Omicron offshoot BA.5 became a major alternative in the US last week, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the sub variant contains key mutations that help escape vaccines and anti-infectives. Distribution.
“The number of illnesses is increasing and more hospital stays are coming,” he told CNN Monday. “One good thing does not seem to be in line with the ICU registers and the differences between the previous ones, but this is definitely a concern.”
But to look at official matters, it is difficult to identify.
The role of Dr. Michael Mina, an epidemiologist and chief technology officer at Telehell, is “always at an all-time low,” he said. “So there is no doubt.”
CV-19 cases were observed to some extent at the time of the outbreak due to lack of testing in some areas and possible missed symptoms. But as people rely on rapid home-based tests – and the general outlook on the epidemic – the United States has not come up with a reliable way to monitor transit levels.
According to the University of Washington’s Institute of Health Metrics, the actual number of infections in the first week of July was nearly seven times higher, an average of 107,000 a day. Data from Jones Hopkins University indicate that two weeks.
Before the CDC lifts the requirements for international travelers to check in before entering the country Last month, Mina said it was a “wonderful opportunity” to monitor the VV-19 situation in the United States among people who usually do not feel any symptoms. In May, 5% of travelers underwent a positive test, which translates to at least 1 million new infections per day in the general population of the United States – 10 times more than the official census.
Now BA.5 is here, “We know there will be storms in the fall – there is no doubt about that – before that.
But with so many variables playing out, it makes no sense to compare the current state of affairs with other epidemics.
“We don’t really understand what the basics are,” said Dr. Marcus Plecia, chief medical officer for state and state health officials. “At this point in time, 2022 compared to 2021, to say, ‘This is where we are – this is not an accurate comparison.’
As a new variant, experts say that in order to assess your personal vulnerability to CVD-19, personal accounting issues between friends and family may be a better measure than official data.
“People ask each other, they exchange stories, and this may not be a bad source of information,” said Baruch Fischeff, a professor at Carnegie Melon University and founder of the U.S. Food and Drug Disaster Advisory Committee.
Our social networks may be more consistent than the national surveillance system, and “If more people in your circle are infected in the past and the size of your circle is the same, then there is probably more disease than ever before.
Serious results do not tell the whole story
In a brief statement from the White House CV-19 Response Team – most recently two weeks ago – CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walinski outlined these important warnings without citing the trends.
Months ago, CDC moved away from the CVD-19 transit standards and focused on hospital-related measurements, focusing on the CVD-19 community level, focusing on the number of cases and positive rates of diagnosis.
During this winter osmotic surgery, hospitalization and death did not follow the same trend line as the case – an important change from previous epidemics.
But experts say that the fact that serious consequences are still being felt is an important factor.
“But when we get to the point where people are infected, it doesn’t cause any serious illness – perhaps the most serious is the new difference, or it doesn’t cause long covines – – if not. Jason Salemie, an epidemiologist and associate professor at the University of South Florida, says that while there are significant negative health effects, we do not care much about them.
“But let me make it clear we are not here yet.”
There is no evidence that BA.5 can cause more serious illness, but studies show that BA.5 can escape antibodies from vaccines or previous infections – even from another Omicron subunit. Vaccines are still expected to protect against serious illness, and for spring, vaccine makers are developing improved booster vaccines including the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 strains.
There are treatments, such as paxlowed antiviral pills, that greatly reduce the risk of death or serious illness. And high-quality masks, ventilation, detachment and isolation still help to reduce the spread of any variation, including BA.5.
Currently, more than 5,000 people are being admitted to the hospital every day, according to CDC, and more than 300 die every day, according to JHU.
Focusing on these “delayed indicators” will cost significant time to curb human behavior and prevent many diseases and deaths, Salem said.
If 1 out of 5 CV-19 infections results in long-term CVD and more than seven times the actual number of infections, the number of people with CVD may increase by 100,000 per day.
Working around blind spots
For now, the United States is in the “sustainable phase of its efforts to control things,” compared to “previous responses, emergencies – and emergence.”
But the federal government has recently moved its resources away from testing Because Congress has not approved more covariate funding, Mina’s move says it will “blind the US as we go down,” he said.
Some monitoring programs are in progress, such as monitoring the amount of virus in sewage. But they are “small,” and “in general, they are not really giving us a good picture of what is happening in the United States.”
Mina, referring to the previous Omicron sub-variants, said: “We were floating in this big epidemic. “But we shouldn’t give up our protection. I say, because with BA.5, I expect it to be a very different story.”