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COVID & Health News, 10/5/25, by Ruth Ann Crystal MD
"According to JP Weiland, there are about 510,000 new COVID infections daily with about 1 in 66 people currently infected in the U.S. Michael Hoerger’s calculations state that there are about 743,000 new infections daily also with 1 in 66 Americans currently infected. Hoerger breaks down risks for each state here.
"Since the government shutdown, the CDC’s wastewater monitoring site and other CDC websites display this message:
"WastewaterSCAN’s site is functional and is up to date, although it omits 12 states. Nationally, COVID is down to MEDIUM levels in wastewater, with the highest levels in the Northeast.
"I have wondered why Coeur d’Alene, Idaho has had astronomical levels of SARS-CoV-2 in their wastewater for the last few months. Dr. Marc Johnson tweeted 2 weeks ago that 96% of that sewershed SARS-CoV-2 came from one very sick person with a chronic COVID infection containing the cryptic lineage BQ.1.1.
"COVID positivity numbers are going up in the UK as well as European countries including Denmark, Sweden, Austria and France.
"Variant data for SARS-CoV-2 is only being posted every 4 weeks by the US CDC now. A similar message regarding the government shutdown was posted on the US variant tracker site. XFG is still the dominant variant in the United States and in many places in the world presently.
"Scientists are watching the BA.3.2 variant (nicknamed “The Great Pumpkin” by Federico Gueli). BA.3.2 evolved in a person who was chronically infected with SARS-CoV-2. The variant has been seen on 4 continents and this week community spread of BA.3.2 was noted in Western Australian wastewater where BA.3.2 has been seen in up to 20% of cases. It is thought that BA.3.2 may need several new mutations in order to spread quickly and it is being monitored at this time.
"If you are unable to take Paxlovid because of contraindications, you may be able to join a trial testing Pfizer’s new second-generation COVID antiviral called Ibuzatrelvir. Unlike Paxlovid, Ibuzatrelvir does not contain Ritonavir which causes many of the drug interactions and the bad taste of Paxlovid. For more information and to see if you qualify check out the trial’s website here.
"A new review looks at the oncogenic potential of SARS-CoV-2. “Unlike classical oncogenic viruses, which transform cells through viral oncogenes or by activating host oncogenes, SARS-CoV-2 appears to promote tumorigenesis by inhibiting tumor suppressor genes and pathways while activating survival, proliferation, and inflammation-associated signaling cascades.” While no direct link between COVID and cancer has been proven, the authors call for careful monitoring of long-term survivors for potential malignancy risk.
From: https://biosignaling.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12964-024-01818-0
"A Nature study from Ohio State demonstrated that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein alone can trigger inflammation in heart tissue which causes vessel damage and leads to changes in the heart’s electrical system that increase the risk of arrhythmias. Using human cardiac cells and mouse models, the researchers showed that spike-induced cytokine signaling altered electrical conduction and promoted proarrhythmic conditions. These findings provide a mechanistic explanation for the increased incidence of cardiac rhythm disorders in patients with COVID infection and highlight inflammation as a therapeutic target.
"In a meta-trial pooling randomized studies from six countries (Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Ireland, and the United States), 478 hospitalized but non-intubated COVID patients were assigned to inhaled unfractionated heparin (UFH) plus standard care or standard care alone. Inhaled UFH significantly reduced the composite of intubation or death (Odds Ratio OR 0.43) and in-hospital mortality (OR 0.26) without pulmonary or systemic bleeding, supporting its safety and potential clinical benefit.
"Philips North America tested whether a pre-existing AI model based on hospital-acquired infection (predating COVID-19) could be adapted to detect out-of-hospital COVID-19 infection using wearable data. They showed that the existing model did successfully pick up COVID infections an average of two days before a positive test with 74% accuracy.
"Analyzing data from about 3 million pregnant individuals and 1.83 million infants over 18 months, a Stanford-led modeling study calculated that maternal COVID vaccination prevented approximately 7,000 infant hospitalizations and 3,000 hospitalizations of pregnant women. Because infants under 6 months cannot be vaccinated and are high-risk for COVID infection, maternal vaccination is a critical, highly effective tool for providing newborns with passive immunity. COVID vaccination in pregnancy is safe and protects both mothers and babies.
"A large RECOVER retrospective cohort study over 465,000 U.S. pediatric patients found that a second SARS-CoV-2 infection more than doubles the risk of Long COVID in children and adolescents as compared to the first COVID infection. This number may actually be higher because only patients with the Long COVID diagnosis code (U09.9) were included in the calculations, but many children without the U09.9 code had Long COVID-associated symptoms including fatigue, malaise, headache, myocarditis, POTS, cognitive impairment, mental ill health, blood clots, pain and other conditions. It is estimated that more than 6 million American children have Long COVID, surpassing asthma as the most common chronic disease in children.
From: https://x.com/nycHealthy/status/1972714287115206802/photo/1
"Researchers from Yokohama City, Japan used PET imaging to tag AMPA receptors (AMPARs) in the brains of 30 people with cognitive Long COVID (Cog-LC) vs. 80 healthy controls (HC). They found that Long COVID cognitive dysfunction is associated with increased AMPARs in many regions in the brain and that the increased AMPARs density directly correlated with the severity of cognitive impairment in the Long COVID patients. Certain plasma inflammatory markers were abnormal for Cog-LC patients (increased plasma TNFSF12, and decreased plasma CCL2) as well. AMPAR PET scans could distinguish Cog-LC patients from healthy controls with 100% sensitivity and 91% specificity, and had a positive predictive value of 81% and a negative predictive value of 100%.
From: https://academic.oup.com/braincomms/article/7/5/fcaf337/8258475
"A study from Northwestern aimed to find diagnostic biomarkers for neurological manifestations of Long COVID (Neuro-PASC). Using a comprehensive proteomic analysis of over 7,000 proteins in plasma, the study identified a core panel of three biomarkers, C5a, TGFβ1, and Gliomedin, that differentiated 48 Neuro-PASC patients from 44 control subjects (20 convalescent, 24 healthy) with 90% accuracy (94% sensitivity, 86% specificity). The discovery of these highly abundant serum markers suggests they could be developed into a simple diagnostic blood test and, when combined with clinical assessment, may help personalize treatments using repurposed FDA-approved drugs.
"Two years after COVID infection, COVID recovered people were found to have a 41% higher risk of all-cause dementia and a striking 77% increased risk of new-onset vascular dementia. The elevated risk was particularly noted among the unvaccinated and those with prior mental health diagnoses. While other respiratory infections are associated with dementia, COVID represents a uniquely significant risk because reinfections are frequent and cumulative. Waning immunity allows repeated COVID infections over time, creating a sustained population-level burden not observed with other seasonal respiratory viruses like influenza.
"A new study from the University of Utah analyzed 4.5 million U.S. survey responses from 2013 to 2023 and found a sharp rise in self-reported cognitive disability. Cognitive disability, defined as serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions, is now the most common disability among American adults. The most significant finding was that the prevalence of cognitive disability nearly doubled among U.S. adults under 40, increasing from 5.1% to 9.7%.
"A study from Colombia, analyzed 228 adult COVID survivors and found that psychiatric symptoms in Long COVID patients are strongly linked to autoimmunity. The research found that over 30% of Long COVID patients had anxiety symptoms, and those who tested positive for Antinuclear Antibodies (ANA) were 2.25 times more likely to report depressive symptoms. This suggests that autoimmunity and immune system overactivity, rather than just stress, may be driving mental health issues like depression and anxiety in a significant subgroup of Long COVID cases.
"A prospective study from Brazil followed 70 people after severe COVID infection and found that at 1 year post-COVID, these patients had persistent nerve and muscle damage in their leg muscles (tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius lateralis muscles). They recommend targeted rehabilitation therapy.
"AHRQ announced that they will be offering research funding on Long COVID and other topics. “AHRQ has a keen interest in understanding the demographics, features, and care of Long COVID patients, the effectiveness of treatment, and potential associations with Long COVID symptoms, severity, duration or etiology.” Further grant information can be found here.
"A University of Toledo study on Long COVID patients diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) found a key underlying biological cause: a deficiency in their blood platelets. The research, involving 252 participants, showed that both Long COVID POTS patients and pre-pandemic POTS patients had a near-identical and highly significant platelet dense granule storage pool deficiency (δ-SPD). This means the affected patients’ platelets have roughly half the normal number of dense granules (storage sites for serotonin and clotting factors), which the authors suggest is a major driver of symptoms like orthostatic intolerance and easy bruising.
"A new review presents strong evidence that chronic Long COVID is driven by persistent SARS-CoV-2 viral reservoirs (including viral fragments or antigens) that linger in various organs long after the acute infection has cleared. These viral remnants have been detected in anatomical locations such as the gastrointestinal tract, lymph nodes, and brain, where they continuously fuel chronic inflammation and immune cell dysregulation. The authors state that there is an urgent need to develop and test antiviral medications specifically designed to eliminate these chronic viral reservoirs in order to help resolve Long COVID.
From: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/17/10/1310
"As of September 30, 2025, there have been a total of 1,544 confirmed measles cases reported in the United States, with 12% of cases hospitalized (191 of 1544), and 3 confirmed deaths from measles.
"Health officials in South Carolina have confirmed an outbreak of 8 measles cases in the Upstate region. All infected individuals were unvaccinated or lacked immunity, and several cases appear linked through community or school exposure.
"The Vaccine Integrity Project from CIDRAP warns, “Gone are HHS and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) campaigns encouraging vaccinations, along with annual efforts by federal officials to remind people about protecting themselves against the flu or parents about the importance of getting their kids vaccinated before school starts.” Without these public service announcements, vaccination rates will decrease. They warn that this policy failure of “of a resounding silence” will result in higher rates of severe illness and death from Flu, COVID, and RSV across the US population.
"Mississippi’s infant mortality rate hit a decade-high of 10 infant deaths per 1,000 births (15.2 deaths per 1,000 for Black babies) in 2024, illustrating the dangers of planned Medicaid cuts nationally. Because healthy babies start with healthy mothers, reducing low-income women’s access to pre-pregnancy care will likely worsen infant mortality rates across America, turning a state-level emergency into a national tragedy, as expanded Medicaid coverage is an effective way to prevent preterm births and save the lives of vulnerable infants.
"Stanford researchers studying 88 very preterm babies (born at <32 weeks gestational age) found that more skin-to-skin contact (aka kangaroo care) with family members in longer sessions was linked to stronger development in specific white matter tracts of the brain. Holding a premature baby skin-to-skin directly encourages the formation of limbic and frontal lobe brain circuits critical for regulating emotions and stress. Many studies have shown the importance of kangaroo care for premature babies’ brain development and this is one of the reasons why we made the Kangarobe.
"A new 2025 American College of Cardiology Scientific Statement says that chronic inflammation, measured by hsCRP, is a core and clinically actionable driver of cardiovascular disease and recommends universal hsCRP screening alongside cholesterol. Crucially, the ACC suggests that patients with persistently elevated hsCRP levels should receive or intensify statin therapy, regardless of their cholesterol levels, while highlighting anti-inflammatory drugs and lifestyle changes as key therapeutic strategies.
"The HPV vaccine is doing what had been promised. Seventeen years after it became available, HPV infections have decreased significantly in vaccinated people and also in unvaccinated people because of herd immunity.
"Did you know that Disneyland has quietly housed a colony of about 200 feral cats that help control the park’s rodent population since 1955? Cared for by Disney staff with feeding stations, spay/neuter programs, and medical care, these cats live largely unseen by guests but are considered an important part of the “Happiest Place on Earth”.
From Disneyland
From: https://www.instagram.com/disneylandcats/
"Have a good week,
"Ruth Ann Crystal MD"
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