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Dr. Ruth Report, 4/5/26
U.S. Respiratory Illness Summary:
COVID is low in most areas, RSV is having a late season and is high especially in the Northeast and Midwest, Flu A is low, and Flu B is still high in the northeastern United States.
From: https://data.wastewaterscan.org/
4/2/26 CNN: Kids may be more likely to get the new ‘Cicada’ variant of Covid-19, scientists say. Here’s what to know about BA.3.2 https://buff.ly/eBfzxj6
BA.3 was first seen briefly in 2022, but then went silent until November 2024, when it showed up in South Africa. It re-emerged after years and started to circulate again, kind of like what the cicada insect does. For this reason, BA.3.2 has been nicknamed “Cicada”.
BA.3.2 appears to infect children ages 5 to 15 about 5x more than adults. But so far, infections with BA.3.2 are not more severe than previous COVID variants. It has shown up in countries around the world, but has not caused large waves.
3/22/26 Diagnostics: Serum Mammalian Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) Levels in Patients with Post-COVID-19 Fibrotic-like Lung Changes: A Cross-Sectional Study https://buff.ly/mOusdoN
Higher blood mTOR levels were linked to post-COVID lung scarring
4/1/26 BioRxiV: VYD2311 is a promising candidate for passive immunization against COVID-19 in immunocompromised individuals https://buff.ly/5JqkrMq
David Ho’s lab at Columbia tested new monoclonal antibody VYD2311 and found that it potently neutralized XFG, NB.1.8.1, and the newer, genetically distant BA.3.2.2 COVID variant, significantly more than pemivibart.
3/17/26 Reports: Successful Treatment of Persistent and Relapsing COVID-19 with Ensitrelvir in a Patient with Obinutuzumab-Induced Long-Term B-Cell Depletion: A Case Report https://buff.ly/XFpXJ5g
Adding Ensitrelvir to Remdesivir helped an immunocompromised person to get rid of a persistent COVID infection.
4/1/26 eClinical Medicine (Lancet): Long COVID and risk of incident cardiovascular disease: a prospective cohort study using the Multimorbidity Integrated Registry Across Care Levels in Stockholm (MIRACLE-S) cohort https://buff.ly/DdD4bDt
A large prospective study of over 1.2 million people from Sweden shows that Long COVID is linked to heart issues including heart failure, coronary disease and arrhythmias, even after mild COVID infection, especially in women.
3/31/26 Annals of Internal Medicine: The Effect of Fluvoxamine and Metformin for Fatigue in Patients With Long COVID: An Adaptive Randomized Trial https://buff.ly/NOkPqBS
In a randomized, placebo-controlled, adaptive trial, “Fluvoxamine, but not Metformin, may be an effective treatment for reducing fatigue and improving quality of life in patients with long COVID.”
3/31/26 Nature: Long COVID disability burden in US adults https://buff.ly/7nZ44z0
“Long COVID YLDs [years lived with disability] approximate those of Alzheimer’s and Asthma”, yet NIH funding was only 14% of what this disability burden would suggest.
3/31/26 Lancet Infectious Diseases: Intravenous immunoglobulin treatment for long COVID: a case report of clinical and immunological findings https://buff.ly/OKIoCFj
In a case report, “ high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin was associated with sustained clinical recovery from long COVID over 1 year of follow-up, accompanied by immunological changes consistent with modulation of post-viral immune dysregulation, including a reduction in pathogenic T cell–monocyte synapses.”
3/31/26 J of Infectious Diseases: Comparison of Immune Activation and Gut Barrier Dysfunction between Long COVID and HIV infection https://buff.ly/ZOykHsI
“Long COVID is marked by lipid oxidation [oxidative stress] while HIV shows persistent monocyte activation” and worse vitamin K status.
3/27/26 American Heart Journal Plus: Cardiology Research and Practice: Elevated blood viscosity is associated with dysautonomia in long COVID symptoms https://buff.ly/qjp65Ew
In a Veteran’s Administration study in which only 32% of Long COVID patients were women, increased blood viscosity was linked to dysautonomia and POTS, but not to Long COVID symptoms.
3/30/26 June 2026 issue Clinical Immunology (Review): Post-acute sequelae of COVID-19: A disorder of impaired innate immune resolution – A narrative review https://buff.ly/2ShEj8y
A new review suggests that Long COVID is a disorder of failed innate immune resolution in which persistent stimuli (SARS-CoV-2, DAMPs, latent viruses, microbiota) drive chronic inflammation.
3/27/26 Study Results | NCT05965726 | RECOVER-VITAL: Effects of Paxlovid on Long COVID Symptoms https://buff.ly/xi2MM9F
Preliminary results from a study of 964 people showed that taking 15 days or 25 days of Paxlovid did not resolve Long COVID symptoms (brain fog, autonomic dysfunction or post exertional malaise).
3/28/26 RECOVER-AUTONOMIC clinical trial results shared at 2026 ACC Conference (Ivabradine) https://buff.ly/9w1YQk0
A NIH RECOVER trial shows that while Ivabradine lowered heart rate, it did not improve Long COVID POTS symptoms.
3/27/26 Preventive Medicine Reports: Exploring Long COVID diagnostic equity by sex, race and ethnicity, and insurance type https://buff.ly/cbn7vR0
Black, Hispanic and Medicaid patients are less likely to be diagnosed with Long COVID as compared to white patients and those with private insurance.
As of April 2, 2026, 1,671 confirmed measles cases were reported in the United States in 2026, with 5% (91 of 1,671 cases) reported hospitalized.
3/31/26 “The South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH) is reporting no new cases of measles in the state since our last update Friday, keeping the total number of cases in South Carolina related to the Upstate outbreak at 997.”
Utah Department of Public Health (Measles): https://epi.utah.gov/measles-response/
362 people from Utah have been diagnosed with measles in 2026, with 142 cases reported in the last 3 weeks.
4/3/26 CIDRAP: State public health labs step up as CDC pauses testing for various pathogens, including Rabies, Mpox https://buff.ly/lPQaC0K
4/2/26 CIDRAP: High-dose flu vaccine tied to lower Alzheimer’s risk in older adults https://buff.ly/jiBcmLm
4/2/26 CIDRAP: Similar costs associated with hospitalization in older adults for RSV and human metapneumovirus (HMPV) https://buff.ly/34zaLG3
4/1/26 Nature Microbiology: Chikungunya virus persists in joint-associated macrophages and promotes chronic disease in mice https://buff.ly/WunIy5M
The Chikungunya virus can persist in macrophages in joints, causing inflammation and arthritis.
3/30/26 Nature Immunology: Sex differences in immune responses to viruses, bacteria and vaccines https://buff.ly/kkP4u8i
There are sex-specific immune mechanisms related to gonadal hormones and to X chromosome gene activity in immune cells.
4/5/26 CBS: Big Bear bald eaglets hatch as Jackie and Shadow’s family grows by 2 https://buff.ly/ifZNb99
After losing their first 2 eggs of the season to ravens, eagles Jackie and Shadow welcomed two new baby eaglets late Saturday and early Easter Sunday.
Have a good week,
Ruth Ann Crystal MD
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