727: Lead Testing, KFF Health Misinformation Monitor

JANSON SILVERS: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Tuesday, August 13, 2024 I'm Janson Silvers. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

DEBRA BOGEN: 

If these children had not had routine screening, they would not have been picked up, because children are not symptomatic until very high levels.

SILVERS: 

Dr. Deborah Bogen, the secretary of health for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, discusses the lead tainted applesauce case in North Carolina and how well the situation was handled.

BOGEN: 

It was a perfect example of how public health should work. You screen all children. These children came in for routine screening. They were found to have an elevated lead level. They went down the discovery path with the Public Health Department to discover where and how the exposure happened.

SILVERS: 

Currently, Pennsylvania doesn't require kids to be tested for lead, and Bogan says that means a lot of children aren't getting screened.

BOGEN: 

We currently estimate that we screen about 55% of children for lead exposure. That means we're missing 45% of children, and we know that between one and 2% of children will screen with an elevated lead level. So that means we're missing almost half the children with an elevated lead level.

SILVERS: 

Bogen recently pinned an op ed in trib live advocating for the importance of testing children for lead poisoning. That article is linked in the show notes.

KFF is on a mission to track health misinformation in the US, and created the KFF Health Misinformation Monitor. Here is KFF's Executive Director of Health Misinformation and Trust Initiative, Irving Washington.

IRVING WASHINGTON: 

That overarching goal is to aim to track health misinformation in the US, analyze its impact, and essentially create media to address the problem as well too. In keeping with our mission, our primary focus will be on the impact of misinformation on people most impacted by health misinformation, which traditionally could be communities of color and low income communities.

SILVERS: 

Washington hopes health departments can use the tool to combat misinformation.

WASHINGTON: 

The main, primary thing that they can use is to gain insights into specific misinformation narratives that are spreading in the country right now that could be topics like vaccines, reproductive health, or mental health. You can see which misconceptions are most common and come up with ways to counter some of these false claims.

SILVERS: 

Washington also says their research has shown a quote muddled middle of people who have encountered misinformation but don't know whether or not to believe it. Washington says this is a chance for public health to get correct information into people's hands.

WASHINGTON: 

We see this as an opportunity for people in this space to really address and understand how to permeate misinformation. So kind of addressing this [...] middle with a transparent and consistent message that's clear is one of the strategies that could overcome these barriers and make sure public health efforts are effective.

SILVERS: 

You can find the health misinformation monitor by using the link in the show notes. Also today, Mississippi is utilizing environmental justice in several ways. O'Keyla Cooper has more.

O'KEYLA COOPER: 

An ASTHO report explores how the Mississippi State Department of Health integrates environmental justice into disaster response and emergency preparedness. It highlights the state's community based, equity driven initiatives and cross sector partnerships aimed at addressing environmental health concerns. You can download the full report via the link in the show notes.

SILVERS: 

Finally, this morning, the CDC has issued a Health Alert Network Health update regarding mpox. The update provides additional information about the outbreak of monkey pox virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A link to the full story is in the show notes.

That'll do it for today. We're back tomorrow morning with more ASTHO news and information. I'm Janson Silvers. You're listening to the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great day.