record engineer here, and I'm just going to make sure he has
everything he needs, and get the company to wait for Jennifer
to get on as well, if that's okay. Yeah, okay. Yeah, really
problem. Thank you.
And this will be pretty quick. I see you have a two o'clock
meetings. So probably before Jennifer gets here, can you just
give me a little bit of an overview of what you're going to
talk about in the two o'clock?
So it's on the respiratory season. So the recommendations
regarding flu and COVID and RSV, and we'll be joined by a
colleague who can speak more about the disease circulation
and what's going on in that space. Okay. So if I were to ask
you about any of that, that Tom would be answering it to, are
you able to refer to just a little bit about the the season
coming up? Yeah, a little bit. Yeah, perfect. I've interviewed
Tom before. But I don't think I've spoken with you directly.
I've seen you, of course. But
how long have you been in this position?
Since 2015.
Okay. So you've seen quite a dramatic shift.
I'm trying to seem to know. Yeah.
Oh, and I was going to clarify. So Jennifer referred to you as
Dr. Shower. I have a PhD. Yes.
HD. Okay.
We always indicate if it's like MD, specifically. So just
yeah, so no, it is not an MD. Okay, not a clinician. Okay.
And it is pronounced shower in case. Shower. Okay. I was
pretty sure on that one, but it's good to always make sure.
And I'm fairly certain she's joining. She usually does or
somebody is joining. So they were probably waiting till
the very early birds. Is this the easiest time of season?
It's been quite busy. Yeah, when it comes to there's there's
lots going on is with the respiratory season and just vaccines
in general. So is it better than four, three years ago?
Yes. I mean, it is it's more manageable, but there's more
topics that need more attention. So I think it's
but in terms of work, life balance, it certainly is a different
field these days. Sure. Yeah, we, you know, COVID is becoming
more of a routine piece of what we do and not sort of the main
standalone piece.
Hmm. Do you deal with more misinformation now than you used
to? Yeah, and I think it moves a little quicker too. Sure.
Sure. misinformation and disinformation. I think both
of those. Is it worse? Do you think during an election season?
Oh, that's hard to say. It's not like, you know, on people's
minds, the same way it was. Right. Two or four years ago.
So yeah, that's true.
What's some of the common misunderstandings that you hear?
Um, I think whether people will get, you know, get sick from
the shots, whether they're actually effective. Um, people
are wondering about that. So, yeah.
So understandable. Yeah. Yeah, for the most part, there's some
that are a little bit more out there. But, you know, just
good, good questions that people have about vaccines. Well, I
don't care. Elizabeth.
I thank you for letting us listen in. Yeah. Thank you. And
Stephanie is here. So looks like all this right with the world.
Or at least we're set for now.
Um, so I'm just going to make sure I see my engineer typing
here. So Zach, we're ready to go. Do you need any settings
changes on my end?
He says we are good. Okay. All right. So this will be fairly
short and sweet. So, and I was telling Stephanie, I know you
all have a two o'clock to get ready for as well. So thanks for
taking some time. Um, so I'll just start with, um, what are you
expecting for respiratory viruses this fall and winter?
Yeah. So we're continuing to see this, you know, spread of
COVID-19. We're expecting influenza and RSV to become, you
know, significant players for causing illness in the next
coming months. And so we do our encouraging folks to ensure
that they're getting vaccinated now to provide that protection
for when those diseases really start to circulate. That being
said, we're already seeing COVID right now. That doesn't seem
to have the same seasonality that we've experienced with
influenza. And so as the COVID-19 vaccines are now available,
we're encouraging folks to really make their plans to get their
COVID-19 vaccines at this point.
Do people still test for COVID? Is that worthwhile? If you're not
sure if your symptoms are COVID or flu or another RSV?
Yeah, testing for, you know, COVID-19 is always an important
to know what you may have. You certainly want to include your
healthcare provider in the decisions about medical
management. But those over the home tests or at home tests are
certainly an important point in knowing and helping you
determine perhaps if you should be going out or going to a
party. That being said, if you're sick with anything, whether
it's COVID or anything else, you know, staying home when you're
sick is always the best policy.
What should people know about the new COVID vaccine?
So we now have updated COVID-19 vaccines. And you know, these
vaccines provide protection against the strains that are
circulating. The COVID-19 virus continues to change. And so
protection that you may have had from a previous infection or
previous vaccinations, don't provide the level of protection
against the current strains. And so it's important that everyone
go ahead and get the updated version to get protection against
what's currently circulating now and that we, you know,
anticipate seeing in the near future.
Do we know, are there any symptoms for the current strains of
COVID that people should look out for?
I think it's the usual, you know, COVID can cause a whole host of
symptoms and it can vary from person to person. So I don't know
that these strains are causing anything that's different than we
haven't already seen, but it can be a wide, you know, range of
symptoms.
So I tacked those on because I saw that you guys were doing
the two o'clock and wanted to get some of those questions. And
so looking to the fall and school starting, what vaccinations
are required for K-12 students and our flu and COVID part of that
list.
Yeah, so the vaccines that are typically required are the
diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, hepatitis B, polio, the
measles, mumps and rubella vaccines, varicella. And then
new this year for seventh graders and 12th graders is the
meningococcal ACWY containing vaccine. And so those vaccines
are required. We certainly know that not everything that is
recommended for good health is required for school. So it's
important to talk with doctors and make sure that, you know,
kids are getting all of the vaccines, such as COVID-19 and
influenza.
You help us understand where the numbers are at for medical
religious and personal conviction waivers.
Yeah, so the waivers have been increasing for school in
Wisconsin. And we're currently at about 6.1% of school age
children reported having a waiver for one or more vaccines.
The majority of that is from personal conviction waivers. The
medical and religious waivers have stayed fairly constant over
the years. But you know, those slight upticks are cause for
concern, because it means that children in our communities and
in our schools are not protected against the diseases that we
could protect against.
Are you able to tell us which vaccines have the higher rate
of personal conviction waivers?
I don't have that information. I will say when we look at the
data for all of children in Wisconsin using Wisconsin
immunization registry data, we are seeing the rates of the MMR
vaccine go down in 2013. When we measured, you know, kids at 24
months of age, if they had one MMR, we were at 88%. When we
measure that the same way in 2023, we're at 82%. So we are
seeing reduction in some of the vaccines that are commonly
or that are recommended.
And MMR is measles, mumps and
because mumps and rubella, correct.
What percentage of a population can be unvaccinated and the whole
group is still protected?
So it really varies by disease. Unfortunately, for measles,
it's quite high. It's somewhere in the range of 95 to 98% of
individuals in a community need to be protected to prevent an
outbreak from, you know, taking hold if measles is introduced
into that community.
And have we seen any of that in Wisconsin? Yeah, not yet. But I
will say, you know, 2024 has shown a number of measles outbreaks
in the US, most notably are our neighbors of Minnesota are
currently experiencing a measles outbreak. I think they have
about 49 cases with at least 11 of them having been hospitalized.
And the majority of these cases are occurring in unvaccinated
children. So we do know that we've got pockets in our communities
and in our schools that have much lower rates and could be
right for, you know, an outbreak occurring if measles were
introduced. And so that is of concern. And we're continuing
to work with local public health and health care providers and
community groups to make sure that parents are aware of the
importance of vaccination, particularly measles at this time.
Well, parents in a community that is potentially going to
experience an outbreak, are they going to get information quickly
about how they should protect their child, even if their
child is vaccinated, should they take their child out of school,
things like that.
Yeah, right now we're just continuing to work, as I said,
with the schools and local health departments to offer MMR
vaccine and make parents aware of the vaccines for children
program is a program that provides vaccines to kids who are
underinsured or uninsured or on Medicaid, Alaska Native
American Indian, and really is an avenue to receive vaccines
removing barriers. So if a family is concerned about cost, this
is an avenue where their child can receive all of the needed
vaccines. And so really trying to make sure that families are
aware of this resource, and they don't need to be afraid of going
to a provider and coming home with a big bill due to routine
childhood immunizations. So trying to make sure that issues
related to access and cost barriers, the families know about
this program.
Are there any points of misinformation about the MMR
vaccine that you think is important to address?
You know, the MMR vaccine has shown to be safe and effective.
It's been in use for over 50 years with millions of doses
safely administered. It has shown to be effective. And so
those are such important points that this is not a new vaccine.
It has a long history, and it really can do the job. And so
trying to make sure that parents are aware that this is the best
tool that we have to prevent measles.
Do we know why that vaccine in particular is focused upon?
I don't know. It's a good question. Okay.
Anything else about flu or anything that you want to add that
is important? I think it's just important for folks to remember
that they need to make a plan for vaccination. You can receive
your COVID-19 and your flu vaccine at the same appointment.
That's okay. If you choose to separate them out, that's all
right, too. And there's no waiting period between the two.
The important thing is that you go ahead and you get them and
protect yourself and your family and your community,
particularly as we the weather gets colder and we start to go
inside, the potential for disease spread is increases.
And so go ahead and protect yourself now so that when those
diseases start really circulating, that you're all set.
All right. Anything else?
I think that's it.
Jennifer Elizabeth, and she can I add one more thing? Sorry.
Absolutely. I'd like to, you know, I think the COVID-19, we've
seen this disease now for a number of years, and it's important
that folks remember that this can be a very serious disease with
significant complications can result in hospitalization and
death. And that when we look at the statistics regarding, you
know, children who were hospitalized with COVID, about 50
percent of them didn't have any underlying illness. And so you
don't know who or how the COVID-19 infection will affect
individuals. And so it's so important to make sure that you're
protected against that.
Do we know any current numbers of hospitalization rates for
COVID?
So nationally, in August, there was an average of 900 deaths per
week in the United States in the month of August. And that's the
highest that we've seen since March. So we also know that in
terms of hospitalizations, it's highest amongst those who are
75 and older, and less than six months of age. So we do know
that it continues to cause significant illness and really
have an impact on our communities. And we've seen that,
you know, throughout the year, it's it's it's here, and it's
causing illness right now, which really means why it's so
important for folks to make that plan for vaccination right
away. All right, great.
Jennifer Elizabeth, anything from either of you? No, you've
covered all the bases. Marissa, thank you so much.
Yeah, thank you. Join us for the media availability coming up
to for for more information. Yes, yep, we will, we will be
there as well. Do you need an RSVP for that?
Uh, yeah, or we can just send you the link. Okay, I'll I'll
RSVP for that as well. Okay, thank you all.
Thank you. We'll talk to you soon.
Great. Bye bye. Bye. Bye.