Here is Dr. Klotman’s Week 289 video address. My summary follows.

Influenza

  • The CDC has reviewed the 2024-25 flu season data and shows that:
  • We lost 280 pediatric lives to the Flu last year
  • 109 of those deaths were due to Influenza encephalopathy (brain infection)
  • This is the worst childhood Flu mortality that the US has seen since the 2009-10 H1N1 Influenza season
  • The average age of the decedents was 7-years-old
  • 89% had not been fully vaccinated against the Flu

COVID

  • All respiratory illnesses have been decreasing across the US albeit unevenly among states
  • Despite declining COVID incidence (new cases), some populations such as nursing home residents show increasing incidence
  • 7.8% of cases of respiratory illnesses presenting to ERs are COVID
  • Wastewater data shows a declining trend in COVID across the country
    • Despite this, Texas continues to show high levels of COVID – especially in the Dallas & Houston areas
    • In North Carolina, the highest incidence of COVID is seen in college towns
  • XFG continues to be the dominant strain in the US (85%+ of cases)
  • The airport data shows the same general breakdown – mostly XFG
  • The Pfizer and Moderna m-RNA vaccines target the spike of the JN.1 strain which is related to XFG

Flouridation

  • RFK, Jr’s MAHA agenda includes eliminating fluoride in the public water supply – it is a recommendation to states rather than a mandate
  • Eight states have banned fluoride; another five states have tabled their bills to do so
  • Texas is not one of those nutty states
  • The irony here is that fluoridation has been the most successful dental health innovation in history and stands as the epitome of “Preventive Health”

Longevity

  • Being poor and having a lower level of education are among the biggest predictors of a shorter lifespan
  • The genetic component of longevity is not well understood

My commentary: The greater incidence of COVID cases in college towns is no surprise. Respiratory viruses spread best in close quarters, and classrooms are ideal for that. As regards fluoridation, all I can say is, “MAHA my ass.”

Finally, with regard to longevity, there have been numerous studies that have examined zip code, diet, social networks, the gut microbiome, parental longevity, and many other factors in connection with longevity. The thing is that all of these factors are entangled. That is, longevity is as much about being born into circumstances optimal for health and long life as they are about anything else. I and many others before me have called this, “winning the uterine lottery.” A person born into relative affluence with access to nutritious food, clean (fluoridated) water, good educational and healthcare services, is likely to outlive a comparable person born into poverty with fewer environmental and societal blessings.

I, for one, have reached the median life expectancy for a US male in 2023 (~76 years). If, like my brother, I survive another couple of years, I will have attained the median life expectancy as it is in 2025. It’s been a good life, and I owe much of it to an accident of birth.

By: llcPosted on