As indicated in my previous update, we have definitely seen the peak of this summer’s wave of new Covid cases, with the weekly death toll topping out at about 1300 during the last week in August. If the past several years are still a fairly reliable guide as to what we can expect over the coming months, we should continue to see declining cases and deaths through the rest of October and at least the first half of November — at which point we will probably see the beginning of the next late fall/early winter surge that is typically associated with holiday traveling and family get-togethers. So if you haven’t gotten your next booster yet, now is the time to do so since it typically takes 4-6 weeks to reach maximum protective levels in terms of anti-bodies production from your immune system.
All data from CDC Data Tracker
New from the CDC this week is a combined Respiratory Illnesses Data Channel that combines trends for the Flu and RSV with Covid into an overall risk assessment that can be accessed on a state-by-state and even county-by-county basis. For example, the assessment this week is that the overall respiratory illness activity in the US is currently considered ‘Low,’ with ER visits due to Covid characterized as ‘Low and still decreasing’ while the Flu and RSV are both considered as ‘Minimal but starting to increase.’ Check it out to see how your area currently rates, with weekly updates promised for each Friday.
Also this week is an interesting new study from last year of 500,000 medical records that seems to show a definite link between prior exposure to various viruses and a greater likelihood of eventually developing neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The key takeaway for me was:
"Strikingly, vaccines are currently available for some of these viruses, including influenza, shingles (varicella-zoster), and pneumonia," the researchers wrote in their paper published last year.
"Although vaccines do not prevent all cases of illness, they are known to dramatically reduce hospitalization rates. This evidence suggests that vaccination may mitigate some risk of developing neurodegenerative disease."
And while this paper didn’t look at a specific Covid link to these neurodegenerative diseases since Covid hasn’t been around long enough yet, it is another reason to keep up to date on all your vaccinations.
