Friday, November 1

COVID-19

From Pandemic To Endemic – Is COVID-19 Here To Stay?
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COVID-19

From Pandemic To Endemic – Is COVID-19 Here To Stay?

Sara Sawyer, University of Colorado Boulder; Arturo Barbachano-Guerrero, University of Colorado Boulder, and Cody Warren, University of Colorado Boulder Now that kids ages 5 to 11 are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination and the number of fully vaccinated people in the U.S. is rising, many people may be wondering what the endgame is for COVID-19. Early on in the pandemic, it wasn’t unreasonable to expect that SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) might just go away, since historically some pandemic viruses have simply disappeared. For instance, SARS-CoV, the coronavirus responsible for the first SARS pandemic in 2003, spread to 29 countries and regions, infecting more than 8,000 people from November 2002 to July 2003. But thanks to quick and effective public health interventions, SAR...
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What Type of Ultraviolet Light Is Safest To Use Around People And Most Effective At Killing Coronavirus?
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COVID-19

What Type of Ultraviolet Light Is Safest To Use Around People And Most Effective At Killing Coronavirus?

Karl Linden, University of Colorado Boulder Scientists have long known that ultraviolet light can kill pathogens on surfaces and in air and water. UV robots are used to disinfect empty hospital rooms, buses and trains; UV bulbs in HVAC systems eliminate pathogens in building air; and UV lamps kill bugs in drinking water. Perhaps you have seen UV wands, UV LEDs and UV air purifiers advertised as silver bullets to protect against the coronavirus. While decades of research have looked at the ability of UV light to kill many pathogens, there are no set standards for UV disinfection products with regard to the coronavirus. These products may work to kill SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, but they also may not. I am an environmental engineer and expert in UV disinfection. In May 202...
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Are The Bonds That Keep Society Together Unraveling Due To Social Distancing?
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COVID-19

Are The Bonds That Keep Society Together Unraveling Due To Social Distancing?

Ilana Horwitz, Tulane University With birthday celebrations being downsized, religious services moving back online and indoor playdates getting canceled, millions of Americans are having fewer social interactions because of persistently high case numbers and high rates of transmission. It’s not just interactions with friends and families that are getting cut. Routine yet beneficial interactions with people at fitness and child care centers and volunteer organizations are also being eliminated. Social distancing is vital to combating COVID-19. But is it unraveling the social bonds that keep society together? Social capital adds up As a sociologist of religion and education, I study how Americans develop social ties, and how these social ties influence people’s lives. Scholars refer to re...
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COVID-19 New Treatments May Stave Off The Worst Effects Of The Virus
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COVID-19

COVID-19 New Treatments May Stave Off The Worst Effects Of The Virus

Patrick Jackson, University of Virginia Even with three highly effective vaccines available in abundance throughout the country, the delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 continues to cause a large number of new infections, particularly in states where vaccination rates remain low. What’s more, as schools and businesses reopen and the holiday season approaches, another rise in infections may be on the way. There is, however, some good news. Numerous medications, including fledgling and repurposed drugs, are accessible. For hospitalized COVID-19 patients, these new treatments, along with supportive care advances – such as placing some patients on their stomachs in a “prone position” – were helping bring down mortality rates before the Delta variant hit and are continuing to improve patient outcomes...
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Stigma And Prohibition Have Fueled The Opioid Crisis OxyContin Created
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COVID-19, IN OTHER NEWS

Stigma And Prohibition Have Fueled The Opioid Crisis OxyContin Created

Emily B. Campbell, College of the Holy Cross The highly contentious Purdue Pharma settlement announced Sept. 1, 2021, comes at a pivotal time for the U.S. overdose crisis: 2020 was the worst year on record, with over 93,000 Americans losing their lives to fatal drug overdose. The drug overdose epidemic, now more than two decades long, has claimed the lives of more than 840,000 people since 1999. Current estimates suggest that some 2.3 million people in the U.S. use heroin and 1.7 million people use pharmaceutical opioids without a prescription. Since 2016, I’ve studied the overdose crisis with an eye to understanding its roots as well as its ramifications. As a sociologist, I came to this area of research in my own quest for meaning, as each year brought more funerals of former classmate...
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What’s Driving The Pandemic In Prisons – Correctional Officers
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COVID-19

What’s Driving The Pandemic In Prisons – Correctional Officers

COVID-19 Danielle Wallace, Arizona State University Prisons and jails have hosted some of the largest COVID-19 outbreaks in the U.S., with some facilities approaching 4,000 cases. In the U.S., which has some of the highest COVID-19 infection rates in the world, 9 in 100 people have had the virus; in U.S. prisons, the rate is 34 out of 100. I study public health issues around prisons. My colleagues and I set out to understand why COVID-19 infection rates were so high among incarcerated individuals. Using data from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, we discovered the infection rate among correctional officers drove the infection rate among incarcerated individuals. We also found a three-way relationship between the infection rate of officers, incarcerated individuals and the communities arou...
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On American Lives, Especially On Blacks And Latinos Pandemic Misery Index Reveals Far-Reaching Impact Of COVID-19
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COVID-19

On American Lives, Especially On Blacks And Latinos Pandemic Misery Index Reveals Far-Reaching Impact Of COVID-19

With more than 30 million people infected and 550,000 dead, the U.S. is among the nations hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. From job loss to housing insecurity to mental distress, the social, psychological and economic hardships brought on by the pandemic are extensive and likely to outlast the pandemic itself. To better understand the breadth and depth of the pandemic’s impact on American lives, I worked with colleagues at the USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research to develop an index of “pandemic misery.” We found that though few U.S. residents have survived the pandemic unscathed, hardship isn’t equally distributed across groups. Just how bad it was: 80% experienced a hardship The U.S. Pandemic Misery Index uses data we have collected through the Understanding Coronav...
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Now That Pfizer’s Shot Is Authorized For Kids 12 And Up – Can Schools Require COVID-19 Vaccines For Students
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COVID-19

Now That Pfizer’s Shot Is Authorized For Kids 12 And Up – Can Schools Require COVID-19 Vaccines For Students

With the first COVID-19 vaccine now authorized for adolescents, ages 12 and up, a big question looms: Will students be required to get the vaccine before returning to their classrooms in the fall? As a professor of education policy and law and a former attorney for school districts, I regularly think about this sort of question. In the United States, school vaccination requirements are established by states rather than the federal government. The 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution allows states to make regulations protecting public health. Every state currently requires K-12 students to be vaccinated against some diseases, although the requirements – including which shots are deemed necessary and the reasons students can opt out – vary from one state to another. Who can opt out o...
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Pros And Cons Explained: US-backed Vaccine Patent Waiver
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COVID-19

Pros And Cons Explained: US-backed Vaccine Patent Waiver

The Biden administration has now agreed to back a proposal to suspend intellectual property protection for COVID vaccines. This is a break from US government’s long-held position on strong intellectual property protection, which has also been supported by many research-intensive countries in western Europe as well and the pharmaceutical industry. These protections are codified in the World Trade Organization’s Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreements. India, South Africa, and many other emerging economies have been pushing for a waiver from patent protection, and have been supported in this effort by the director general of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. While the waiver cannot be put into place until other WHO members agree (at which point manufactu...
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4 Questions Answered – What Are The Blood Clots Associated With The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine?
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COVID-19

4 Questions Answered – What Are The Blood Clots Associated With The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine?

Two vaccines – the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the U.S. and the AstraZeneca vaccine in Europe – have been linked to an increased chance of a rare type of blood clot. Researchers are investigating what causes these clots and are starting to propose some answers. Dr. Mousumi Som, a professor of medicine at Oklahoma State University, explains what these rare clots are and how they are forming after people get vaccinated. 1. What are the blood clots? A small number of people in the U.S. have developed dangerous blood clots after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The clots have mostly been occurring in people’s brains and, paradoxically, are associated with low platelet counts. Normally, platelets help a person stop bleeding when they get injured. If you get a cut or have an ...
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