Latest Illinois Public Health News
April 29, 2022
The following are updates on Illinois public health developments from the last week.
- Illinois children develop severe hepatitis
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced three suspected cases of severe hepatitis in children under 10 years of age.
One case is from western Illinois and the other two are in the Chicagoland area. The illnesses are so serious that one child already needed a liver transplant.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the origin of cases that are cropping up nationwide are unknown.
- COVID-19 cases in Illinois on the rise … again
Hospitalizations from COVID-19 cases are beginning to swell, including those in the intensive care units. According to IDPH, Illinois cases in general recently jumped 43.1% in one week!
Region 5, which represents 20 counties in Southern Illinois, is becoming at risk of running out of ICU beds. Of the 84 in the region, only 18 ICU beds remain available, as we go to press.
- Are your patients receiving texts – from IDPH?
IDPH has rolled out a new strategy to battle COVID-19 and is sending text messages to Illinois residents to alert them that they are due for a COVID-19 vaccination or booster shot. Those receiving the messages are Illinoisans with vaccination records in the Illinois Comprehensive Automated Immunization Registry Exchange (I-CARE), which include 2.5 million people.
If asked, advise your patients the messages aren’t spam. The text message reads: "IDPH records indicate that you or someone in your care are due for a COVID-19 shot. For more info please visit: https://dph.illinois.gov/COVIDup2date.
If you have questions, please contact the ISMS Health Policy Research and Advocacy team by email.