Category: Corona Virus

Produced by ElevenLabs and News Over Audio (NOA) using AI narration.

Today, for the third time in two years, President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19, the White House said. The president was in Las Vegasattempting to convince voters, donors, and his fellow lawmakers that he is still the candidate best poised to defeat former President Donald Trump in Novemberwhen he fell ill with a runny nose and cough, according to a White House statement. Hes already taking the antiviral Paxlovid and will isolate at his home in Delaware.

Since Bidens first two COVID boutsan initial case and a rebound shortly thereafter in 2022much has changed for the president, and for the trajectory of the pandemic. Bidens cognitive abilities have come under more intense scrutiny, especially following a debate with Trump last month in which the president demonstrated difficulty completing sentences and holding on to a train of thought. Reported rates of COVID infections, hospitalizations, and deaths have declinedthanks in large part to vaccinationand precautions have become ever more rare. Biden is vaccinated and has superb access to medical care. Chances are, he will be fine. Yet one basic fact remains unchanged: COVID is still capable of inflicting great damage, especially upon the elderly.

In June, according to provisional CDC data, about four out of every 100,000 Americans over the age of 75 (or 0.004 percent) died with COVID-19. Thats a far cry from the staggering fatality rates of 2020 (roughly 0.17 percent for the same age group in April of that year), but still sizable in comparison with younger Americans risk. The June 2024 COVID death rate among 30-to-39-year-olds, for example, is two out of every 10 million. Hospitalizations tell a similar story for the elderly: Last month, more than 60 out of every 100,000 Americans over 75 were hospitalized with COVID. And according to the CDC, this is likely an undercount.

Still, the risks of COVID seem to increase over even just a few years of life for the elderly. People 75 or older are currently 3.5 times as likely to be hospitalized and seven times as likely to die with COVID as people ages 65 to 74. And people in their 80s can accumulate health problems with startling speed. Heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, cancer, and strokeall maladies more likely to affect older peopleincrease a persons chances of serious complications from COVID.

Biden is as likely as any American of his age to come away from this infection with minimal long-term effects. So far, according to the White Houses statement, his symptoms are mild, he has no fever, and his blood-oxygen level is normal. He was first vaccinated against COVID in 2020 and has received several shots since, most recently in September. Vaccines are proven to mitigate the most serious risks of the disease, especially among the elderly. And should things take a turn, Biden, as president, has care teams and resources at his instant disposal.

That said, as far as COVID is concerned, good for an 81-year-old is not reliably good. And COVID does not have to kill someone to have troubling, lasting effects. Even mild bouts of COVID can lead to symptoms that linger for weeks or years and range from inconvenient to debilitating. In a study published today, about 7.8 percent of patients infected since Omicron became the dominant variant in the United States developed long-term symptoms. Given current concerns about the presidents health and brainpower, any further deterioration is a sobering prospect. A report published by the National Academies of Science last month found that older Americans are especially at risk of cognitive impairment following a COVID infection. What would that mean for a man who has already shown signs of substantial declinea man subjected to the rigors of one of the most demanding jobs on the planet during the most crucial political campaign of our lifetimes, who refuses to lift the burden of American democracy from his aging shoulders?

Ten days agoafter Bidens feeble debate performance, but before a gunman attempted to assassinate his opponent at a rallythe president made a perplexing statement. Addressing the crowd at a Pennsylvania campaign event, he declared, I ended the pandemic. The reality is that COVID continues to upend lives every day. Americans should be mindful that it could still upend elections, too.

Lila Shroff contributed reporting.

More:

How Risky Is COVID for an 81-Year-Old? - The Atlantic

President Biden stood among the scores of Americans who recently tested positive for COVID-19 amid a substantial increase in summer cases across the country.

COVID infections are most likelyrising in 45 states, including Illinois,and arent declining anywhere in the U.S., NBC News reported, citing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. While every summer since COVID surfaced in 2020 has experienced a wave of cases, this year's - which is evidenced by wastewater data - began earlier than in most recent years.

However, the numbers haven't reached levels seen with other surges in the past year.

"The number of cases remains lower than the number counted during the most recent fall peak or during the small peak we saw last summer in Chicago," Dr. Mary Hayden, director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Rush University System for Health, told NBC Chicago.

The White House announced that President Joe Biden began experiencing mild symptoms on Wednesday after testing positive for the coronavirus.

The uptick in cases can largely be attributed to a new series of COVID strains, nicknamed the "FLiRT" variants, which are dominating across the U.S.

The variants, identified as KP.1.1, KP.3 and KP.2, collectively make up more than 55% of COVID cases in the U.S., per the CDC's most recent variant proportions data. KP.3, in particular, made up the most cases of any variant at 24.5% of cases, the data revealed.

Similarly, emergency room visits tracked through June 29 showed COVID-related visits were up 18% from the previous week. As cases climb, here's everything you need to know - including a breakdown of the most prevalent variants, which symptoms are being heavily reported and what does the CDC recommend for those infected with COVID?

The variants are subvariants of JN.1, which rose to dominance in December 2023 and was labeled a "variant of concern," though the "FLiRT" variants have two changes in the spike protein compared to JN.1.

"The two changes in spike have been observed in earlier lineages, including XBB.1.5 lineages, which were dominant throughout 2023 and the basis for the 20232024 vaccine formulation," the CDC reported.

Health officials said that while there are no indicators the new strains cause more severe illness than other strains, the "CDC will continue to monitor community transmission of the virus and how vaccines perform against this strain."

Megan L. Ranney, dean of the Yale School of Public Health, told WebMD the spike protein changes are concerning.

The KP.3 variant quickly rose to dominance, overtaking KP.2 as the most prevalent strain in the U.S. in a matter of weeks, the CDC reported.

Its still early days, but the initial impression is that this variant is rather transmissible, Dr. William Schaffner, professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told TODAY.com.

Some lab studies suggest the FLiRT variants may be mutated enough that previous vaccination or immunity from prior infection likely won't provide total protection, Schaffner said.

Dr. Lakshmi Halasyamani, the Chief Clinical Officer at Endeavor Health, said despite the spread of the newest variant, the main symptoms associated with COVID remain unchanged.

If you do suspect you've contracted COVID, here are some symptoms you might experience, according to the CDC:

Last year, a Chicago-area doctorsaid she's noticed shifts in the most common symptomsher patients reported as the JN.1 variant rose to dominance.

Dr. Chantel Tinfang, a family medicine physician with Sengstacke Health Center at Provident Hospital of Cook County,noted at the time that many of the cases she saw reported less of the fever, body aches and chills, and presented more with sore throat, fatigue and coughing.

"We still see some patients experiencing decreased appetite, a loss of taste or smell. So it kind of depends," she said. "One patient was just very, very tired. Like she couldn't really do much. And that's when you know ... it's different. It's not just coughing and shortness of breath. We still see that though."

She suggested consulting with your doctor if your symptoms don't begin to improve outside of the recommended isolation period.

Those who contracted COVID-19 no longer need to stay away from others for five days, according to the latest guidelines, effectively nixing the five-day isolation recommendation. In March, the agency updated its guidelines to mirror guidance for other respiratory infections.

People can return to work or regular activities if their symptoms are mild and improving and it's been a day since they've had a fever, but the CDC still recommends those with symptoms stay home.

"The recommendations suggest returning to normal activities when, for at least 24 hours, symptoms are improving overall, and if a fever was present, it has been gone without use of a fever-reducing medication," the guidance states.

Once activities are resumed, the CDC still recommends "additional prevention strategies" for an additional five days, including wearing a mask and keeping distance from others.

The agency is recommending that people should still try to prevent infections in the first place, by getting vaccinated, washing their hands, and taking steps to bring in more outdoor fresh air.

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, the federal ICATT program offers no-cost COVID-19 testing for uninsured people: here is a locator that folks can use to find places near them.

Dr. Mary Hayden, director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Rush University System for Health, also noted that free options remain available for those who are uninsured through local health departments and community health clinics.

Read the original here:

COVID outbreak concerns mount as cases rise. Here are the latest symptoms and CDC guidelines - NBC Chicago

The pandemic caused grief, untold misery and economic turmoil all of which could have been reduced or prevented had the UK been better prepared, the inquirys chair, Heather Hallett, concluded.

Lives would have been spared in particular those of the groups worst affected, including people with physical and learning disabilities, those with pre-existing conditions such as Alzheimers, heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes, and people living in deprived areas and from some ethnic minority backgrounds.

As well as the deaths directly caused by the virus, the pandemic caused human suffering indirectly, including wreaking havoc on the NHS, especially on waiting lists and elective care, and increasing levels of mental illness, loneliness, deprivation and exposure to domestic violence.

She described the pandemic as the gravest and most multi-layered peacetime emergency.

The evidence is overwhelmingly to the effect that there will be another pandemic, and it is not a question of if but when.

The next pandemic may be even more transmissible and lethal, and is likely to occur in the near to medium future.

Without fundamental change, the effort in curbing the spread of coronavirus and the human, societal and economic cost suffered from it will have been in vain.

Lady Hallett wrote: Never again can a disease be allowed to lead to so many deaths and so much suffering.

Hallett wrote that in 2019, there was widespread belief, in part resulting from groupthink in government, that the UK was not only properly prepared, but was one of the best-prepared countries in the world to respond to a pandemic.

Yet, she observed, in 2020 the UK lacked resilience, including widening health inequalities, high levels of heart disease, diabetes, respiratory illness and obesity, and an overstretched health and social care system.

She noted that proper preparation for a pandemic costs money and involves preparing for an event that may never happen yet this is vastly outweighed by the cost of not doing so. She added that the ability of the health and social care systems to respond was constrained by their funding.

There was a damaging absence of focus on useful interventions, in particular a test, trace and isolate system capable of dealing with large numbers of cases.

There was a lack of adequate leadership in rectifying contingency planning, including from the former health secretaries Jeremy Hunt and Matt Hancock.

All four nations were slow to implement what were important and necessary preparations for a pandemic, Hallett wrote, noting that resources were reallocated in 2018 towards contingency planning for a no-deal Brexit rather than implementing recommendations from Exercise Cygnus, the governments 2016 pandemic readiness exercise.

The UK had planned for an influenza pandemic, which had long been considered, written about and planned for yet Hallett noted that the Covid-19 pandemic was not without precedent, and disputed the idea pushed by some officials that it was an unforeseeable black swan event.

This preparation was inadequate for a global pandemic of the kind that struck, and although reasonable to prioritise, should not have excluded other potential pathogen outbreaks, which have been increasing in number. The international scientific community considered a coronavirus pandemic a reasonable bet before 2020, given there were four large coronavirus outbreaks that nearly became pandemics earlier in the 21st century.

The influenza response was contained in the sole government pandemic strategy, from 2011, but it was outdated and lacked adaptability, including paying insufficient attention to the economic and social consequences and to understanding which people were most vulnerable. The strategy focused on managing the impact of a milder virus where spread was inevitable rather than preventing disease and death. It was jettisoned almost immediately.

There was also too much emphasis on advising citizens and trusting them to take precautionary measures they deemed fit rather than considering which aspects of legal coercion to protect the public may be used, added Hallett.

She concluded: The processes, planning and policy of the civil contingency structures within the UK government and devolved administrations and civil services failed their citizens.

Hallett urged a fundamental reform of the way in which the UK government and the devolved administrations prepare for whole-system civil emergencies, and condemned the government reviews and changes since the pandemic as fail[ing] on a number of grounds.

She identified several significant flaws in the UKs response to the pandemic, including a failure to learn from previous outbreaks of disease and properly assess risk, a lack of a coherent strategy, and too narrow a range of scientific advice given to ministers.

She said there had been a lack of openness in government, and pandemic-readiness exercises were not subject to the level of independent scrutiny required.

She recommended taking responsibility for pandemic planning away from the Department of Health and Social Care and creating a single, independent statutory body responsible for whole-system preparedness and response, drawing on both socioeconomic and scientific expertise.

This should simplify the labyrinthine civil emergency and resilience systems based on complex spaghetti diagrams of institutions, structures and systems, and replace these with a single ministerial committee or cross-departmental group of senior officials with responsibility, accountability and a clear purpose in each UK nation.

This should be underpinned by a new UK-wide whole-system civil emergency strategy, incorporating lessons learned from three-yearly pandemic-response exercises, taking into account health inequalities, and involving the Treasury to produce an economic strategy to consider short, medium and long-term consequences.

She recommended improving risk assessment to take into account a wider range of possibilities and not just one reasonable worst-case scenario, improving data collection, and bringing in more expertise from outside the government.

Noting that she agreed with the observation by Hunt, a former health minister, that collectively we didnt put anything like the time and effort and energy into understanding the dangers of pathogens or challenging the consensus, she said in future ministers and officials must immerse themselves in the topic, understand it and ask questions about it.

The aim should be to end the culture of consensus in which orthodoxy becomes entrenched, Hallett wrote, adding that advisers should have the autonomy to express differing opinions.

Hallett will monitor closely the implementation of the recommendations in each UK nation, and expects many to be in place within six months to a year.

View post:

Hubris and planning for wrong type of pandemic: five takeaways from Covid inquiry verdict - The Guardian

More than half of states are now seeing "high" or "very high" levels of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in their wastewater testing, according to figures published Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as this summer's COVID wave reaches a growing share of the country.

Nationwide, the CDC now says that the overall level of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater is "high" for the first time since this past winter. Levels remain "high" across western states, where trends first began to worsen last month, while other regions are now seeing steeper increases at or near "high" levels.

Friday's update is the first since last month, due to the Fourth of July holiday.

click to expand

The uptick is in line with a growing number of COVID-19 patients showing up in emergency rooms. The District of Columbia and 26 states are now seeing "substantial increases" in COVID-19 emergency room visits, the agency says.

Nationwide, the average share of emergency room patients with COVID-19 is also now the highest it has been since February and has increased 115% from a month ago.

Overall emergency room visits and hospitalization trends remain at what the CDC deems to be "low" levels in several states, far below the deadly peaks reached at earlier points during the pandemic.

But COVID-19 emergency room visits crossed the threshold into "moderate" levels in Hawaii last month, after a surge that topped the last two waves of the virus. Florida also is now at "moderate" levels, amid a wave that is at peaks not seen since this past winter.

"We are seeing patterns that are consistent with what we have observed over the last couple of years in the summer, where we have seen upticks in activity that have occurred around this time of year that are not quite as large as what we see during the winter peaks," said Aron Hall, deputy director for science in the CDC's Coronavirus and Other Respiratory Viruses Division.

Health authorities in some communities have said in recent weeks that the uptick is a sign that now could be the time for people looking to avoid COVID-19 infections especially at-risk Americans, with underlying health issues to start taking extra precautions like masking and testing in many parts of the country.

Hall said the recent increase did not look to be any more severe than previous summer waves, but served as a reminder of the importance of getting vaccinated and other steps, like seeking out treatment for those at increased risk of severe disease.

"The activity that we are seeing now is consistent with previous trends. It is not necessarily cause for any additional alarm, but is an important reminder that there are key measures that folks can take to protect themselves," he said.

Most of the first states to reach "high" COVID-19 levels in wastewater last month were in the West, where the share of COVID-19 patients in emergency rooms has also accelerated. Reported infections in nursing homes have also grown in this region.

Other countries have also seen COVID-19 trends rise this summer earlier than last year. In the United Kingdom, COVID-19 hospitalizations are at levels not seen since February.

But there are signs now that this summer wave may have now reached its peak across some states in this region, where the virus first picked up steam.

Forecasts updated by the CDC this week estimate that COVID-19 infections are growing across almost all states, but are "stable or uncertain" in three: Hawaii, Oregon and New Mexico.

"It's hard to predict the future. And if COVID has taught is anything, it's that things can always change. But based on previous trends, where we have seen sort of a summer wave that has peaked around July or August, is what we might expect for this year," said Hall.

Nursing home infections have slowed for a second straight week in the Pacific Northwest, in the region spanning Alaska through Oregon.

In Hawaii, where COVID-19 emergency room trends this summer had peaked at levels worse than both their last winter and summer waves of the virus, patients have slowed for multiple weeks now.

Hall cautioned that while COVID-19 trends have slowed after summer peaks in recent years, they still remained far worse than the low levels seen during past springtime lulls in the virus.

"We don't see necessarily a nadir or bottoming out, between the summer and winter waves, at least historically. So that's important as we think about protecting people that are vulnerable," he said.

The CDC last updated its every-other-week variant projections after the Fourth of July, estimating that the KP.3 variant had grown to more than a third of infections nationwide.

Behind it were the KP.2 and LB.1 variants, two close relatives that are all descendants of the JN.1 strain that dominated infections this past winter. Put together, these three variants KP.3, KP.2 and LB.1 made up more than 3 in 4 infections nationwide.

Hall said there is "still no indication of increased severity of illness" associated with any of these variants, similar to what the agency has said in recent weeks.

Hall said the agency tracks data from hospitals and ongoing studies, as well as detailed analyses of the genetic changes to the virus, to search for signs that the risk from new variants might have grown.

"None of those data sources have given us any indication that these variants cause more severe disease than what we have seen previously," he said.

Through the end of June, the CDC estimated that all regions of the country were seeing a mix of these strains, though some more than others depending on the location.

KP.3 makes up the largest share of infections in several regions of the country, while LB.1 is larger around the New York and New Jersey area and KP.2 is bigger in New England.

For now, Hall said KP.3 and LB.1 are the variants that are spreading fastest, though their relative growth looks to be "considerably lower" than previous highly mutated strains like the original Omicron variant.

"It's not anything as dramatic as some of the earlier shifts in the virus that we've seen," he said.

Alexander Tin is a digital reporter for CBS News based in the Washington, D.C. bureau. He covers the Biden administration's public health agencies, including the federal response to infectious disease outbreaks like COVID-19.

Continue reading here:

Map shows states where COVID levels are "high" or "very high" as summer wave spreads - CBS News

There has been a resurgence in COVID-19 cases in Louisiana and across the rest of the United States this summer, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control.

While COVID-19 stopped being a public health crisis last year, CDC data shows that there is a pattern of the sickness rising during the summertime.

Specifically, national data since June 2024 shows that there has been a small spike in COVID-19 test positivity and the amount of emergency department visits related to the sickness. Similar to emergency departments, hospitals in western states are experiencing higher rates of visits, with visitors typically being 65 years or older.

Within the last month, the amount of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 has increased by 6.9% in Louisiana and by 7.3% in the country.

The weekly national percentage of emergency department visits related to the illness is 1.3%. Within the last week, there has been a low percentage of emergency department visits related to COVID-19 in Louisiana, meaning 1.6%.

While there are subtle spikes in certain categories, the number of deaths caused by COVID-19 remains low across the United States. During the week of July 6, there were 147 deaths, which is the lowest number of deaths related to COVID-19 that the country has seen within the last four years.

In Louisiana, the number of deaths in the past 3 months was 34.

The FLiRT variants, KP.2 and KP.3, are from the Omicron family and have recently dominated the charts.

Between June 26 and July 8, KP.3 accounts for 24.5% of COVID-19 cases, while KP.2 accounts for 21.5% of the cases. The CDC says that Omicron variants emerged in November of 2021 and continued to produce new lineages that spread on an international level.

While COVID-19 cases have resurged, the flu and RSV remains low.

Various symptoms of COVID-19 appear 2-14 days after exposure, the CDC says.

Possible symptoms include fever or chills, coughing, shortness of breath, sore throat and a new loss of taste or smell. The CDC recommends seeking treatment if you experience symptoms like trouble breathing, continuous pain or pressure in the chest, new confusion and severe fatigue. You can find a list of all common symptoms on the CDC website.

If you are feeling sick, it is recommended that you stay home and away from others.

See more here:

COVID cases are rising in Louisiana and across the United States this summer, CDC says - NOLA.com

Support truly independent journalism Find out more Close

Our mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.

Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.

Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.

Seven US states have detected very high levels of Covid in their wasterwater, according to estimates released Friday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It means that levels have reached the agencys high category for the first time this summer. California, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Arkansas, Florida, and Maryland were the states with the highest levels, according to CDC data.

"We are seeing patterns that are consistent with what we have observed over the last couple of years in the summer, where we have seen upticks in activity that have occurred around this time of year that are not quite as large as what we see during the winter peaks," Aron Hall, deputy director for science in the CDCs Coronavirus and Other Respiratory Viruses Division, told CBS News.

In the San Francisco Bay area, Covid levels are comparable to the most recent winter surge, the time of year when Covid cases typically hit their peak, according to separate data from Stanford Universitys WastewaterSCAN project.

The levels were higher than where they were this time last year and on average as high as we saw during the winter peak earlier this year, WastewaterSCANs Amanda Bidwell told KQED.

Meanwhile, 26 states and Washington DC, are seeing substantial increases in emergency room visits because of Covid. The national share of Covid ER patients is up 115 percent since last month, the highest level since February.

Nationwide, test positivity was at 11 percent for the week ending in July 6, up from 9 percent the previous week.

Over the past month, 70 percent of infections have been driven by the KP variants, which descend from the JN.1 strain, one of the so-called FLiRT variants, according to an Axios analysis of CDC data. The FLiRT strains are subvariants of Omicron, Yale Medicine reported.

The combination of record-breaking summer travel, and people congregating inside to avoid the heat, is likely further driving cases. Experts say that despite the summer surge, previous immunity may keep overall hospitalizations and deaths low compared to other spikes in case levels.

About 95 percent of the population currently have identifiable antibodies to omicron, specifically omicron variants, so thats a very good herd immunity and it keeps us from having high levels of hospitalization, according to Dr Aileen Marty, an infectious disease expert at Florida International Universitys Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine.

The immunity, however, is only about 45% effective at preventing mild and moderate disease for these new strains because of those mutations that these new strains have, she told the Miami Herald.

More:

Coronavirus levels spiking in wastewater in California, Florida and Texas as cases rise - The Independent

ILLUSTRATION - 14 September 2023, Berlin: An antigen test to detect Covid-19 for self-testing. For a long time, Corona was no longer a big issue. Now the curve is rising again. Photo: Jens Kalaene/dpa (Photo by Jens Kalaene/picture alliance via Getty Images)

(NewsNation) An overlooked symptom of COVID-19 can cause long-term issues in many patients, according to a study by the British Medical Journal.

Common symptoms of COVID-19 include a sore throat, congestion, fatigue, muscle aches and fevers. Earlier in the pandemic, it was also common to lose ones sense of smell or taste.

According to the British Medical Journal, COVID-19 can also cause stomach and gastrointestinal issues such as lack of appetite, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. The journal states that around 50% of people experience some of these symptoms after an infection.

The COVID-19 virus particles that cause lung illness also infect the gastrointestinal tract, which consists of the esophagus, stomach, small intestines and colon. Dr. Christopher Vlez said in an article published by Harvard Medical School that these virus particles can trigger abdominal pain and diarrhea for those with COVID-19.

Many researchers have observed that the virus can cause long-lasting symptoms, referred to as long COVID. Reported effects of this often include tiredness, breathing difficulty, heart rhythm changes and muscle pain.

Some medical professionals believe that chronic gut symptoms could be occurring as a form of long-term COVID-19. Vlez wrote that one possible insight is post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome, which is when the network of nerves that connects the gut and the brain is disrupted by something such as the stomach flu.

These nerves could be disrupted by COVID-19 long after the virus causing the illness is gone.

Even if the process of digestion remains normal, you may frequently have symptoms like pain or a distressing change in your bowel movements, such as diarrhea or constipation, Vlez said in the article.

A study from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine found a connection between COVID-19 and gastrointestinal symptoms. Dr. William Tierney, who led the study, said there is clear evidence linking the two.

COVID could be the trigger for a patients long-term digestive symptoms, Tierney said.

More:

Gastrointestinal issues a common but overlooked symptom of COVID - NewsNation Now

DENVER Flu and RSV have come and gone this year, so if cold-like symptoms have been putting a damper on your summer plans these past few weeks, Colorado health experts say its very likely the coronavirus is to blame.

The state just like pretty much the rest of the country is experiencing a rise in COVID-19 cases this summer due to two different strains from the Omicron family KP.2 and KP.3. Nicknamed FLiRT by variant trackers to help the public better understand the wide variety of circulating strains of the virus, these two strains combined which may be better able at getting past the bodys defenses due to mutations in the spike protein accounted for nearly 55% of all strains circulating across the state as of June, the most recent data the state has.

Since about April of this year, we've started noticing an increasing trend in the number of COVID cases that have been going on in the state of Colorado, said Dr. Ming Wu, a primary care physician at AdventHealth in Littleton. We've seen more cases in the clinics, people testing positive for COVID.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Data from the state confirms those observations. COVID-19 cases have been on an upward trend since mid-May in Colorado, with nearly 1,300 new cases reported in just the last week alone, according to the latest data from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). Those numbers are likely an undercount, however, since most people now test at home if at all and the majority dont report their results to state or federal health authorities.

Hospitalizations for COVID-19 in Colorado have also increased to levels not seen since March, with 111 people hospitalized for the disease as of Tuesday compared to 66 at this same time last year a nearly 70% increase when comparing year-to-year.

Across the country, emergency room visits for COVID-19 increased to 23.5% as of July 6, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with about 1.3 hospitalizations per 100,000 people. Though the numbers might seem concerning, they are still lower than last winter, when 7.7 hospitalizations per 100,000 people were reported by the CDC. It's not clear, however, how accurate this picture really is since hospitals are no longer required to report COVID-19 hospital admissions to the federal government.

Concentrations of the virus in wastewater which has replaced case numbers as a more reliable metric to show how prevalent the virus might be in the community have also increased over the past several weeks across the state, with more than half of all treatment facilities showing steady increases in viral replication since early May, when none were, according to CDPHE data.

The fact that we still have thousands 2,000 cases every week that are (being) reported is of concern, said Dr. May Chu, a clinical professor at the Colorado School of Public Health. It should tell us that we shouldn't forget that SARS-CoV-2 is still amongst us. It has not gone away.

Though it may be surprising to some to see a rise in COVID-19 cases over the summer, Chu said that ever since SARS-CoV-2 appeared on the map, Colorado along with the rest of the country has always had a summer surge.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Chu said that virologists like herself expect that as the virus continues to circulate in people for the foreseeable future, that a regular pacing might occur and then we can begin to predict when it could occur, probably along with the other respiratory viruses.

Its not clear if that will ever come to pass, however, as the CDC quietly admitted in an update posted over the Fourth of July holiday that SARS-CoV-2 is likely to remain a year-round threat given there is no distinct COVID-19 season like there is for influenza (flu) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)."

In its update, the CDC recommended a multi-layered approach so you can protect yourself against infection and prevent others from becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2. The multi-layered approach includes getting vaccinated, wearing a well-fitting, high-quality mask, ventilating indoor spaces, practicing proper hand hygiene, and following CDC quarantine guidance if you test positive for the virus.

CDC officials say a number of factors could be at play, including new variants that are not just more transmissible but better able at getting past our bodys defenses, as well as decreasing immunity from previous infections and vaccinations.

Though the newer FLiRT variants have mutations that make them more transmissible, Chu said those mutations arent statistically important as their rate of transmission only varies slightly compared to previous strains. However, because many different strains of the virus are circulating at the same time, you can imagine that theres a lot more virus growing, she said.

Part of it, too, is a bit of the virus variation. The virus still is young enough that it'll keep changing based on environmental circumstances, Chu said, adding that as it changes, it could get worse or it could get less infectious. We actually dont know.

Wu, on the other hand, attributed the rise in COVID-19 infections to the low uptake of vaccines across the state.

Data from the CDPHE shows about 30% of Coloradans ages 5 and up have only gotten 3 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine (up to 6 doses are available now for certain groups of people).

A lot of patients have said, you know, I've gotten enough COVID vaccines. I don't want this one, and so they haven't gotten it, Wu said.

While COVID-19 vaccines can protect you from getting seriously ill, they might not protect you against SARS-CoV-2 infection, both experts said.

If youre in a room that's tightly closed, with a lot of people that you don't know, you should mask because that increases the chance the transmission, Chu said. If you are the vessel for the reproduction of that virus, you're going to make yourself sick, and other people are likely to get it from you. So you just have to be careful.

Wu agreed, adding other measures like handwashing and socially distancing from others if you're sick could help protect not just yourself but others as well.

COVID cases are on the rise across the US

If you do feel ill and you need to go out, wear a mask to protect your neighbor. If you sneeze and your germs aren't spreading everywhere, you're preventing your neighbor from getting that virus and so you're protecting the community, he said.

If you test positive for COVID-19, Chu recommends calling your healthcare provider immediately and seek antiviral treatment like Paxlovid as soon as you can as itll help you from getting worse.

Those looking for added protection should get vaccinated now against COVID-19, both experts said, though if you want to wait it out a little longer, an updated COVID-19 vaccine targeting the most recent variants will be available later this year.

Though scientists and other health experts have seen a trend toward less severe outcomes and more typical symptoms of the flu with each new wave of the coronavirus, an encounter with COVID-19 doesnt come without risks.

With flu, there is not the residual Long COVID symptoms that about 8% of people suffer from. Flu doesnt have that. RSV doesnt have as much of that, Chu said. It is a risk and because this virus is still adapting to people, you're going to have lots of cases.

While people who have had severe COVID-19 are at increased risk of developing Long COVID, CDC officials have said Long COVID can affect anyone, including children. Commonly reported symptoms include fatigue, brain fog and post-exertional malaise (PEM), but more than 200 symptoms have been associated with the condition which can affect various organs of the body, including the brain, the heart, the lungs, the kidneys, the reproductive system, among others.

The illness can last for weeks, months, or even years, and can be debilitating in ways that significantly limit the daily activities of affected individuals, according to the latest annual report on Long COVID in Colorado. Its believed Long COVID has affected 10% of the states population so far.

Chu said that while scientists have been able to learn more about Long COVID since the start of the coronavirus pandemic four years ago, the outcome at the moment still doesnt tell you exactly how we can predict one, if you can get Long COVID, and two what your symptoms are (going to be). We're still gathering that information.

Which is why Chu said its important for Coloradans to remember that COVID-19 is still around us and to be aware of the risk each infection can bring.

If you are able to mitigate it, or reduce it by masking, by the various different kinds of practices that we've all known about for (years) now that continue to be in effect, then the risk of (developing Long COVID) gets lower, she said.

The Follow Up

What do you want Denver7 to follow up on? Is there a story, topic or issue you want us to revisit? Let us know with the contact form below.

See more here:

It has not gone away: As COVID-19 cases rise in Colorado, health experts call for continued vigilance - Denver 7 Colorado News

courier-journal.com wants to ensure the best experience for all of our readers, so we built our site to take advantage of the latest technology, making it faster and easier to use.

Unfortunately, your browser is not supported. Please download one of these browsers for the best experience on courier-journal.com

See more here:

The new COVID-19 variant KP.3 is on the rise in Kentucky. Here's what to know. - Courier Journal

Media Advisory

Thursday, July 11, 2024

NIH-funded analysis of health record data shows severe reinfections often follow severe first infections.

Using health data from almost 213,000 Americans who experienced reinfections, researchers have found that severe infections from the virus that causes COVID-19 tend to foreshadow similar severity of infection the next time a person contracts the disease. Additionally, scientists discovered that long COVID was more likely to occur after a first infection compared to a reinfection. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Healths (NIH) Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative, is published in Communications Medicine.

The analysis used data from electronic health records of 3.1 million Americans who are part of the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C). Researchers focused on 212,984 people who reported a reinfection. Those individuals were originally infected between March 1, 2020-Dec. 31, 2022, and experienced a second infection by March 2023. Most participants (203,735) had COVID-19 twice, but a small number (478) had it three times or more. COVID-19 vaccines, though not available during the entire study period, correlated with a protective effect.

About 27% of those with severe cases, defined as receiving hospital care for a coronavirus infection, also received hospital care for a reinfection. Adults with severe cases were more likely to have underlying health conditions and be ages 60 or older. In contrast, about 87% of those who had mild COVID cases that did not require hospital care the first time also had mild cases of reinfections.

Reinfections were defined as having occurred at least two months after a first infection. They were found to occur most frequently when omicron variants were circulating in late 2021 and early 2022. Waning immunity and increased exposure to the coronavirus, including the highly-infectious variants, likely accounted for the uptick.

Scientists also discovered that regardless of the variant, long COVID cases were more likely to occur after a first infection compared to a reinfection. Long COVID was defined in the review as those experiencing long-term COVID-19 symptoms, such as feeling tired, coughing, or having problems sleeping, breathing, or thinking, after an acute coronavirus infection.

Researchers also found that lower levels of albumin, a protein made by the liver, may indicate a higher risk for reinfection. This finding could indicate lower albumin as a possible risk marker for reinfection. Scientists believe this deserves further attention, such as by considering trials to test if nutritional interventions may prevent reinfection or its severity.

The study is funded by NIHs RECOVER Initiative. Additional support came from the N3C Data Enclave, which is supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, also part of NIH.

David C. Goff, M.D., Ph.D., a senior scientific program director for the RECOVER Observational Consortium Steering Committee and director of the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of NIH, is available for interviews on this paper.

Hadley E, Yoo YJ, Patel S, et al. Insights from an N3C RECOVER EHR-based cohort study characterizing SARS-CoV-2 reinfections and Long COVID. Commun Med. 2024; doi: 10.1038/s43856-024-00539-2.

HHS Long COVID Coordination: This work is a part of the National Research Action Plan (PDF, 1.3 MB), a broader government-wide effort in response to the Presidential Memorandum directing the Secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services to mount a full and effective response to long COVID. Led by Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Rachel Levine, the Plan and its companion Services and Supports for Longer-term Impacts of COVID-19 report (PDF, 1.6 MB) lay the groundwork to advance progress in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and provision of services for individuals experiencing long COVID.

About RECOVER: The National Institutes of Health Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (NIH RECOVER) Initiative brings together clinicians, scientists, caregivers, patients, and community members to understand, diagnose, and treat long COVID. RECOVER has created one of the largest and most diverse groups of long COVID study participants in the world. In addition, RECOVER clinical trials are testing potential interventions across five symptom focus areas. For more information, please visit recoverCOVID.org.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.

NIHTurning Discovery Into Health

###

See the rest here:

Study suggests reinfections from the virus that causes COVID-19 likely have similar severity as original infection - National Institutes of Health...