“With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt
“Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?”― L.M. Montgomery
Why get Vaccinated: We do not need to worry as much about COVID-19 as we do the variants that are spawning from it. The highly contagious Delta variant is one of them.
The Delta variant, which was first detected in India, now accounts for more than 6% of all infections in the United States, and is in 29 states according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is around 40 percent more transmissible than the original strain, or wild type, that first appeared in 2019. This highly transmissible variant may be responsible for more than 18% of cases in some Western U.S. states.
While several coronavirus variants have appeared since the start of the pandemic, epidemiologists worry that mutation could create a strain that evades vaccines.
The Delta variant has several mutations on the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, which can help it spread more easily than other forms of the virus. The CDC specifically says that this variant has a "potential reduction" in the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine, and a "potential reduction" in the ability of some monoclonal antibody treatments to work against the virus.
This variant, also known as B.1.617.2, is spreading rapidly in the United Kingdom and has quickly become the dominant strain there, responsible for more than 60% of infections and causing surges of COVID-19 in some parts of England.
"We cannot let that happen in the United States," Dr. Anthony Fauci said. Speaking at a White House COVID-19 briefing Tuesday, Fauci warned that the Delta variant may be associated with more severe disease and a higher risk of hospitalization.
The good news is that the vaccines look like they can protect people against the Delta variant. A new study from Public Health England showed two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were 88% effective against symptomatic disease from the Delta variant compared with 93% effectiveness against the Alpha variant, the variant first detected in the U.K. It only provided 33% protection after just one dose.
The science and clinical results show that all three vaccines, the Pfizer, Moderna and J&J vaccines are all effective against COVID -19 and its many variants including the new Delta Variant. The issue is where these vaccines had a high 96% effectiveness against the original strain of COVID 19 it is now only 88% effective against the Delta Strain after 2 doses and only 33% after one dose.
If you are sitting on the fence to get vaccinated or not, please do not trust the media pundits or the social influencers for your health-based decisions.
Gangrene, hearing loss point to Delta coronavirus variant being more severe: Delta, also known as B16172, has spread to more than 60 countries over the past six months and triggered travel curbs in places ranging from Australia to the United States. The coronavirus variant that’s driving India's devastating Covid-19 epidemic is the most infectious to emerge so far, and doctors now want to know if it is also more severe.
Hearing impairment, severe gastric upsets and blood clots leading to gangrene, symptoms not typically seen in Covid-19 patients, have been linked by doctors in India to the so-called Delta variant. In England and Scotland, early evidence suggests that the now-dominant strain carries a higher risk of hospitalization.
Symptoms include stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, hearing loss and joint pain. Some patients develop micro thrombi, or small blood clots, so severe that they led affected tissue to die and develop gangrene,
People with Rheumatoid Arthritis should get vaccinated: The COVID-19 vaccine was safe and well tolerated among patients with rheumatic diseases, analysis of data from a large European registry found.
Among 1,519 patients enrolled in the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) COVID-19 Vaccination Registry, severe adverse events were very rare, being reported in only two patients, according to Pedro M. Machado, MD, PhD, of University College London.
One of these events was a case of giant cell arteritis in a patient with osteoarthritis, which resolved without sequelae, and the other was a case of hemiparesis in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus/systemic sclerosis overlap syndrome, which was ongoing at last report. The COVID-19 vaccine was safe and well tolerated among patients with rheumatic diseases, analysis of data from a large European registry found.
COVID-19 Not Transmissible Via the Blood Supply: A National Institutes of Health study of blood samples from more than 250,000 donors found that very few included genetic material from the novel coronavirus, and that those materials that were discovered contained low viral levels. Published in Transfusion, the study also demonstrated that the genetic material did not possess the ability to infect recipients with SARS-CoV-2. As such, individuals who donate blood and those who receive blood transfusions are not at increased risk for COVID-19. According to the American Red Cross, someone in the United States requires blood and/or platelets every 2 seconds
CDC: Worrisome Spike in Younger Teens' COVID Hospitalizations: Younger teens may not be as likely to have severe COVID-19 as adults, but their hospitalization rates spiked early this year and left a large proportion in critical care, according to CDC COVID-NET surveillance data.
COVID-19 adolescent hospitalization rates were at their highest in early January 2021, with a peak of 2.1 per 100,000 youths ages 12 to 17.
That dropped to 0.6 per 100,000 in mid-March, but rose again to 1.3 per 100,000 in April, the last month with available data, reported Fiona P. Havers, MD, of the CDC COVID-19 Response Team, and colleagues in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly. Notably, nearly one-third of the adolescent hospitalizations for COVID-19 required intensive care unit (ICU) admission, while 5% required invasive mechanical ventilation. No patients died.
Don't Drop the Ball on Long COVID: So far, the response to this pandemic has been focused on addressing the acute manifestations of COVID-19 -- but that is only the tip of the iceberg. We must not ignore what's beneath the surface: the lingering health and mental health implications of long COVID.
Long after the initial infection should have resolved, a substantial number of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 continue to experience lingering health problems. Some patients even experience the emergence of new problems they did not have during the acute phase of the infection. The constellation of clinical abnormalities that characterize this phase of the disease is now generally referred to as long COVID (or more officially, post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2, or PASC for short). People with long COVID have been dubbed long haulers. In addition to being at risk of long COVID, people who survive the acute phase of the COVID-19 infection are also at increased risk of death. The death and suffering among 30-day COVID-19 survivors will add to the already substantial toll of this pandemic.
Long COVID is a multifaceted disease and can affect nearly every organ system and may result in serious chronic health conditions. We also see a significant increased risk of serious conditions including heart disease (acute coronary disease, heart failure, arrhythmias), kidney disease (acute and chronic kidney disease), metabolic conditions (new onset diabetes), brain disorders (stroke, memory problems), and several other serious consequences. These are chronic conditions that have serious downstream ramifications on quality of life and life expectancy; they will require multidisciplinary care.
Evidence suggests that long COVID can happen in nearly anyone. Even those whose acute infection was mild and did not necessitate hospitalization during the acute phase of the infection are at risk. The risk in these people is small but not trivial. The risk is much higher in people who needed hospitalization, and is greatest among people who required intensive care during the acute phase of the infection.
The best way to avoid long COVID is to avoid COVID-19 through vaccination. We must vaccinate as many people as possible as fast as possible. Every sector of society must be engaged in this effort.
78 percent of unvaccinated Americans unlikely to change their minds: Gallup: More than 3 in 4 Americans who have yet to receive a coronavirus vaccine say it is unlikely they ever will, according to a new poll. Among U.S. adults who do not plan to be vaccinated, 78 percent said in a Gallup poll released Monday they are unlikely to reconsider their plans. Roughly half — 51 percent — indicated they are "not likely at all" to change their mind and get vaccinated.
Overall, just 1 in 5 vaccine-reluctant adults said they are open to reconsidering, with 2 percent saying they are "very likely" and 19 percent saying they are "somewhat likely" to ever get inoculated.
The same poll found 60 percent of U.S. adults say they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, meaning two weeks have passed since their final dose, and 24 percent do not plan to be vaccinated.
Until next time Stay Safe, Stay Well, Wear your Mask wisely and get Vaccinated.
James A Vito, D.M.D.