Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #112

[dmac55]

This is the worst flu season in 15 years. Here’s why — and how to protect yourself. - National Geographic

This is the worst flu season in 15 years. Here's why—and how to protect yourself. — National Geographic

The number of influenza cases is surging across the United States, putting significant strain on many hospitals. We asked the experts to explain what makes this year's flu season so unusual.

apple.news

 

[Gemmie]

This is the worst flu season in 15 years. Here’s why — and how to protect yourself. - National Geographic

This is the worst flu season in 15 years. Here's why—and how to protect yourself. — National Geographic

The number of influenza cases is surging across the United States, putting significant strain on many hospitals. We asked the experts to explain what makes this year's flu season so unusual.

apple.news

Since the article you posted is subscription only... I thought I'd bullet a few points for folks.

• The biggest contributing factor is a decline in vaccine rates, which is a major cause of the surge.
• There is a 7% decline in flu vaccinations versus the same time last year.
• Best basic preventative method is WASH YOUR HANDS well with soap & water. Especially after touching commonly used surfaces.
• Young children, pregnant women, immunocompromised and the elderly would benefit from wearing a high-quality mask in indoor public places.
• A healthy lifestyle (getting enough sleep, eating well, and staying active can strengthen your immune system and reduce your risk.

 

[Tricia]

TONIGHT IS THE NIGHT. COLD CASE INVESTIGATOR PAUL HOLES ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS AT 8:00 PM EASTERN FOR WEBSLEUTHS ASK ME ANYTHING.
If you want to ask Paul a question, post it on THIS THREAD.
Then, tonight 8 pm Eastern, watch THIS THREAD as Paul answers your questions.
We'll be giving away a couple of copies of Paul's book. The way to enter is to post your question.
See you tonight at 8 PM Eastern on Websleuths first ever Ask Me Anything

 

[dmac55]

Since the article you posted is subscription only... I thought I'd bullet a few points for folks.

• The biggest contributing factor is a decline in vaccine rates, which is a major cause of the surge.
• There is a 7% decline in flu vaccinations versus the same time last year.
• Best basic preventative method is WASH YOUR HANDS well with soap & water. Especially after touching commonly used surfaces.
• Young children, pregnant women, immunocompromised and the elderly would benefit from wearing a high-quality mask in indoor public places.
• A healthy lifestyle (getting enough sleep, eating well, and staying active can strengthen your immune system and reduce your risk.

Thank you @Gemmie

 

[Smelly Squirrel]

RFK Jr., Feb. 26: We are following the measles epidemic every day. I think there’s 124 people who have contracted measles at this point, mainly in Gaines County, Texas. Mainly, we’re told, in the Mennonite community. There are two people who have died. We’re watching it, and there are about 20 people hospitalized, mainly for quarantine. We’re watching it, we put out a post on it yesterday, and we’re going to continue to follow it. Incidentally, there have been four measles outbreaks this year in this country. Last year, there were 16. So it’s not unusual. We have measles outbreaks every year.

Fact check: RFK Jr. minimizes measles outbreak in Texas

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., head of the Department of Health and Human Services, downplayed the seriousness of an ongoing measles outbreak in Texas, falsely claiming that people had been hospitalized “mainly for quarantine” and misleadingly stating that the situation is “not unusual.”

www.nbcphiladelphia.com

This year, as of Feb. 20, CDC had recorded a total of 93 cases, 86 of which had occurred in three outbreaks. (Those statistics are now out of date, as just Texas and New Mexico together have at least 133 cases.)

But the comparison — and the suggestion that this is all par for the course — is misleading. Not only should outbreaks be rare, experts say, but 2024 was a relatively bad year for measles. And the current outbreak has several features that make it particularly concerning.

Offit called Kennedy’s statement that the U.S. has measles outbreaks every year “a little glib … as if this is acceptable.”

“We eliminated measles from this country by the year 2000. With a two-dose vaccine, we eliminated the most contagious disease,” Offit said. But in part because of false information that Kennedy himself has put out for several decades, he said, a critical percentage of parents have chosen not to vaccinate their children, making outbreaks possible.

Most parents vaccinate their children, but measles is so contagious that 95% of a community needs to be vaccinated or have prior immunity to prevent spread of the disease. A single dose of the measles vaccine is 93% effective in preventing the disease and two are 97% effective.

 

[sds71]

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. advocated for the MMR vaccine on Sunday in response to a growing measles outbreak in Texas.

Why it matters: Kennedy has a long record of sowing skepticism about vaccines and last week appeared to downplay the situation in Texas when he described such outbreaks as "not unusual."

• He has previously repeated debunked claims about vaccines and provided elusive answers to senators on his stance on vaccinations ahead of being confirmed.

In a op-ed that had the subheading "MMR vaccine is crucial to avoiding potentially deadly disease," Kennedy wrote that before the introduction of the MMR vaccine in the 1960s, "virtually every child in the United States contracted measles."

• He noted that from 1953 to 1962, "on average there were 530,217 confirmed cases and 440 deaths," with a fatality rate of 1 in 1,205 cases.
• "Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons," wrote Kennedy, who emphasized that the decision to vaccinate is "a personal one."

https://www.axios.com/2025/03/03/kennedy-jr-measles-outbreak-vaccine

 

[weepingangel]

I don’t know if it’s been mentioned here re-measles, but some us might want think about getting an MMR booster. Based on a variety of factors : travel though outbreak areas at home as well as abroad (or contact with those who have), personal circumstances (healthcare / childcare workers for example), what year you were vaxxed in the past ( or had measels) 1969 vaccine was updated and as of 1989 the recommendation went from one dose to two. Immunity may also just wane over time (decades!)

 

[Gemmie]

I don’t know if it’s been mentioned here re-measles, but some us might want think about getting an MMR booster. Based on a variety of factors : travel though outbreak areas (or contact with those who have), personal circumstances (healthcare / childcare workers for example), what year you were vaxxed in the past ( or had measels) 1969 vaccine was updated and as of 1989 the recommendation went from one dose to two. Immunity may also just wane over time (decades!)

At first I thought I wasn't too worried about catching measles since I thought it was via touching surfaces. So I Googled for it and found out it's the same as how you catch Covid.

If other people breathe the contaminated air or touch the infected surface, then touch their eyes, noses, or mouths, they can become infected.

How Measles Spreads

Infected people can spread measles, through coughing and sneezing.

www.cdc.gov

I just thought it wax worth pointing out in the case others weren't aware. It's been a long, long time since I even thought about measles.

 

[weepingangel]

At first I thought I wasn't too worried about catching measles since I thought it was via touching surfaces. So I Googled for it and found out it's the same as how you catch Covid.

If other people breathe the contaminated air or touch the infected surface, then touch their eyes, noses, or mouths, they can become infected.

How Measles Spreads

Infected people can spread measles, through coughing and sneezing.

www.cdc.gov

I just thought it wax worth pointing out in the case others weren't aware. It's been a long, long time since I even thought about measles.

It is extremely!!!!! Contagious via the airborn route. Much morso than Covid even :/

https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/02/28/nx-s1-5312088/measles-texas-outbreak-contagious-spread

About Measles

Measles is a highly contagious virus. Two doses of the MMR vaccine provide the best protection.

www.cdc.gov

 

[Smelly Squirrel]

I don’t know if it’s been mentioned here re-measles, but some us might want think about getting an MMR booster. Based on a variety of factors : travel though outbreak areas at home as well as abroad (or contact with those who have), personal circumstances (healthcare / childcare workers for example), what year you were vaxxed in the past ( or had measels) 1969 vaccine was updated and as of 1989 the recommendation went from one dose to two. Immunity may also just wane over time (decades!)

You're right about the year of vaccination.

https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/02/21/nx-s1-5304458/measles-vaccine-booster-health

But public health experts say there are some adults who should consider getting revaccinated. That includes older adults who were born after 1957 and were vaccinated before 1968.

That's because early versions of the measles vaccine were made from an inactivated (killed) virus, which didn't work particularly well, Offit says. That's why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that anyone vaccinated before 1968 get at least one dose of the live attenuated vaccine.

Before the first measles vaccines were developed in the 1960s, nearly everyone got the disease during childhood. So people born before 1957 are assumed to have natural immunity.

 

[Smelly Squirrel]

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. advocated for the MMR vaccine on Sunday in response to a growing measles outbreak in Texas.

Why it matters: Kennedy has a long record of sowing skepticism about vaccines and last week appeared to downplay the situation in Texas when he described such outbreaks as "not unusual."

• He has previously repeated debunked claims about vaccines and provided elusive answers to senators on his stance on vaccinations ahead of being confirmed.

In a op-ed that had the subheading "MMR vaccine is crucial to avoiding potentially deadly disease," Kennedy wrote that before the introduction of the MMR vaccine in the 1960s, "virtually every child in the United States contracted measles."

• He noted that from 1953 to 1962, "on average there were 530,217 confirmed cases and 440 deaths," with a fatality rate of 1 in 1,205 cases.
• "Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons," wrote Kennedy, who emphasized that the decision to vaccinate is "a personal one."

https://www.axios.com/2025/03/03/kennedy-jr-measles-outbreak-vaccine

.
That's better, but I wonder who wrote that for him, because he doesn't, or didn't, believe any of it.

https://www.tiktok.com/video/7476546631043747114

 

[sds71]

Pa. confirms first measles case of the year: Here are locations the patient visited

An unvaccinated child in Montgomery County is Pennsylvania's first confirmed measles case in 2023.

www.wgal.com

 

[detective.moon]

next week it’s going to be five years since i caught covid, which led to long covid. this time of year is definitely bringing up some feelings of grief!

it’s hard to think too much about what life could have been like! i was only 27. over those five years i’ve progressively gotten worse too (from still being able to take care of myself and going for a daily walk in 2020, to having to move back in with my family, to being bed/sofa bound now) which makes me scared of the future sometimes.

i do feel proud of myself too, for finding ways to cope and adapt and for growing more resilient but it’s still hard!

anyway, i just wanted to vent a bit and i hope this is the right thread! if anyone else here is dealing with long covid (or other chronic illness) i’m sending a hug!

 

[anneg]

next week it’s going to be five years since i caught covid, which led to long covid. this time of year is definitely bringing up some feelings of grief!

it’s hard to think too much about what life could have been like! i was only 27. over those five years i’ve progressively gotten worse too (from still being able to take care of myself and going for a daily walk in 2020, to having to move back in with my family, to being bed/sofa bound now) which makes me scared of the future sometimes.

i do feel proud of myself too, for finding ways to cope and adapt and for growing more resilient but it’s still hard!

anyway, i just wanted to vent a bit and i hope this is the right thread! if anyone else here is dealing with long covid (or other chronic illness) i’m sending a hug!

I'm sorry for what you have been and are going through with long Covid. You were unfortunate to get Covid early in the pandemic, before a vaccine was available. I hope a new treatment will become available that will help you. Hugs to you!

 

[Lilibet]

next week it’s going to be five years since i caught covid, which led to long covid. this time of year is definitely bringing up some feelings of grief!

it’s hard to think too much about what life could have been like! i was only 27. over those five years i’ve progressively gotten worse too (from still being able to take care of myself and going for a daily walk in 2020, to having to move back in with my family, to being bed/sofa bound now) which makes me scared of the future sometimes.

i do feel proud of myself too, for finding ways to cope and adapt and for growing more resilient but it’s still hard!

anyway, i just wanted to vent a bit and i hope this is the right thread! if anyone else here is dealing with long covid (or other chronic illness) i’m sending a hug!

Sending hugs right back! I’m so sorry for what you’re enduring at such a young age. Your efforts to cope and adapt and grow more resilient will pay off no matter what the future holds. Hugs for your parents too.

 

[detective.moon]

I'm sorry for what you have been and are going through with long Covid. You were unfortunate to get Covid early in the pandemic, before a vaccine was available. I hope a new treatment will become available that will help you. Hugs to you!

Sending hugs right back! I’m so sorry for what you’re enduring at such a young age. Your efforts to cope and adapt and grow more resilient will pay off no matter what the future holds. Hugs for your parents too.

thank you both for your kind words, it’s really appreciated

 

[Teche]

@detective.moon I’m sorry to hear of your continued health struggles with long-Covid.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2025/03/08/five-years-after-michigans-first-covid-19-cases-what-have-we-learned/80051757007/

Five years after COVID-19 first appeared in Michigan, ultimately killing more than 40,500 people in the state and reshaping how people work and live, local health care officials say they worry the state and country are not well positioned to weather the next pandemic.

The lingering controversy over the government’s coronavirus response, which saw politics bleed into medicine and scientific research, concerns many health care workers who told The Detroit News that misinformation and disinformation hinder them from using all the tools available to combat COVID-19 and other preventable diseases. They also see eroding trust between the public and health care professionals.

Federal funding and staffing cuts to the National Institute of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. government's recent withdrawal from the World Health Organization are added challenges that leave Michigan vulnerable, they said...

 

[Gemmie]

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2025/03/08/five-years-after-michigans-first-covid-19-cases-what-have-we-learned/80051757007/

Five years after COVID-19 first appeared in Michigan, ultimately killing more than 40,500 people in the state and reshaping how people work and live, local health care officials say they worry the state and country are not well positioned to weather the next pandemic.

The lingering controversy over the government’s coronavirus response, which saw politics bleed into medicine and scientific research, concerns many health care workers who told The Detroit News that misinformation and disinformation hinder them from using all the tools available to combat COVID-19 and other preventable diseases. They also see eroding trust between the public and health care professionals.

Federal funding and staffing cuts to the National Institute of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. government's recent withdrawal from the World Health Organization are added challenges that leave Michigan vulnerable, they said...

I know the article was specifically about Michigan, but the issue isn't just isolated to that one state, it's ALL of our problem, unfortunately. I hope not to be around during the next pandemic.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

5 years later, long Covid is still a medical mystery: What scientists have learned

Why do some people develop disabling chronic conditions after the initial viral infection?

www.nbcnews.com

When her school closed down in March 2020, Chimére Sweeney, an English teacher in Baltimore, thought she’d return to her students once the U.S. got a handle on the new SARS-CoV-2 virus. But “life had a different plan” when she got Covid shortly after — and then never recovered, she said.

At first, Sweeney developed only muscle aches. By the second week, she started having panic attacks, blurry vision, constipation and partial hearing loss. Half of her face would freeze “like concrete.” She forgot phone numbers and addresses and she developed a stutter. Within a month after getting infected, she lost 30 pounds.

“I was told that after two weeks I would be better,” Sweeney, now 42, said. “But my two weeks never came.”...