Chesterfield County, Virginia Excerpts from Board of Supervisors meetings, 24 Aug 2022

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From YouTube: Health Department Update - BOS Meeting - August 24, 2022

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At Wednesday's Board of Supervisors meeting, Chesterfield Health District Director Dr. Alexander Samuel MD MPH presented A Monkeypox overview, case counts, public health response and a COVID-19 status update.

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Our next guest is dr samuel, the the chestfield health district, who is here for his periodic update for the board of supervisors and the public.

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Dr samuel, dr samuel, good, to see you again in some time, which I'm a little bit thankful for, but.

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Circumstances yes,.

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So, mr chairman, members of the board of supervisors, dr casey, I'm here today to provide a brief update on a few public health topics of interest. But before I do, I want to take a moment to introduce the newest member of my management team, janice smith, who is this health district's population, health manager?

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This is a brand new position for us which I'm very excited about and have wanted to create for some time.

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Much of what janna will do is help design and lead community-based prevention efforts that better address the upstream factors that result in poor health janet and her team will begin a community health assessment process for this county that we hope to launch before the end of this calendar year and she's also been very instrumental in organizing our monkey puck's response efforts, so she's jumped in with both feet.

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Thank you, jenna.

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All right, thank you very much.

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So I'll be covering two public health topics of primary interest. Tonight, I'll spend most of my time briefing you about monkey pox and then provide a brief covet. 19 status, update.

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So monkey pox is not a new illness. There have been worldwide outbreaks in the past, but this outbreak is certainly more widespread. Monkeypox is caused by a virus related to the smallpox virus with similar symptoms, but monkeypox is much milder and rarely fatal.

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Monkey pox disease is endemic in parts of africa, which essentially means that it's part of the communicable disease landscape in certain parts of that continent.

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The risk of contracting monkey pox by the general u.s population is considered low, but it is important to note that anyone can contract it. It can be spread through close personal, often skin-to-skin, contact that includes direct contact with the monkey pox rash, scabs or body fluids from a person with monkey. Pox can also be spread by respiratory secretions during prolonged face-to-face contact or during intimate physical contact. It's not something you can get by passing.

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Somebody in in the hallway, for example, who might have it touching items such as clothing or linens that previously contacted infectious, rash or body fluids is another way. Monkey pox is spread.

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The greatest risk comes from having close, sustained physical contact with an infected person. So far, the majority of cases have been among individuals who have multiple or anonymous sex partners.

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Symptoms usually start within three weeks, typically between three to 17 days after exposure to the virus, a rash that can be located anywhere on the body can be one of the first symptoms.

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Monkey pox illness typically lasts between two to four weeks and then goes away by itself. Individuals with conditions that can weaken their immune system like hiv could experience more severe health outcomes.

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So this data was compiled compiled this past monday, when these slides were developed. At that time there were almost 43 000 monkey pox cases worldwide, with 12 deaths due to the illness. There were over 15 000 cases in the u.s, but no deaths so far reported in this country in virginia we're approaching 300 cases and in the central uh healthcare region, which includes the greater richmond metro area and extends south to the north carolina border.

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There were 27 cases reported as of yesterday, so this information is updated a bit with seven cases in this health district. I realized that I mislabeled the box in the lower right hand corner it should read: vdh central region and chesterfield health district, not chesterfield county.

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So all of edh health districts have shifted resources to prioritize monkeypox response. Our epidemiology team is investigating every suspected case. We learn about from the health care system. We are assisting with testing if needed, and we work closely with medical providers by offering technical support to ensure that they can identify report and test suspect cases appropriately.

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We conduct routine containment by identifying close contacts of cases and monitor them for signs of illness, we're also reaching out to individuals who are most at risk of contracting monkey pox through community networks that interface with them.

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So health district staff began administering the gina's vaccine at the end of july, due to a limited supply of vaccine nationwide, it's currently being offered to individuals who are at high risk of contracting monkey pox.

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We added a vaccine interest form to our website on august 3rd, that screens for eligibility. We also screen and sign up individuals who contact us by phone. Today, we've been holding weekly vaccine clinics at the chesapeake county health department. These clinics currently have met demand.

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We've also signed an mou with chesterfield county to obtain county assistance to support a large scale vaccine operation if the need arises from monkey, pox or any future communicable disease. This follows a great partnership established during our covered response.

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Just for your information, the current vaccine gynos is a two dose vaccine regimen with first and second doses spread out one month apart.

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As of august 22nd, we've administered 126, first or second doses, and have received 190 doses from the federal supply that is funneled through the state.

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All right so I'll conclude with a very brief uh status, update, update on covet 19 here in this county.

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The top graphic shows the trend in daily case averages from december of last year, through this past monday august, 22nd you'll notice that the case numbers have been steadily dropping over the past few weeks, noted in the far right portion of the graph.

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The cdc provides guidance based on a measure labeled the covet 19 community level, which reflects the number of cases and hospitalizations in a given locality. So it's done so by county on the bottom. Half of the slide you'll see this current. This county's current coven 19 community level we're at medium after more than six weeks of being at high.

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So the current recommended prevention steps are listed, which include speaking to a health care provider about wearing a mask if you're at risk for severe illness. Staying up to date with covet, 19 vaccines and getting tested is symptomatic.

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As we transition away from pandemic to endemic covet 19, the cdc has relaxed requirements.

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Now quarantine is no longer routinely recommended for the general population, as well as for schools, and day cares as far as the predominant virus that's circulating, we don't have anything by county level, but for the health and human services region level 3, which is multi-state, includes virginia about 87 percent of the cases, are believed to be caused by the ba-5 omicron variant, and just conclude by saying that the health district continues to provide covet 19 vaccines and I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.

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Board members, any questions for dr samuel.

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None we thank you for that, update sure nice to see you again.