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COVID & Health news, 7/13/25
"COVID levels in wastewater are now HIGH in many places according to WastewaterSCAN. The CDC reports COVID levels as being LOW nationwide through July 5th, but they added this disclaimer for their data: “Data from the most recent two weeks may be incomplete due to delays in data reporting. These data sets are subject to change and are indicated by the gray shading.”
"Walgreen’s COVID positivity rate is increasing nationally, but overall numbers are often limited in this data set. Emergency Department visits for COVID are starting to increase, especially in states like Florida. An increase in Emergency Department visits is usually an early sign of a COVID wave starting.
"The CDC estimates that COVID cases are growing or likely growing in about half of U.S. states, mostly in West Coast states and the Southeast. The CDC has stated that COVID now follows a biannual pattern, with typical peaks in late summer (July–September) and in winter (December–February). Since we now have a biannual pattern of COVID waves and since we know that vaccine immunity wanes against severe COVID infections after about 4 to 6 months, COVID vaccination should be offered biannually as well.
"As of 7/12/25, here are the highest SARS-CoV-2 levels in the United States per WastewaterSCAN (12 states are missing data):
Coeur d’Alene ID 8515 PMMoV (Astronomically high)
Roswell GA 2222 PMMoV
SW St Petersburg FL 946 PMMoV
Anchorage AL 706 PMMoV
Honolulu HI 512 PMMoV
For California, hotspots include:
Oceanside San Francisco 404 PMMoV
Palo Alto 344 PMMoV
San Jose 288 PMMoV
Novato 247 PMMoV
SE San Francisco 193 PMMoV
Sacramento 147 PMMoV
California SARS-CoV-2 levels in wastewater are HIGH in the Bay Area and Sacramento and are MEDIUM in Southern California per the CDPH.
Palo Alto and San Francisco are HIGH because they are above the national high threshold of about 300 PMMoV of COVID in the wastewater. We are just at the beginning of this COVID wave. Since we had a smaller winter wave this year on the West Coast and since most people have not had a COVID booster since Fall 2024, our collective immunity is probably waning and we may see another significant summer wave this year. But, hopefully this summer wave will be lower than other years.
From: https://data.wastewaterscan.org/
US Variants
"It is harder to know which variants are the most dominant now, as the CDC reports that there are not enough tests being sequenced. We do know that XFG seems to be the top variant causing COVID infections in the United States and in many other places in the world now. NB.1.8.1 (Nimbus) caused waves in some Pacific and Asian countries and while we are seeing it in the United States, it has often been associated with people travelling here from another country. Both of these variants are descendants of JN.1 from last year.
From: US Variant tracker: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions
Acute COVID infections, General COVID info
"Adult survivors of childhood cancer (diagnosed before age 20) in Sweden and Denmark were found to have about a 9% lower likelihood of contracting COVID, but if infected, they faced a 58% higher risk of severe outcomes including hospitalization, ICU care, or death compared to siblings and population controls. Risks were notably higher among survivors aged ≥50 (aHR 1.85), those with solid tumors (aHR 1.63), and those diagnosed after age 15 (aHR 2.28). Study authors recommend prioritizing this group for vaccination and targeted protection during pandemics.
"A new study from Germany shows that fragments of viral proteins, including SARS-CoV-2 spike peptides, can bind and either inhibit or activate human formyl peptide receptors (FPR1, FPR2, FPR3) which influences innate immune responses like neutrophil migration and NETosis. These findings suggest viral protein breakdown products broadly modulate immunity, potentially affecting disease severity and offering new therapeutic targets.
From: https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(25)01280-5
"COVID infection can lead to dangerous lung thrombosis. A new study from Japan shows that SARS-CoV-2 ramps up integrinβ3 in lung blood vessel endothelial cells, driving clot formation from platelet activation.
"Researchers injected mice with SARS-CoV-2 virus-like particles (VLPs) and found rapid short-term increases in cortical neuron activity, with some long-lasting changes as well. Mice expressing human tau (an animal model for neurodegeneration) were more vulnerable, suggesting even non-replicating viral proteins can disrupt brain function and raise concerns for at-risk populations.
Pregnancy
"A new preprint shows that the SARS‑CoV‑2 accessory protein ORF3a is present in infected placentas and disrupts syncytiotrophoblast maturation, tight‑junction integrity, and autophagy pathways, implicating ORF3a as a direct cause of preeclampsia-like placental dysfunction during maternal COVID‑19 infection.
"Another preprint from Baylor reports that SARS‑CoV‑2 infects placental villi (especially syncytiotrophoblast and endothelial cells) leading to loss of tissue integrity and altered levels of placental growth factor (PLGF) which may impair placental vascular health. These findings suggest COVID infection during pregnancy could disrupt placental function and impact fetal‑maternal exchange.
Pediatrics
"The New York State Newborn Screening Program (NYS NSP) collects dried blood spots (DBS) from infants at birth and follow-up specimens from a select group of infants, many of whom are premature." In a large study analyzing 100,318 dried blood spots from 50,036 infants born in New York between 2019–2021, researchers tracked the decay of passively acquired maternal IgG (half-life 22–23 days initially, slowing to 37–38 days after 30 days). They also identified 630 infants who seroconverted post-birth (developing their own IgG, IgA, or IgM) thus marking active infections in these infants.
Vaccines
"A coalition of 6 major U.S. medical societies including the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Public Health Association, American College of Physicians, Infectious Diseases Society of America, Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and the Massachusetts Public Health Alliance, and a pregnant woman who was denied a COVID vaccine, are suing HHS and Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for removing COVID vaccines from the CDC’s recommended schedules for healthy children and pregnant women. They argue this unilateral decision violates federal administrative law, disrupts established vaccine policy procedures, and threatens public health by creating confusion and limiting vaccine access.
"In addition, the NEJM has posted several letters to the editor in response to Prasad and Makary's NEJM article from May 2025 that limited who is eligible for COVID vaccines.
"Dr. Dimitri Drekonja wrote:
"Of note, there is no exemption for health care workers, despite our hard-won knowledge of the transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 in health care settings and other indoor spaces.1,2 Under the proposed guidance, when I see my immune-suppressed older adult patients, I will have an increased risk of transmitting Covid-19 to them, since I will not qualify for annual vaccination."
“Vaccination against Covid-19 has saved millions of lives.4 We have accumulated an enormous amount of data showing that boosters are safe and well tolerated. Insisting on data from new RCTs while ignoring other data 3 is shortsighted and harmful.”
"This week, the FDA granted full approval of Moderna’s Spikevax (mRNA-1273) COVID vaccine for children 6 months to 11 years old, but unfortunately only those at higher risk for COVID infection will be allowed to get the vaccine per the CDC.
"A retrospective cohort study of over 50,000 U.S. patients who suffered COVID‑related stroke compared more than 3,500 vaccinated individuals to about 46,000 unvaccinated people. Vaccination was linked to significantly lower mortality and reduced complications such as clotting, bleeding, and heart attacks.
"The European Society of Cardiology put out a consensus statement endorsing vaccines as key tools to prevent cardiovascular events, especially in high-risk patients. Vaccines like those for influenza, COVID, and RSV have been shown to reduce heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure hospitalizations.
"A phase 3 trial found that a next-generation COVID vaccine from Moderna called mRNA-1283 performed similarly to the original mRNA-1273 shot in preventing infection and generating neutralizing antibodies, with comparable safety profiles and fewer injection-site reactions. The new vaccine uses a shorter coding sequence instead of the full-length spike protein, potentially allowing more efficient manufacturing.
Long COVID
"Viral persistence has been postulated to be a cause of Long COVID, but it has been difficult to find SARS-CoV-2 virus or viral fragments in the blood. Dr. Shannon Stott gave a talk at the PolyBio Spring Symposium regarding a special herringbone chip coated with ACE-2 that is ultrasensitive and can detect SARS-CoV-2 down to 3 viral particles in 1 ml of plasma.Their paper on the use of this special testing in people with acute COVID infection was published in January 2025 in Science magazine here. Dr. Stott’s lab plans to test SARS-CoV-2 levels using their herringbone chip on people with Long COVID. Such a test may be useful as a biomarker to identify and stratify Long COVID patients for studies.
"Amyloid microclots are implicated in Long COVID and other thrombo‑inflammatory diseases. Researchers from Openwater found that low‑intensity ultrasound at 150 kHz can break down the number and size of amyloid clots by roughly threefold in a microfluidic chip. Adding microbubbles and rtPA enhanced clot fragmentation even more. These results suggest ultrasound may become a noninvasive way to clear harmful microclots and restore blood flow in patients.
"Twenty-eight Long COVID patients with cognitive dysfunction underwent FDG PET scans and EEG tests which showed reduced brain metabolism and slowed electrical activity, especially in frontal regions linked to focus and memory. These findings help explain the neurological basis of "brain fog" and support the idea that post-COVID cognitive decline has detectable brain signatures.
From: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-04815-6/figures/1
"SARS-CoV-2’s spike protein was found to trigger Alzheimer’s-like amyloid-β aggregation in human retinal tissue & organoids. Applying a neuropilin‑1 blocker reduced amyloid‑β accumulation, hinting at both a potential mechanism for COVID's neurological effects and a possible therapeutic target.
"People with Long COVID depression had persistently high IL-6, which was found to boost MAO activity leading to breakdown of mood-related brain chemicals like serotonin and dopamine, which can drive depression, anxiety, and brain fog. Mice infected with SARS-CoV-2 showed similar patterns, with early depression and later anxiety tied to increased brain MAO which was reversed with MAO inhibitors. IL-6 and MAO interplay may underlie neuropsychiatric symptoms after COVID and medications targeting IL‑6 or MAO may help treat these neuropsychiatric effects.
"Rob Wust’s lab from the Netherlands reviewed skeletal muscle adaptations and post-exertional malaise in Long COVID. People with Long COVID show reduced skeletal muscle oxidative capacity, smaller muscle fibers, and increased glycolytic activity, all which may explain fatigue and post-exertional malaise. Muscle biopsies revealed structural and metabolic changes similar to deconditioning, but also showed unique inflammatory and mitochondrial signatures, suggesting Long COVID involves distinct muscle pathology beyond simple inactivity.
"Figure 3- Schematic illustration of the five predominant mechanisms underlying Long COVID skeletal muscle symptoms: local hypoxia, deconditioning, electrophysiological alterations, autoimmunity, and central fatigue.
From: https://www.cell.com/trends/endocrinology-metabolism/fulltext/S1043-2760(24)00298-4#f0005
"Invivyd announced the launch of the SPEAR Study Group after reports of Long COVID patients improving with monoclonal antibody Pemgarda (pemivibart). Led by experts Drs. Michael Peluso, Amy Proal, and David Putrino, the group will conduct rigorous trials to assess Pemgarda’s safety, biological impact, and early effectiveness in Long COVID patients with persistent virus or spike protein.
"A UK study validated the COVID-19 Yorkshire Rehabilitation Scale (C19-YRSm) in about 1,300 Long COVID patients, showing it reliably measures symptoms, functional disability, and overall health with high internal consistency and strong test–retest reliability. It outperformed standard tools like the EQ-5D-5L in detecting changes, supporting its use to track Long COVID recovery.
"Researchers from France and Spain analyzed blood samples from patients with Long COVID, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and Fibromyalgia (FM) and found distinct differences in blood biomarkers among the groups. As compared to people with ME/CFS, Fibromyalgia or healthy controls, people with Long COVID had low IFNγ, low Ferritin, high SARS-CoV-2 IgE, and high MCHC. This study may help improve diagnosis and distinguish between these overlapping syndromes.
ME/CFS
"Researchers from Montreal found elevated SMPDL3B in people with ME/CFS, linking it to immune and mitochondrial dysfunction. Researchers noted that diabetes drugs like saxagliptin and vildagliptin, which inhibit DPP4 (an upstream regulator of SMPDL3B), could potentially be repurposed to help manage ME/CFS. These findings highlight SMPDL3B as both a promising diagnostic marker and a possible therapeutic target for this challenging disease.
"The UK CureME ME/CFS Biobank is offering free biobank samples to early career ME/CFS researchers. Applications are due July 31.
Measles
'This week, measles cases broke a 33-year record in the United States and it is only July. As of July 8, 2025, a total of 1,288 confirmed measles cases were reported by 38 states, with 13% of cases hospitalized (162 of 1288) and 3 confirmed deaths.
From: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/well/us-measles-record-outbreaks.html?smid=tw-share
Parvovirus B19
"Parvovirus B19 infection (Fifth Disease) usually causes no symptoms or only mild flu-like symptoms, bilateral joint pain, and the classic bright red “slapped cheek” rash in children. However, Parvovirus B19 can cause low blood counts in people with blood disorders or weakened immunity and lead to complications if contracted during pregnancy. Infection during the first half of pregnancy can cause severe anemia in the fetus and may result in miscarriage in some cases. The CDC recently warned of a sustained rise in parvovirus B19, with Chicago seeing the highest rate of related emergency department visits for this season since 2015, prompting a CDC recommendation for pregnant individuals to consider masking.
From: https://www.cdc.gov/parvovirus-b19/about/index.html
Policy and Government Medical News
"As mentioned above, leading medical professional societies and a pregnant patient are suing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Secretary Kennedy for unilaterally changing COVID vaccine recommendations for children and pregnant individuals.
"Foreign medical residents are essential to U.S. hospitals but are increasingly struggling with visa renewals and delays, putting hospital staffing and patient care at risk.
"Lawmakers have proposed to cap graduate student federal loans at $20,500 per year, with lifetime maximum of $200,000, ending unlimited borrowing for degrees like medicine and law. Medical school tuition is $100,245 per year at Northeast Ohio Medical University and $99,399 per year at University of Washington School of Medicine.
Other Medical News
"New CDC data reveal that 1 in 3 American teenagers have prediabetes, sharply raising their risk for developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. CDC experts call this a critical warning, urging healthier eating and more activity to help reverse the trend.
"A review explores how food allergies may originate not just in the gut but also through the skin. It highlights evidence that skin exposure to food antigens, especially when the skin barrier is compromised as with atopic dermatitis, can lead to immune sensitization, producing food-specific IgE and setting up the gut for allergic reactions. The article emphasizes that mast cells are the final key players driving the allergic response, leading to systemic symptoms and anaphylaxis. The authors call for more research into the skin–gut immune connection.
Fig. 2: Food sensitization and allergic gut tropism.
From: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41577-025-01185-y
"A large study of approximately 44,500 UK Biobank participants found that proteomic markers in blood can estimate the biological age of 11 organs, revealing that accelerated brain aging strongly predicts Alzheimer’s risk and 15‑year mortality, while youthful profiles in the brain and immune system correlates with longer, healthier lifespans. Researchers suggest these blood-based “organ clocks” could enable early detection of disease and targeted interventions by tracking organ-specific aging independent of traditional risk factors.
"Scientists have engineered “turbo” NK cells (CAR-NK cells) that target rogue immune cells in autoimmune diseases like lupus and in systemic sclerosis. Early data show that CAR-NK cells can remove harmful autoantibodies and that they may be a safer, off-the-shelf therapy for autoimmune diseases.
"In two Southern Chinese cohorts of almost 74,000 individuals, people who tested positive for Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) VCA‑IgA antibodies were found to have nearly a fivefold higher risk of developing any cancer over 8 to 10 years, with notably strong associations for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (HR 26.05), lymphoma (HR 3.20), lung (HR 1.76), and liver cancer (HR 1.70). A clear dose-response relationship was found. No approved medications or vaccines against EBV exist at this time.
"A study shows that neurons can donate mitochondria to cancer cells via tunneling nanotubes, enhancing tumor metabolism, survival, and metastatic potential. In mouse models, blocking neural connections with botulinum toxin reduced mitochondrial transfer and tumor progression, highlighting nerve-to-cancer metabolic crosstalk as a novel therapeutic target.
"Rapamycin was first discovered in a soil bacterium of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in 1965. Its target is a serine threonine kinase named the “target of rapamycin” (TOR) and mTOR is found in mammals. A new review highlights how the mTOR pathway serves as a central hub integrating nutrients, growth factors, and cytokines to direct immune cell metabolism, differentiation, and function. It explores mTOR’s roles in shaping innate lymphoid cells, T and B cell fate, and its implications in aging, cancer, and immunotherapies. The review also discusses implications for immunotherapies and autoimmune disease treatments by targeting mTOR pathways.
From: https://www.cell.com/immunity/fulltext/S1074-7613(25)00279-1
"The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) is closing its unique stem cell biobank due to high maintenance costs and limited usage, prompting a closeout sale of thousands of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines. These cells, derived from healthy donors and patients with diseases like Alzheimer’s and autism, are being offered at steep discounts.
"Good news! The Global Fund has signed an agreement with Gilead to provide twice-yearly Lenacapavir injections for HIV prevention at cost to low- and middle-income countries.
"A nationwide co-sibling Swedish study shows that specific pregnancy complications are associated with significantly increased risk (1.2- to 2.5-fold) of stroke 30 to 46 years after delivery. Risk of future stroke was increased for gestational diabetes, other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, preterm delivery, preeclampsia, and small for gestational age.
"A large Danish cohort study of 71,604 pregnancies looked at the risk of congenital malformations from antibiotic use for urinary tract infection. For “first-trimester antibiotic exposure, the risk of any malformation, severe cardiac malformation, other cardiac malformation, and cleft lip and palate was higher for infants exposed to TMP-SMX vs β-lactam antibiotics. No elevated risk was observed for nitrofurantoin."
"Researchers mapped immune cells in the gut’s nervous system and discovered multiple distinct immune cell types beyond known macrophages located near enteric neurons. They identified specific molecular interactions like APP–CD74 that suggest direct neuron-immune cell communication that may influence gut homeostasis and disease.
"I hope that you had a nice Fourth of July holiday. Here are some of the pies that I made for our community’s annual Fourth of July bake sale.
"Have a great week,
"Ruth Ann Crystal MD"
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