This week, Dr. Klotman gives us a brief COVID update. The COVID highlights include:

  • 5 women on the Australian water polo Olympic team tested positive for COVID
  • COVID cases in Paris right now are quite low – (I expect a huge event like the Olympics to be a major spreader event). Color me pessimistic.
  • There are realistic concerns about Dengue outbreaks at the Olympics although that disease has been rare in Europe
  • Measles continues to rear its ugly head in countries with sub-optimal vaccination rates – Poland and the USA among others.
  • The smoldering HIV pandemic affects about 40M people worldwide; a new drug from Gilead can be given SC twice a year and protects females 100% against HIV infection. The drug is lenacapavir (Sulenca), and it is a novel anti-HIV agent that is a viral capsid inhibitor. It is being tested as PREP for MSMs. Maybe there is hope for ending this scourge?
  • Heat-related deaths continue to be an issue among the homeless, the elderly, and those without access to climate-controlled environments. Texas and surrounding states are hotspots, of course.
  • COVID wastewater levels are high. They will likely get higher this Fall as the infection becomes more prevalent.
  • COVID ER visits have continued to increase among all groups but especially among those >65 years of age
  • A late indicator of COVID activity, hospitalizations, continues to rise without slowing
  • COVID variant JN.1 has almost disappeared from the US. Its FLRT descendants (KP.2, KP.3, KP.3.1.1, KP.2.3) are now the dominant variants in the US.
  • Abroad, JN.1 continues to dominate. This suggests that the FLRT variants arose in the United States. Our lagging vaccination rate makes the USA COVID’s Typhoid Mary among countries. Alas!
  • Dr. Klotman gives a TEPHI update on viral genetic material in wastewater – listen to the presentation if you are curious
  • Drs. Peter Hotez and Maria Elena Botazzi who developed an inexpensive COVID vaccine at BCM for the Global South, took their research another step forward combining the receptor binding domains of SARS-1, MERS, and COVID to create a tri-valent vaccine that appears to confer robust immunity against a wide range of coronavirus illnesses. Cudos to them both!
  • Dr. Klotman reviews seven lessons learned from COVID regarding the prevention of aerosol-born illnesses. They address important issues regarding building design.

On a more personal front, Susan and I continue to isolate for COVID. She just completed her five-day course of Paxlovid and feels fine. I did too after finishing my course of Paxlovid. Unfortunately, I relapsed after a couple of more days. It’s been a week since my relapse, and the snot and post-nasal drip have almost disappeared. Susan is still asymptomatic.

As you probably recall from news reports of public figures who took Paxlovid for COVID, recrudescence of the virus and symptomatic infection are not rare. Perhaps the antiviral course should be ten days instead of five. Who knows?

I think that we are both on the mend, and I look forward to both of us testing negative perhaps this coming Monday. Stay safe. Wear your mask. Get the new vaccine as soon as it is available.

By: llcPosted on