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Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity (COCA) Email Updates for February 17, 2015

March is National Nutrition Month, and a great time to review the food in your emergency kit to make sure it is healthy and safe. Learn more about the foods you should choose for your emergency food supply and the best way to safely store your emergency kit food in our latest blog.

Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity (COCA) Email Updates for February 2, 2015

Great work starts with a great leader. CDC’s Office of Public Health and Response, OPHPR, is privileged to welcome a great leader to our team, Director Rear Admiral Stephen C. Redd, MD. Learn more about Dr. Redd’s background at CDC and plans for the future of OPHPR in our new blog post.

Natural disasters, industrial accidents, terrorism attacks, and pandemics all have the capacity to result in large numbers of critically ill or injured patients. A barrage of patients with various clinical needs can quickly exhaust the care delivery capacity of a healthcare system. It is important for clinicians to have a disaster response plan that addresses approaches to maintaining quality care during times of patient surge and resource scarcity. During this COCA Call, participants will learn about the series of suggestions that focus on the management of multiple critically ill patients during a disaster or pandemic, and the importance of collaboration among front-line clinicians, hospital administrators, professional societies, and public health or government officials.

Jenny Gottstein takes a new approach to emergency preparedness by using interactive games to offer people a more social, memorable and fun way to tackle disaster preparedness. Checkout what Jenny’s recent cross-country train trip taught her about how games can be used to help people prepare for disaster in our latest blog post.

From January 1 to February 6, 2015, 121 people from 17 states and Washington DC were reported to have measles. Most of these cases are part of a large, ongoing multi-state outbreak linked to an amusement park in California; however, unlinked importations continue to occur. The majority of the people who got measles were unvaccinated or did not know their vaccination status. This highly contagious, acute viral illness spreads quickly in unvaccinated populations, highlighting the importance of protecting children and adults against measles in the U.S. through vaccination. During this COCA call, clinicians will learn about the current measles situation in the US. In addition, they will learn about clinical guidelines for patient assessment and management, and age-appropriate vaccination recommendations for US residents including those who travel abroad.

A recent analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found influenza A (H3N2) viruses are the predominant strain this year, and a little more than half of samples analyzed were found to be antigenically different (drifted) from the H3N2 vaccine strain. During this COCA Webinar, clinicians will learn about the current state of flu activity related to children, the importance of continued vaccination despite the mismatch and low vaccine effectiveness, and strategies for using antiviral therapy early to prevent and treat influenza.

For some of us, this winter has been anything but picturesque, let alone adorable. As winter stretches on, the latest Public Health Matters blog will remind you of the importance of winter safety… with a few cute puppies thrown in for good measure. Check out the blog for tips on everything from avoiding frostbite or heating your home safely.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and State Health Departments are investigating a multi-state outbreak of measles associated with travel to Disneyland Resort Theme Parks (which includes Disneyland and Disney California Adventure). The purpose of this HAN Advisory is to notify public health departments and healthcare facilities about this measles outbreak and to provide guidance to healthcare providers. Healthcare providers should ensure that all of their patients are current on MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine. They should consider measles in the differential diagnosis of patients with fever and rash and ask patients about recent international travel or travel to domestic venues frequented by international travelers. They should also ask patients about their history of measles exposures in their community. Please disseminate this information to healthcare providers in hospitals and emergency rooms, to primary care providers, and to microbiology laboratories.