Dr. Peter Hotez discusses the state of COVID-19 and we are ready for our next pandemic.
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Four years ago, on March 13, then-President Donald Trump declared a national emergency and ban due to COVID-19. Two days earlier, the World Health Organization had officially declared the disease a pandemic and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo had been canceled. On the same day.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus has not disappeared for good. But with the widespread availability of COVID-19 vaccines, life has returned to normal for many others. Earlier this month, the Center for Disease Control replaced its rules for other people who test positive for COVID.
How are we 4 years later? And are we even better prepared to deal with our next primary public health emergency. . . Every time it happens?
Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and co-director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children’s Hospital, answered those questions, and more, with Houston Matters manufacturer Joshua Zinn.
The current scenario with COVID is “a little bit of news,” Dr. Hotez said.
“Nationally, the number of cases has declined since the significant increase we had at the beginning of the year in January,” he said. “We had reached about 40,000 hospitalizations per day in the U. S. Now that number has been cut in half. fewer than 20,000 hospitalizations. “
Dr. Hotez said that when spring arrives, he expects the region to pass its lowest point.
Recently, the CDC replaced its COVID guidelines, which state that if a user takes a COVID test, once they have been symptom-free for at least 24 hours, they can resume their general activities. But he also proposed that once a user tests the array, they will stay at home and away from others. Hotez said he was not in favor of the old guidelines or the new ones.
“We had a very smart immediate antigen test, which now almost everyone knows and is accurate,” he said. “And while it measures the COVID antigen, it turns out to be a very clever surrogate for virus loss. “
This means that if a user has two dark lines, they are missing a giant portion of the virus, and this helps them perceive whether they would infect others in the presence of people.
“Opportunities (rules) are kind of a second-choice substitute,” he said. “I think those existing rules are the weakest. I think unfortunately we’re going to see other people bring more COVID into the community. “
If there are any other significant waves of COVID, Dr. Hotez said he doesn’t think the CDC’s existing rules will help.
Dr. Hotez said annual shots, or boosters, are tailored to express variants and charts well, but as of September, 20 percent of eligible Americans had followed it.
“If you’re over 65 and you got your annual vaccine last September, you can go to CVS or Walgreens and get your next booster dose, and I would recommend that, or if you’re immunocompromised. “
In a previous post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Dr. Hotez commented that there are notable patterns of coronavirus outbreaks that have been occurring since 2002. He said experts are preparing for the next pandemic, “but not at the time it will be. “
“We had SARS in 2002, coming from China, which affected Toronto; It’s a deadly virus,” he said. “Then we had Middle East respiratory syndrome in the Arabian Peninsula in 2012. . . and, of course, COVID-19 hit. “
So when will we expect any other major fitness outbreaks?
“We expect another primary coronavirus before the end of this decade,” he said. “What’s happening is that this is a virus that originated in bats, and partly because of climate change, we’re seeing a shift in bat migrations. while they’re looking for other food services. “
As a result, bats come into contact with humans, he said.
“And along the way, the world is becoming more and more urbanized and we’re seeing more deforestation,” he said. “So we’re halfway there; People are expanding environments that in the past were not inhabited by humans and are now, and bats are also on the move. “
Dr. Hotez said anti-science rhetoric also contributes to progress.
“Close to 40,000 Texans have died needlessly in our COVID pandemic,” he said. “Almost part of the COVID deaths. So Texas lost another 100,000 people to COVID and almost part of that was because many Texans refused COVID vaccines when the Delta wave spread. in 2021. “
Dr. Hotez worries that if some other pandemic occurs, other people won’t get vaccinated, and if it’s a deadly virus, they’ll see “a lot of deaths again. “
“This anti-vaccine sentiment is now spilling over into vaccinating children,” he said. “Now we’re starting to see measles outbreaks in Florida and elsewhere, and I think, unfortunately, it may also be a new general. “
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