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Covid Omicron

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CDC Spheres (Sequencing for Public Health Emergency Response, Epidemiology and Surveillance) call; there was discussion of models for covid variant mutations and how the relative advantage those mutations provide impact case rate; the model they showed predicts that, completely separate from other factors like lack of booster uptake, winter behavior changes, etc. (and separate from other leading indicators like wastewater trends and case rates in Europe) by the end of November the variants that will be dominant will have enough of a competitive advantage vs BA.4/5 to equate to case rate doubling every week plus whatever impact waning vaxxes plus lack of boosters and/or winter behavior changes has.

Screenshot from that call; the blue is total growth, while the peach is what's just due to the dominant variants themselves, so it seemed likely from what they were saying that rate of increase factoring in all contributors to growth would actually be well above weekly doubling by end of November

Screenshot-20221012-124630.png
 
Could have gotten my forth shot two weeks ago but dragged my ass and rescheduled for this coming weekend.
Folks in my circle seem to be taking a lackadaisical attitude towards the covid being a hazard any longer.
 
What might that all mean in real numbers?

I do not necessarily know. I do know, we are starting to ramp up lab techs for the winter season. This call has encouraged us to escalate that ramp and to look at hiring more than anticipated.

Staffing labs is a very delicate balance.
 
GF got her 2nd booster yesterday, moderna, she felt fluish last night but better today. I'm yet to get my 2nd booster.
 
Hospitals in the Northeast are now considering bring in the National Guard because pediatrics RSV cases are so high.

They would perform backup to hospital staff as hospital staff get infected.
 
Hospitals in the Northeast are now considering bring in the National Guard because pediatrics RSV cases are so high.

They would perform backup to hospital staff as hospital staff get infected.
My son had RSV when he was 4-1/2 months old, his lips were blue by the time we got him to the hospital. His lungs were at risk for his first 8 years as a result, every cold went to his lungs and we often had to use the nebulizer with albuterol pretty often.
 
I've commented in here prior. RSV is a nasty bug. It doesn't have a very high mortality rate in healthy children (<2%) but in immunocompromised children it's damn high (>60%).

It also mimics flu symptoms in adults but is rarely tested for (you can thank Covid for advancements in multiplex testing, you can now get a singular nose swab that will test for Flu A/B, RSV, and Covid... simultaneously)

tl;dr, if you experience flu like symptoms and you test negative for flu and covid, it's probably RSV. Avoid babies and adults that have babies.
 
I think what the RSV surge is a result of 2-1/2 years of reduced exposure so all of those kids who haven't gotten exposed are now coming down with it.
 
Comirnaty will become a sellable product next year.

It will be inline with Flu Shot costs if ~$125.

This really bothers me for some reason
 
Co-worker mentioned his kid has had RSV twice now. I work closely with this person including sitting in poorly ventilated meeting rooms. Starting to think the last bad "cold" I got mighta been RSV.
 
High blood pressure is a significant driver in severe Covid cases w/ Omicron. 2.5X higher hospitalization risk.

Research Highlights:

In a study of more than 900 adults in Los Angeles who had been fully vaccinated and received one booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccines, individuals who had high blood pressure were more than 2.5 times likely than those who did not have high blood pressure to require hospitalization for a severe COVID-19 illness during a surge of the Omicron variant, December 2021 through April 2022.
High blood pressure presented a greater risk for developing severe COVID-19 than other chronic health conditions, including kidney disease, type 2 diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or heart failure.

https://newsroom.heart.org/news/hig...k-of-severe-covid-even-after-full-vaccination
 
~50% of the population has high blood pressure. Not sure that study has much significance but I’ll read through it.
 
On a side note, when about half the population has “high” blood pressure, it makes me wonder why we consider it high. It’s fairly normal.
 
Medical is outcome based so high has a direct correlation and significance to having a negative heart outcome in your lifetime.

It’s vague but accurate
 
We agree that overall health has a contributory effect to viral outcomes?
 
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