• COVID rising in some wastewaters in California
The new sub-variant, “Nimbus,” is becoming increasingly dominant nationwide
• Concerns about making vaccine access more difficult for Trump appointees to rise
Covid-19 appears to be on the rise in some parts of California as a new, highly contagious sub-variant characterized by the symptoms of the “razor blade throat” overseas.
A new sub-variant NB.1.8.1, called the “Nimbus,” is described in a Chinese news report as having more obvious signs of “razor blade throat.”
“Razor blade throat” may seem like a new term, but the description of the highly painful sore throat associated with Covid-19 has previously appeared a throat associated with covid-19, as if it had a throat that felt like it was covered in shards of glass. However, the growing attention to this condition is due to the sub-variants of Nimbus causing a surge in Covid-19 in other countries.
“Before Omicron, I think most people showed a loss of normal taste and smell and shortness of breath,” but as Covid is less likely to require hospitalization, “people are focusing on these other aspects of their symptoms.”
Nimbus, part of the Omicron family, is currently one of the most dominant coronavirus sub-variants nationwide. For the two-week period ended June 7th, Nimbus accounted for an estimated 37% of the country’s coronavirus samples, but is now still in its current sub-variant LP.8.1, which causes 38% of the circulating virus. LP.8.1 has been dominant over the past few months, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nimbus sub-variants have also been on the rise in California since May, the state Department of Health said in an email to the Los Angeles Times. The Nimbus sub-variability, which consists of 55% of California’s circulating virus, rose from just 2% observations in April, the agency said Friday.
“We see some indicators of an increase in Covid-19 activity, including rising NB.1.8.1 variants, rising coronavirus levels in wastewaters, and rising test positivity rates,” Dr. Elizabeth Hudson, Regional Director of Kaiser Permanente Southern California, wrote in an email during the era.
“Wildwater monitoring in Southern California shows variation: the Santa Barbara basin reports moderate to high levels, while the Ventura and Los Angeles counties are seeing low to medium levels.
Although virus levels remain relatively low, Los Angeles County is observing an increase in coronavirus levels in sewage, the local Department of Public Health told the Times. The week ended May 30th (latest available) saw a 13% increase in virus levels in wastewater compared to comparable periods a few weeks ago.
Additionally, there is a slight increase in the percentage of positive COVID surveillance tests in LA County. In the most recent week, 5% of COVID surveillance tests showed positive outcomes of infection from 3.8% in early May. Joint visits to emergency rooms in Los Angeles County remain low.
San Francisco still had a low rate of COVID-19 disease, the local public health department said.
However, coronavirus levels in wastewater in Santa Clara County, the most populous county in northern California, are beginning to rise “just like they did during past summers.” As of Friday, coronavirus levels in San Jose sewers were considered “high.” Virus levels were “medium” in Palo Alto and “low” in Sunnyvale. Nimbus is the most common sub-variant in the county.
In California, coronavirus levels in wastewater are at “medium” levels. According to the state’s public health department’s website, the last time the virus level was consistently “low” was in April.
The California Department of Public Health said in an email to the Times Friday that “a future seasonal disease levels are likely to increase,” the California Department of Public Health said.
The rise in Covid is feared that many health professional organisations and some state and local health officials have opposed the Trump administration’s recent move on vaccine policies, and some experts fear that it will make it more difficult for people to vaccinate Covid-19 and other diseases.
Federal officials in May have weakened as the official CDC recommendations recommended Covid vaccines to everyone over six months. The CDC currently offers “no guidance” on whether healthy pregnant women should take the Covid vaccine, and parents of healthy children are asking them to speak to their health care providers before asking their children to be vaccinated.
The U.S. University of Obstetricians has issued bu responsibility for changing vaccine recommendations for pregnant women and has filed accusations against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. American pharmacist Assn. Dropting vaccine recommendations for pregnant women “doesn’t appear to be based on the scientific evidence provided over the last few years.”
An open letter from 30 health-focused organizations. – “We must continue to prioritize Covid-19 vaccine coverage for pregnant patients to protect pregnant patients and infants after birth.”
Qinghong said pregnant women are encouraged to receive the vaccine “1 million percent.”
“The data make it very clear that there are high rates of complications, hospitalizations and preterm births when pregnant women are not vaccinated. [against COVID] said Yvonne Maldonado, an infectious disease expert at Stanford University. The vaccine also helps newborns so that antibodies produced beyond the placenta can be produced, which can protect the newborn for a certain number of months.
Maldonado said that newborns cannot be vaccinated under the age of less than six months, which is essential protection. If newborns are infected, they have a relatively high hospitalization rate – as high as those over 65, Maldonado said.
Then last week, Kennedy suddenly fired all members of the highly influential committee that advises the CDC on vaccine policy. In OP-Ed to the Wall Street Journal, Kennedy criticized former members of the 1964 Vaccination Practices Advisory Committee, which was founded in 1964, as “it is plagued by a sustained conflict of interest and is merely a rubber stamp for a vaccine.”
Maldonado, a professor of pediatric infectious diseases and epidemiology, was one of the fired vaccine advisors. She called their massive firing unprecedented in ACIP history.
“We are absolutely in unknown territory here,” Maldonado said. “I think it’s really hard to understand which vaccines will move forward. … They’re also going to review the entire vaccination schedule.”
In general, regular reviews of vaccine schedules are good, with previous reviews concluded that the current recommended shots are safe and effective, Maldonado said. However, the criteria being distributed by recently appointed federal officials are, “we may actually refuse to recommend something like measles vaccines, HPV vaccines, etc. because we’ve seen some of the misinformation about some of these vaccines.
“And if any of them were accepted as true, we could lose some of these vaccines,” Maldonado said.
“The question is, ‘Will those vaccines go away?’ …it’s hard to know,” she said. But it is also possible that federal officials will begin to stop paying for certain vaccines administered to children in low-income households.
She rejected the committee’s characterizations by Kennedy as a rubber stamp for vaccine makers. “In general, the decision not to pursue a vaccine is usually made before something reaches the vote,” Maldonado said.
A joint statement by California governor, Oregon and Washington accused Kennedy’s vaccine advisor of “deeply plaguing the health of our people” and defended the fired vaccine advisors as being “carefully screened for conflicts of major concern.”
“We have serious concerns about the integrity and transparency of future federal vaccine recommendations and will continue to work together to ensure that science and healthy medicine are prioritized to prevent the loss of life,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday.
Traditionally, the advisory committee’s recommendations on who should be vaccinated have been adopted by the CDC directors.
“It was one of America’s most depressing weeks of health…it was a dark time for everyone right now and it was a disrupted morale,” said Ching Hong of UC San Francisco. “It’s very unstable.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics was called the Vaccine Advisor Purge. Kennedy’s handpicked alternatives include people known for criticism of the vaccine, the Associated Press reported.
The mass shooting “probably puts vaccine access and insurance coverage at serious risk,” the LA County Department of Public Health said in a statement. “It corrodes confidence in vaccine recommendation schedules, not just by the public, but also by healthcare providers who rely on ACIP for science-based, non-political guidance.”
The public health departments in California, Oregon and Washington states state that “continue to recommend access to all individuals over six months and choose to receive the currently certified COVID-19 vaccine.
The LA County Public Health Department said in a statement: “At this point, in Los Angeles County, current vaccine recommendations for those over six months to receive the Covid-19 vaccine are still in effect, and Covid-19 vaccine coverage is still in place.”
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