Northeast Public Health Collaborative: a reliable resource to combat public health uncertainty

By: Lex Bowen

It’s that time of the year, folks. Cold and flu season is well underway, with brand new viruses knocking at the doors to our school community since early November. In the last few months, a sudden bout of flu wiped out a significant percentage of the student and staff population just before winter break. ​

This new ‘superflu’, or Subclade K, a mutation of the Influenza A strain, is marked by a number of typical symptoms, including high fevers, severe body aches, and fatigue. Other symptoms linked to Subclade K are similar to those found in the common cold, such as congestion, coughing, and runny noses. Vomiting and indigestion are symptoms that are particularly common in younger individuals. 

Many of the students and staff at Glenelg can personally attest to the unpleasantness of this new flu strain – nearly 400 students were out with the flu the Thursday and Friday prior to winter break. Sickness within the school has since dwindled, but the severity of the symptoms, even among those who had already received this year's flu vaccine had some wondering if the vaccine was even worth it. 

New vaccine recommendations from the US government would suggest that they often aren’t, as a recent decree reduced the number of recommended vaccinations for children from 17 to 10. 

The newly founded Northeast Public Health Collaborative, however, disagrees.

A few months ago, health officials from several Northeastern states banded together to launch the Northeast Public Health Collaborative in a direct response to recent developments within the US Department of Health. The goal of this new organization is to “optimize shared resources, reimagine core services, and build trust in public health.” As of now, the collaborative includes Maryland, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and New York City. 

Their first recommendation was issued on September 15, encouraging parents to take their children to be vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus, which was no longer recommended by the CDC.

Another vaccine cut from the list by the CDC was the influenza vaccine, which the Northeast Health Collaborative continues to recommend for children. This is particularly relevant in the face of the new Subclade K. While it may not directly prevent Subclade K, sources have reported that the vaccine helps to reduce the severity of symptoms caused by the new Subclade K, especially among children.

What does this mean for us? Well, citizens living in any of the areas participating in the collaborative are still completely free to decide which recommendations to follow, and make those decisions based on what they believe is best for their health.

The general consensus, no matter which recommendations you are inclined towards, is that any decisions regarding personal health and safety should be well researched, unlike the CDC’s recent statement that vaccines don’t (“not”) cause autism. This new claim was one of the driving forces behind the formation of the Northeast Public Health Collaborative, as it hopes to prevent the spread of misinformation such as this. 

The new updates made to the CDC’s page on any possible links between vaccines and autism are far-fetched at best, and downright ridiculous at worst. With the amount of research done on the subject, a number of health experts have been able to confirm with absolute certainty that vaccines do not cause autism. 

The frustration of bewildered health professionals leaks through in a footnote added to the CDC’s page on vaccines and autism, stating that the header reading ‘Vaccines do not cause autism’ was left in thanks to “an agreement with the chair of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee that it would remain on the CDC website”. 

The Northeast Public Health Collaborative concurs with the fact that vaccines do not cause autism, stating that the changes the the CDC’s page are “inconsistent with decades of research and more than 40 carefully designed and scientifically sound studies involving 5.6 million people that show no link or association between vaccines and autism”.

While it is still best to conduct your own research regarding the health of you and your loved ones, organizations like the Northeast Public Health Collaborative are a reliable resource to help you fact check information that may feel inaccurate or inconsistent.