The Marin County Public Health Status Update as of Jan.26:
Rates of seasonal respiratory viruses have plateaued in Marin County but remain at high levels. Wastewater reveals that COVID-19 and RSVtransmission rates have remained at about the same elevated level for the past month, and influenza rates are slowly declining. The JN.1 variant is the dominant local strain and is driving ongoing COVID-19 transmission. The protection of the vaccine remains important. Exposure risk to all seasonal respiratory viruses is expected to remain high in our community into the spring.
This week, Marin Public Health issued an advisory to local clinicians signaling that a first line antibiotic (ciprofloxacin) was no longer effective in protecting against the most common form of bacterial meningitis. The emergence of drug-resistant organisms is a growing public health concern and is related to over-use of antibiotics. This underscores the importance of reserving antibiotics for appropriate illnesses. Antibiotics are not effective on viruses that cause colds. When doctors don’t prescribe antibiotics it’s generally for our safety and well-being and will help preserve antibiotics for when they’re most needed.
The median age in Marin County is 48 years old, which makes our community one of oldest in the state and makes almost half of us eligible for the shingles vaccine. Shingles (Varicella Zoster) is a painful and potentially debilitating viral infection of nerves in people who had chickenpox earlier in life. Nearly all residents over age 50 are at risk, because they were exposed before the chickenpox vaccine was developed. Studies suggest COVID-19 infection can increase risk of shingles. If you’re aged 50 or older above, in addition to the COVID-19 vaccine, ask your healthcare provider to be vaccinated against shingles.
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