Health and Human Services News

Dr. Kip Thompson featured in Mind’s Eye magazine

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Dr. Kip Thompson studies public health and how diseases spread throughout communities. His most recent research on how diseases are spread through military operations is featured in the 2022 issue of Mind’s Eye.

The full story is available on the site now.

Here is an excerpt:

Service members who live in close quarters on base are at risk for rapid outbreaks of diseases like GI. To control them, quick detection of the cause is critical.

When Thompson was in Kuwait, his Preventive Medicine unit had polymerase chain reaction (PCR) capabilities. PCR enabled RNA or DNA sequencing to detect the pathogen of an outbreak within hours.

Using the system, he and his team were able to quickly identify a GI outbreak caused by norovirus.

“Because of that, we were also able to reduce the disease burden,” Thompson said. “The incidence of disease was down 10 fold compared to locations with the same outbreak but without the system we had.”

Read the full story

Congratulations, Dr. Thompson!

Flu cases on the rise

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After a quiet influenza season in 2020-2021, the flu is starting to make a comeback.

According to data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) visits for patients with influenza-like illness are nearly double compared to years past.

“Nationally we are seeing a trend that is not good,” Dr. Kip Thompson, Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health and Sports Medicine at Missouri State University, said.

University hospitals like Michigan and Florida State are starting to see around 50-60 patients a day showing up for cases of the flu. Most of those patients are aged 18-25.

A good portion of those patients are being diagnosed with Influenza A (H3N2).

“Those numbers are alarming. The number of people ages 18-25 that are vaccinated are lower now than in recent history,” Thompson said.

What is Influenza A (H3N2)?

There are two types of influenza: type A and type B.

“Type B is the normal human flu that we see every year,” Thompson said. “Type A, which is currently being spread at a high rate, is known to mutate more and cause more infections.”

Both are treated in the same manner, but Type A can become more severe.

This year’s flu vaccine is a quadrivalent. This means the vaccine provides protection against two A strains and two B strains.

Learn more about the flu

Ways to prevent the spread

Like many viruses, there are ways to stop the spread of infection.

Common ways to prevent the flu include:

  • Washing hands for 20 seconds.
  • Wearing a mask in high populated areas.
  • Staying at home when sick.
  • Practicing other good health habits.

Getting vaccinated is one of the best ways to help stop the spread.

Missouri State students, faculty, and staff (and their dependents) can get their free flu vaccine at Magers Health and Wellness Center.

Schedule an appointment today

Lowering the risk of disease in an unconventional way

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What do mosquitoes and junkyards have to do with public health?

If you ask Dr. David Claborn, director of the Master of Public Health program at Missouri State University, you’ll learn the critters have more influence than you think.

Disruption of land affects inhabitants’ health

Throughout his career, Claborn has studied the public health implications of disrupted environments, which are land or populations damaged by disasters. They create unstable living conditions.

A disrupted environment can include land damaged by natural disasters, like earthquakes and hurricanes. Or by human hands, like war and terrorism.

But these visible disasters aren’t the only factors that lead to instability.

“An invasive species — like a weed, insect or disease agent — can also seriously disrupt an environment,” Claborn said. “That’s where my research comes in.”

Read more about Master of Public Health program.

Insects and infections

The Zika virus, carried by various species of mosquitoes, is a recent example of invasive insects affecting public health.

From 2016-19, Claborn led a team across Missouri collecting mosquito species. The Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) funded the research to calculate the risk of Zika in Missouri.

Since specific species are more likely to carry the virus, the DHSS needed a wide-scale count of the mosquitoes populating the state.

Research in the junkyard

Over four summers, Claborn and groups of students collected, identified and curated more than 50,000 mosquitoes. They stomped through wreckage yards and old tire piles to extract samples.

Those locations may seem odd, but stagnant water and swampy conditions show up in the places you don’t expect. Mosquitoes love tire piles.

“Some mosquitoes are well-adapted to artificial containers because they’re well-adapted to living with humans,” Claborn said. “A wreckage yard is perfect breeding ground.”

The team lured mosquitoes with dry ice, then took them back to the lab to identify. The process had to be quick for the volume of mosquitoes and the scope of the state.

The results

The team found no specimens of the Yellow Fever mosquito, which is the main transmitter of Zika. However, they did find two other invasive species that may have influence in the state.

The first species is the Asian Tiger mosquito. It also can carry Zika.

“This species is common, and it’s everywhere,” Claborn said.

The second species is the Asian Bush mosquito.

“Both of these species became abundant in Missouri just over the last 20 years,” he said. “These new species change our risk profile for the transmission of Zika and other viral diseases.”

The DHSS used Claborn’s data to form contingency plans. With his help, the state is prepared for a potential outbreak of Zika, or another mosquito-borne virus.