Latest news with #WastewaterSCAN
San Francisco Chronicle
6 days ago
- Health
- San Francisco Chronicle
COVID is rising again in California — just as school and festival season start
As students head back to classrooms, travelers squeeze in last-minute getaways and crowds pack San Francisco's summer festivals, California is experiencing a renewed uptick in COVID-19 infections — part of a broader national trend that health officials say echoes previous seasonal surges. State health data shows that test positivity rates nearly doubled in July, from 3.94% on July 5 to 7.91% by July 26. While still categorized as low, the trajectory is concerning enough that public health officials are watching closely as fall approaches. 'I think COVID is still on the way up in California,' said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert at UCSF. 'We should expect to see more community cases, and later in the season than last year, based on Stanford wastewater data.' The virus's current increase, attributed to newer subvariants with nicknames like Stratus and Nimbus, coincides with the late-summer heat that drives people indoors — where respiratory viruses spread more easily. Though highly transmissible, these variants aren't necessarily more dangerous, and Chin-Hong expects fewer hospitalizations and deaths than in previous years. Wastewater data from the CDC and WastewaterSCAN also show climbing virus levels in California, one of only a few states currently reporting 'high' or 'very high' viral activity. Nationally, emergency department visits for COVID remain relatively low but are ticking upward, especially among children under 4 — many of whom remain unvaccinated. Chin-Hong said hospitalizations and deaths are also expected to increase for those over 75 in the coming weeks, 'especially if that group has not been recently boosted or taken Paxlovid.' As of now, California public schools still require standard childhood vaccines, but not COVID-19 vaccinations — a move that reflects recent shifts in federal vaccine policy. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has scaled back vaccine recommendations, including withdrawing guidance for healthy children, despite objections from major medical groups. Meanwhile, federal support for mRNA vaccine research — once central to the pandemic response — is being scaled back. Kennedy announced Tuesday the elimination of $500 million in funding tied to mRNA development, prompting backlash from many scientists who view the technology as essential for responding to future viral threats. An updated COVID-19 booster targeting the JN.1 variant is expected this fall, but uptake may be low. A recent KFF poll found that most adults say they are unlikely to get the new shot. In the face of rising cases and evolving public health guidance, Chin-Hong urges people to stay vigilant. Even mild symptoms like sniffles or a sore throat — ' razor blade or not' — could signal a COVID-19 infection, he said. He emphasized the importance of vaccinating older adults, especially those who haven't had a shot or a recent infection in the past year. For people at higher risk or living with vulnerable individuals, early diagnosis is key. And for older adults who haven't been recently vaccinated and do contract COVID-19, Chin-Hong reminds them not to overlook treatment options: 'Paxlovid or early antivirals are a great option.'
The Hill
04-08-2025
- Health
- The Hill
Where the summer COVID-19 infections are hitting hardest
The number of people with COVID-19 in the U.S. is low but increasing, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data released Friday. COVID-19 is trending up in many Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Southern, and West Coast states. The agency said infections are 'growing or likely growing' in 40 states, based on emergency department visit data as of July 29. Infections were unchanged in nine states. The weekly percentage of emergency department visits among people diagnosed with COVID-19 is low, but growing, CDC said. Visits were highest for children younger than 4 years old, which experts said makes sense because many remain unvaccinated. WastewaterSCAN, which monitors infectious diseases through municipal wastewater systems, categorized national coronavirus levels as 'high' and trending upward since mid-July. According to CDC, the wastewater viral activity level for coronavirus is currently low, and only Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, California, Alaska and Texas reported 'high' or 'very high' levels. Experts say a lack of data is making it harder to track COVID-19 in real time, but the available information indicates the expected seasonal wave is happening. Ever since 2020, COVID-19 has peaked twice a year. Cases rise in the winter and drop into the spring, and then again in the summer as travel peaks and people seek air-conditioned indoor spaces away from the heat. While other respiratory viruses remain at low levels until the winter, experts have said COVID-19's ability to mutate sets it apart and contributes to a much higher baseline infection rate. More cases circulating year-round means more opportunities for the virus to mutate. The vaccine being updated for the coming fall season is targeted to the JN.1 variant, as it was last year. But Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has significantly narrowed recommendations on who should get the vaccine, raising significant questions about the availability and affordability come the fall. In May, Kennedy said the shots would no longer be recommended for healthy kids, a decision that health experts have said lacks scientific basis. A coalition of medical groups subsequently sued over the move. In addition, a new policy requires all updated COVID-19 vaccines to undergo extensive placebo-controlled clinical trials, as if it were a new shot rather than an update to one that already exists. The updated Covid shots are expected to be available in the fall to adults 65 and up and kids and adults with at least one medical condition that puts them at risk for severe illness — the groups exempt from the clinical trial requirement.
San Francisco Chronicle
15-07-2025
- Health
- San Francisco Chronicle
COVID cases rise in California. Is this the start of 2025's summer wave?
COVID-19 is again on the rise in California, likely marking the beginning of an anticipated summer wave, according to the latest public health data. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that infections are now increasing in about half of U.S. states. The agency's latest update, released Friday, pointed to rising activity across more than two dozen states in the Southeast, South and along the West Coast — including California. Nationally, COVID-19 levels remain in the 'medium' category based on wastewater monitoring. That's up from 'very low' just a week earlier, signaling a clear upward trend. In California, wastewater surveillance confirmed the virus is spreading. WastewaterSCAN, a national program that tracks viruses in sewage, reported Monday that 95% of the sites tested in the state showed traces of the virus. The amount detected has increased since June. 'As we have seen in recent years, levels may increase during the summer months,' researchers noted in a July 14 report. Last month, an average of 150 people died each week from COVID-19, according to the CDC. Public health experts said the summer rise in cases is likely driven by a mix of factors, including increased travel around the July 4 holiday, large gatherings such as concerts and sporting events, people spending more time indoors during heat waves, and waning immunity among those who were last infected or vaccinated more than six months ago. Current virus levels are slightly below those recorded at this time last year. While no sharp spike has emerged, the steady rise mirrors familiar seasonal patterns. Genetic sequencing from wastewater samples shows the LP.8.1 variant is currently dominant, making up 33.2% of sequenced samples, followed by XFG at 24.6%. The NB.1.8.1 variant — nicknamed 'nimbus' and informally referred to as the 'razor blade throat' variant due to reports of painful sore throats — accounts for 7.5%. Despite its nickname, there is no strong evidence that NB.1.8.1 causes more severe illness or higher hospitalization rates. Still, public health officials continue to recommend vaccination, testing when symptomatic, and mask use in high-risk settings. 'For those who are older than 65, those who are very immunocompromised, and for pregnant persons and infants— especially under 2 — I would make sure you have received a COVID vaccine at least in the past year,' said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert at UCSF. A CDC analysis published Thursday suggests that COVID-19 has now settled into a twice-yearly pattern of surges, typically peaking from July through September and again from December through February. Scientists attribute this cycle to genetic changes in the virus's S1 region, a key part of the spike protein that enables the virus to bind to human cells. 'Our analysis revealed biannual COVID-19 peaks in late summer and winter, a pattern that is expected to persist as long as the rapid evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and cyclical S1 diversity continues,' the report stated.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Wastewater is now helping track measles spread around the US
As measles cases rise to precipitously high levels in the US this year, there's a new tool to help track the spread: wastewater. Wastewater surveillance rose to prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic, as testing sewage for virus particles helped provide early warning signs of increased transmission and fill the gaps as case reporting scaled back. Now, WastewaterSCAN has developed the first national wastewater monitoring program to detect measles in places where people are infected with the virus. It has the potential to identify possible cases days before an individual shows symptoms or seeks care. The new tool is available for use in nearly 150 wastewater treatment facilities across 40 states. At least 1,157 measles cases have been reported in the US this year, according to a CNN tally using data from state health departments. A large multistate outbreak centered in West Texas accounts for the vast majority. Texas has reported 742 outbreak-associated cases, New Mexico reported 81 cases, and Oklahoma reported 18 cases – 15 confirmed and three probable – as of Tuesday. Cases in Kansas, which the state health department says may also be linked to the outbreak, have reached 71 as of Monday. Experts say these numbers are all a severe undercount because many cases are going unreported. However, the nation is now fewer than 120 cases away from the total reported for all of 2019, the year with the highest number of measles cases – 1,274 - since the disease was declared eliminated in the US in 2000. South Dakota reported its first measles case of the year Monday, bringing the total number of states that have reported at least one case in 2025 up to 33. The new case in South Dakota is in an adult who travelled internationally, according to a news release from the state health department. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently updated its measles guidance for travelers. 'Travelers can catch measles in many travel settings including travel hubs like airports and train stations, on public transportation like airplanes and trains, at tourist attractions, and at large, crowded events,' a CDC advisory says. 'Infected travelers can bring the disease back to their home communities where it can spread rapidly among people who are not immune. CDC recommends that all travelers be fully vaccinated against measles before traveling to any international destination.' Other recent examples include a case in Minnesota that was reported in an adult who was exposed during domestic air travel, and the New Jersey health department has warned of potential measles exposure in the Newark airport. There have been at least 14 outbreaks in the US this year, according to the CDC, accounting for 90% of cases. The CDC's data is limited to confirmed cases and lags behind CNN's tally for this year. The vast majority of cases in the US this year have been in people who are unvaccinated; only about 5% of confirmed cases have been in people who had received one or two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, according to the CDC. Two doses of the MMR vaccine are 97% effective against measles. The CDC recommends two doses as the best protection against the disease, with the first dose given at 12 to 15 months of age and the second between ages 4 and 6. Childhood vaccination rates have been declining across the US for years, with MMR vaccination coverage among kindergartners falling below the recommended 95% threshold for at least four years. New research from Johns Hopkins University, published Monday in the journal JAMA, emphasizes how widespread the decline has been. MMR vaccination rates among children have dropped in more than three-quarters of US counties, with an average drop of 2.7% between 2017 and 2024, according to the study. Vaccination rates have surged in some places that are experiencing measles outbreaks, however. In New Mexico, nearly twice as many MMR vaccines have been administered this year than there were at this point last year, according to data from the state health department. And a recent analysis of health records by Truveta, a health-care data and analytics company, shows that early vaccination rates jumped among infants in Texas. MMR vaccination rates among 6-month-olds in Texas this year are more than eight times higher than they were in 2019, and in March and April, about 1 in 5 children who received their first measles shot in Texas had gotten it early, before their first birthday. At least 133 people with measles have been hospitalized this year, according to the CDC, and there have been three deaths: two children in Texas and one adult in New Mexico, all of whom were unvaccinated.
CNN
04-06-2025
- Business
- CNN
Wastewater is now helping track measles spread around the US
Vaccines Children's health Pollution Federal agenciesFacebookTweetLink Follow As measles cases rise to precipitously high levels in the US this year, there's a new tool to help track the spread: wastewater. Wastewater surveillance rose to prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic, as testing sewage for virus particles helped provide early warning signs of increased transmission and fill the gaps as case reporting scaled back. Now, WastewaterSCAN has developed the first national wastewater monitoring program to detect measles in places where people are infected with the virus. It has the potential to identify possible cases days before an individual shows symptoms or seeks care. The new tool is available for use in nearly 150 wastewater treatment facilities across 40 states. At least 1,157 measles cases have been reported in the US this year, according to a CNN tally using data from state health departments. A large multistate outbreak centered in West Texas accounts for the vast majority. Texas has reported 742 outbreak-associated cases, New Mexico reported 81 cases, and Oklahoma reported 18 cases – 15 confirmed and three probable – as of Tuesday. Cases in Kansas, which the state health department says may also be linked to the outbreak, have reached 71 as of Monday. Experts say these numbers are all a severe undercount because many cases are going unreported. However, the nation is now fewer than 120 cases away from the total reported for all of 2019, the year with the highest number of measles cases – 1,274 - since the disease was declared eliminated in the US in 2000. South Dakota reported its first measles case of the year Monday, bringing the total number of states that have reported at least one case in 2025 up to 33. The new case in South Dakota is in an adult who travelled internationally, according to a news release from the state health department. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently updated its measles guidance for travelers. 'Travelers can catch measles in many travel settings including travel hubs like airports and train stations, on public transportation like airplanes and trains, at tourist attractions, and at large, crowded events,' a CDC advisory says. 'Infected travelers can bring the disease back to their home communities where it can spread rapidly among people who are not immune. CDC recommends that all travelers be fully vaccinated against measles before traveling to any international destination.' Other recent examples include a case in Minnesota that was reported in an adult who was exposed during domestic air travel, and the New Jersey health department has warned of potential measles exposure in the Newark airport. There have been at least 14 outbreaks in the US this year, according to the CDC, accounting for 90% of cases. The CDC's data is limited to confirmed cases and lags behind CNN's tally for this year. The vast majority of cases in the US this year have been in people who are unvaccinated; only about 5% of confirmed cases have been in people who had received one or two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, according to the CDC. Two doses of the MMR vaccine are 97% effective against measles. The CDC recommends two doses as the best protection against the disease, with the first dose given at 12 to 15 months of age and the second between ages 4 and 6. Childhood vaccination rates have been declining across the US for years, with MMR vaccination coverage among kindergartners falling below the recommended 95% threshold for at least four years. New research from Johns Hopkins University, published Monday in the journal JAMA, emphasizes how widespread the decline has been. MMR vaccination rates among children have dropped in more than three-quarters of US counties, with an average drop of 2.7% between 2017 and 2024, according to the study. Vaccination rates have surged in some places that are experiencing measles outbreaks, however. In New Mexico, nearly twice as many MMR vaccines have been administered this year than there were at this point last year, according to data from the state health department. And a recent analysis of health records by Truveta, a health-care data and analytics company, shows that early vaccination rates jumped among infants in Texas. MMR vaccination rates among 6-month-olds in Texas this year are more than eight times higher than they were in 2019, and in March and April, about 1 in 5 children who received their first measles shot in Texas had gotten it early, before their first birthday. At least 133 people with measles have been hospitalized this year, according to the CDC, and there have been three deaths: two children in Texas and one adult in New Mexico, all of whom were unvaccinated.
