Good Afternoon SARS2PAians!!

I hope you're having an awesome Spring.💐💐💐 Hoping for clear weather for everyone in the path of the eclipse on Tuesday!! 🌗🌘🌑

1/2

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VOCs

Nationally, JN.1, JN.1.4, and JN.1.7 in the top three usual lead slots.: https://ibb.co/pJmbmTW

But JN.1.18 and KP.2 are moving up rather quickly.

In PA, a mixed bag of non-top-leaderboard variants, but sequencing/sampling is getting abysmally low which means predicions are lessening in reliability.: https://ibb.co/chKkY7W

We MUST make sure enough samples are in the hands of viral geneticists so they can make informed models of virus activity.
Wastewater

Nationally, wastewater SARS2 material continuing to lessen, creating a Spring lull.: https://ibb.co/1R24tHp

In PA, all sheds that report to BIOBOT either match national levels or are on the way there. Bucks a bit high, still has some source control to do and they are well on their way to matching the rest of the sheds.: https://ibb.co/PtjWcky

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CDC:

Wow. Lots of statewide increases in new hospital admits. Looks like either a steep decrease OR a steep increase with very few counties in-between.: https://ibb.co/pz6qsvv

Increases are in the Northwest corner by Erie, Southwest corner by Greene Co., int he center of the State from Franklin/Fulton all up through Centre and over to Jefferson. Pike all the way down through the old coal region to Lancaster experiencing increases across the board.

The Inpatient Bed map looks relatively calm, though, very steady. Hopefully this new wave of hospital admits will not contribute to this....but I dunno.: https://ibb.co/CpyPwHt

ICU use holding rather steafdy throughout PA but substantial increases around Mifflin, Juniata and Huntingdon Cos.: https://ibb.co/M5Jg52b

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Non-SARS2 stuff

RSV has been downgraded to LOW natinally on WastewaterSCAN.

COVID-19 is still MEDIUM.

Respiratory pathogens FluA, FluB, Human Metapneumovrus and Parainfluenza are still HIGH.

Gastro viruses Rotavirus and Norovirus remain HIGH too.

Of these, FluA, FluB and Noro seem to be highest in PA sheds.

Noro is still taking waaaaaaaay off in the Harrisburg area.: https://ibb.co/Qkp0nw8

Same with FluB, going almost vertical near Harrisburg.: https://ibb.co/85vYfkp

FluA levels are still not coming down near UPark.: https://ibb.co/T4ZBVkz

The source control methods for respiratory infections are all the same!

 Clean the air.
 Wear quality respirators in HIGH level areas and in places where veltilation is poor.
 Be aware of social contacts.

The mitigations for Noro mostly depend on mindful handwashing WITH soap and water for 20 seconds. Don't depend on hand sanitizer or gloves to control Noro.

Gloves can be depended on a bit tooooooo much (though yes medically they are beneficial, I'm NOT saying ditch gloves) and do not take the place of handwashing. Noro is very resistant to alcohol.

I'll continue with H5N1 in the follow-up post.

#covid #Covid19 #SARS2PA #CDC #CovidIsNotOver #Pennsylvania #PA #JN1 #JN1_4 #KP2 #FluA #FluB #Influenza #Norovirus #Noro #Rotavirus #H5N1 #HMPV

#WearAMask #CleanTheAir #StayHomeIfSick !!!

Update for 4/1/2024!

Good April Morning SARS2PAians!

I hope your spring is healthy. 💐💐💐

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VOCs

JN.1 and JN.1.4 stil dominate the leaderboard, but scientists are especially watching a groiup of new mutations including JN.1.18, JN.1.13, KP.2, JN.1.16, and KQ.1.: https://ibb.co/6RvHcZR

Some of these are moving FAST despite the already-very-fast mutations on the landscape.

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Wastewater

We've reached a level of SARS2 material in wastewater low enough to match previous years (2020, 2021.): https://ibb.co/DMyG0k4

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CDC

Quite a lot of counties with new hospital admits, especially the Western half of the State. The Southwest corner by Greene Co and from Centre on over to Erie Co and Jefferson are HIGH on the newest chart.: https://ibb.co/m6KYR0Z

The Inpatient Beds chart looks good except for some increases in Lawrence and around Cameron Cos.: https://ibb.co/SPm1wJt

The ICU bed chart looks very good! Most counties are having decreases! However some increases up by Pike Co and significant increases in Franklin and Fulton Cos.:https://ibb.co/sKdK54P

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Research

Tuberculosis after recovering from COVID-19 is becoming more common.: https://ibb.co/ZxZ7kHY

Reactivation of underlying pathogens is NOT NEW. We know this factually from the chicken pox/shingles pathogen.

Also, measles is known to reset the ENTIRE immune system and bring protection from everything down to zero, potentially leaving reactivation of underlying pathogens, which is by levels of magnitude more complex than the physical disability it can cause and makes it imperative that you **VACCINATE YOUR KIDS**.: https://ibb.co/cbFXrRw

Again: NONE of this is brand new, and COVID19 along with other known pathogens, seems to potentially weaken the immune system enough to reactivate underlying pathogens.

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Non-SARS2 Pathogens

COVID and RSV thankfully have been downgraded on WastewaterSCAN to "Medium" and "low" respectively.: https://ibb.co/k2SpgLR

However, quite a number of pathogens are still ranking in the HIGH level: FluA, FluB, Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) and the gastro pathogens Norovirus and Rotavirus are still out there.

HMPV often presents with a rash and is related to RSV:

https://www.cdc.gov/ncird/human-metapneumovirus.html
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22443-human-metapneumovirus-hmpv

The prevention for all these respiratory diseses is the same!

Be conscious of crowds.

Wear a mask in places with low air filtration.

Keep the air clean!

Stay home if you are sick!

For norovirus and rotavirus, it's important to wash hands with soap and warm water for 20sec.

 DO NOT depend on gloves and hand sanitizer to control Norovirus, the particles are very resistant to alcohol.

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H5N1

Nothing above here has scientists sitting up at attention right now except one thing: H5N1 bird flu.

H5N1 has jumped to dairy cattle (after infecting numerous other species such as seals, fox, deer, etc.), has been found in cattle in TX, KS, MI, NM, and now Idaho.: https://ibb.co/1JgGY2v

Before now, almost all transmission was bird-to-other-species. "Cow-to-cow transmission cannot be ruled out" and will be a disaster for the food supply if not controlled.: https://ibb.co/mDKVZ7R

There is resistance amongst dairy farmers in the US and in Europe to get their cattle tested.

The absolute worst case scenario is if it "makes the leap" to pigs. That means, if genetically it mutates (like COVID-19 is doing) to be able to:

---Infect pigs.

---Gain capability of pig-to-pig transmission.

The genetic "leap" from bird to mammals was very large, and will also be the "leap" from cattle to pig.....but the "leap" from pigs and ferrets to humans after that will be really, really small.

This would be the same route the Spanish Flu took 106 years ago: Birds -> pigs -> humans.

It is...really not a good time to consume unpasteurized, raw dairy products.

 I'm spending a lot of words on this because so far, this thing has a ****50% kill rate******. That is, 1 out of every 2 people who contract H5N1 will die.

I don't know what else to say. We MUST push for thorough farm testing, biosecurity, and intense transmission research.

Stay safe, I hope you had a GREAT holiday, and don't forget to use some form of source control in your daily adventures! 💐

#covid #Covid19 #SARS2PA #CDC #CovidIsNotOver #Pennsylvania #PA #JN1 #JN1_4 #KP2 #FluA #FluB #Influenza #Norovirus #Noro #Rotavirus #H5N1 #HMPV

#WearAMask #CleanTheAir #StayHomeIfSick !!!