US COVID activity remains elevated, though some markers decline

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COVID-19

COVID-19 activity stayed elevated across the United States last week, with wastewater SARS-CoV-2 detections highest in the West, where levels are trending upward again, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its latest weekly data updates.

positive covid test
Quinn Dombrowski/Flickr cc

Other indicators, however, showed small declines, including test positivity, which was at 14.9% last week, down 1.6% from the previous week. Levels are highest in the central states, which include Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. Emergency department visits declined last week but are still at the moderate level in a few southeastern states.

Hospitalizations highest in seniors, youngest kids

Hospitalization levels for COVID are still elevated but have been declining since early August. The CDC said the highest levels are in seniors and in children younger than 2 years old.

Deaths declined 8% compared to the previous week, and fatalities from COVID currently make up 2.3% of all deaths. The CDC received reports of 534 COVID deaths last week, based on provisional data. During the preceding week, 954 deaths were reported.

WastewaterSCAN, a national wastewater monitoring system based at Stanford University in partnership with Emory University, said yesterday that SARS-CoV-2 detections are still at the high level nationally, with no clear trend over the past 3 weeks. It noted that the South and the Midwest are in the medium category.

Also today, the CDC released its latest variant projections, which show another steady rise in KP.3.1.1 proportions. The Omicron subvariant now makes up 52.7% of sequenced samples, up from 40% 2 weeks earlier. 

Tennessee reports first measles case in 5 years

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Measles
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Tennessee has reported its first measles case since 2019, which involves someone who traveled internationally and spent time in Kentucky while infectious. The infected person has recovered. 

The Tennessee Department of Health said it has not identified additional positive measles cases in Tennessee.

According to an update today from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United States has recorded 251 cases of measles this year and 13 outbreaks of the virus. Seventy percent of cases (175 of 251) are outbreak-associated.

More than 40% of US patients hospitalized

Cases have been recorded in 31 jurisdictions, and 40% of cases are in children 5 and under. Eighty-eight percent of cases have been unvaccinated or have unknown vaccination status; 8% report having only one dose of the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine; and 4% were fully vaccinated. 

The CDC said 42% of cases have required hospitalization (106 of 251) for isolation or for management of measles complications.

New polio case in Pakistan as Gaza vaccine campaign completes first week

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Polio

Pakistan has a new polio case this week, according to the weekly report from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), while healthcare workers in Gaza have completed the first week of a massive vaccination campaign in the war-torn region. 

In Pakistan, one wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) case was recorded in Islamabad, and 15 WPV1-positive environmental samples were reported in Balochistan, Sindh, Punjab, Islamabad, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The GPEI also noted a new case of vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Maindombe, the tenth such case reported this year.

In Gaza, vaccines have been administered for 10 days following the first section of the virus in 25 years in the region earlier this summer.

New report shows Pakistan not interrupting transmission 

In a new study in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, authors published an overview of recent polio activity in Pakistan. From January 2023 to June 2024, officials recorded 14 WPV1 cases, compared with 21 WPV1 cases during January 2022 to June 2023. 

Though cases are fewer, detections in the past 18 months suggest widespread transmission, because they have appeared in historical polio reservoirs in Balochistan and Sindh provinces. 

"Despite the occurrence of only a single confirmed WPV1 case during the first half of 2023, Pakistan experienced widespread circulation of WPV1 over the subsequent 12 months, specifically in the historical reservoirs of the cities of Karachi, Peshawar, and Quetta," the authors wrote. 

Despite the occurrence of only a single confirmed WPV1 case during the first half of 2023, Pakistan experienced widespread circulation of WPV1 over the subsequent 12 months,

They added, "These cases, along with more than 300 WPV1-positive environmental surveillance (sewage) samples reported during 2023–2024, indicate that Pakistan is not on track to interrupt WPV1 transmission."


 

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