- Covid-19 reinfections may increase likelihood of new health problems
- CDC investigating Listeria outbreak linked to Florida ice cream brand
- California man with monkeypox urges others to get vaccinated
- FDA recommends changing composition of Covid-19 vaccines for this fall
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Covid-19 reinfections may increase likelihood of new health problems |
Repeatedly catching Covid-19 appears to increase the chances that a person will face new and sometimes lasting health problems after their infection, according to the first study on the health risks of reinfection. The study, which is based on the health records of more than 5.6 million people treated in the VA Health System, found that, compared with those with just one Covid-19 infection, those with two or more documented infections had more than twice the risk of dying and three times the risk of being hospitalized within six months of their last infection. They also had higher risks for lung and heart problems, fatigue, digestive and kidney disorders, diabetes and neurologic problems. The findings come as a fresh wave of coronavirus variants, notably Omicron's BA.5, have become dominant in the United States and Europe, causing cases and hospitalizations to rise once again. BA.5 caused about 54% of cases nationwide last week, doubling its share of Covid-19 transmission over the past two weeks, according to data posted Tuesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, a clinical epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis, led the research, which was posted as a preprint ahead of peer review. He said he decided to do it after watching reinfections become more and more common among his own patients. The study found that the risk of a new health problem was highest around the time of a Covid-19 reinfection, but it also persisted for at least six months. The increased risk was present whether or not someone had been vaccinated, and it was graded -- meaning it increased with each subsequent infection. "If you asked me about reinfection maybe a year and a half ago, I would tell you that maybe I have a patient here or there, but it's really, really rare," Al-Aly said. That's not true anymore, though. "So we asked a simple question that if you got Covid before and now you're on your second infection, does this really add risk? And the simple answer is that it does." |
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CDC investigating Listeria outbreak linked to Florida ice cream brand |
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating an outbreak of Listeria infections linked to Big Olaf Creamery brand ice cream, the agency said last week. The ice cream is sold only in Florida. The manufacturer is voluntarily contacting retailers to recommend against selling its ice cream products until further notice. The CDC says consumers who have the ice cream at home should throw it away and clean areas, containers and utensils that may have touched the product. Interviews with 17 infected people found 14 had reported eating ice cream and six remembered eating Big Olaf Creamery brand ice cream or eating ice cream at locations that might have been supplied by Big Olaf Creamery. So far, 23 people have been infected across 10 states, and "nearly all" lived in or traveled to Florida in the month preceding infection, the agency said in an earlier press release. Twelve of the people infected live in Florida. One death has been reported in Illinois from the infection strain, and 22 people were hospitalized. Five people were infected during pregnancy, and one fetal loss has been reported. Pregnant people are at higher risk for severe infection with Listeria. |
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California man with monkeypox urges others to get vaccinated |
Matt Ford edits videos for a living, so it wasn't a stretch for him to put one together for TikTok. But his latest post wasn't a crazy dance or a video about how to peel a banana the right way. It's based on his own experience with monkeypox. His video has been watched around 300,000 times as of Tuesday afternoon. He posted it to help educate people about the virus outbreak, to encourage people to get vaccinated and to make it very clear: "You do not want this." Anyone can get monkeypox, but a "notable fraction" of cases in the global outbreak are among gay and bisexual men, according to the the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "I first became fully aware of it and noticed symptoms Friday, June 17," Ford told CNN from county-ordered isolation in his home in Los Angeles, where he will have to stay until he is no longer contagious. He had hoped to go to Pride in New York. "But that was not in the cards," he said. In the video, Ford talks about how the virus spreads, and shows some of his lesions. Monkeypox spreads when someone has direct contact with a person's infectious rash, scabs or body fluids. It can also spread through respiratory secretions during prolonged face to face contact or by touching items that previously came into contact with the bodily fluids of someone who has been affected, according to the CDC. In the video, Ford is plain spoken as he looks directly into camera and warns others. "Hi, my name is Matt. I have monkeypox, this sh*t sucks and you don't want it," Ford tells his viewers. Giving a tour of some of his 25 lesions, he points to his face, his arms, and the spots on his abs. "These are really not cute," he says for emphasis. While the disease is more commonly found in Central and West Africa, this current outbreak has hit countries that have seen few, if any, cases in the past. Since Ford first told friends he's sick with monkeypox, others have let him know that they too have gotten sick. Concerned that not enough people knew about it, Ford got the idea to do the TikTok video. "It's become clear to me since I got it that it's spreading quickly," Ford said. "That's a big reason I'm trying to speak out and raise awareness about it."
The Biden administration recently announced plans to offer more monkeypox vaccines and tests to people who are most at risk of catching the virus, including men who have sex with men and their partners. |
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FDA recommends changing composition of Covid-19 vaccines for this fall |
Your Covid-19 booster in the fall will likely look a little different. The US Food and Drug Administration decided Thursday to advise manufacturers that when they update Covid-19 vaccine boosters, they should add an Omicron BA.4/5 component to the current vaccine mix. This would create what's known as a bivalent, or two component, booster. "We have advised manufacturers seeking to update their COVID-19 vaccines that they should develop modified vaccines that add an omicron BA.4/5 spike protein component to the current vaccine composition to create a two component (bivalent) booster vaccine, so that the modified vaccines can potentially be used starting in early to mid-fall 2022," Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said Thursday in a statement. Member of the FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted last week to support recommending inclusion of an Omicron-specific component for a Covid-19 booster. The committee felt that a modified vaccine would offer broader protection to match the coronavirus strains that are in circulation now. The committee was not asked to vote on what sublineage to include or whether the booster should be a monovalent vaccine or a bivalent vaccine. Two Omicron subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5, are now dominating transmission of Covid-19 in the United States, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The levels of neutralizing antibodies that a previous infection or vaccinations elicit are several times lower against these subvariants compared with the original coronavirus, studies suggest. This means while the current vaccines still provide substantial protection against severe disease, these subvariants could likely lead to surges of new infections. The FDA said Thursday that it considers this coming year to be a "transitional period." It has not advised manufacturers to change the primary vaccination for those who still haven't gotten a Covid-19 shot. The FDA said the primary series of shots created to fight the virus that first emerged in 2019 still provides a base of protection against serious Covid-19 symptoms -- even with the version of the virus that is currently in circulation. The new formulation would instead go into a booster shot that may be introduced in the fall. |
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Can you believe that we are already halfway through 2022? A lot has happened in the past six months, and it got me thinking about something I wrote about right before the new year started -- resolutions. They were resolutions on pandemic-proofing the new year to stay healthy, which we should continue to do. But what I want to focus on is the last resolution I wrote about in December 2021: pandemic-proofing our minds. While the resolutions were meant to keep us healthy and safe as we continue to deal with the pandemic, it's important for us to acknowledge any stress we might be experiencing, and try not to add to what might already be a difficult time. Some ways to "pandemic-proof" our minds might be to set aside 15 minutes a day to practice mental hygiene. As you start the morning, slow down intentionally and focus on your inner well-being. Another important step is maintaining our bonds to one another. As humans, we are social by nature and we thrive when we're connected. So take the time to reach out to family, friends and those around you to cultivate and nurture relationships. It doesn't take a lot. Even sharing a smile on the street with a random stranger can have lasting effects that ripple outward. Let's continue to try to connect and understand one another, even if we don't always agree. As I wrote in December 2021, we evolved to cooperate with one another. Otherwise, we couldn't possibly survive as a species. Caring for one another is encoded in our DNA. With six months remaining in 2022, my resolution remains the same: fighting for our future. I hope you will be there right alongside me. |
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| What's the secret to a long, happy life? At almost 100 years of age, TV legend Norman Lear may have the answers. |
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