Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

25 INFECTION CONTROL & PATIENT SAFETY Why the death of local newspapers is a disaster for outbreak surveillance: 4 things to know By Brian Zimmerman E pidemiologists tasked with tracking in- fectious disease outbreaks rely heavily on information from local news sourc- es, meaning they could be le with signifi- cant information gaps as local newspapers in large swaths of the U.S. continue to fold, according to a report from STAT. Here are four things to know. 1. Disease detectives examine data from many different sources to identify outbreaks, including local and state health agencies, and social media. Newspapers are not only helpful for identifying outbreaks, but also for predicting their trajectory, according to Maia Majumder, a PhD candidate at the Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology in Boston and a computational epidemiology research fellow at HealthMap. HealthMap tracks global infectious disease activity online using nontraditional data sources. 2. Ms. Majumder cited Arkansas' 2016-17 mumps outbreak — which neared 3,000 cas- es — as an example of how local newspapers can help health officials track the progres- sion of an outbreak. When attempting to determine why the outbreak was so large, Ms. Majumder and colleagues struggled to obtain important data. While the Arkansas Department of Public Health provided reg- ular updates about the outbreak's numbers, it did not archive them. However, the North- west Arkansas Democrat-Gazette covered the outbreak in detail and access to the coverage was easy to obtain, providing valuable con- text on the outbreak's progression. 3. While newspapers aren't the only source of local news, communities that cannot support these entities are oen also unable to support radio and television stations. Also, radio and television reports aren't as likely to be archived. While social media is helpful for tracking the spread of disease, it cannot provide a stand-in for newspapers due to the widespread dissemination of falsehoods — either by accident or design — across social media platforms. 4. Ms. Majumder noted another troubling trend regarding the decline of local newspa- pers —the majority of communities without access to a daily newspaper are in pockets of the country where there is a growing senti- ment of being le behind. "What that means is they lose access to news, which is very, very vital for knowing what's going on in your town," Ms. Majumder told STAT. "But also from the public health surveillance point of view, we're losing access to knowing what they need." n DOJ sues Wisconsin nursing home over mandatory flu shot policy By Megan Knowles T he Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Ozaukee County, Wis., March 6, alleging coun- ty-owned Cedarburg, Wis.-based Lasata Care Center discriminated against a former nursing assis- tant's religious objections to receiving a flu vaccine. The suit claims Barnell Williams, a former nursing assistant at the care center, requested exemption from the center's vaccination requirement due to her "sin- cerely held religious belief that Bible-based scriptures prohibited flu shots," according to a statement from the department obtained by CNBC. The center allows employees to opt out of receiving the vaccine due to religious beliefs only if they provide a written statement from their clergy leader agreeing to the request. Since Ms. Williams did not belong to a church with a clergy member and could not obtain this written statement, she was denied exemption, accord- ing to the suit. Ms. Williams opted to receive the flu shot after the nursing home allegedly told her refusing the vaccina- tion would result in her termination, the suit claims. However, the nursing home's vaccination policy labeled this termination as a "voluntary resignation," since the employee refused the flu shot and did not achieve an exemption, according to the lawsuit. The complaint also alleges Ms. Williams went through "severe emotional distress," experienced sleep prob- lems, anxiety and a "fear of 'going to Hell.'" The DOJ is arguing the requirement to receive a state- ment from a clergy member violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects employees against employer discrimination based on race, gender and religion. The plaintiff is seeking compensatory damages for Ms. Williams, "in addition to injunctive and other appropri- ate relief." An administrator at the center did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on the suit.. n Newspapers are not only helpful for identifying outbreaks, but also for predicting their trajectory.

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