Updates on New Infectious Disease Threats: What You Need to Know
Information about COVID-19 as well as other infectious diseases is constantly evolving. I am hoping to summarize some of that in these newsletters. New information will be in BOLD.
COVID-19
General Information
Nationally and in Northern California, COVID-19 levels remain low. Unfortunately, some parts of the nation are seeing an increase of cases again.
LONG COVID:
The latest analysis found that 8.4% of American adults had Long COVID at some point in their lives (!!). And 3.6% of U.S. adults currently suffer form Long COVID. Finally, 2.3% of Americans currently have Long COVID bad enough so that their daily activities are affected.
A new study from Scientific Reports found that older individuals, who tended to have more severe cases of COVID to begin with, had more severe symptoms of Long COVID also. However, younger folks with Long COVID had more symptoms that reduced their productivity and quality of life.
Treatment
Do you remember when, right at the beginning of the pandemic, some French researchers found that a combination of azithromycin and hydroxychloroquine was a good treatment of COVID-19? That study was subsequently debunked. Now, the study was formally retracted by the authors and the journal in which it was published due to "ethical issues" and data manipulation.
Testing
I recommend you always have some at-home COVID tests in your household. And check yourself if you are feeling ill, especially now, when COVID rates are sky-rocketing. I do ask that anyone with cold-like symptoms check themselves for COVID prior to coming to my office.
Other Infectious Diseases:
RSV:
I have written in the past about RSV ("Respiratory Syncytial Virus") that causes flu-like symptoms and pneumonia in the very young as well as the elderly. There is a vaccine out for this and this is recommended for people over 75, or those with underlying lung disease.
For people older than 65, hospitalizations due to RSV are much lower this year compared to any time since the pandemic. It is still too early to determine if this dip in infections is related to the new RSV vaccine.
The above notwithstanding, the RSV rates among kids (but not among older adults) is risking and currently 25% of kids under 6 in the emergency room are positive for RSV.
MEASLES:
In the last year, measles cases have risen 20% worldwide. This is attributed to decreasing vaccination rates, especially in countries ravaged by war. In 2023, about 107,500 people died of measles; children under 5 years of age were most affected. In the U.S. , there were 277 cases of measles in 2024, which is four times the number of cases of 2023 (MMWR).
AVIAN FLU:
AKA "Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza" or HPAI (or " H5N1").
Bird flu has become the most recent concerning virus that could lead to an epidemic. The disease can lead to a pneumonia, neurological problems, and conjunctivitis. It has largely been found in animals such as cows, wild birds, and marine mammals, but has spread to many mammals at this point.
H5N1 virus is still widespread in wild birds; these birds may not have any symptoms when infected and then spread the virus widely. Unfortunately, the mortality is extremely high when domestic poultry get infected with the virus.
As of December 17, 52 commercial poultry flocks, 34 backyard flocks, and a total of 14.4 million birds have been sickened by bird flu in the last month.
H5N1 was found in two lots or raw milk from Fresno County. The affected farms have halted production and the milk has been recalled. Luckily, the virus is killed with pasteurization so that pasteurized milk is safe to drink. The Department of Agriculture has announced that the U.S. milk supply will now be tested for bird flu; as of December 16, all handlers of raw, unpasteurized milk will need to collect samples for government testing.
Also, the FDA is now starting to independently test raw cow's milk from samples across the U.S. for bird flu.
Two indoor pet cats in L.A. have died of the bird flu after drinking unpasteurized milk.
At this time, 30 cases of the bird flu have been found in dairy workers, all of which have been mild. Also, 860 dairy herds have now been infected in 16 states.
A Louisiana resident has contracted bird flu and, for the first time, this resident has become severely ill. The individual had had contact with sick and dead birds on his property. This new "version" of the bird flu that leads to severe illness in humans has been linked to new virus mutations, mutations that have caused concern but are not considered a "cause for alarm."
California has declared a "state of emergency" on December 18 to be better able to deal with the bird flu cases in dairy cows. This allows for more resources and flexibility in government agencies in dealing with the outbreak.
I think it goes without saying, but be very careful around sick or dead animals, especially birds!
We are still not seeing any virus transmission from one human to another.
FLU:
Flu cases are still relatively low in our neck of the woods, but rising. Sutter has reported a steep increase in flu cases now, typical for influenza seasons in the past.
The CDC has noted that the flu season is now underway in much of the country. Many states have seen the number of emergency room visits due to influenza double over the last few weeks.
Also, the European Union has found significant increases of their influenza cases.
OTHER MEDICAL NEWS:
A study in BMJ found that eating dark chocolate was associated with a decreased risk of type 2 diabetes. Past studies have found an association of dark chocolate and the prevention of heart disease and high blood pressure. Very happy about this!
An article published in JAMA Network Open included a global analysis of depression and the amount that people walk. In short, the likelihood of depression goes down the more your step count goes up! In other words: the more you walk, the less likely you are to suffer from depression....easy and cheap!
I get a lot of questions about multivitamins and which ones we should be taking. By and large, there is little evidence that any multivitamin is very helpful for the general population (though eating plenty of fruits and vegetables is consistently found to be healthy!). A recent study (JAMA Network Open) looked at the benefit of a multivitamin in otherwise healthy adults: no effect on mortality was found.
Some good news: a provision of the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act went into effect on January 1, 2025: the annual out-of-pocket costs of prescription medications is now limited to $2000 for Medicare recipients. This amount of $2000 will be adjusted for inflation in coming years.
The concerns surrounding alcohol continue. In the past, studies had suggested that alcohol consumption, in moderation, was healthy as it seemed to reduce the incidence of heart disease. Newer studies, however, have linked alcohol consumption- even in moderate degrees- to various types of cancer, leading to an additional 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 excess deaths in the U.S. every year. Also, new studies link alcohol consumption to the incidence of atrial fibrillation, a common heart arrhythmia. The surgeon general of the United States has just noted that alcohol (along with smoking and obesity) is a leading cause of cancer and has recommended that alcohol bottles carry a warning label, much like cigarette packages do. Needless to say, many people, companies, and lobby groups are not happy about this.
About Dr. Sujansky's Life in These Times
Happy New Year to all of you! I hope you had a peaceful holiday season and are now ready to tackle 2025 with style!
My family actually flew to France for skiing for a week in late December. As you may recall, one of my sons lives in Norway and this was our excuse to get to see him over the holidays. We had a wonderful time, though I have to admit to not skiing daily, but also spending much time reading, knitting, and sleeping. Heaven!
And the food! I don't know the last time I had so much cheese and creamy sauces...