Large study reveals who’s at risk for long COVID
Results from a new survey of more than 100,000 COVID-19 survivors released Tuesday by genetics company 23andMe offer further evidence of a biological cause for the persistent syndrome known as long COVID. Read the full story on 23andMe’s survey of genetic testing customers that shed light on who is most at risk for post-COVID problems like body aches, brain fog and chronic fatigue. Results also offer new clues about what may cause the confounding symptoms.
U.S. above-normal death count surpasses that in most rich nations
The United States saw more deaths above normal levels during the pandemic than most other wealthy countries, according to World Health Organization data analyzed by the New York Times. In the U.S., deaths were 15% percent above normal, behind just four other large countries in the same income group: Chile, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania. More nations categorized as upper-middle income or low or and low-income had above-normal death counts at or above the U.S. level, including a dramatic 97% higher than usual number in Peru, the data shows. But deaths in the United States rose even higher than in several countries with far fewer resources, including Argentina and the Philippines.
1 in 5 infected adults experience long COVID, says CDC
About 1 in 5 adults between ages 18 and 64 who was previously infected with the coronavirus has reported persistent symptoms more than four weeks after being diagnosed, a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday. Among those 65 and older, 1 in 4 survivors reported symptoms consistent with the conditions known as “long COVID” or “post-COVID,” including heart, lung, kidney and gastrointestinal issues, pain, fatigue, loss of smell or taste, and mental health problems. “As the cumulative number of persons ever having been infected with SARS-CoV-2 increases, the number of survivors suffering post-COVID conditions is also likely to increase,” the researchers wrote. The study looked at data from March 2020 to November 2021, before the winter surge fueled by the coronavirus omicron variant. They estimated the number of those infected has increased substantially since then.
BA.2.12.1 now makes up nearly 60% of cases in the U.S.
BA.2.12.1, the highly transmissible sublineage of the coronavirus omicron variant, accounted for 58% of cases in the U.S. last week, according to data published Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The variant is crowding out its parent BA.2 subvariant, which made up 39% of cases sequenced by federal health officials. The original BA.1 omicron, which drove the winter surge, now makes up less than 3% of the proportion of cases nationwide. In the Bay Area, BA.2.12.1 and BA.2 are evenly divided with about 48% of the cases each.
Mayor of San Jose tests positive for COVID-19
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo announced on Monday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus. “After feeling under the weather this evening, I tested positive for COVID-19,” he said on Twitter. “I am thankful that my vaccination has prevented any serious symptoms so far.” The mayor encouraged others to keep up on their vaccination schedules, test frequently and “mask up indoors.”
California’s 2nd-largest school district outlines rules for return of mask mandate
San Diego Unified School District outlined criteria that will guide the reinstatement of mask mandates. In a letter to families that was obtained by CBS News 8, officials from California’s second-largest school district said that starting Wedensday they would evaluate each school and require students to wear masks indoors for the remainder of the 2022 academic year and summer when the school hits specific risk metrics: at least three COVID outbreaks at a school within 14 days, and more than 5% of the school population infected; or when 10% or more of the student population is absent each day due to illness over a three consecutive days. If San Diego County is classified as having a high level of COVID risk by the CDC, all schools in the district will return to indoor masking requirements.
UCLA research team receives $1 million grant to study long COVID
A team of researchers at UCLA Health has received a $1 million research grant from the American Heart Association to study the cardiovascular effects of long COVID. Over the next three years, the group will investigate whether lingering fragments of the coronavirus might remain even after the body has cleared an infection and contribute to the ongoing symptoms experienced by patients with long COVID. “We believe this is a novel hypothesis for what’s causing the long-term effects seen in patients with long COVID, and our hope is to ultimately identify effective therapies for this new, often debilitating syndrome,” said Dr. Jeffrey Hsu, assistant clinical professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine. The team will also investigate the COVID-19-associated risk of myocarditis and pericarditis.
One in 16 asymptomatic people in S.F. testing positive in UCSF hospitals
Dr. Bob Wachter, chief of medicine at UCSF, tweeted that an average of 6.2% of people not exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms tested positive for a coronavirus infection, according to UCSF hospital data. “In a crowd of 150 folks … there’s a 99.993% chance at least 1 person has Covid,” Wachter tweeted.
Children’s COVID cases top 100,000 in U.S. for the first time in 3 months
There were 107,140 pediatric COVID-19 cases reported in the U.S. last week, with children representing over 19% of cases nationally, according to data published Monday by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association. The figure marks a 313% jump in pediatric COVID cases since they dropped to their lowest point this year in the first week of April, with 25,915 cases reported. It is also the first week since Feb. 24 that children’s cases have topped 100,000.
S.F. urges boosters for children 5-11 amid rising cases
San Francisco’s health department on Monday recommended that parents and caregivers schedule appointments for children ages 5 to 11 to get a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, as new cases continue to swell in the city. Health providers started offering the additional doses, for children who are five months out from the two-dose primary vaccine series, on Friday. “Even though children and teens tend to have mild symptoms, getting COVID-19 can be disruptive and have highly negative consequences to the family and other family members,” said Dr. Susan Philip, San Francisco’s health officer. “The COVID-19 vaccine, and a booster dose when eligible, lessen the chances of infection and severe illness so that kids can have a healthy end to the school year and the start of summer vacation.” San Francisco, which is reporting the highest rate of new cases in the state, is averaging 68 daily cases per 100,000 residents, which is far above the statewide average of 35 per 100,000.
FDA committee to meet next month to review Pfizer, Moderna vaccines for children
A key Food and Drug Administration advisory committee will meet next month to review emergency use authorization submissions from Pfizer and Moderna for their respective coronavirus vaccines for children, the agency said Monday. The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee will meet June 14 to review Moderna’s submission for vaccines for children 6 to 17 years old. The next day, it will meet to review Moderna’s submission for vaccines for children 6 months to 5 years old and Pfizer’s for children 6 months to 4 years old. Children under 5 are the only age group currently not eligible for COVID-19 vaccines. Children 5-17 may receive the initial series and booster doses of the Pfizer vaccine, the only one currently approved in the U.S. for people under 18. The most recent group approved for Pfizer boosters was children 5-11, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed off on last week.
WHO chief warns “we lower our guard at our peril”
The COVID-19 pandemic is “most certainly not over,” the head of the World Health Organization warned Sunday, despite a decline in reported cases since the peak of the omicron wave. He told governments gathered in Geneva for WHO’s annual meeting that “we lower our guard at our peril.” The director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said “declining testing and sequencing means we are blinding ourselves to the evolution of the virus.” He also noted that almost 1 billion people in lower-income countries still haven’t been vaccinated. While 60% of the world’s population is vaccinated, “it’s not over anywhere until it’s over everywhere,” he said.
Disease “rebounds” for some people after they finish taking COVID treatment
As the number of Americans taking the COVID treatment Paxlovid skyrockets, many people are reporting a “rebound” after taking the drug — including some vaccine scientists and doctors who’ve documented their experiences on Twitter. In addition to a recurrence of symptoms, rebound also means that someone who thought they’d recovered might still be infectious and should isolate for additional days. Read more about the so called rebound effect that hits some people.
