5-Minute Catchup

The Check-Up | 14 July 2022

Episode Summary

This week’s Check-Up features: Our new Mental Health QuIK Library resource, COVID-19 boosters and oral anti-viral eligibility, a reduction of the COVID-19 reinfection period, monkeypox, healthdirect Video Call extension, long COVID FAQs and drug treatment flowcharts as well as upcoming events. The Check-Up is a weekly news segment of the 5-Minute Catchup, bringing notable news in a convenient medium.

Episode Notes

Capital Health Network Mental Health QuIK Library

ATAGI updated recommendations for a winter dose of COVID-19 vaccine

ATAGI update following weekly COVID-19 meeting – 29 June 2022

Dept of Health and Aged Care - Eligibility for oral COVID-19 treatments

Fact sheet - Paxlovid® (nirmatrelvir and ritonavir) PBS listing (July 2022)

Fact sheet - Lagevrio® (molnupiravir) PBS listing (July 2022)

Fact sheet - Changes to PBS eligibility for COVID-19 treatments - Information for prescribers and pharmacists

Department of Health and Aged Care - Special COVID-19 Treatments Webinar – 12 July

ACT Health - Ongoing health protection measures

ACT Health - Public Health Alert: Two cases of monkeypox in the ACT

Dept of Health and Aged Care - Monkeypox (MPX)

Healthdirect Video Call

National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce – FAQ - Post-COVID-19

National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce – Drug treatment flowcharts

Capital Health Network – PPE request form

Capital Health Network – Educational Events

Questions? Contact our Primary Care Team via email and we'll be in touch.
primarycare@chnact.org.au

Episode Transcription

Welcome to the five-minute catch up my name is Kate Aigner from the Quality Improvement Team, and this is your weekly Check-up.

In this week’s podcast, we’ll be talking about our new Mental Health QuIK Library resource, COVID-19 boosters and oral anti-viral eligibility, a reduction of the COVID-19 reinfection period, monkeypox, healthdirect Video Call extension, long COVID frequently asked questions and drug treatment flowcharts as well as upcoming events.

To start things off, we’d like to introduce our latest QuIK Library resource, Mental Health which is now available on our website. We will talk more about this next week as there are numerous COVID updates to focus on for this podcast. In the meantime, check out the new Mental Health resource via the link below or email us at primarycare@chnact.org.au with any questions.

Moving onto COVID-19, and with increasing infections from the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, ATAGI have updated their recommendations for a fourth, winter dose of COVID-19 vaccine. This is to help reduce severe disease as well as the burden on hospitals and the healthcare system. ATAGI now recommends adults aged 50 to 64 years receive a fourth dose, adults aged 30 to 49 years can elect to receive a fourth dose but the benefit for this age group is less certain. The interval between the initial booster dose, or recent COVID-19 infection, and the fourth dose has been reduced to 3 months. While mRNA vaccines remain the preferred COVID-19 vaccines for use as a booster, AstraZeneca or Novavax can be used for people who have a contraindication to mRNA vaccines or who do not prefer to have a mRNA vaccine. Links to the ATAGI statements are available below.

From 11 July 2022, eligibility for COVID-19 oral anti-viral treatments has also expanded. Those now eligible are: All people aged over 70; people aged over 50 with two or more risk factors for severe disease; and Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people aged over 30 with two or more risk factors for severe disease. Immunocompromised people over 18 may also be eligible. Further details including eligible risk factors are in the links below. Also below is a link to the Special COVID-19 treatments webinar recording from 12 July which covered the new eligibility criteria in more detail.

And in line with the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee recommendations, ACT Health have reduced the reinfection period for people who have had COVID-19 from 12 weeks to 28 days. From 12 July, people who test positive to COVID-19 more than 28 days after ending isolation due to previous infection should be reported and managed as new cases.

And to Monkeypox. On 13 July ACT Health released a public health alert confirming they have identified two cases of monkeypox in ACT residents. Both people have recently returned from travel to Europe. They have reported mild symptoms and are isolating at home. No high-risk contacts have been identified and the transmission risk to the ACT community remains low. Links to the alert and current national information can be found below.

Now it’s time for the titbits…

The Department of Health and Aged Care has extended the healthdirect Video Call COVID- 19 GP Program to 31 December 2022. Further details are in the link below.
The National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce has released a series of Frequently Asked Questions about post-COVID-19 sequelae or ‘long covid’. They have also updated drug treatment flowcharts for adults, children and adolescents and pregnant and breastfeeding women. See the links below for more information.
Living with COVID Bundles are now available until 30 September 2022, there is a link below to our website where you can find the order forms.

Finally, upcoming Capital Health Network events include: Basic concepts in Lymphoma (Haematology and radiation oncology perspective) Care webinar with ICON Cancer on 19 July; Secure messaging for GPs and specialists (adopting digital referrals in ACT) webinar on 20 July and RACF and Allied health Connect, a face-to-face event on Saturday 30 July to improve the understanding of the opportunities that allied health professionals can contribute to the health and wellbeing of aged care residents.

Registration details for these and other events are in the link below.

And that wraps up your weekly check-up. Did you know that Capital Health Network is always available to answer your queries? If you have any questions about any of the information in this podcast, get in contact with us via email at primarycare@chnact.org.au

Our Quality Improvement Team here at Capital Health Network can assist you and your practice in developing QuIK Cycle Activities – a Plan-Do-Study-Act Quality Improvement Activity which could award participating General Practitioners with RACGP CPD Points by undertaking Self-Directed Quality Improvement. Get in contact with our team to discuss your opportunities for Continuous Quality Improvement.

On behalf of everyone here at Capital Health Network through the ACT’s PHN Program we thank you for tuning in and we’ll see you next Thursday for your next Check-up.

LINKS