Wilderness medicine is a rapidly evolving field, and has benefitted from expanded research efforts. As new research emerges, some guidelines have been updated to reflect the most current and sound scientific conclusions, this blog by Arghavan Omidi, Dylan Kain, Farah Jazuli, Milca Meconnen, Andrea K. Boggild looks at some of these updates.

Arghavan Omidi, Dylan Kain, Farah Jazuli, Milca Meconnen & Andrea K. Boggild 26 Aug 2020

Wilderness medicine is a rapidly evolving field, and has benefitted from expanded research efforts. Within the last decade, the Wilderness Medical Society (WMS) has aggregated research findings and created guidelines on prevention measures and therapeutic options for acute altitude illness, frostbite injuries, heat-related illness, and avalanche and non-avalanche snow burials. As new research emerges, some guidelines have been updated to reflect the most current and sound scientific conclusions.

Frostbite injury, which can cause deep tissue damage in severe cases, is a common occurrence in those who travel to cold climates or high altitudes where temperatures are often below freezing.

Acute altitude illness, a term that encompasses syndromes such as acute mountain sickness (AMS), high altitude cerebral edema (HACE) and high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), refers to illness related to ascent to high altitude, which commonly manifests as symptoms of headache, weakness, altered consciousness, and even neurological and cardiopulmonary complications. Optimal strategies to prevent AMS and HACE include gradual ascent, as well the use of acetazolamide and dexamethasone. New evidence has questioned the benefit of budesonide and acetaminophen use, ultimately calling for more conclusive research in the form of large-scale clinical trials. Conversely, hypoxic tents are now recognized as a valid method of pre-acclimatization. Therapeutic strategies for treating AMS and HACE include descent from altitude and supplemental oxygen use, and new evidence has highlighted the potential of continuous positive airway pressure but further research is required. The use of salmeterol nor acetazolamide are no longer recommended by the WMS as a prevention method against HAPE due to accounts of unwarranted side effects.

Frostbite injury, which can cause deep tissue damage in severe cases, is a common occurrence in those who travel to cold climates or high altitudes where temperatures are often below freezing. The WMS has recognized classification of frostbite injuries by the depth of tissue damage as the most appropriate in emergency settings. Updated guidelines also recommend classification by anatomical extent of injury and amputation risk as diagnostic tools within hospital settings. Recommendations for prevention of frostbite injuries include increasing peripheral circulation and protection from the cold. As well, thawing frozen tissue is still identified as the primary therapeutic measure. New evidence has introduced the therapeutic potential of intravenous thrombolytics and iloprost, a potent vasodilator, for treating deep frostbite injuries. Additionally, new guidelines advocate for use of single photon emission computed tomography as means of assessing amputation dimensions in severely injured patients.

With a mortality rate of up to 10%, heat illness can affect people who are exposed to sunlight and high temperatures for a prolonged period of time. Heat illness constitutes a spectrum of disease ranging from heat edema, which is swelling in extremities due to heat exposure, to heat stroke, which is characterized by a core temperature of over 40 degrees Celsius and manifests as neurological abnormalities such as seizure. The most effective way to prevent heat illness is through mitigation planning according to factors such as the intensity and duration of outdoor activities, and the frequency of breaks that prevent an individual from overheating. The most effective field and in-hospital treatment for heat illnesses is cold water immersion therapy, which involves immersion of the body in cold water. In accordance with recent findings, guidelines recognize the detrimental effects of heat illness on the cardiovascular system, and recommend screening for such complications after an episode of fainting/passing out.

With a mortality rate of up to 10%, heat illness can affect people who are exposed to sunlight and high temperatures for a prolonged period of time.

In 2017 the WMS released their first set of evidence-based guidelines on avalanche and non-avalanche snow burial. Avalanche snow burial can have a mortality rate of 70% if the victim is not rescued within the first 15 minutes. As such, the most effective preventative measures include avalanche avoidance, burial avoidance, trauma minimization, and asphyxia avoidance, and it is highly recommended for anyone at risk of avalanche burial to be adequately trained in prevention and escape strategies. Equipment such as helmets, backpacks, and specialized avalanche airbags have shown potential for trauma minimization but require further research to validate their use. Rescue guidelines recommend adherence to algorithms that involve establishing a team and team roles, ensuring their own safety, performing searches with transceivers or other methods, strategic shovelling and extraction of victims. Following rescue, resuscitation guidelines outline conditional protocols for cardiopulmonary resuscitation and advanced life support based on duration of burial, core temperature, obstruction of airway, and return of circulation, followed by trauma and hypothermia care when necessary. Non-avalanche snow burial, which is composed of head-first immersion into tree wells or deep powder snow, is less represented within published literature, prompting guidelines that recommend avoiding outdoor activities near tree wells or deep snow as the most optimal means of prevention.

Future steps and Conclusions

As WMS guidelines are carefully synthesized based on existing literature as well as expert opinion, more representative research with sound methodology of equal strength and quality as randomized controlled trials is needed, specifically for the topics of heat injuries and snow burials, which are two areas where it would be unethical to directly replicate the conditions for research purposes. Along with that, further investigation into adjunctive therapies and prevention strategies both pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic is recommended to expand care options.

In 2019, the updated WMS guidelines on the prevention, treatment and long-term management of acute altitude illness, frostbite injuries, and heat illness were published. As well as this, they have reviewed literature pertaining to avalanche and non-avalanche snow burial to generate prevention and treatment guidelines. These graded guidelines, which have been reviewed and graded based on level of supporting evidence as well as their risk to benefit ratio, not only serve as systematically-derived medical recommendations, but also highlight the need for expansion of research efforts to alleviate gaps in knowledge within the field of environmental medical science.

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By Madeline Heim, Annysa Johnson and Samatha West, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

As hundreds of thousands of students return to classrooms across Wisconsin, the state has no plans to publicize details about COVID-19 outbreaks when they occur at schools.

Freedom of information advocates say that information should be available to the broader public, and some researchers say data could help schools learn from one another. But others worry about protecting students, parents and communities from stigma if information about outbreaks is shared widely.

Without a state-level source of information, what you know about outbreaks in your schools may depend on the openness of local school districts and health departments.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services confirmed last week it will publish only the number of schools in the state with COVID-19 investigations, which launch when as few as two cases are identified in a given space. The department doesnt plan to name the schools or describe the severity of the outbreaks.

This is similar to how the state treats other facility-wide investigations, which it tracks by category, like outbreaks in group housing, health care settings and other workplaces. One exception is nursing homes, which are regulated by the state and federal governments and are named on the DHS site when an investigation occurs.

Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, said the location and size of school outbreaks should be made public, just as he believes the state health agency should post the names of businesses and other establishments connected to at least two cases of COVID-19, as it had initially planned.

I think its tragic that the Department of Health Services is being so secretive of COVID cases, and I think its contrary to public interest and public health, he said. They consistently have shown they dont particularly trust the people of Wisconsin to make reasonable and rational use of public information. Instead they just assume people are going to flip out if a school or business has some experience with COVID.

School teachers and staff across the state also are wondering what information will be available to them, since most school decisions are made at the district level, said Ron Duff Martin, president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council, which represents about 50,000 members across the state.

While schools are bound by privacy laws, he said, teachers and staff have concerns about keeping themselves, their families and their students safe.

Isnt this just a prime example of how this is the Wild West in Wisconsin, that we dont have one consistent policy for all of our schools? Martin said.

Theres a difference between local control and being able to give the direction and guidance from state level, he said. There are certain things that should be consistent from school district to school district and county to county.

Jenni Hofschulte of the Wisconsin Public Education Network said the education advocacy organization supports local control in school districts but would prefer districts follow a common set of rules and practices so families can better understand how theyll be applied in their communities.

Were disappointed as a network in some of the guidance thats come out and that so many of these decisions big decisions with big consequences have been put onto local schools in a way thats not something like choosing a textbook for a class, she said. Its about how to handle a global pandemic.

Schools are often the heart of their communities, Hofschulte said, meaning everyone should have access to information about outbreaks.

How many people have contact with a school building in a day? Its far more than students, parents, teachers or school staff. Its volunteers, grandparents and so much more, she said. People deserve the right to know.

At national and state levels, school outbreak sources are few

Across the country, schools have cited medical and educational privacy laws in keeping outbreak numbers confidential. But legal experts recently told USA TODAY that these laws dont bar schools from sharing this information, as long as it cant be used to identify specific people.

Standing guidance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA which prohibits medical providers from releasing identifying information about a patient doesnt apply to elementary or secondary schools.

Educational records are kept private by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, but the U.S. Department of Education said in March that the law doesnt prevent schools from sharing non-identifying details about COVID-19 cases.

Wisconsin statute requires schools to notify local health officials if they know or suspect a communicable disease is present in a building, either among students, teachers or other staff.

New DHS guidance issued to schools last week says administrators should track cases, other illnesses and student absences. In the event of a confirmed or probable case of COVID-19, DHS said administrators should notify families and all teachers and staff.

But no recommendations are given as to how or when Wisconsin schools should inform the public about the size and location of outbreaks.

Other states have similarly shielded details about specific school outbreaks from the public, including Michigan and Tennessee. In Oklahoma, school districts arent even required to report COVID-19 cases to local public health officials, according to a New York Times report.

In the absence of a federal system to track school outbreaks, Emily Oster, an economist at Brown University, has teamed up with national school superintendents and principals associations to collect data on school COVID-19 cases from as many schools across the country as possible.

Their dashboard, which is expected to go live about a week after data collection starts in early September, will provide the public with basic information like enrollment numbers, the schools reopening plans and precautions taken, as well as suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases, and absences.

Schools can choose to participate, Oster said, but shes hopeful that support from the superintendents and principals will persuade many districts to opt in.

The best thing we can do is just be honest about what we see as the value here, Oster said. Theres a lot of enthusiasm about having these data, and I think were going to have to rely on making clear to people: If you want this data to exist, then we do need participation.'

The value of the data, she said, would be as a tool for more informed decision-making. With this data in hand, schools can look to one another to determine what mix of precautions and COVID-19 prevalence creates the safest situation to open schools, and they also can track differences in outbreaks across age groups.

It also rids parents, teachers and families of uncertainty, she said.

When we report on outbreaks without doing a comprehensive data collection, it can be hard for people to understand: Was that just one outbreak, or is every school like that? Oster said. This effort can answer those questions and allay some fears or, maybe, tell us its not safe.

Is it enough for a school to send letters to parents?

For many school officials and families, the benefits of having information about an outbreak are clear. But some disagree on whether the general public needs to see it, too.

Dr. Maggie Nolan, a preventative medicine physician in Madison whose oldest child is starting first grade this year at Madison Country Day School in Waunakee, said shes asked the school to provide parents with the number of students absent from school on a given day.

Because COVID-19 has a wide range of symptoms and may not present the same way in all children, she said, she might opt for virtual learning if several of her daughters classmates are out sick whether or not theyve been confirmed COVID-positive.

She served on a medical advisory board to help guide the schools reopening, and said she feels like shes gotten a strong commitment from school leaders that theyll tell parents what they want to know about outbreaks.

Still, Nolan said she doesnt believe that information necessarily needs to be shared with the broader public. Especially within smaller schools, she said, even de-identified information about cases could be enough to make someones identity known.

There will be talk of it in the community enough to make people aware, Nolan said. But adding stigma to certain schools or communities (with outbreaks) is really a slippery slope.

What no one wants, she said, is a situation where parents are discouraged from getting their kids tested if they feel a positive COVID test will stigmatize them in some way.

But Patrick Remington, an epidemiologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said people like day care providers and coaches also need to be informed about an outbreak involving students.

He recommends schools to go beyond sending a letter home to families and operate some sort of dashboard to track outbreaks.

In my mind, I cant imagine any information that parents need to know that a community wouldnt also be interested in knowing, he said.

Its critical, Remington said, that schools take control of the message and share information on outbreaks transparently rather than letting rumors proliferate on social media.

Youve seen schools where (theyll say), Ms. Johnson isnt going to be here tomorrow. Shell be gone for two weeks,' he said. You think a parent doesnt know whats going on?

Without outbreak details from DHS, the responsibility falls to local health departments and the school districts themselves to decide what information to share, and how.

Martin said the state teachers union has been holding town halls with its members and state and local officials trying to address their concerns.

What really has our educators anxious. he said, is if theres an outbreak, what can we know? What cant we know? Theyre very anxious about whats happening in their districts and beyond.

And the onus of tracking down information, on top of getting ready for an uncertain school year, just places another layer of stress on them.

Disclosure decisions fall to local officials

Its not clear how much more transparency there will be at the local level.

Two health departments in Milwaukee County in Milwaukee and Greenfield said they have no plans to publicly list numbers of COVID-19 cases by school or school district.

The Milwaukee Health Department said in an email to USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin that schools will be required to notify all parents in a school about positive cases, but the health department will not report numbers publicly by school or district. It said it does not provide information about positive cases for companies or organizations in any other sector and that it would not treat schools differently.

Sharing specific, small-scale, demographic information with the public does not aid in the public health mitigation strategies, the department said in an email.

But Milwaukee Health Commissioner Jeanette Kowalik, in her regularly scheduled Tuesday briefing, appeared to suggest that listing cases by school might happen eventually. She called it a sensitive topic and said any decision would have to be made in collaboration with districts, teachers unions and the Department of Public Instruction.

Most schools are virtual in the city of Milwaukee, so it gives us a little time to figure this out, she said.

In the city of Greenfield, in southwestern Milwaukee County, Health Officer Darren Rausch said his office has not yet thought through whether and how it will release information about schools to the general public. But he said his office doesnt typically release public health data in small numbers because that can identify individuals. And schools would likely be treated the same way, he said.

Disease is all around us, Rausch said. Im not any more concerned because theres a case in my school, because I know there are other settings that my child is in or could be in where I could get COVID.

In Waukesha County, west of Milwaukee, health officials added a map to their COVID-19 dashboard showing the number of active cases involving children under 18 by school district geographic area. But it does not cite numbers by school or district, and it includes all children, regardless of where they go to school, including those in private and charter schools and those who are home-schooled.

Nicole Armendariz, spokeswoman for Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow, said it will be up to schools and districts to determine whether to notify anyone, including parents and staff, who are not close contacts of a positive COVID-19 case.

Contact Madeline Heim at 920-996-7266 or mheim@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @madeline_heim. Contact Annysa Johnson at anjohnson@jrn.com or 414-224-2061. Follow her on Twitter at @JSEdbeat. Contact Samantha West at 920-996-7207 or swest@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @BySamanthaWest.

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HOUSTON, Aug. 26, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Axiom Medical Consulting, LLC, a leader in occupational health services and innovator of the CheckIn2Work app, has successfully expanded its reach to Hollywood to ensure workplace safety for cast, production and crew members in the onsite film production industry during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Working with several production companies, Axiom is achieving excellent results in the mitigation of COVID-19.

The pandemic halted TV and film sets in Hollywood as production organizations struggled with how to provide safe workplaces in a pre-vaccine world. While trade unions and guilds released a COVID-19 collaborative report titled "The Safe Way Forward," productions still lacked the capacity and resources to independently meet the science-based protocols and medical management for health and safety for all workers.

Enter Axiom as a third-party medical provider offering preventative medicine and public health expertise, with independent COVID-19 medical management, so that production firms can successfully adopt safe return-to-work processes which mitigate the spread of infectious disease. The company has also introduced procedural standards to ensure the continued safety of the workforce. As part of its strategy, they provide a Health Safety Supervisor for productions, who is responsible for COVID-related safety, including zoned testing, daily attestation, case management, contact tracing and compliance.

Complying with established health and safety zoning standards and medically approved protocols, the Company has performed 8,399 tests to date within several Los Angeles-based production companies, showing a positivity rate of 0.17 percent, as compared with the 5.7 percent community seven-day testing positivity average.

The probability of disease exposure and transmission within certain film production companies was significantly lowered. One of these success stories is the upcoming HBO Max television series by Jax Media, Haute Dog, which completed a four-week-long shoot following full union guidelines and COVID protocols instituted by Axiom, culminating in zero positive test results among cast, crew and producers.

"We are honored to be working with the California film production industry, including Jax Media, to help employers and employees manage their workplace safety during COVID," says Mark Robinson, Axiom's CEO. "To achieve these excellent results of no or low positivity within production companies validates the effectiveness of our protocols and procedures. Our excellent team, guided by our Chief Medical Officer Dr. Scott Cherry, is to be commended for providing effective, science-based solutions to mitigate infections in the workplace."

"Axiom Medical's plan made our workplace safe and healthy throughout production of our new series, Haute Dog," says Michael Miller, co-executive producer. "The quality team of professionals ensured that strict protocols were in place for everyone associated with the project, day in and day out. The result was zero positive cases of COVID over four weeks of production, which is something we can all be proud of."

Axiom is now working with the newly revived production from TBS, Wipeout, the obstacle course reality competition that originally aired on ABC between 2008 and 2014. Axiom's Tony DeLitta is serving as Health Safety Supervisor on the production, which was also his role with Haute Dog.

Axiom Medical Consulting, LLC was founded in 1999 in The Woodlands, TX and has established itself as an industry leader in providing complete occupational health services for the total life cycle of client's employees. Axiom is the expert in the fields of workers' compensation, disability case management and OSHA-mandated medical programs. The Company was founded on the best practice mission of caring for employees first and providing a significant return on investment for clients. Axiom has impacted over 1,000,000 lives by helping employees in the workplace and continues its mission by supporting during the COVID-19 crisis by managing over 32,000 COVID cases and 429,542 CheckIn2Work attestations. For more information, please visit us at http://www.axiomllc.com.

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Wisconsin universities are reporting multiple positive cases of COVID-19 among students and staffas many campuses within the University of Wisconsin System prepare to start classes next week.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has released a COVID-19 dashboard showing that 36 people on campus have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. On Tuesday, nine students tested positive, which has sent the campus's seven-day average of positive tests climbing.

Of the 36 positives at the state's flagship campus, 33 came from students, with the rest coming from employees. So far, the total positivity rate for UW-Madison is 1.2 percent.

A campus spokeswoman said that on top of the positives detected using on-campus testing 87 additional students and eight additional employees have been reported through off campus testing. That brings the total number of positives for the campus to 131 so far.

Collin Pitts, the chief resident of the campus Preventative Medicine Residency program working with University Health Services, said seeing positive cases isn'ta surprise and the current data is similar to the rate of community spread in Madison and Dane County.

"We're really expecting a fair number of cases over the next couple of days as we expand our testing to include all the students that are living in the residence halls," Pitts said.

Pitts said UW-Madison is testing all students planning to live in residence halls on arrival to campus. He said this stands in contrast to what other campuses like the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which moved classes online less than a week after opening.

UW-Madison will also conduct voluntary testing of groups of students living off campus. And COVID-19 screening is available to any student or employee that requests it. Anyone who shows symptoms of COVID-19 will also be tested along with anyone that had recent contact with those testing positive.

Pitts said the plan is to test 8,000 students in the first week of mass screening and the expectation is that the positivity rate will continue to match that of the surrounding community. If 1.2 percent of those 8,000 students test positive there could be nearly 100 new cases reported.

The university is using what is known as a PCR test, which detects genetic material in the virus. But Pitts said the test is so new and approved through a U.S. Food and Drug Administration emergency authorization the university doesn't know how accurate it is.

"We don't actually have the sensitivity for it, because the current FDA emergency use authorization doesn't require it," said Pitts. "They require a lot of detection and validation process."

That said, UW-Madison's PCR test is very similar to others that have proven highly effective at detecting the virus, said Pitts.PCR tests, in general have been described as the "gold standard" for accurate COVID-19 diagnosis.

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UW-Whitewater reported three new cases between Aug.17 and Aug. 29. Two of those positive results came from employees, the other beinga student. Since March, the campus has reported 11 positive cases of COVID-19. UW-Whitewater's COVID-19 dashboard doesn't include key metrics like total test numbers or positivity rate. A campus spokesman told WPR in an email he was working to get the additional testing information.

UW-Parkside has reported one positive case of COVID-19 this month. But again, the campus reporting dashboard doesn't include information on how many tests had been administered. An email requesting that information was not returned by a campus spokesman.

Marquette University, the state's largest private college, has reported a total of 108 positive cases of COVID-19 since testing began in March. Of the total, 89 positives have come from the student population and 19 have come from employees.

In the past month, universities and colleges have made their final preparations to welcome hundreds of thousands of students back to campuses across Wisconsin. These plans have included face mask requirements, temperature monitoring, and even required pledges in which students promise to follow rules meant to prevent outbreaks on campus.

In a blog post, Wednesday, UW-Madison chancellor Becky Blank defended the university's decision to push forward with bringing tens of thousands of students and employees back to campus while other universities around the U.S. close because of outbreaks. She said a "substantial percentage" of students will continue to live in Madison whether classes are online or not.

"Given this, we believe that both they and the community are better off when they have some structure to their days (beyond sitting at home in front of a computer), when testing is broadly available, and when they receive daily reminders of health protocols," Blanks said.

But local elected officials aren't so sure reopening campus amid the pandemic will leave students or the community better off. A letter signed by 28 Dane County Supervisors, Madison City Council Members and Madison Metropolitan School District board members opposed the university's "Smart Restart" plan and requested that nearly all classes be moved online, dorms only be used for students who don't have safe alternative housing and that specific metrics on what would cause the campus to cancel in-person instruction be shared with the public.

"Why bring everyone back to campus until the inevitable outbreak, which will require a vast amount of public health resources to address, and the potential spreading of the virus to multiple communities?" said the letter.

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Aug 26, 2020 Jim Franco Covid-19 Updates, News

The COVID-19 pandemic and the annual flu season will begin to overlap in less than a month and while nobody is sure what that is going to look like, there are some simple, common sense recommendations by health care and other professionals that will help keep people healthy.

For months we have been bombarded about masks, social distancing and sanitization and it is unlikely those COVID protocols will change anytime soon. Other prevention practices related to COVID include staying home if you dont feel well and being placed under quarantine if youtest positive for the virus so as not to spread it to others.

The fact the steps are similar stands to reason: both are viruses and both are spread mainly through person to person contact when air droplets are exchanged and people who are not yet showing symptoms of either virus can spread the it. And, both viruses can live within some people who dont show any symptoms but can still spread germs to others who are more susceptible to serious ramifications.

On the plus side of the equation, since the two viruses are so similar and many of the COVID precautions are mandatory, they may work to help stem the spread of seasonal flu as well as COVID.

Staying or getting healthy

In addition to similar symptoms and preventative measures, COVID and the flu hit hardest those with compromised immune symptoms such as obesity, heart disease, hypertension, asthma and diabetes.

In New York state, of the more than 25,300 deaths attributed to COVID-19 more than 90 percent had a comorbidity, with 13,454 also having hypertension, 8,875 also having diabetes and 5,251 also being obese.

A healthy lifestyle does not cure or prevent COVID or the flu but it does help.

COVID-19 has been proven to kill you if you are overweight, or if you have diseases related to being overweight diabetes, heart disease and hypertension, said Jessica Fuller, the owner of six yoga spas in the Capital District including in Latham and Albany. There is one industry and one industry alone that can lessen the risk factor of getting COVID and dying from COVID and that is the fitness industry.

Fuller, while appearing with Albany County Executive Dan McCoy during a press briefing, expressed frustration with New York state for not allowing gyms and other fitness centers to open with the rest of the economy. They have been closed since mid-March, and were just allowed to open under strict guidelines on Monday, Aug. 24.

As a fitness owner, not only am I personally and professionally having a hard time, I cannot wrap my head around the thought process behind keeping fitness closed right now, she said. We opened our studios, our cross fit gyms, our boot camps, our spinning places to keep people healthy and right now, during a global pandemic that is killing you if you are not healthy, we had our hands tied.

Whalen urged people to take advantage of the COVID lockdown that is still in effect for things like concerts and other large gatherings centered on the entertainment industry, to start getting healthy.

As a public health and preventative medicine specialist, we at the Health Department advocate all the time the importance of physical fitness and do all you can to prevent against chronic diseases and other diseases we know are exacerbated by having extra weight or being physically unfit, she said. We have tried throughout this to advocate the thought of reengaging in physical activity. How we get our physical activity is so important and for many people being able to go to a gym, to a yoga studio to a pool is incredibly beneficial not only from a psychical perspective but from a psychological and a mental health perspective.

Vaccinations

Despite unprecedented resources, there is not a vaccination for COVID as of yet and once one is developed, widespread distribution is still months away. And even then, a vaccine will not eradicate the virus overnight, if at all.

Vaccinations for this flu season are available now, but the CDC recommends anyone older than six month to get vaccinated in September or October. Since the vaccinations are only effective for about six months, some doctors think getting vaccinated in July or August is too early since flu season peaks sometime between December and February and generally lasts until March or April. Waiting any longer than late October is too long since it does take a few weeks for the vaccine to establish itself and build the antibodies that protect the body from sickness.

We are entering flu season and we want to be cautious going forward for September and the months after. It will remain important for citizens of the county, citizens of the state and citizens of the United States to continue to adhere important infection control guidelines of social distancing , of handwashing and wearing masks, said Dr. Elizabeth Whalen, head of the Albany County Department of Health. I would advise people to get vaccinated for influenza as soon as possible. As soon as they have a supply it is a good idea to get vaccinated for the flu and I would advise parents sending their kids back to school to make sure they are up to date on their vaccinations.

Pharmacies began offering flu vaccinations last week but when people get a shot is up to them and their doctor. It is expected, though, more people will get vaccinated than ever before. The CDC is expecting private manufactures to produce up to 198 million doses of vaccine compared to the 175 million-dose record set during the 2019-20 season.

Getting a flu shot will look a little different this year. Most pharmacies are going to screen people for other illnesses first and shots will not be administered if a person is showing symptoms of any illness.

Like COVID, the flu and can be severe or benign and can run the gamut from death to a couple days on the couch to no symptoms at all. Every year health care systems brace for flu season and that concern is compounded exponentially by COVID.

For the upcoming flu season, flu vaccination will be very important to reduce flu because it can help reduce the overall impact of respiratory illnesses on the population and thus lessen the resulting burden on the healthcare system during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the CDC.

Flu vaccines change every year because the flu mutates every year. As such, a somewhat an educated guessing game takes place to determine what strains of vaccines are manufactured. According to the CDC: recent studies show that flu vaccination reduces the risk of flu illness by between 40and 60 percent among the overall population during seasons when most circulating flu viruses are well-matched to the flu vaccine.

It is still highly recommended, especially for older people and those with compromised immune systems and it is particularly recommended this year. It is not clear if having the flu will make a case of COVID more severe than it would have been in a person if the flu was not present. It is also not clear if getting any variation of a flu vaccine will at all limit the chances of getting COVID.

Ensuring that people continue or start getting routine vaccinations during the COVID-19 pandemic is essential for protecting people and communities from vaccine-preventable diseases and outbreaks, including flu, according to the CDC. For the upcoming flu season, flu vaccination will be very important to reduce flu because it can help reduce the overall impact of respiratory illnesses on the population and thus lessen the resulting burden on the healthcare system during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The significance of a vaccine is particularly important entering flu season if, as many people fear, history is going to repeat itself and a second wave of COVID is on the horizon. During the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-20, the second wave, which hit roughly in September of 1918, was more considerably more deadly than the first. There are significant differences between now and then, though, and one is the evolution of science that now includes vaccinations.

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Technology is at our fingertips. Think of all the health monitors or wearable fitness trackers that people are using today. Virtual healthcare practices have changed our attitude towards the medical and healthcare industry. While there are loyalists as well as dissenters who rue the lack of personal connection with the doctor and quality care, tech innovations are breaking barriers meanwhile.

Technology in Healthcare

It could be as simple as information sharing between doctors and patients, or something as profound as robotic aid in a high-risk surgery. Better still, make it a remote surgery where the patient and doctor are separated by miles in between them! Clearly, recent tech advancements are disrupting the medical and healthcare industry with its dynamic applications.

It started with the online consultations and took off from there.

Telemedicine or virtual consultations are a thing of the past now. Even when they started, the dramatic impact it had on traditional healthcare roles has changed our collective attitude towards the industry. As these technologies develop further, more applications for professionals and patients stand to promote the overall wellness. Today, apps on the phone track our exercise and calorie intake, check obesity development, and monitor heart health.

Here are 5 recent tech innovations that have disrupted the industry for the long haul:

1. Virtual Reality or AR/MR/VR in Healthcare

Both medical professionals and patients stand to benefit from the multi-sensory, immersive experience that VR provides.

Think of realistic and low-risk simulated environment for training surgeons. On the other hand, in the arena of pain management or mental health, immersion in virtual worlds can produce better results. VRs therapeutic potential and rehabilitation chances in acute pain and anxiety disorder cases are far-reaching.

2. Nanomedicine

This is the stuff of sci-fi genres. Nanotechnology and nanodevices are arming the healthcare industry with control on the molecular level. Nanopharmaceuticals are aiming at smaller drugs and more precise delivery systems. For instance, delivering chemotherapy to targeted tumours rather than poisoning the whole body.

3. 3D Printing

Creating medical tools from buildable materials ranging from plastic to stem-cells, 3D printing has revolutionised the medical industry. Aided by the custom-friendly aspect of 3D printing, organ transplants and tissue repair, prosthetics and braces, even layered stem-cell organoids are possible today. Faster prototypes at a fraction of the traditional cost is a huge leg-up in the healthcare scene. The most dazzling innovation through this method is the poly-pill that holds several drugs for multiple illnesses with different release times!

4. Internet of Medical Things or IoT

Connected devices, cloud-computing, and the internet have allowed a larger the exchange of data, convenience, and automation. The IoT is significantly changing how healthcare professionals can manage patient records, control inventory, monitor and provide preventative care. In a way, this could be the most significant disruptive technology as a lot of other tech advancements have been possible only through this.

5. Precision Medicine

Diagnosis, treatment, and preventive care based on an individuals environment, lifestyle, and genetic makeup is a big shift from the all-purpose generic approach. Precision medicine is suggested based on diagnostic and molecular genetic testing processes such as genome sequencing and DNA mutation investigations. This will revolutionise preventive measures reducing treatment time and expenditure as well as healthcare requirement.

As healthcare and technological advancements grow together, the industry becomes more optimised providing quality care. It is evident in the cosmetic health industry where non-surgical procedures have advanced significantly. You can get Botox in Perth with breakthrough serums and great aftercare with minimal or no recovery time.

In fact, tech innovations have disrupted the healthcare industry so significantly, it is impossible to see it survive without them.

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5 Recent Tech Innovations Disrupting the Medical and Healthcare Industry - HealthTechZone