Because a lack of access to affordable, preventative pet care is one of the main reasonsPima Animal Care Center receives surrendered pets, officials are providing free vaccines and microchips for dogs and cats this Wednesday.
"Were hopeful that by providing these services as well as lost-and-found resources like chips and tags, we can help more pets stay with the families who love them," a news release from the county animal shelter said.
PACC is packed with animals "past critical capacity," officials said Monday. PACC had 511 dogs in the shelter, with 203 of them entering the facility in the past week. Nearly 60 percent of them were picked up as strays, officials said.
The shelter, 4000 N. Silverbell Rd., will open at 9 a.m. Wednesday, June 26, and staff will begin processing pets at 9:30 a.m. The clinic will run until 6:30 p.m. or until the first 400 pets have been served.
Owners will need to bring enough water for themselves and their pets, and have their dogs on leashes and cats in carriers, officials said.
The services will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis, and will include a brief exam by a veterinarian, vaccines, microchip implantation, deworming for pets under six months old and customized ID tags.
PACC will be closed to the public for other services during the clinic to allow staff resources to be devoted to that work, but emergency services will still be available through the dispatch line at 520-724-5900 ext. 4.
Jackelin Reyna/Houston Zoo
A Houston Zoo elephant received the first-ever dose of an mRNA vaccine aimed to prevent herpesvirus in elephants on Tuesday, according to a Houston Zoo press release.
The Houston Zoo staff will monitor Tess, the 40-year-old Asian elephant, to study the effects of the vaccine against elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus, which has been the leading cause of death in Asian elephants born in North America since 1980, according to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
The vaccine resulted from a 15-year partnership between the Houston Zoo and Paul Ling, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine. Although he does not expect the vaccine to cure the disease, Ling said the vaccine aims to boost elephants' immunity against it.
Jackelin Reyna/Houston Zoo
"I would consider it a success if we can at a minimum eliminate lethal deaths caused by this virus," Ling said.
Tess will remain under observation for the next couple of weeks, and she is scheduled to receive a booster shot soon. Kristin Windle, the Houston Zoo elephant's supervisor, said two other young elephants are scheduled to receive the vaccine in the next couple of weeks.
"(Tess) is doing great," Windle said. "Weve kept a really close eye on her. As soon as she got the vaccine, we had veterinary staff that was there monitoring her to ensure that she had no reactions to the vaccine, and everything went great."
The groups partnership started when Mac, a young Houston Zoo elephant, died from the disease. Their partnership has helped develop new early detection techniques, which Windle said saved several young elephants.
Houston Zoo Veterinarian Maryanne Tocidlowski said early detection is critical to saving the elephants. EEHV causes blood leakage, which ultimately causes the organs to fail, she said. Usually, by the time the elephant presents physical symptoms, they can die in a matter of hours. Tocidlowski said they learned to avoid this through a weekly blood test.
"It takes a village to take care of our elephants," Tocidlowski said.
The disease started evolving millions of years ago, but the National Zoo diagnosed the first case in 1995. Today, EEHV poses the highest risk to young elephants, who have a mortality rate of at least 50%, according to the National Zoo.
According to the National Zoo, no total cure for herpesvirus exists so far in humans or animals. If the mRNA vaccine works well, it will spread to other zoos, Ling said.
"Its becoming increasingly recognized that there are many other zoos and elephants throughout the world, both those in human care and free-range that are getting infected and succumbing to this virus," Ling said. "The zoo wanted to become more proactive to do something about this."
If more people around you seem to be coming down with Covid lately, thats because infections are indeed on the rise nationally.
Cases are most likely increasing in 39 states and arent declining anywhere in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention evidence that an anticipated summer wave is underway.
The CDC no longer tracks Covid cases, but it estimates transmission based on emergency department visits. Both Covid deaths and ED visits have risen in the last week. Hospitalizations also climbed 25% from May 26 to June 1, the latest data available.
California in particular appears to be experiencing a notable rise in infections. The states data suggests high levels of coronavirus in wastewater, and Covid has gotten more prevalent there since May. The documented share of Covid tests in California that came back positive has risen from around 3% to 7.5% in the last month or so.
It looks like the summer wave is starting to begin, said Dr. Thomas Russo, chief of infectious diseases at the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
Covid infections have historically spiked over the summer, in part because of an increase in travel and people congregating indoors, where its cooler. This year appears to be no exception, though disease experts expect this seasons wave to be milder in terms of severe disease.
Several variants are likely to be contributing to the nationwide trend, said Dr. Dan Barouch, director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
Were seeing the start of an uptick of infections that is coincident with new variants that are developing: KP.2 and KP.3 and LB.1. It does appear that those variants do have an advantage over the prior ones, he said.
All three variants are descendants of JN.1, the version of the coronavirus that took over this winter, so experts think of them as cousins.
KP.2 became the dominant variant in the U.S. last month, and then KP.3 took over in early June. Along with a third variant that shares the same key mutations, KP.1.1, the group accounts for around 63% of Covid infections in the U.S. Some scientists collectively refer to the variants as FLiRT a reference to their amino acid changes.
LB.1 accounts for another 17.5% of Covid infections. Experts said its rapid growth indicates that its likely to become dominant soon, though scientists still want to study it more closely.
Its sort of the newest kid on the block, Barouch said. Theres not much known about it.
A preprint paper released this month, which hasnt been peer-reviewed, suggests that LB.1 is more infectious than the FLiRT variants and could be better at evading protection from vaccines or previous infections.
Assuming that preliminary data is true, that its more immune-evasive and that its more infectious than KP.2 and KP.3, thats a winning formula to infect more people, Russo said.
The CDC doesnt regularly track Covid symptoms over time, so its hard to know whether illnesses caused by any of the new variants look any different. For the most part, Covid symptoms have been consistent for the last two-plus years.
Variants aside, several other factors could help the virus spread this summer. Experts said cases will probably continue to rise as people retreat indoors to escape this months punishing heat wave and gather to celebrate the Fourth of July.
Russo recommended that people who are the most vulnerable to infection those who are older or immunocompromised or engage in riskier activities, such as attending large parties or gatherings consider getting the latest Covid vaccine now if they havent already.
He added that a monoclonal antibody drug called Pemgarda has been available since April for immunocompromised people. The antiviral medication Paxlovid should also help reduce the likelihood of hospitalization or death.
But most young, healthy people can hold out for the updated Covid vaccines expected to arrive this fall, experts said. The Food and Drug Administration advised vaccine manufacturers this month to target the KP.2 variant. The CDCs Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is scheduled to meet Thursday to decide who should get those shots.
A vaccine targeting KP.2 vaccine wont be a direct match for the dominant strain come fall the variant declined in prevalence last week compared to two weeks before.
The virus already appears to be evolving beyond whats going to be the fall boosters, and its only June, Barouch said. Even so, he added, the updated vaccines should still protect against the various variants circulating right now.
Aria Bendix is the breaking health reporter for NBC News Digital.
WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court on Monday rejected two appeals related to COVID-19 vaccines from Childrens Health Defense, the anti-vaccine nonprofit founded by independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The justices did not comment in letting stand rulings against the group from the federal appeals courts in New Orleans and Philadelphia.
In a case from Texas, the group joined parents in objecting to the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations authorization to administer coronavirus vaccines to children. In a case from New Jersey, Childrens Health Defense challenged a Rutgers University requirement, imposed in 2021, for most students to be vaccinated to attend courses on campus, though the school did not force faculty or staff to be vaccinated.
Childrens Health Defense has a lawsuit pending against a number of news organizations, among them The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking action to identify misinformation, including about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines. Kennedy took leave from the group when he announced his run for president but is listed as one of its attorneys in the lawsuit.
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Follow the APs coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.
Updated: Jun 24, 2024 07:59 AM
Kim Wilson, the Minister of Health, receives her Covid-19 vaccination when it became available in 2021 (File photograph)
Residents were urged to keep up to date with Covid-19 vaccinations as increased travel and social gatherings were expected during the summer.
The Ministry of Healths epidemiology and surveillance unit reminded people to be mindful of potential risks associated with the coronavirus during this time of increased Covid-19 transmission in our community.
It was reported in The Royal Gazette this month that two hospital units were on isolation after patients tested positive for Covid-19, with some staff on leave at the time because of infections from the virus.
Kim Wilson, the health minister, said: While we have made progress in protecting against severe illness from Covid-19, this virus remains present in our community.
We will likely always have some cases and I urge everyone to continue taking precautions to avoid catching and spreading Covid-19.
The ministry said there was updated guidance from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention that focused on vaccination and prevention strategies.
It added: The CDC recommends that everyone stay up to date with Covid-19 vaccinations.
This means receiving all recommended doses, including at least one dose of the updated 2023-24 Covid-19 vaccine. This updated vaccine targets the XBB lineage of the Omicron variant.
The 2023-24 Covid-19 vaccines are available from the Hamilton Health Centre by appointment and at GP offices.
The ministry said: As the Covid-19 virus continues to change, updates to the Covid-19 vaccine can be expected in the future.
People who are 65 years and older and those with chronic diseases are eligible for additional doses.
They should consult with their physicians regarding the timing of additional doses to maintain optimal protection.
To help prevent the spread of Covid-19 and other respiratory viruses, persons who develop symptoms of or who test positive for a respiratory illness including fever, cough, and sore throat should stay home and away from others until 24 hours after the fever and other symptoms have resolved, without fever-reducing medication.
If testing positive for Covid-19, precautions such as physical distancing and mask wearing are recommended for an additional five days.
People at higher risk for severe illness, such as older adults and those with underlying health conditions, should seek healthcare immediately if they develop symptoms.
Early testing and treatment can help prevent severe disease.
The health ministry highlighted CDC advice that maintaining good hygiene practices including frequent hand washing wearing masks in crowded indoor settings and ensuring proper ventilation, could help reduce the spread of Covid-19, regardless of vaccination status.
It added: By following these guidelines, individuals can better protect themselves and their communities from Covid-19.
For more detailed information, you can visit the CDC's official pages on Covid-19 vaccination and respiratory virus guidance.
The ministry said summary updates on Covid-19 and other public health conditions could be found at gov.bm/health-information, which was updated weekly.
It added: While it doesn't provide specific Covid numbers, it does indicate if the country is seeing an increase in cases.
Health officials told the Gazette on June 11 that, up to that point, six deaths on the island this year were linked to the coronavirus, with 303 confirmed cases logged in 2024 to June 8.
A BHB spokeswoman said then that a long-term care unit at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and a unit at the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute were under quarantine, with visits on hold, after an unspecified number of patients tested positive for the illness.
She added at the time: Some of our 1,800 staff members are also on leave due to Covid infections.
The BHB said: We may feel like Covid is behind us, but it is important to remember that its still circulating in the community.
Flu season has arrived. If you got the COVID vaccine, you might be wondering, do you still need to get the flu shot? And if so, when? We didn't see a lot of flu last year, mainly because of the lockdowns, as well as the fact that most of us were wearing masks and social distancing.
Many experts believe that might lead to a serious flu season, given the fact that most of us were not exposed to flu last year, so we might not have as much immune protection. As a result, we might be at greater risk for flu this year than previous years.
Since we're also seeing more COVID breakthrough infections, you definitely want to protect yourself. Could you imagine the impact of getting the flu and COVID at the same time? That's a double whammy you do not want to put your body through. So go ahead and get the flu shot.
Now, remember, it takes a couple of weeks after the shot for you to be protected, so please don't wait too long. And don't worry about the flu vaccine interfering with the COVID vaccine or any boosters. Previously, the CDC recommended waiting 14 days between the COVID vaccine and any other vaccines, but now they say you can get both the flu vaccine and the COVID vaccine at the same time. You might just want to consider putting them in different arms. ","publisher":"WebMD Video"}
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Many experts believe that might lead to a serious flu season, given the fact that most of us were not exposed to flu last year, so we might not have as much immune protection. As a result, we might be at greater risk for flu this year than previous years.
Since we're also seeing more COVID breakthrough infections, you definitely want to protect yourself. Could you imagine the impact of getting the flu and COVID at the same time? That's a double whammy you do not want to put your body through. So go ahead and get the flu shot.
Now, remember, it takes a couple of weeks after the shot for you to be protected, so please don't wait too long. And don't worry about the flu vaccine interfering with the COVID vaccine or any boosters. Previously, the CDC recommended waiting 14 days between the COVID vaccine and any other vaccines, but now they say you can get both the flu vaccine and the COVID vaccine at the same time. You might just want to consider putting them in different arms.
(AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
A study by the Kinder Institute at Rice University shows that Asians and Latinos are the most supportive of COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
Partnering with UT Health Science Center in San Antonio, Rice surveyed 900 participants in the fall of 2021. As residents of the San Antonio region waited in line to get the vaccine, each participant was asked if they would support a vaccine mandate.
"When we asked the question, we found out that not everybody would support a vaccine mandate, which was interesting. We found that 59% of participants thought that it was a positive thing. But, when we started digging a little more into the data, we found that there were important racial and ethnic differences that we needed to start looking at and learning more about that, said Luz Garcini, Assistant Professor and Interim Director at Rice Kinder Institute. She also co-authored the study. 80% of the people of Asian background reported the potential support of a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, compared to other ethnic groups. The next one to follow were the people of Latino origin."
She said to better understand the responses of specific communities to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential to consider the context in which the responses occurred. She says the Asian and Latino cultures tend to be high in collectivistic values.
"Your own behavior has implications for the people around you and you are always looking for the common good. So, if we start thinking in the collectivistic approach, it will also make sense if they believed the vaccination is the way to go, regardless of their opinion, they would be supportive of that," Garcini said.
The survey also showed groups between 16 to 25 years old and those older than 55 were also more likely to support vaccine mandates. She explained, likely because younger people want to be social, and the older group is concerned about the risk of getting COVID-19 with pre-existing conditions. The report also showed single participants as compared to married participants showed more support for the vaccine mandate, Garcini said also likely due to the social aspect. Less significant differences were documented between individuals with varying education levels. 66% of the respondents with an education level of high school or below supported mandates compared to 59% of individuals with any kind of higher education (including trade school).
"Sometimes I say knowledge can be a curse, the more you know, the more you start asking questions. You start evaluating alternatives, she said. The data does not tell us the whole story. I think the bigger message here, is the importance of listening to people's stories, understanding what influences their decisions and their behaviors, so that we can be prepared, God forbid, in case of future emergencies."
WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court on Monday rejected two appeals related to COVID-19 vaccines from Childrens Health Defense, the anti-vaccine nonprofit founded by independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The justices did not comment in letting stand rulings against the group from the federal appeals courts in New Orleans and Philadelphia.
In a case from Texas, the group joined parents in objecting to the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations authorization to administer coronavirus vaccines to children. In a case from New Jersey, Childrens Health Defense challenged a Rutgers University requirement, imposed in 2021, for most students to be vaccinated to attend courses on campus, though the school did not force faculty or staff to be vaccinated.
Childrens Health Defense has a lawsuit pending against a number of news organizations, among them The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking action to identify misinformation, including about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines. Kennedy took leave from the group when he announced his run for president but is listed as one of its attorneys in the lawsuit.
Follow the APs coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.
Today,JAMA Internal Medicinepublished a study calculating the protection offered by the latest Pfizer COVID-19 XBB vaccine compared to older vaccines against COVID-associated hospitalization and emergency department (ED) or urgent care (UC) visits.
The test-negative case-control study of the BNT162b2 XBB vaccine was performed among adults in the Kaiser Permanente Southern California health system from October 10 to December 10, 2023. XBB was the dominant strain of SARS-CoV-2 in the United States at that time but has since been supplanted by JN.1.
The study included patients who presented with an acute respiratory illness and had a positive SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction test and controls who had an acute respiratory illness but tested negative for SARS-CoV-2. A total of 2,854 cases and 15,345 controls (median age, 56) were included in the studies.
The authors compared outcomes among those who had received an updated XBB vaccine and those who had not received an XBB vaccine of any kind, regardless of prior COVID-19 vaccination or infection history.
"Receipt of prior (non-XBB) versions of COVID-19 vaccines was also compared with being unvaccinated to estimate remaining protection from older vaccines," the authors said.
Compared to those who had not received an updated XBB vaccine, recipients had 62% protection against COVID-19 hospitalization (95% confidence interval [CI], 32% to 79%). Protection was 58% against ED/UC visits (95% CI, 48% to 67%).
A history of vaccination with pre-XBB vaccines did not significantly reduce the risk of COVID-19 outcomes, including hospital admission, and outcomes were similar to those of unvaccinated patients.
The median time between vaccination with a non-XBB vaccine and illness was 1 to 2 years, while the median time between vaccination with an XBB vaccine and illness was 34 days.
The combination of waning vaccine-induced immunity and continuous SARS-CoV-2 strain evolution eventually renders prior versions of vaccines ineffective.
"The present findings help reaffirm current recommendations for broad age-based use of annually updated COVID-19 vaccines in the US to improve protection against COVID-19 each year prior to likely winter peaks in disease activity," the authors concluded. "The combination of waning vaccine-induced immunity and continuous SARS-CoV-2 strain evolution eventually renders prior versions of vaccines ineffective."
In an invited commentary on the study, Gopi Mohan, MD, PhD, of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and others, write, "These findings illuminate the issue of waning immunity and point to the importance of regular boosting in addition to updating vaccine formulations."
In a recent cohort study published in JAMA Network Open, researchers from the United States of America investigated the association between the use of cannabis and tobacco and health outcomes in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). They found that smokers and cannabis users showed a greater risk of hospitalization and adverse outcomes in COVID-19 as compared to non-smokers or those not using cannabis, despite controlling for other risk factors.
Study: Cannabis, Tobacco Use, and COVID-19 Outcomes. Image Credit:JOURNEY STUDIO7/ Shutterstock
COVID-19 continues to impact public health, causing morbidity and mortality. Despite 76% of US adults being partially vaccinated against the disease, factors like vaccine hesitancy and new virus strains highlight the need to identify contributors to poor outcomes. While non-modifiable factors such as age, sex, race, and comorbidity are reported to be linked to severe infection, research on modifiable factors like substance use remains limited.
Previous studies show that cigarette smoking is associated with the worsening of COVID-19 outcomes, and preliminary evidence links substance use disorders and alcohol use to higher risks of severe disease and breakthrough infections. Research on cannabis use and COVID-19 is scarce and conflicting, with some studies indicating higher infection and mortality rates among users, while others suggest protective effects.
Data from electronic health records (EHR) may help address these understanding gaps. Therefore, researchers in the present study aimed to evaluate whether substance use, specifically cannabis use and tobacco smoking, is associated with COVID19related outcomes such as hospitalization, admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), and all-cause mortality. The hypothesis was that both tobacco smoking and cannabis use are linked to worse outcomes following COVID-19 infection.
In the present multi-institutional, retrospective cohort study, EHR data from 72,501 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 during the period from February 2020 to January 2022 were included. COVID-19 cases were defined by diagnosis based on the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM), positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR), antibody, or antigen tests. The mean age of the participants was 48.9 years; 59.7% of them were female, and 27.6% of the patients were Black. Approximately 26.8% of patients received a COVID-19 vaccine before diagnosis.
The primary outcomes were hospitalization, admission to the ICU, and all-cause mortality, including post-hospital mortality and overall survival. Demographic and treatment-related covariates, such as age, sex, race, ethnicity, and insurance status, were additionally extracted. Tobacco smoking and cannabis use were self-reported in the EHR, with current use documented and included in analyses. Statistical analysis included the use of chi-square tests, logistic regression, Cox proportional hazards regression, scaled Schoenfeld residuals check, and Bonferroni correction.
About 70.4% of the total participants were hospitalized, 6.5% required ICU visits, and 3.7% suffered mortality. Further, 13.4% of the participants were found to be current smokers, 24.4% were former smokers, and 9.7% were current cannabis users. Both current and former smoking were found to be associated with a significantly increased risk of hospitalization, ICU admission, and all-cause mortality following COVID-19 (p<0.001), even after adjusting for various demographic and health factors. The risk of progression to all-cause mortality was found to be higher in patients above 65 years of age with current or former smoking. Current smokers also showed a higher probability of hospitalization than former smokers.
Similarly, cannabis use was found to be significantly associated with increased risks of hospitalization (OR 1.80) and ICU admission (OR 1.27) following COVID-19 but not with increased all-cause mortality. The associations between tobacco and cannabis use with COVID-19 outcomes remained consistent when adjusted for comorbidities. While current and former smoking were found to be associated with a lower probability of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, cannabis use did not appear to influence vaccine receipt when adjusting for variables significantly.
Further, alcohol abuse was documented in 0.3%, and vape use was recorded in 1.9% of patients, both showing a greater risk for hospitalization (OR = 3.34 and 1.20, respectively). Data limitations precluded the evaluation of their associations with COVID-19 ICU admission and mortality.
Overall, the study adds to current evidence by using extensive EHR data to identify associations between tobacco and cannabis use with increased risks of adverse COVID-19 outcomes while also exploring preliminary associations with alcohol abuse and vaping. However, the study is limited by potential confounding from time-varying factors, reliance on self-reported and variably documented substance use in EHRs, lack of details on cannabis and tobacco product use, potential detection bias, non-representativeness of the sample, and incomplete capture of patient outcomes.
In conclusion, the study suggests that current and former smoking, as well as cannabis use, increases the risk of hospitalization, ICU admission, and mortality in COVID-19 patients. The associations remain significant after adjusting for demographic and comorbidity factors, emphasizing cannabis use as an independent risk factor for adverse outcomes post-COVID-19 diagnosis. The findings highlight the need for further research on the effect of substance use on COVID-19 outcomes, especially with the increasing legalization of marijuana use.
