Three Things Thursday

The good, the bad, and the ugly

Given that we are living through THREE global health emergencies (COVID, polio, and monkeypox), new vaccines are being approved, new outbreaks are occurring, and the reality that being healthy is indeed a radical selfless act of loving others (read: we need to redefine what it means to be healthy), “Three Things Thursday” highlights three things I am paying attention to as an epidemiologist each week.

Hoping these posts help to educate and empower you
to be healthy and create healthy communities.

Here we go… Three Things Thursday — the good, the bad, and the ugly (from this week)

The GOOD — New study highlighting the benefits of yoga

I am a huge fan of yoga (even on days like today when pretty much every muscle in my body hurts). And I was excited to see this new study recently published by researchers at the Keck School of Medicine in the Journal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine. The researchers found that the mind-body practices of yoga are beneficial to one’s physical health, specifically controlling blood sugar levels in people with Type 2 diabetes.

What is exciting about this study is that it found that mind-body practices, such as yoga, could be used by people with diabetes instead of medications and may also have a preventative effect on individuals who are pre-diabetic.

“This could be an important tool for many people because Type 2 diabetes is a major chronic health problem and we are not doing a good enough job at controlling it. Although this study does not address it as a preventive measure, it does suggest it could help people who are pre-diabetic reduce their risk for future Type 2 diabetes.” ~source

If you are starting to wonder how you are going to stay healthy throughout the fall and winter, I would suggest stepping into your local yoga studio. If you are local and want to check out Yoga Spot Meadville with me, leave a comment below!

The BAD — Ebola virus disease

Another Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak has been confirmed in Uganda. On September 20, 2022, the Ministry of Health of Uganda officially declared an outbreak of EVD due to the Sudan virus (species Sudan ebolavirus) in Central Uganda. According to CDC, as of today, a total of 44 confirmed cases, 10 confirmed deaths, and 20 probable deaths of EVD have been identified in Uganda.

In light of the outbreak in Uganda, the CDC issued a Health Alert Network Advisory this afternoon outlining the agency’s recommendations for case identification and testing for Ebola. It noted that no cases have been seen in the United States, but that the advisory was meant to serve “as a precaution and to remind clinicians about best practices” and “to raise awareness of this outbreak.” Starting tomorrow (10/7) all U.S-bound passengers who have been in Uganda during the past three weeks will be routed through JFK, Newark, Atlanta, O’Hare, or Dulles airports. They will be screened for possible infection.

Why is this bad? or of concern to those of us not in Uganda?

Several reasons — first, the outbreak in Uganda is growing quickly, and healthcare workers are dying (four confirmed so far). Public health authorities may not have a handle on the outbreak or know where the virus is spreading. And with healthcare workers dying, there are fewer individuals on hand to care for the sick and slow the spread of disease. Second, there is no vaccine available to prevent the spread of or severe illness caused by the Ebola Sudan virus.

Most importantly we all must remember that we live in a global community where —

A health problem on the other side of the world is a health problem at home. It might not be immediate or acute, but it is not merely their issue; it is our issue.

And from a practical standpoint, there is a limited amount of time, money, and resources to fight outbreaks. Addressing the Ebola virus disease outbreak takes away from work to combat other diseases and health concerns.

Ebola raging (uncontrolled?) in Uganda is concerning.

The Ugly — COVID Projections for the Fall

At the moment, COVID cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in the United State are declining/plateaued. But COVID cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are on the rise in many European countries.

Graph by Jean Fisch

And throughout the pandemic, Europe has always been a little bit ahead of the United States. What happens in Europe happens in the United States.

We should expect case counts, hospitalizations, and deaths to begin increasing in the coming weeks, especially as the number of hours of daylight dwindles and we are forced to move our activities indoors because of cooler temperatures.

As we anticipate the fall/winter wave of cases, scientists are monitoring more than 300 sublineages of the Omicron variant (the names for these subvariants are getting confusing… BA.2.75.2 to XBB and beyond!). At this point in time, the SARS-CoV-2 evolution is more akin to a drift, as we see with influenza, rather than vastly different variants (as we saw with Alpha vs. Delta vs. Omicron).

Just how big will the fall/winter wave be?

We don’t know.

What we do know is this —

1. The COVID vaccines + the new bivalent booster are safe and effective. New evidence of the safety and effectiveness was published today. If you are eligible, get vaccinated + boosted!

2. Several COVID treatments, including some monoclonal antibody treatments and some antibody treatments, are NOT effective against the new subvariants. On Monday, FDA issued a warning that Evusheld, which is given to immunocompromised people to increase their immunity, cannot neutralize certain variants. What this means is that people who are unvaccinated are at high risk for severe COVID, and we have limited treatment options at the moment. It is really important to get vaccinated + boosted.

3. The only constant is change. The virus will continue to change. And we will be required to respond and adapt. Expect guidance about masking, avoiding crowds, isolation, quarantine, and testing for COVID to change. Also expect COVID to impact your health, your family’s health, and the health of your community. In anticipation of the changes that are coming, get vaccinated + boosted.

As the darkness of fall gets longer and we anticipate holiday gatherings, we must take steps to protect ourselves and our families. To this end, next week I’ll be sharing my top tips for a healthy fall/winter as we prepare for the influenza season, the next COVID wave, holidays, shorter days, longer nights, cooler temperatures, and an increasing desire to put COVID and all things pandemic behind us.

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