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COVID and Health News 6/15/25 by Dr Ruth Ann Crystal 6/15/25
"Respiratory illness in general is low now in America overall. Regarding COVID, as of June 13, there are approximately 153,000 new COVID cases daily in the US, with about every 1 in 219 people currently infected. Emergency department visits for COVID are low, as are COVID deaths right now. SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater is still low to very low per the CDC, but we may be seeing the start of an early uptick.
"In California, there is an increase of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater in Oceanside San Francisco (at 280 PMMoV) and San Jose at 218 PMMoV. Southeast San Francisco (131), Sacramento (115) and San Rafael (114 PMMoV) are the next highest levels in California as of yesterday. Per the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), the Bay Area is at a medium level for COVID through 6/7/25, but Southern California was still at low levels of COVID in wastewater.
"Regarding COVID variants, NB.1.8.1 has increased quickly to 37% of samples in the United States and is pushing LP.8.1 (down to 38%) and XFG/XFC (15%) out. The percentages may not be quite as accurate as earlier in the pandemic because of low numbers of samples per the CDC. XFG (Stratus) is higher in New York and is being seen in many European countries as well.
Acute COVID infections, General COVID info
"A study in Cell shows that lung cells infected with SARS-CoV-2 can transfer their nucleocapsid protein (NP) to healthy epithelial cells, thus tagging them to be destroyed by anti-NP antibodies via activation of the complement system. Enoxaparin (low molecular weight heparin) reversed this and rescued the healthy lung cells.
From: https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(25)00283-9
"Boston University researchers found that the SARS-CoV-2 nonstructural protein 15 (nsp15) helps the virus hide from the immune system in human lung and nasal cells. The nsp15 endoribonuclease is important in promoting virus replication and influencing disease severity. This enzyme and nsp15 appear to be promising antiviral drug targets.
"A mouse study showed that pre-treatment with NMDA receptor blockers memantine or ifenprodil reduced brain inflammation in the pons and medulla and significantly improved survival after SARS‑CoV‑2 infection. These findings support further exploration of NMDA antagonist drugs like memantin which is already used in elderly neurological patients, as a possible neuroprotective therapy against COVID-related neurological damage.
Pregnancy
"Over 60 medical groups including ACOG are urging insurers to keep covering COVID vaccines in pregnancy after HHS dropped the recommendation. They warn that new barriers could endanger maternal and infant health, emphasizing that COVID vaccines are safe and protective.
Pediatrics
"COVID infection during pregnancy was found to lead to high inflammatory cytokines in the baby’s cord blood at birth. Specific cytokines correlated with specific developmental delays seen in the child at 6 months and at 24 months of age. In children who had been exposed to in utero COVID infection, 36% had cognitive delays, 64% had communication delays and 57% of these children had motor delays at age 2 suggesting that in utero immune activation may impact early brain development. This is another reason to vaccinate pregnant patients to protect them and their baby’s long term development.
From: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41390-025-04192-w
"A new study found that children with acute COVID-19 and MIS-C show significant changes in their metabolism, similar to those seen in adults with severe infection. Both groups had signs of inflammation and disrupted lipid levels, suggesting a higher risk for cardiovascular issues, especially in MIS-C, where the changes were more severe. Children with MIS-C had especially high triglycerides and abnormal lipoproteins. These findings highlight the need to monitor children after COVID infection for potential long-term health problems.
From: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jproteome.5c00062
"Researchers from Wellington, NZ surveyed 4,264 children aged 3 to 20 following New Zealand’s first major COVID wave and found that more than 20% reported persistent symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, and anxiety. Self-rated overall health declined significantly after infection, highlighting the long-term impact of COVID infection on pediatric well-being.
"A Utah-based cohort of 180,925 youths aged 6 to 15 showed that infection with COVID‑19 in 2020 was linked to more than double the odds of suicidal ideation, self-harm, and poisoning compared to their uninfected peers. Notably, adolescents aged 11 to 15 and female youths exhibited particularly elevated risks, underscoring the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on mental health in these groups.
Vaccines
"On June 9, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), replacing them with new appointees including vaccine critics like Robert Malone and Martin Kulldorff. Martin Kulldorff has earned thousands of dollars as a paid expert witness in lawsuits against Merck's Gardasil HPV vaccine. The American Medical Association (AMA) and other groups called for an immediate reversal and a Senate investigation, emphasizing that ACIP plays a vital role in setting U.S. vaccine schedules, school requirements, and outbreak responses. The AMA emphasized that vaccines are proven to significantly reduce hospitalizations and deaths, and stressed that vaccine policy must stay independent and grounded in scientific evidence.
Antiviral treatments
"Virginia Commonwealth University researchers developed a 23-amino acid peptide that mimics ACE2 and effectively binds the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, preventing viral entry. The peptide demonstrated potent antiviral activity against both the original and Omicron strains, with a therapeutic index greater than 20, indicating strong potential for therapeutic use.
Monoclonal Antibodies against COVID
"Sipavibart (Kavigale®), a long-acting recombinant human monoclonal antibody against SARS-CoV-2 developed by AstraZeneca, received regulatory approval in December 2024 (Japan), January 2025 (EU), and March 2025 (Canada) for pre-exposure prophylaxis against COVID in immunocompromised individuals aged 12 and older. Its efficacy was confirmed in the international SUPERNOVA Phase III trial, demonstrating a significant reduction (35 to 43%) in symptomatic COVID infection compared to tixagevimab/cilgavimab, with a favorable safety profile.
Long COVID
"Researchers from Germany used near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to measure muscle oxygenation during mild handgrip exercise and found that people with Long COVID showed impaired deoxygenation compared to healthy controls. Fatigue was strongly linked to the oxygenation deficit, suggesting microcirculatory dysfunction may contribute to post-exertional malaise in Long COVID.
"A study of over 1,400 adults found that while most people recovered physically from COVID within three months, mental health recovery, including fatigue, anxiety, and sleep issues, often took around nine months. About 20% of participants had not returned to their pre-illness mental well-being even after a year. Lead author Lauren Wisk, PhD of UCLA said, "health care professionals need to pay more attention to their patients' mental well-being after a COVID-19 infection and provide more resources that will help improve their mental health, in addition to their physical health."
"University of Virginia researchers found that some people recovering from COVID infection with ongoing lung symptoms have antibodies that act like the ACE-2 enzyme, potentially disrupting normal body functions. This unusual antibody activity may help explain lingering symptoms in some Long COVID patients.
"A study from Iraq of 60 Long COVID patients and 30 controls found that elevated levels of galanin, GALR1, insulin resistance markers, and inflammatory markers like CRP were significantly higher in Long COVID patients. The galanin system and insulin resistance were linked to symptoms like depression, anxiety, and chronic fatigue, with a predictive neural network model showing 91.7% sensitivity for Long COVID diagnosis.
Microbiome of the Gut
"In mice, high levels of polystyrene nanoplastics disrupt gut barrier function by altering microRNA levels in extracellular vesicles, which suppress key protective proteins like ZO-1 and MUC-13. These changes also disturb the gut microbiota by raising Ruminococcaceae levels and affecting bacterial communication revealing how nanoplastics may harm intestinal health.
From: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-59884-y/figures/6
"Butyrate is a short-chain fatty acid produced by fermentation of certain dietary fibers by gut bacteria and is one of the main sources of energy used by cells in the colon. Natural killer (NK) cells are a type of white blood cell that play a crucial role in the immune system, particularly in recognizing and eliminating cells infected with viruses or cancer cells. They are part of the innate immune system, meaning they do not require prior exposure to a specific pathogen to be effective. A new study from Italy shows that butyrate made by gut bacteria reprograms human NK cells epigenetically, boosting antiviral genes and increasing cytotoxicity in CD56^bright cells while nudging NK cells toward a more regulatory state.
"A fantastic new review in Nature looks at how gut bacteria make short-chain fatty acids (acetate, propionate, and butyrate) that shape microglia (brain immune cells) throughout life. The article shows how gut–brain signals affect microglial development and function and are linked to conditions like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, depression, and multiple sclerosis. The review highlights exactly how signals reach the brain through immune, metabolic, endocrine, neural (e.g., vagus nerve), and blood–brain barrier pathways for each of these brain diseases. The review also underscores the potential and the complexities of modulating microglia via the gut for brain health.
From: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41577-025-01188-9
Measles
"As of June 12, 2025, a total of 1,197 confirmed measles cases were reported by 34 states with 12% of cases hospitalized (144 of 1197), 3 confirmed deaths.
"We are close to the previous record of 1,274 measles cases in 2019, despite being only half way through 2025. In response, the CDC is urging all camps this season to verify campers' and staffers’ immunity to measles, either via vaccination or documented prior infection.
"Measles can spread quickly in summer camps because campers and staff spend a lot of time together in close contact with each other. Measles is more than just a rash — it can cause serious complications or even death," the CDC warned.
Wildfire Smoke
"Katelyn Jetelina recently wrote about the risks of wildfire smoke, mentioning a new study that shows that even 3 months after a wildfire, there can be lingering smoke particles that can increase cardiovascular and respiratory hospitalization risks.
"You can check your local air quality index at https://www.airnow.gov/
"or Purple Air. Wear N95 or P100 masks outside when the AQI is red or when it is yellow if you are at high risk from pregnancy, older age, immunocompromise or chronic medical conditions.
Government Medical News
"See the vaccine section above about RFK Jr. removing all ACIP members and replacing them with some dubious choices.
"Science magazine reported this week that more than 340 NIH employees signed the “Bethesda Declaration” to protest the cancellation or freeze of approximately 2,100 research grants and $2.6 billion in contracts, warning that politicizing funding decisions undermines science and endangers public health. They urge NIH leadership to restore peer‑reviewed grants, resume halted trials, and defend unbiased biomedical research from political interference. “A second letter backing the Bethesda Declaration has so far been signed by 19 Nobel Prize winners and two former NIH leaders, among others.”
"Over 460 CDC staff who were laid off in April under a sweeping HHS reorganization have been reinstated, including employees from key divisions like HIV, environmental health, and global disease surveillance, following public backlash and legal challenges. This partial reversal addresses some capacity gaps, though many roles remain unfilled amid an ongoing restructuring. These federal employees may also be questioning a return to an unstable CDC and HHS.
Other news
"Dr. Atul Butte, an amazing computer scientist, pediatrician and overall wonderful person, died on Friday at age 55. Atul was an incredibly positive person who made a mark on many students and faculty at Stanford and UCSF. He will be greatly missed. Here are links to memorials from Shai Shen Orr and Euan Ashley.
Atul Butte MD PhD, photo from UCSF Rosenman
'Scientists from Germany have discovered that people with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), an incurable liver disease, show strong T and B cell responses targeting Epstein–Barr virus (EBV). This suggests that EBV may play a role in driving PSC’s autoimmune damage. By analyzing electronic health records of >116 million people, researchers also found that those with PSC had a 12-fold higher chance of past infectious mononucleosis, further linking EBV to PSC pathology.
"In a new opinion piece in STAT News, Jules Sherman highlights how Medicaid’s outdated reimbursement and fragmented equipment providers force parents of medically fragile children, like those with tracheostomies, to cobble together hospital-grade care at home, often improvising suction machines and ventilator setups to keep their kids alive. She recommends urgent reforms to update Medicaid codes, standardize training, and involve caregivers in device design.
"A new study shows that mTOR activates the NLRP3 inflammasome in macrophages by blocking STAT1. Rapamycin lifts that block, boosts STAT1, and shuts down inflammasome activity even in mutant cells. Therefore, Rapamycin may offer a new way to control inflammation in diseases linked to overactive inflammasomes.
"This week, I got to be a part of a marriage proposal. One of our neighbors helped the future groom to set up on the beach. Another neighbor who is a photographer took amazing pictures. I made a bouquet for the event. She said YES! Congratulations to the lovely couple!
"Have a good week,
"Ruth Ann Crystal MD"
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