Kansas health experts monitoring COVID-19, flu and RSV trifecta as holiday season arrives - Kansas Reflector

TOPEKA — Physicians and nationalist wellness researchers expect a surge successful COVID-19 corruption during the vacation months would complicate the aesculapian effect to rising prevalence of flu and a tricky influenza virus.

The trifecta of COVID-19, flu and respiratory syncytial virus, oregon RSV, could pb to escalation of wellness problems and hospitalizations this wintertime arsenic precautionary measures specified arsenic vaccination, masking and isolation waned during 2022. In the wintertime of 2021-2022, Kansas experienced a surge successful Delta and Omicron variants of COVID-19.

“We’re conscionable benignant of keeping our fingers crossed,” said Dana Hawkinson, manager of corruption power astatine the University of Kansas Health System.

Hawkinson said determination was a two- to four-week lag betwixt corruption and hospitalization for COVID-19, and urged Kansans to beryllium vaccinated and boosted to shield themselves from the astir unsafe aspects of the virus.

Since COVID-19 dispersed into Kansas successful March 2020, the authorities has documented astir 900,000 cases. The existent fig is thought to beryllium higher due to the fact that investigating for the microorganism has dropped off. Eighteen counties successful Kansas reported much than 10,000 cases of COVID-19, with Johnson County’s 171,000 cases and Sedgwick County’s 164,000 cases contributing much than one-third of the state’s total.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s latest report showed 9,657 fatalities successful Kansas had been associated with COVID-19 during the pandemic. The Kansas fig incorporated 2,613 deaths successful 2022.

Dana Hawkinson, a doc with University of Kansas Health System, said the flu play combined with COVID-19 and a challenging influenza microorganism could marque it harder for hospitals to woody with a surge successful patients. (Kansas Reflector surface seizure from KU Health System’s Facebook channel)

Risks of reinfection

Nathan Bahr, subordinate prof of infectious diseases astatine the University of Kansas Medical Center, said determination was crushed to beryllium acrophobic astir probe findings indicating that radical contracting COVID-19 aggregate times were much susceptible to erosion of organ function. He compared it to idiosyncratic who repeatedly injured a limb and yet suffered a fracture.

“The much times that happens, the much hazard you are for losing function,” helium said.

Washington University successful St. Louis said investigation of aesculapian records of 5.4 cardinal Veterans Administration patients suggested individuals who contracted COVID-19 much than erstwhile were doubly arsenic apt to person a bosom onslaught compared to those who caught the microorganism once. In addition, the researchers said kidney, lung and gastrointestinal wellness risks were greater among those infected aggregate times.

Amber Schmidtke, seat of earthy sciences and mathematics astatine University of Saint Mary successful Leavenworth, said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention placed Kansas successful the second-highest class of 5 categories successful presumption of the incidence of influenza not requiring hospitalization. The influenza-like symptoms factoring into the CDC investigation were fever, cough and sore throat.

The CDC produced a color-coded map that placed Kansas successful the “high” level and Missouri successful the “moderate” scope connected influenza. Flu-like symptoms were the highest successful the states of South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and Virginia.

“This twelvemonth the strength is truthful high, particularly successful the South, that the CDC had to adhd a caller colour to the precise precocious category,” Schmidtke said connected the KU Health System’s broadcast.

She recommended radical get some a flu changeable and COVID-19 booster. However, determination is nary vaccine for RSV disposable successful the United States.

Amber Schmidtke, of the University of Saint Mary successful Leavenworth, said CDC reports Kansas has a precocious incidence of influenza-like symptoms among nonhospitalized people, portion Missouri is successful the mean range. (Kansas Reflector surface seizure from KU Health System’s Facebook channel)

Sewer h2o sleuthing

Marc Johnson, a prof of microbiology astatine the University of Missouri and a researcher with Missouri’s wastewater programme to way the shifting quality of COVID-19, said the quality to observe emerging strains of the microorganism had been refined successful the past 2 years. The vacation play is an opportune infinitesimal for the microorganism to dispersed and germinate with radical successful confined spaces, helium said.

“Last twelvemonth and the twelvemonth earlier it was close astir present wherever we started to spot lineages. We started to spot the numbers spell up,” Johnson said.

He said the Delta surge and emergence of Omicron produced a “rough winter.”

“Fortunately,” Johnson said, “we’re getting a batch of caller variants and nary of them are doing what Delta did oregon what Omicron did. With Delta, this was truly amazing, due to the fact that we could spot it moving done the state.”

In effect to a question astir whether dense rainfall led to misleading conclusions astir attraction of COVID-19 successful wastewater samples, Johnson said the solution was to besides trial for beingness of caffeine. The numbers tin beryllium compared to regular beingness of the constituent of coffee, helium said.

His probe spouse successful the COVID-19 testing, Chung-Ho Lin of the University of Missouri’s agriculture college, said sewage was an important assets for assessing the wellness of a community.

“Wastewater ne'er lies,” Lin said. “Give america 15 milliliters of water, and we tin archer you a batch of stories.”