Copy
View this email in your browser
View this email in your browser
Visit the Tulane Website for Search, Upcoming Virtual Events & More

August 10, 2021

Share the Tulane Outbreak email with your friends and colleagues on social media or email - they can subscribe here

 

Note that some links may require registration or subscription.

Featured Headlines

Florida: 'All the beds are taken up by Covid victims': Hospitals in the South are running out of space or staff - CNN Video

Florida: Florida church reeling after six members die within 10 days amid spike in cases - Washington Post

For George L. Davis, a bishop at Impact Church in Jacksonville, getting vaccinated against the coronavirus was an act of faith. He says that he believes in divine creation, and that the shot is a miracle — a sign of God guiding scientists in their attempts to curb a devastating virus. Yet, for his nondenominational congregation, the provenance of a lifesaving tool was not as obvious.

Georgia hospitals swamped by COVID-19 cases - The Daily Jefferson

Georgia hospitals are warning about being overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients as coronavirus infections rise rapidly across the state

Texas: 11-month-old with COVID sent to hospital 150 miles away due to lack of bed space in Houston - ABC News Houston

In a sign that the delta variant is affecting more children on a daily basis, an 11-month-old girl from the Houston area had to be airlifted to Temple because no pediatric hospitals in Houston would accept her as a transfer patient

Australia: Sydney has new high for coronavirus infections - ABC News

The New South Wales government also reported four more COVID-19 deaths Tuesday. The death toll since the latest outbreak was detected in Sydney in mid-June is now 32. One of the latest deaths is a man in his 80s who was infected overseas, while the rest caught the virus locally.

United States: Hospitals at the brink as Covid cases climb - NBC News

Covid cases are rising to dangerous levels as more cities reinstate indoor mask mandates. Florida broke its record of new infections three times this week. In Louisiana, 3,000 kids tested positive in four days.

Travel Alert: 25 States Are ‘At A Tipping Point’ For Covid-19, Per Brown University Risk-Assessment Map - Forbes

The delta variant of the Covid-19 virus has brought the United States back to transmission levels of six months ago, before vaccines were widely available to most of the population.

How will the pandemic end? The science of past outbreaks offers clues. - National Geographic

The answer depends on many factors, perhaps the most critical being the global nature of the crisis. After months of encouraging trendlines, July’s dramatic spike in global COVID-19 infections has dimmed the proverbial light at the end of the pandemic tunnel.

Sturgis Motorcycle Rally: Sheriff Reports Biggest Crowds In Years As Fauci ‘Very Concerned’ Event Will Cause New Surge - Forbes

The Sturgis motorcycle rally is drawing some of the largest crowds it’s seen in years as it kicks off in Sturgis, South Dakota, this weekend, local law enforcement said Saturday—fueling fears the massive motorcyclist gathering will once again become a superspreader event amid the delta variant’s rapid spread.

What does the Delta variant have in store for the United States? We asked coronavirus experts - Science

The United States is standing at a dire inflection point, with pandemic coronavirus cases surging and only 50% of the population fully vaccinated. Driving the latest wave is the highly contagious Delta variant, which according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) caused between 80% and 87% of all U.S. COVID-19 cases in the last 2 weeks of July—up from 8% to 14% in early June. The variant’s exceptional infectiousness has driven cases from a 7-day average of 13,500 daily cases in early June to 92,000 on 3 August. At the same time, an internal CDC document that leaked last week says the variant may make people sicker, citing published reports from Singapore and Scotland and a preprint from Canada.

Dissecting the Unusual Biology of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant - Science

An ability to build up higher concentrations of viral particles in people’s airways and mutations that might boost its ability to infect human cells could be what gives the Delta variant its evolutionary edge.

What you should know about indoor dining amid the delta variant - Washington Post

You might be thinking about making reservations at a restaurant this weekend, but before you smash the “confirm” button on your favorite app, you could be having second — or eighth — thoughts. News about the delta variant of the coronavirus, “breakthrough infections” among vaccinated people and changing guidelines on masking are adding levels of uncertainty that we once assumed were behind us.

When is a Pandemic Over? - Ted Talk

Consider the following scenario: a highly infectious, sometimes deadly respiratory virus infects humans for the first time. It spreads rapidly worldwide, and the WHO declares a pandemic. The death toll starts to rise and everyone is asking the same question: when will the pandemic end? Alex Rosenthal details the three main strategies governments can use to contain and end a pandemic.

Vaccine Headlines

What we know and don't know about the COVID vaccine timeline for children under 12 - ABC News

As the delta variant spreads, posing a heightened risk to everyone who isn't vaccinated, demand has skyrocketed for a vaccine that will protect young children who are not yet eligible -- a group facing more cases than ever before during the pandemic.

Pfizer Booster Causes Similar Side Effects to Second Dose: Study - Bloomberg

Most people who got a booster shot of the Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE Covid-19 vaccine had similar or fewer side effects than they did after the second dose, according to a preliminary study conducted by Israel’s largest health maintenance organization.

COVID vaccine boosters: the most important questions - Nature

Concerns over waning immunity and SARS-CoV-2 variants have convinced some countries to deploy extra vaccine doses — but it’s not clear to scientists whether most people need them.

J&J Shot Raises Fewer Antibodies Against Delta Variant in Study - Bloomberg

Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose Covid vaccine produced relatively low levels of antibodies against the delta variant in a study, raising questions about how well the shot will hold up against the strain that accounts for the vast majority of U.S. cases.

Fauci hopeful COVID vaccines get full OK by FDA within weeks - AP

The FDA has only granted emergency-use approval of the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, but the agency is expected to soon give full approval to Pfizer.

One Vax Dose and Done? Evidence Mounts in Previously Infected - MedPageToday

People with previous COVID-19 infection had higher antibody levels after one dose of Pfizer vaccine compared with uninfected people after two doses, a small lab study of 59 people showed.

Debate Is Over: COVID Vax Doubled Protection for the Previously Infected - MedPageToday

Unvaccinated adults who were previously infected with COVID-19 were twice as likely to be reinfected as those previously infected but also fully vaccinated, researchers found.

Fauci Says Covid Boosters Should Go ‘Soon’ to the Vulnerable - Bloomberg

Anthony Fauci, the U.S.’s top infectious-disease doctor, said he’s “strongly in favor” of speeding booster shots to people with weakened immune systems, a further sign of how the delta variant continues to shift the strategies for curbing the pandemic.

France, Italy Impose Strict Covid-19 Vaccine Mandate - WSJ

France began requiring the passes, which certify that somebody has been vaccinated against Covid-19, on Monday for people seeking to dine at a restaurant, whether indoors or outdoors. The pass is now also necessary to take domestic flights and long-distance busses and trains. France already made the pass mandatory last month for a host of other activities such as entrance to museums, pools, gyms and large sports events.

Clinical Considerations

‘This Is Really Scary’: Kids Struggle With Long Covid - NYT

Lingering physical, mental and neurological symptoms are affecting children as well as adults, including many who had mild reactions to the initial coronavirus infection.

Alarming 94K surge in COVID-19 cases among kids, hospitals overwhelmed - ABC News

Public health experts and state officials are raising alarms about a surge in COVID hospitalizations among children -- now at their steepest and seeing the most significant increase since the onset of the pandemic.

Official Reporting for August 10, 2021

World Health Organization

Weekly Epi Update August 10, 2021 (latest release)

New Cases: 461,377

Confirmed Cases: 202,608,306

Deaths: 4,293,591

Johns Hopkins

Confirmed Cases: 203,559,532
Deaths: 4,307,242

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Total cases: 35,824,258 (+51,638 New Cases)
Total deaths: 614,856 (+204 New Deaths)

Science and Tech

A giant trial of COVID-19 treatments is restarting. Here are the drugs it’s betting on - Science

After months in the doldrums, one of the world’s largest trials of COVID-19 treatments is finally restarting. Solidarity, a global study led by the World Health Organization (WHO), will test three new drugs in hospitalized COVID-19 patients: the cancer drug imatinib, an antibody named infliximab that is used to treat autoimmune diseases, and artesunate, an antimalarial.

Why Reports Of Menstrual Changes After COVID Vaccine Are Tough To Study - NPR

Sore arms. Headaches. Low-grade fevers. These are some of the expected side effects of a COVID-19 vaccine — a sign that the body's mounting an immune response and learning how to fend off the coronavirus.

Psychological and Sociological Impact

New York City Restaurants Are Back on the Vaccine Culture War’s Front Lines - Bloomberg

Jennifer Vitagliano has been in perpetual pivot mode for over a year now. Since the start of the pandemic, the owner of the Michelin-starred Musket Room in Manhattan’s SoHo has hatched a delivery menu and a brunch menu to lure new customers and borrowed a 1962 van from a friend to sell doughnuts and cocktails in front of her eight-year-old restaurant, which is known for its inventive spin on new American dishes. Of all the flexes she’s made, playing bouncer has been the most exhausting.

Published Research

Remember Beta? New data reveal variant’s deadly toll - Nature

Therapeutic Anticoagulation with Heparin in Noncritically Ill Patients with Covid-19 - NEJM

Surviving Covid-19 with Heparin? - NEJM

Effectiveness of Covid-19 Vaccines against the B.1.617.2 (Delta) Variant - NEJM

Towards a European strategy to address the COVID-19 pandemic - The Lancet

Cognitive deficits in people who have recovered from COVID-19 - The Lancet

Abnormal Indexes of Liver and Kidney Injury Markers Predict Severity in COVID-19 Patients - Dove Press

Misinformation, Disinformation, and Conspiracy Theories

Inside the White House-Facebook Rift Over Vaccine Misinformation - New York Times

Frustrations grew behind the scenes among top leaders on both sides, potentially hurting the government’s efforts to overcome the pandemic.

Coping with COVID

 

 

   We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback. Contact the Editor: cmiller15@tulane.edu
 
   Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here.
 
 
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram