Your weekly updates are wonderful! Easy to understand and they give me a measure of security just knowing what is brewing out in the world. It's so important for people with compromised immune systems. Thank you!❤️
When you say “However, we aren’t yet seeing wastewater activity translate into severe illness.” - that’s good news right? I’m trying to understand why wastewater is still very high, but it’s not resulting in a lot of severe illness compared to flu. Hopefully my question makes sense.
Yes, it's good. I use wastewater activity as a metric for Covid-19 because we don't have a great way to track mild illness for that disease. But there is still a lot we don't know about how to interpret wastewater. It doesn't always track the ER and hospitalization metrics. It could be that there is a lot of immunity to the currently-circulating variants so people are protected from severe illness, or it could be that wastewater does not always directly correlate to number of infections.
That makes sense! I wish we knew what wastewater numbers meant more or Covid was tracked better (in my state MO). My oldest started school this year after being an at home kid. She’s caught everything so far but norovirus (missed the wave during winter break hopefully) and Covid. Covid I’ve found strange she hasn’t picked up yet with wastewater high in the Midwest. Who knows! Luck I suppose so far.
The flu vaccine doesn't really protect against infection, its strength is reducing risk of severe illness. Older adults typically have fewer contacts and therefore exposures compared to, say, sitting in full classrooms.
Sounds reasonable. I have read that many years of flu vaccines may also help increase immunity. It’s probably coincidental or just because I am careful, but I have been vaccinated every year for 32 years and haven’t gotten the flu since I’ve been getting the vaccines.
Your weekly updates are wonderful! Easy to understand and they give me a measure of security just knowing what is brewing out in the world. It's so important for people with compromised immune systems. Thank you!❤️
So very impressed to see this collection of health information being made available for those who seek and can make use of it.
When you say “However, we aren’t yet seeing wastewater activity translate into severe illness.” - that’s good news right? I’m trying to understand why wastewater is still very high, but it’s not resulting in a lot of severe illness compared to flu. Hopefully my question makes sense.
Yes, it's good. I use wastewater activity as a metric for Covid-19 because we don't have a great way to track mild illness for that disease. But there is still a lot we don't know about how to interpret wastewater. It doesn't always track the ER and hospitalization metrics. It could be that there is a lot of immunity to the currently-circulating variants so people are protected from severe illness, or it could be that wastewater does not always directly correlate to number of infections.
That makes sense! I wish we knew what wastewater numbers meant more or Covid was tracked better (in my state MO). My oldest started school this year after being an at home kid. She’s caught everything so far but norovirus (missed the wave during winter break hopefully) and Covid. Covid I’ve found strange she hasn’t picked up yet with wastewater high in the Midwest. Who knows! Luck I suppose so far.
Oops I meant for Covid
Am I wrong to assume that the ones of us that are older are less infected with influenza because we are the group that is the most vaccinated?
The flu vaccine doesn't really protect against infection, its strength is reducing risk of severe illness. Older adults typically have fewer contacts and therefore exposures compared to, say, sitting in full classrooms.
Sounds reasonable. I have read that many years of flu vaccines may also help increase immunity. It’s probably coincidental or just because I am careful, but I have been vaccinated every year for 32 years and haven’t gotten the flu since I’ve been getting the vaccines.
It's always good to have clear labels on your y-axis.
Best source to follow for honest info!
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/
*** Dr Michael Osterholm
CIDRAP
Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy
**** New podcast:
https://youtu.be/30XobOUArj0?si=o0r_YJOTAvhKlWH7
THANK YOU!!
Thank you for this information!
Great info! thank you!