Here is Dr. Klotman’s Wee 270 video update. My summary is:
- Measles is still being detected in the wastewater of El Paso and Lubbock
- H5N1 Flu is being detected in the water in Baytown – possibly from animals
- Influenza A, B, and RSV wastewater levels continue to fall
- There is also a downward trend for human metapneumovirus, Parvovirus B19, and Norovirus (a common cause of cruise ship diarrhea)
- Most Texas cities are seeing elevated levels of Rotavirus A and Parainfluenza virus
- COVID is still around
The CDC has recorded 1024 cases of Measles (that’s 2^10th power, for my math nerd friends). 13% of those cases have required hospitalization, and there have not been any new deaths reported after the three that we knew about a couple of weeks ago. 92% of these cases have occurred in outbreaks (clusters of 3 or more related cases).
The Flu is still around albeit now less than at the peak. This Flu season has been the worst since 2017 – particularly among children. 198 children have died during this Flu season – the vaccination rate for Influenza among US children is around 50%. Most of those deaths could have been prevented by timely vaccination. The morbidity and mortality for Flu this year has been: 45 million illnesses, 600K hospitalizations, and 26K deaths. The CDC recommends annual Flu vaccine for anyone aged 6+ months.
FYI – just as many people died this year of COVID as of Flu despite a much lower infection rate. COVID has infected fewer people, but its mortality rate is much higher than Influenza’s. The FDA has approved Novavx – a more traditional protein rather than m-RNA vaccine for COVID. The FDA recommends it for people 65+ years of age and those younger with an underlying medical condition associated with higher COVID mortality. Big increases in COVID cases in Southeast Asia have raised the possibility of more mutations. In the US, the most common variant continues to be LP.8.1 – it’s a descendant of the 2024 FLRT variants.
There have been no new human cases of H5N1 Influenza.
Our approach to protecting infants from RSV-associated mortality has been to give RSV vaccine to pregnant people. Their infants acquire passive immunity from their moms. Recent studies show that this approach has decreased RSV hospitalizations in infants by at least 50%.
Dr. Klotman ends his video update by observing that Botswana has earned international recognition for its program to end “vertical” (mother to infant) transmission of HIV as a result of its collaboration with BCM, PEPFAR and USAID.
There is a very bitter irony here since, Elon Musk and his “chainsaw” approach to government efficiency has effectively ended USAID’s humanitarian activities and destroyed PEPFAR. We can expect a resurgence of HIV cases among infants in Africa after this austerity fracas.
I can only hope that there is a special place in HELL for members of the Chump administration and the DOGE bros.