different. 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:11.720 We're in a much different spot at that time. How 0:09:11.840 --> 0:09:14.079 much of that immunity has to do with the vaccine 0:09:14.240 --> 0:09:17.719 versus natural resistance and the heard immunities I. 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:20.640 Mentioned, Yeah, probably a combination of both. You know, the 0:09:20.720 --> 0:09:24.040 vaccine probably has its effectiveness like flu for the first 0:09:24.240 --> 0:09:27.000 three to six months and then it gradually comes off. 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:30.240 And so it's probably more previous affection immunity right now 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:34.120 than vaccine immunity. But there is a good combination of both, 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:35.920 and if you're a certain age or have a lot 0:09:35.920 --> 0:09:38.000 of comorbidities. You know, it's a good idea to go 0:09:38.040 --> 0:09:40.360 ahead and get that COVID vaccine to boost that. 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:43.240 Is it like RSV in a way that the young 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:44.760 and very old are the ones that really need to 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:45.760 get vaccine. 0:09:47.600 --> 0:09:51.560 Innocence. Yeah, you probably can drop that age range around 0:09:51.760 --> 0:09:56.160 fifty or so for COVID, But nonetheless that's exactly right. 0:09:56.320 --> 0:09:57.679 Yeah, I get a lot American. 0:09:57.400 --> 0:09:59.960 Tem pediatrics will say that from six months to two 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:03.040 years they're recommending the COVID vaccine for kids. 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:05.640 I know that Texas is dealing with a very severe 0:10:05.640 --> 0:10:08.480 whooping cough upbrates its like I think four times higher 0:10:08.520 --> 0:10:10.960 than the national average or something like that. Why Texas, 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:13.680 And are you seeing any of those upticks and protesters 0:10:13.720 --> 0:10:14.440 here in the Tri State? 0:10:15.720 --> 0:10:18.160 Yeah, we are and we continue to see that. And 0:10:18.200 --> 0:10:21.880 protests is a bacteria and it's a vaccination. That's what 0:10:22.000 --> 0:10:26.040 Ted app tetness dipteria, a cellular protesters is vaccinated for. 0:10:26.480 --> 0:10:29.120 But the vaccine kind of wanes over time, and you 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:32.760 do treat it with zpac exist from end and if 0:10:32.880 --> 0:10:35.160 it's a reportable condition. So if we see a kid 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:38.280 with protessis, we will actually treat other members of the family, 0:10:38.679 --> 0:10:39.200 their home. 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:43.600 Yeah, because as a child you might get this if 0:10:43.600 --> 0:10:46.560 you're not vaccinated or not on the schedule yet. But 0:10:46.679 --> 0:10:49.080 of course as you get older, you don't get vaccinated 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:51.320 this often, and so that makes older people where the 0:10:51.360 --> 0:10:55.480 vaccine has worn off, it affects them. 0:10:55.640 --> 0:10:57.880 Yeah, it does. And you won't get the big whoop 0:10:57.960 --> 0:11:00.640 of a cough that you do when you're older. You know, 0:11:00.679 --> 0:11:03.440 you characteristically know that barking cost if you've ever heard it. 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:05.960 But you do get pretty, you know, pretty sort of 0:11:06.000 --> 0:11:08.280 breath if you got enthazem or asthma or something that 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:10.120 can it can pass it even more. And so it's 0:11:10.160 --> 0:11:12.880 not about idea. Sometimes you get the t DOW. It 0:11:13.000 --> 0:11:16.480 is recommended if you go travel. That's a travel vaccine. 0:11:17.160 --> 0:11:17.520 Okay. 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:19.600 Yeah, there's a lot of things I get. I mean 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:22.400 nice for when I travel abroad, that's for sure, because 0:11:22.600 --> 0:11:24.520 a lot of nafty things out the world. Doctor Stephen 0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:28.000 Fagin's medical director Hamilt County Public Health. We're seeing spike 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:31.240 and RSV cases here among the young and older people, 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:32.800 but it's going to be a rough season for that 0:11:32.840 --> 0:11:35.320 as well as the flu because we have a mutuated 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:37.640 strain that came out since the vaccine was developed six 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:42.080 months ago. It's it's causing hospitalization rates to spike in 0:11:42.080 --> 0:11:45.040 the UK, Canada, Japan, Australia and the other half of 0:11:45.080 --> 0:11:47.800 the world. And so expect a bad flu season, not 0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:50.120 too late to get that flu vax or the RSV. 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:53.480 By the way, right, absolutely get it now. You can 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:57.080 get them together and you know, the shared decision making, 0:11:57.160 --> 0:12:00.760 it's discussed about talking with your pharmacists. While five the 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:04.920 attestation of a you know, comorbidity to get one or 0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:08.280 more of the vaccines is a self attestation. And so 0:12:08.320 --> 0:12:10.560 if you feel like you really would benefit from that, 0:12:10.720 --> 0:12:12.680 go to your local pharmacy and talk with them. 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:16.960 Yeah, and that makes make sense, and it really you know, 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:18.959 you can get right in these days too, because are 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:21.720 we seeing a decrease in number of people people getting vaccinations? 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:22.560 What do you attribute that to? 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:28.240 Well, all kinds of stuff and that the various hesitancy 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:30.760 and things like that. But we still feel a fair 0:12:30.840 --> 0:12:32.920 bit of confidence in the vaccine. And you talk to 0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:35.120 people and like do you want to get this vaccine? 0:12:35.160 --> 0:12:37.280 They may not want to, but they think other people should. 0:12:37.800 --> 0:12:39.719 And so you know, there's still a high confidence and 0:12:40.040 --> 0:12:42.160 there are lower rates for a lot of reasons, and 0:12:42.960 --> 0:12:44.560 you've probably talked about most of them. 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:47.719 Yeah, And it seems to me, like all vacs. It's 0:12:47.760 --> 0:12:50.319 weird because we had COVID, and granted it was controversial. 0:12:50.360 --> 0:12:52.400 We developed a fast tressed and thing and people went 0:12:52.720 --> 0:12:53.880 and I get it. You know, I'm not going to 0:12:53.920 --> 0:12:56.920 put that in my body. You know, I read, I 0:12:56.960 --> 0:12:58.920 read what was about and how you developed and said, Okay, 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:01.320 I'm gonna I'd rather take my risk with the vaccine 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:03.280 than take up my risk with COVID because I knew 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:05.679 people actually got sick and died from COVID who were 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:07.720 normally healthy people. You just don't know how your body 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:09.559 is going to react. I had it a couple of 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:12.480 times and I'm fine, but someone else may get us 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:14.400 perfectly healthy and wind up passing. And this was in 0:13:14.440 --> 0:13:17.120 you know, twenty twenty, twenty twenty one. Since then, we've 0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:19.199 learned a lot about this. But it seems like because 0:13:19.200 --> 0:13:21.800 of that vaccine hesitating with COVID that's now spread to 0:13:22.400 --> 0:13:25.120 other vaccines. Is that what you're saying? 0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:29.400 You know, it adds and we're actually last year we 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:33.520 dropped a low fifty percent for pediatric influenza vaccination forty 0:13:33.600 --> 0:13:37.960 nine percent pediatric kids got vaccine against influenza. In addition 0:13:38.040 --> 0:13:40.400 to the biggest influenza season we had last year, there 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:44.120 were two hundred and eighty seven pediatric deaths two hundred 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:47.040 and eighty seven, that's the highest in two thousand and four, 0:13:47.559 --> 0:13:51.440 and half of those kids were totally healthy, had nothing 0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:53.760 else going on. I ended up dying from the flu. 0:13:53.920 --> 0:13:56.840 So it's still it's still there and it's still important 0:13:56.880 --> 0:13:58.079 to get the vaccine. 0:13:58.160 --> 0:13:59.000 Yeah, gotcha. 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:00.880 When you guys mind, do you put all this stuff 0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:03.840 on your dashboard or the Hamlet County Public Health website? 0:14:04.360 --> 0:14:06.640 What the data is? It's interesting how you collect that. 0:14:07.040 --> 0:14:09.280 Could you take us through where those numbers come from 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:11.320 and how you get your accuracy. 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:15.480 With Yeah, so for rest of ours is it's hospitalization. 0:14:15.640 --> 0:14:17.480 So that's the one thing you clearly know if you're 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:19.240 in the hospital and you have a positive test, you 0:14:19.280 --> 0:14:21.240 definitely know you have it. And so it's the one 0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:25.640 So it's for rc COVID influenza that data Hall hospitals 0:14:25.640 --> 0:14:29.160 are required to report. They report up electronically through the 0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:31.480 old High Department of Health and we get that data 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:33.560 from the High Department of Health and that's how we 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:37.320 get that. We report it locally, report Hamleton County, southest 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:41.120 Ohio as you see on the website, but it does 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:44.400 come through ODH, which is anytime there's a glitch or 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:47.440 anything in that reporting, there's a delay or possibly an 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:51.240 underreporting of the numbers. We think that's happening now for 0:14:51.280 --> 0:14:53.040 this month, and we're working to reconcile that. 0:14:53.560 --> 0:14:54.080 Yeah, I got you. 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:57.200 The other thing too is you guys look at wastewater 0:14:57.240 --> 0:14:58.160 treatment plans. 0:14:57.920 --> 0:15:02.440 Right, yeah, you did, and so here locally there's three 0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:06.120 wayte water plants that are monitoring mostly for COVID nationally 0:15:06.200 --> 0:15:09.960 to monitor flu polio as well as RSV. The thing 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:13.800 about RSV he's got is, for the most part, it's 0:15:13.840 --> 0:15:16.400 the kids that shed who are putting it in a diaper, 0:15:16.640 --> 0:15:19.880 who doesn't go to the wastewater. A little bit of underreporting, 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:23.400 but you could, you know, get some trend from adult RSC. 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:25.360 We don't measure RSC locally though. 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:28.000 That's incredible how granular you can get in to the 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:30.320 details what's in our wastewater right. 0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:34.800 Well, and there is one case of polio not here 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:36.640 but in New York and it picks it up in 0:15:36.680 --> 0:15:39.479 the wastewater. It is absolutely amazing technology. 0:15:39.640 --> 0:15:41.880 How do you know it's uh, how do you pick 0:15:41.920 --> 0:15:43.320 out one case out of some water? 0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:46.480 Well, there had to be more than one case, and 0:15:46.560 --> 0:15:49.560 so you pick up the little figment of DNA. Not 0:15:49.640 --> 0:15:51.840 only did they know it was polio, they know it 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:55.520 was wild type meaning not vaccine associated polio, which is amazing. 0:15:56.480 --> 0:15:59.200 That is incredible. How much there's just got to be 0:15:59.200 --> 0:16:01.280 so much information out there that's noise. On top of 0:16:01.280 --> 0:16:03.240 if you're getting down the world a couple of cases 0:16:03.280 --> 0:16:06.160 of polio and a sample of wastewater, there's gonna be 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:08.160 a ton of other interesting data you pull out of there. 0:16:09.400 --> 0:16:12.280 Well yeah, I mean, but all those very unique DNA 0:16:13.160 --> 0:16:17.760 and it's like CSI, you know, in terms of DNA testing, 0:16:17.840 --> 0:16:19.720 And it's amazing. The guys that do this are super 0:16:19.720 --> 0:16:22.000 geeks and they really can go on and on about it. 0:16:22.200 --> 0:16:23.080 I bet. Yeah. 0:16:23.080 --> 0:16:26.360 It's always a fascinating dinner discussion when the when the 0:16:26.360 --> 0:16:29.480 guys who look through wastewater and the cowboy, it makes 0:16:29.480 --> 0:16:31.120 me want to order a second round. 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:31.600 Uh. 0:16:31.640 --> 0:16:34.400 Doctor Stephen Fagin's is here. He is a medical director 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:37.600 Hamlin County Public Health. Expect a bigger RSV season, a 0:16:37.640 --> 0:16:40.960 bigger flu season, as well. COVID numbers should be about 0:16:40.960 --> 0:16:42.520 the same. We expect her more. 0:16:43.880 --> 0:16:47.360 Yeah, so far, so good, Probably a little uptick you know, 0:16:47.440 --> 0:16:50.320 around Christmas or so. That's why we started basically looking 0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:53.960 at the big three altogether respiratory virus season and what 0:16:54.120 --> 0:16:57.640 is the impact, mostly around hospitalizations and mostly so we 0:16:57.680 --> 0:16:59.720 can know how many beds do we need for how 0:16:59.800 --> 0:17:01.600 much capacity do we need? As a regent? 0:17:02.040 --> 0:17:05.360 Gotcha, what what's going to keep you awake at night 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:06.320 here for the next few months? 0:17:06.359 --> 0:17:07.800 This uh, this season? 0:17:09.480 --> 0:17:13.280 You know everything? God, but I do. I am concerned 0:17:13.280 --> 0:17:16.800 about this shift in subclade for a three into for 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:20.119 influenza and just what that might mean because you know 0:17:20.200 --> 0:17:23.679 that's they call it vaccine evasion, which means that our 0:17:23.720 --> 0:17:27.439 immune invasion, so previous immunity or vaccine immunity, you know, 0:17:27.640 --> 0:17:30.240 is it doesn't work nearly as well. When that human 0:17:30.240 --> 0:17:33.280 glutin thing really changes, that could make a big difference, 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:36.200 and we could see an even more significant flu season 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:38.440 this year than than we did last year. And the 0:17:38.520 --> 0:17:41.360 vaccine still works. Vaccine still helps. It may not be 0:17:41.600 --> 0:17:44.199 you know, as much as as it typically might, but 0:17:44.280 --> 0:17:47.600 it definitely does still help as well as covery calls 0:17:47.960 --> 0:17:50.119 wash your hands and do what your grandmother told you 0:17:50.160 --> 0:17:50.560 to do. 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:54.320 And advice is stilter. Wash your damn hands and cover 0:17:54.359 --> 0:17:57.720 your mouth when you see it. Yeah, it's it's I 0:17:57.760 --> 0:18:00.280 mentioned before you came on and I got the flew 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:02.280 last year. I have to get the vaccine every season. 0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:05.359 And I hit me and somebody said, hey, you know'slon, 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:06.399 why are you getting the vaccine? 0:18:06.400 --> 0:18:08.639 It doesn't work. I'm like, I'm thinking, but if. 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:10.400 I was, if I've got that crappy for three days 0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:12.280 I could have, I'd probably be in the hospital if 0:18:12.320 --> 0:18:14.760 I didn't have the vaccine to at least help my 0:18:14.800 --> 0:18:17.040 body deal with us. So you even get you do 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:20.600 get some protection and some of those proteins in your body. 0:18:21.040 --> 0:18:24.040 Even if you they wind up misguessing and we have 0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:26.080 some sort of mutation like we have this year, right. 0:18:27.200 --> 0:18:29.000 Oh my gosh. Yeah. And then you know, the flu 0:18:29.080 --> 0:18:31.879 vaccine really kind of only works for about five to 0:18:31.960 --> 0:18:34.640 six months. That's why you get one every year. That's 0:18:34.640 --> 0:18:36.960 why you kind of time it so that you sort 0:18:36.960 --> 0:18:39.080 of you know, certainly two weeks before the holiday. He's 0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:42.200 got two weeks to have the impact and it definitely works, 0:18:42.560 --> 0:18:45.240 and get one every year. There's a medicine called tamusues 0:18:45.280 --> 0:18:47.560 that also work, but you have to take it within 0:18:47.760 --> 0:18:50.320 forty hours of the start of symptoms. But you always 0:18:50.359 --> 0:18:54.560 know when flu starts. It is a sudden fever, feeling bad. 0:18:55.680 --> 0:18:58.080