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Marin County Public Health Status Update for January 26, 2024, includes Respiratory Virus Season Update; Avoiding Antibiotic Misuse; A Community at Risk for Shingles; Marin Rain Prep: Sandbags and Alerts for Your Safety; and COVID-19 Data Update.
The Marin County Public Health Status Update is published weekly to share news and resources related to pandemic response and recovery, emergency preparedness, and other public health priorities.
Respiratory Virus Season Update
Rates of seasonal respiratory viruses have plateaued in Marin County but remain at high levels. Wastewater reveals that COVID-19 and RSV transmission 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.
Avoiding Antibiotic Misuse
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.
A Community at Risk for Shingles
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.
Marin Rain Prep: Sandbags and Alerts for Your Safety
Rainy season is upon us, and the County of Marin is providing essential resources like sandbags for residents in flood-prone areas. Ensure your safety by registering for Marin County Emergency Alerts on AlertMarin.org or Nixle. Stay prepared and well-informed through Emergency.MarinCounty.org and the National Weather Service's website or Twitter for the most recent updates.
COVID-19 Data Update
Below is a snapshot of local COVID-19 data. Find a more in-depth analysis of COVID-19 trends on the Marin Data & Surveillance webpage, our Data FAQ, or Marin County's Open Data Portal.
| Actively Circulating Variants | JN.1 |
|---|
| Marin County COVID-19 Hospitalizations | Today’s Report |
|---|---|
|
New Admissions Over the Past Week |
11 |
|
Hospitalized Patients |
13 |
|
ICU Patients |
0 |
| Settings Experiencing Outbreaks | Today’s Report |
|---|---|
|
Long-Term Care and Congregate Living Facilities |
4 |
|
Schools and Childcare |
3 |
Resource Link Library
What to do if...
You’ve tested Positive or you've been exposed to someone with COVID-19
Online Resources
Vaccine locations | Booster Information | Free COVID-19 testing | Marin COVID-19 Data | State COVID-19 Data | State Variant Data | CDC Community Transmission Data
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