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10/23/24 Health Advisory: Presumed positive human cases of avian influenza in Washington.
Washington State Department of Health is investigating presumed positive human cases of avian influenza in Washington. Healthcare providers should consider avian influenza in patients who present with acute respiratory illness, isolated conjunctivitis, or influenza-like illness (ILI). Assess patients for exposure to animals––especially poultry, cattle, and wildlife, or to people suspected or known to be infected. Current…
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01/06/22 Health Advisory: Booster Eligibility Expanded
Advisory or Update, Communicable Disease and Immunization Update, COVID-19, Health Advisory, Immunizations, News and Alerts, Notifiable Conditions, Provider ResourcesCOVID-19 Updates for Providers Requested actions Be aware, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) endorsed Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP’s) decision to strongly recommend a single Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine booster dose for people 12–17 years old at least 5 months after their primary series. This expands the age of booster access and strengthens…
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01/04/22 Health Advisory: CDC updated antiviral guidance
Advisory or Update, COVID-19, Health Advisory, News and Alerts, Notifiable Conditions, Provider ResourcesCOVID-19 Updates for Providers Requested actions Be aware, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its COVID-19 monoclonal antibody treatment recommendations. Sotrovimab monoclonal antibody formulation retains significant efficacy against Omicron, the dominant circulating variant. Other monoclonal antibody formulations under emergency use authorization (EUA)—bamlanivimab and etesevimab and casirivimab and imdevimab—lack clinical benefit against Omicron and…
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12/22/21 Health Advisory: Paxlovid granted EUA and Testing before gathering
Advisory or Update, Communicable Disease and Immunization Update, COVID-19, Emerging Diseases and Conditions, Health Advisory, Immunizations, Infection Control, Notifiable Conditions, Provider Resources, Schools, Travel, Uncategorized, VaccineCOVID-19 Updates for Providers Requested actions Be aware, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorization (EUA) to the first oral antiviral treatment for COVID-19, Pfizer’s Paxlovid. The EUA comes after research showed Paxlovid was nearly 90% effective at preventing hospitalization and death in people 12 years or older at high risk of severe…
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12/13/21 Health Advisory: COVID-19 Updates for Providers
Advisory or Update, Communicable Disease and Immunization Update, Health Advisory, MERS-CoV, News and AlertsCOVID-19 Updates for Providers Requested actions Be aware, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup recommend everyone 16 years or older get a COVID-19 vaccine booster dose at the recommended interval. This recommendation comes after Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded its emergency use authorization (EUA) for Pfizer-BioNTech…
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12/03/21 Health Advisory: COVID-19 Updates for Providers
Advisory or Update, COVID-19, Emerging Diseases and Conditions, Health Advisory, Infection Control, News and Alerts, Notifiable Conditions, Provider Resources, Schools, Travel, UncategorizedCOVID-19 Updates for Providers Requested actions Be aware, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a health advisory warning of COVID-19 variant of concern Omicron (B.1.1.529). At least one case has been identified in the U.S.; it was linked to travel. Omicron has not been detected in Pierce County; however, we are tracking its…
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11/23/21 Health Advisory: COVID-19 vaccine booster doses available to everyone 18 years or older
Communicable Disease and Immunization Update, COVID-19, Immunizations, News and Alerts, Provider ResourcesCOVID-19 Updates for Providers Requested actions Be aware, following the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) decision to update its emergency use authorizations (EUAs) to allow COVID-19 vaccine booster doses for everyone 18 years or older, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup recommend: People 50 years or older…
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Health Advisory: COVID-19 Cases Increasing in Multiple Countries
Emerging Diseases and Conditions, Health Advisory, Infection Control, News and Alerts, Notifiable ConditionsRequested actions Be aware COVID-19 cases are increasing globally. Get a detailed travel history for patients with fever and acute respiratory illness. Ask patients with suspected COVID-19 infection to wear a surgical mask. Evaluate them in a private room with the door closed, ideally an airborne infection isolation room. All healthcare personnel entering the room…
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Health Advisory: Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Respiratory Infection
There is 1 lab-confirmed case of 2019-nCoV in Washington, a traveler who returned to Snohomish County from Wuhan, China. Requested actions Get a detailed travel history when evaluating patients with fever and acute respiratory illness. Suspect 2019-nCoV in patients with: Clinical Features Epidemiologic Risk Fever1 or signs/symptoms of lower respiratory illness (e.g., cough or shortness of…
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Health Advisory: Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Respiratory Infection in Washington
A traveler who recently returned to Snohomish County from Wuhan, China has lab-confirmed 2019-nCoV. Requested actions Get a detailed travel history when evaluating patients with fever and acute respiratory illness. Suspect 2019-nCoV in patients with: Fever and symptoms of lower respiratory illness (e.g., cough, difficulty breathing) and in the 14 days before symptom onset: Traveled to Wuhan City, China,…
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Health Advisory: Outbreak of Pneumonia of Unknown Etiology in Wuhan, China
Treating patients who traveled in the region and have severe respiratory symptoms Requested actions: Consider pneumonia in patients with severe respiratory symptoms who: Traveled to Wuhan, China since Dec. 1, 2019, and Had onset of illness within 2 weeks of returning, and Do not have another known diagnosis that explains their illness. If a patient…
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2019-2020 Influenza Season Preparedness
Surveillance updates Seasonal influenza surveillance begins in October and ends in April. It is important to stay up to date on local influenza activity. Vaccine Both influenza A components of this season’s vaccine are different from last season. Both B components are unchanged. CDC recommends influenza vaccine for everyone over age 6 months for whom…
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Vaping-associated Pulmonary Illness
CDC Urges Clinicians to Report Cases of Unexplained Vaping-associated Pulmonary Illness Multiple cases of severe pulmonary disease in patients who use vape products have occurred in Wisconsin and Illinois. Requested actions Ask patients who present with respiratory or pulmonary illness if they vape THC or e-juice. Determine what kind of THC or e-juice they’ve vaped,…