Coronavirus Tidbits #267, Oct 15, 2023

Test positivity from September 24 to September 30 was 10.9%, down 1.2% from the previous week, and emergency department visits dropped to 1.6%, down 14.5% from the previous week. Deaths, however, while still at low levels, were up 3.8%.

In total 18,139 people were admitted to the hospital in the last week of September for COVID-19, down 6% from the previous week. Hospitalization hot spots include communities in Montana, Idaho, Missouri, and Kansas.

Not enough children are getting their Covid vaccinations, experts warn

Far too few children are being vaccinated against Covid-19, vaccine experts warned yesterday in a panel discussion hosted by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and the Covid-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project, STAT's Helen Branswell reports. The effect, one said, is eroding the amount of immunity against the disease in the community, increasing the risk for both the children and the people they come in contact with.

Roughly 10,000 children a day become eligible for Covid vaccination as they hit the age of 6 months, but only about 7,000 children a week under the age of 4 are being vaccinated, said Michelle Fiscus, chief medical officer for the Association of Immunization Managers. Fiscus acknowledged that finding medical practices that stock pediatric Covid vaccine doses is challenging in parts of the country, as the commercial market takes over what had been until this fall a federal government delivery program. “There are plenty of parents out there who are ready and willing to get their children vaccinated, but can’t find a vaccine for those young children right now,” Fiscus said.

~ ~ ~

Yes, everyone should get an updated Covid-19 vaccine - OpEd

1.) There is little downside. The vaccines are extremely safe.

2.) It’s not obvious who is high-risk. Universal recommendations are simpler and likely increase uptake in the most vulnerable.

3.) Covid vaccines protect against Covid. I don’t want to get Covid. Even for healthy people who don’t end up in the hospital, Covid can be a nasty illness that can mean days or weeks of missed work and school.

4.) Vaccination likely reduces the risk of long Covid and helps in the recovery for some. Evidence that suggested three doses of vaccine were more protective than two doses against long Covid.

5.) Fewer infections mean less transmission. Less transmission means fewer cases. Fewer cases means fewer serious cases and deaths. That’s math. While Covid vaccines don’t “block” transmission completely as we once hoped, they do reduce the likelihood of transmission. ...Thinking only about individual-level benefits discounts population-level benefits of broader vaccination like fewer cases overall.

statnews.com/2023/10/13/updated-covid-vaccine-for-everyone/

~ ~ ~

Miracle Mineral Solution

~ ~ ~

The Nobel Prize in Medicine this week was not for Covid vaccines. It was about the messenger RNA platform discovery that “fundamentally changed our understanding of how mRNA interacts with the immune system.”

https://erictopol.substack.com/p/a-nobel-prize-and-the-future-of-vaccines

~ ~ ~

Other:

CDC study characterizes 2022-23 flu season as highly severe, particularly for kids

Today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a study finds that the 2022-2023 influenza season in the United States was severe, especially for children and adolescents.

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/influenza-vaccines/cdc-study-characterizes-2022-23-flu-season-highly-severe-particularly-kids

~ ~ ~

Florida sees more dengue

• Florida Health has recorded 15 more locally acquired dengue cases, raising the season's total to 53. Cases have been concentrated in Miami-Dade County (47 cases), Broward county (3 cases), and single cases reported in Palm Beach, Hardee, and Polk counties.

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/quick-takes-florida-sees-more-dengue-polio-funding-announcement-wellcome-appoints-new-ceo

~ ~ ~

Powassan virus

The Maryland Department of Health today announced the first travel-related Powassan virus death in Maryland. The Department confirmed the presence of Powassan, which is spread by the bite of an infected tick, on Sept. 22.

the Powassan virus is rare and is not transmitted from person to person, except in rare instances by blood transfusion. There are no vaccines to prevent or medicines to treat Powassan virus disease. Most cases in the United States occur in the northeast and Great Lakes regions from late spring through mid-fall when ticks are most active. [Notably, unlike w Lyme, the tick only requires a few minutes to transmit Powassan.]

https://health.maryland.gov/newsroom/Pages/Maryland-Department-of-Health-announces-first-travel-related-case,-death-due-to-tickborne-illness-Powassan.aspx

~ ~ ~

Just another routine week for genome editing —Editing the pig kidney transplanted to monkey, lasting > 2 years https://nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03176-2… —Editing chickens to be avian flu resistant https://nature.com/articles/s41467-023-41476-3  - Eric Topol

~ ~ ~

Various efforts are increasing to make nasal vaccines, which are expected to provide better (mucosal) immunity by blocking viruses where they first invade.

A trivalent nasal vaccine vs mumps, measles and Covid, broadly effective vs #SARSCoV2 variants, with expected long duration (using preS-6P), in multiple experimental models https://pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2220403120…

See also https://erictopol.substack.com/p/covid-nasal-vaccines-get-a-boost