A common respiratory virus is spreading at unusually high levels, overwhelming children’s hospitals

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10.25.22

A common respiratory virus is spreading at unusually high levels, overwhelming children's hospitals
Quick and stealthy "Scrabble variants" are poised to drive a winter Covid-19 surge
Covid-19 vaccines will be on the 2023 vaccine schedule, but that doesn't mean they're required in schools
Hair-straightening chemical products linked to increased uterine cancer risk in new study

A common respiratory virus is spreading at unusually high levels, overwhelming children's hospitals

The US Centers Disease Control and Prevention says most children will catch RSV at some point before they turn 2, with most cases being mild – but hospitals across the country are reporting an "unprecedented" rise in cases of this respiratory disease this season.

Experts think US cases might be spiking now because of the phase of the Covid-19 pandemic that we're in.

When everyone stayed home in 2020 and 2021 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, it seemed to change the typical RSV season. Case counts were low, and that created an "immunity gap."

Kids who normally would have caught the virus in those years are instead catching it now.

RSV can be especially concerning for young infants, as it can lead to dehydration, breathing trouble and more serious illnesses such as bronchiolitis or pneumonia. It can also cause serious illness in adults who are elderly or have chronic heart or lung disease or a weakened immune system.

There's no specific treatment for RSV and no vaccine, but identifying symptoms can help parents decide what steps to take next.

If your child is coughing or lethargic, or if they just don't seem like themselves, it's a good idea to take them to their pediatrician. The doctor's office will have the tests to figure out if they might have RSV, the flu, Covid-19 or strep.

A trip to the ER may be necessary if a baby is dehydrated; if they have difficult, labored, shallow or rapid breathing; if they have a high fever or bluish skin; or if they become unresponsive. The CDC says most improve with supportive care and can often go home after a few days.

The best ways to prevent RSV infections, doctors say, is to teach kids to cough and sneeze into a tissue or into their elbows rather than their hands. Also try to keep frequently touched surfaces clean.

"Hand hygiene is the single most important thing that we can do to keep ourselves and others safe," said Dr. Mallory Davis, an infection preventionist at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She tells people to never touch their faces unless they've recently washed their hands.

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Quick and stealthy "Scrabble variants" are poised to drive a winter Covid-19 surge

A flurry of new Covid-19 variants appears to be gaining traction globally, raising fears of a winter surge.

In the United States, these are BQ.1, BQ.1.1, BF.7, BA.4.6, BA.2.75 and BA.2.75.2. In other countries, the recombinant variant XBB has been rising quickly and appears to be fueling a new wave of cases in Singapore. Cases are also rising in Europe and the UK, where these variants have taken hold.

Dr. Peter Hotez, who co-directs the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children's Hospital, says he thinks of them collectively as the Scrabble variants because they use letters that get high scores in the board game like Q, X and B.

As the US moves into the fall, Covid-19 cases are dropping. Normally, that would be a reason for hope that the nation could escape the surges of the past two pandemic winters. But virus experts fear that the downward trend may soon reverse itself, thanks to this gaggle of new variants.

Lumped together, the variants accounted for more than 1 in 3 new Covid-19 infections nationwide in the week ending October 15, according to the latest CDC estimates.

These variants are different from BA.4 and BA.5, but they're descended from those viruses, the result of genetic drift. So they share many parts of their genomes with that virus.

Their changes aren't on the scale of what happened when the original Omicron arrived on the scene in November 2021. That strain of the virus, which is now long gone, came out of genetic left field, leaving researchers and public health officials scrambling to catch up.

The bivalent booster vaccine, authorized in September, protects against the original strain of the coronavirus as well as the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants.

"It isn't that different from BA.5 that it would completely escape the protection that you would get from vaccine" – but more people need to get the shot, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Covid-19 vaccines will be on the 2023 vaccine schedule, but that doesn't mean they're required in schools

Covid-19 vaccines will be part of recommended immunization schedules in 2023 for both children and adults, after a unanimous vote by the CDC's independent Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

But that doesn't make the vaccines mandatory for anyone, a point that was emphasized in a discussion before the vote. The board members addressed concerns from the public that adding Covid-19 vaccinations to the schedule would force schools to require the shots.

"Indeed, there are vaccines that are on the schedule right now that are not required for school attendance in many jurisdictions, such as seasonal influenza. Local control matters, and we honor that. The decision around school entrance for vaccines rests where it did before, which is with the state level, the county level and at the municipal level, if it exists at all. They are the arbiters of what vaccines are required, if any, for school entry. This discussion does not change that," said Dr. Nirav Shah, a committee member and director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

In fact, Covid-19 vaccines are explicitly banned from being included in school mandates in at least 20 states. Only California and the Washington, DC have announced that Covid-19 shots will be among mandated vaccinations for students, but those mandates were not implemented for this school year.

Although the Covid-19 shot will not become mandatory for all schools, all 50 states do have laws requiring specific vaccines for students – most of which include shots for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTaP), and varicella.

Hair-straightening chemical products linked to increased uterine cancer risk in new study

Scientists are uncovering new details about the potential connection between certain hair straightening products, such as chemical relaxers and pressing products, and an increased risk of cancer in women.

Ongoing research has suggested that hair straightening chemicals are associated with a higher risk of certain hormone-related cancers, including breast and ovarian cancers. Now, a new study links use of hair straightening products with an increased risk of uterine cancer. Black women may be more affected due to higher use of the products, the researchers noted.

The study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, estimates that among women who did not use hair-straightening chemical products in the previous 12 months, 1.6% developed uterine cancer by age 70, but about 4% of the women who frequently use such hair-straightening products developed uterine cancer by age 70.

That finding "also communicates that uterine cancer is indeed rare. However, the doubling of risk does lead to some concern," said Chandra Jackson, an author of the study and researcher at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

The study has left some women who use the products questioning whether to reduce their usage or stop it altogether.

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Chasing Life

I've admitted that I'm always not the best at taking my own advice, but one thing I'm continuing to work on is getting more sleep.

We have known for a long time that sleep is good for us, but two new studies have kept the evidence coming, making a stronger argument in favor of prioritizing this restorative process more than ever. After all, it really does affect almost every aspect of our health.

The first study emphasized the importance of getting the recommended amount of sleep, which according to the CDC is seven or more hours for most adults. The researchers actually found that people 50 and older who slept five hours or less at night had a higher risk of developing multiple chronic diseases as they age compared with those who get a longer night's rest. These diseases included things like diabetes, cancer and even dementia.

And the second study found that sleep may be just as important to our heart health as diet and physical activity – so much so that the American Heart Association added healthy sleep to its "Life's Essential 8" list. Note the word "healthy," as the researchers said that getting high-quality sleep was just as important as how many hours you got.

But looking beyond the data, it's important to understand exactly why sleep is good for you. In one of our Chasing Life episodes, I spoke to sleep scientist Rebecca Robbins. She helped me visualize exactly what is happening in our bodies when we sleep.

If we look at how sleep can affect our appetite and weight, for example, it all comes down to a molecule that lines your stomach called leptin. "It sends a signal to the brain that we've had enough to eat. And when we're sleep-deprived, we just see that leptin is about 20% thrown off balance. And so what that does, that sends a slower signal to the brain that 'I've had enough to eat.' So if you wake up and you're sleep-deprived, that signal to the brain, that 'I'm good, I've had enough,' is simply slower.  And so, in laboratory settings, when we see individuals sleeping five or fewer hours, they eat on average about 200 extra calories because of this kind of molecular imbalance," Robbins said.

Robbins says sleep also cleans out our brains at night, which is why it can be so crucial to cognitive function. When we're snoozing, glial cells in the brain expand, allowing more neurotoxins to flow through the brain – which means sleep helps us essentially flush out brain toxins at a faster pace.

I hope we can all get better at prioritizing sleep just as much as we prioritize other aspects of our health. 😴

If you could gain superhuman hearing or even a new sense entirely, would you? Neuroscientist David Eagleman says that with the help of technology, this could soon become a reality.