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COVID & Health News, 10/26/25
The CDC data blackout continues, but WastewaterSCAN data is available. Biobot has data through 10/18/25. Overall, SARS-CoV-2 levels have come down significantly in many places, but WastewaterSCAN considers the South to be LOW and the rest of the country to be MEDIUM for COVID right now. COVID hotspots include College Park, GA with 829 PMMoV; Dover, NH with 481 PMMoV; Lincoln, NE with 453 PMMoV; Wausau, WI with 447 PMMoV; and S Burlington, VT with 406 PMMoV. JP Weiland believes that overall, COVID transmission is at a multi-year low now and he expects this to be the case until Thanksgiving. Mike Hoerger predicts that 1 in 191 people are actively infectious with COVID in the United States at this time.
RSV and Influenza virus wastewater levels are low now. It is important to prepare for the upcoming respiratory virus season by getting your Flu shots, COVID vaccines and RSV vaccinations if appropriate. Enterovirus D68, which mostly causes cold symptoms, but can rarely cause a polio-like disease in children called Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM), is being seen in California, Nebraska, Iowa and the Chicago area.
Internationally, COVID levels continue to decline in England, although some European countries are close to peaking with this wave according to Bob Hawkins’ weekly COVID newsletter.
In a Hungarian study of 99 COVID-19 patients, the nucleocapsid (N) protein of SARS-CoV-2 was found to trigger complement activation even without antibodies. This suggests that the N protein may play a key role in the inflammatory damage seen in severe COVID infections.
A nationwide cohort study in France of 527,564 live-born infants, including 130,338 exposed in the first trimester to an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, showed that there was no increased risk for 75 major congenital malformations in infants exposed to mRNA vaccines in the first trimester. This supports the safety of mRNA COVID vaccination in early pregnancy.
Researchers from Rutgers used mass spectrometry and machine learning to identify distinct protein signatures that can differentiate Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) from other conditions like acute COVID infection, pneumonia, and Kawasaki disease. A diagnostic panel of three proteins- VWF, FCGBP, and SERPINA3- identified MIS-C with 96% accuracy, offering a path to rapid diagnosis where timely treatment is vital.
It turns out that COVID mRNA vaccines can also help fight cancer. In retrospective human trials at MD Anderson of 180 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients and 43 melanoma patients, receiving an mRNA COVID vaccine within 100 days of initiating immune checkpoint inhibitor cancer therapy was associated with significantly improved overall survival, even in cancers typically resistant to immunotherapy. Preclinical studies also showed that mRNA COVID vaccines induce a surge in type I interferon and activate innate and CD8⁺ T cell responses, thereby converting immunologically “cold” tumors into ones responsive to immune checkpoint inhibitors.
From: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09655-y/figures/16
A group from Austria and Germany discovered a non-invasive urinary peptide test called PASC195 that distinguished 50 people with PASC (Long COVID) from 50 healthy controls and from 8 people with non-COVID related ME/CFS with high accuracy. In Long COVID patients, there is a distinct signature of 195 peptides in urine that are mostly related to collagen. The finding points to widespread collagen dysregulation in Long COVID, indicating ongoing damage to blood vessels and tissues. In silico assessment suggests that certain drug classes (GLP1-RA, MRA) may be effective by targeting these affected molecular pathways.
The amygdala is a region in the brain that helps regulate emotions. German researchers found that people with long-term COVID-related smell loss show microstructural changes in their amygdala, as well as higher depression and anxiety scores. The SARS-CoV-2 virus causes long lasting changes on the olfactory nerves that go into the brain and it reshapes brain circuits that connect our sense of smell and our emotions.
A retrospective study from Australia looked at the effect of inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting bronchodilators on small airway dysfunction (SAD) observed in non-asthmatic Long COVID patients. “Among 79 SAD patients prescribed inhaled corticosteroid/long-acting bronchodilator (ICS/LABA) therapy, resistance, reactance, and symptoms improved significantly: dyspnoea (83.5%→17.7%), fatigue (96.2%→15.2%), cough (43%→11.4%).”
A clinical trial involving 346 adults with Long COVID across six states in India found that the anti-inflammatory drug colchicine was ineffective. After 52 weeks, patients receiving colchicine showed no significant improvement in key measures like physical function, respiratory function, or inflammation markers compared to those on a placebo.
As of October 21, 2025, a total of 1,618 confirmed measles cases were reported in the United States, with 12% of cases hospitalized (198 of 1618), and 3 confirmed deaths from measles.
NBC news reports that measles cases are spreading from a Utah-Arizona border outbreak to more touristy areas of Utah. MMR vaccination rates for those towns are low (69% to 79%) which is well below the threshold of herd immunity required to prevent outbreaks.
The British Dietetic Association issued new guidelines for the treatment of chronic constipation based on a systematic review of 75 Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) suggesting that foods like kiwifruit and rye bread, along with specific supplements like psyllium and magnesium oxide, are effective treatments for chronic constipation. They state that kiwifruit is a preferred option because it does not cause bloating and pain like psyllium can, and is also preferred over rye bread because of the sheer number of slices of rye bread needed to be effective (6 to 8 slices per day). Another clinical trial from 2021 showed that kiwifruit, prunes and psyllium can be used to treat chronic constipation, but that patients much preferred taking kiwi because of fewer gastrointestinal side effects like bloating and gas.
When I was formulating the VivaBiome LC-02 synbiotic for my daughter, I wanted to use a low FODMAP prebiotic that could increase F. Prau and Roseburia species. I chose green kiwi because it increases these important butyrate-producing bacteria and because kiwi is gentle on the gastrointestinal system.
A Stanford-led team developed the PRIMA wireless retinal prosthesis, which is a tiny implanted chip that works with high-tech glasses, and restored partial vision in people with advanced macular degeneration. In clinical trials, participants were able to read books and subway signs again- an unprecedented recovery for a condition that previously caused irreversible blindness.
From: https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2025/10/eye-prosthesis.html
A new study in Nature Medicine revealed that the biological damage of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) begins silently in the brain about 7 years before the onset of clinical symptoms. Researchers used blood protein analysis to show that damage to the myelin sheath (nerve insulation) is the first injury, which then precedes axonal injury (nerve fiber damage) by approximately 1 year. This discovery outlines the precise sequence of the disease’s onset, identifying early blood markers like MOG and IL-3 that could be used for a new blood test to detect MS years before symptoms appear and potentially allow for prevention.
After their beloved dog Dakota passed away, a family in California looked online for a new dog to join their family. They were not expecting to see a photo of Dakota as a puppy next to her sister Ginger in one of the photos. It turns out that Ginger had just been recently surrendered to the Pasadena shelter because her owner was sick and could no longer take care of her. Dakota’s family met 12-year-old Ginger and happily adopted her in memory of their beloved Dakota.
Have a good week,
Ruth Ann Crystal MD
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