In Week 272’s video address, Dr. Klotman discusses “Longevity Medicine” which has less to do with living longer and more with living better. It’s about genomics, vaccination, healthy life styles, and interventions that help folks avoid preventable diseases as well as detect some diseases earlier. It’s all very interesting, of course.
On the viral issues updates from non-BCM sources include:
Measles
- We’ve had 742 cases of measles in Texas, but no new cases in the past week.
- There have been no new measles deaths
COVID
- The FDA has approved a new m-RNA vaccine that targets regions of the SARS-CoV-2 spike that account for the strongest anti-viral antibody response to the previous m-RNA vaccines.
- This new vaccine from Moderna, mNEXSPIKE, comes as a smaller dose and is approved for all folks 65+ or 12-64 who have an underlying condition that predisposes to severe COVID infection.
- In its evaluation studies, there were no cases of myo- or peri-carditis.
- The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology recommends that all pregnant and breastfeeding patients get vaccinated against COVID.
It is subtly reassuring to me when we have a week with little or nothing to report on the public health front. It’s almost as if everything is going to be okay – at least for a while.