#19,315
Four weeks ago, in Mainland China, Taiwan & Hong Kong All Reporting Summer Surge of COVID, we looked at rising rates of COVID around the globe and the CDC's National Outlook which warned of a possible return visit later in the summer.
The CDC's latest wastewater analysis now shows increasing COVID viral activity across much of the southern tier of states and the the west coast, and the overall epidemic trend is growing across the entire country (see below).
None of this is to suggest we are seeing a major wave, but we are seeing an uptick. As the following CDC chart illustrates, while influenza and RSV have flatlined over the summer, COVID (in orange) is on the ascendent.
Testing, and reporting, of COVID cases remain low, and so the CDC's Nowcast is unable provide us with much in the way of details on this summer's variants.
This past week the FDA approved a new JN.1 lineage XFG subvariant COVID vaccine (see CIDRAP FDA approves new COVID vaccines) which should be available later this fall.
Getting people to actually take the vaccine remains a challenge, particularly given the amount of anti-vaccine rhetoric on the internet. As the following CDC chart illustrates, uptake continues to decline.
But having spent the past 2 decades chronicling the impact of viral infection (and reinfections) on individual health, I will be gladly rolling up my sleeve for both COVID and flu jabs again this fall.
A few examples include:
Eurosurveillance: Influenza Vaccination Attenuates Acute Myocardial Infarction and Stroke Risk Following Influenza Infection
JAHA: Viral Infections and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease: Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis
Nature: Respiratory Viral Infections Awaken Metastatic Breast Cancer Cells in Lungs
Nature: Viral Infections and the Risk of Neurodegenerative Diseases (Meta-Analysis & Systemic Review)
CSIRO Pub: Impacts of Long COVID on Disability, Function and Quality of Life for Adults Living in Australia
