Tuesday Morning Medical Update: Making COVID Data Easy to Understand

The University of Kansas Health System reports a slight decrease in the number of COVID patients today. 21 with the active virus are being treated, down from 22 yesterday. Nine patients are in the ICU, down from ten yesterday. Four are on ventilators, down from five yesterday. 25 other patients are still hospitalized because of COVID but are out of the acute infection phase, up from 23 yesterday. That’s a total of 46 patients, up from 45 yesterday. HaysMed reports a total of 19 COVID patients.
On today’s Morning Medical Update, we were joined by Dr. Amber Schmidtke, chair of the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at the University of St. Mary. During the COVID pandemic, she rose to acclaim as a science communicator, able to effectively translate complex public health data in ways that were meaningful for the general public through a widely read newsletter and podcast.
Dr. Schmidtke explained how her blog began. At the beginning of the pandemic, when people were scared and desperate for credible information, friends and family began reaching out to her. She shared what she knew on social media, and it gained a big following. She transitioned to the newsletter and has been going strong since July of last year. She sees COVID numbers from around the country and using Georgia as an example, showed how currently rural areas are seeing the biggest spikes in cases, nearly double that of metro areas. She says there was already a big rural vs. urban divide in healthcare access with rural residents not taking care of their health on a regular basis. When COVID came along, many rural hospitals closed. Throw in much higher vaccine resistance in those areas, and we have what she calls, “A hot mess.” She says Delta is really picking up in the Mountain West area of the U.S. and hopes that region learns the lessons from the South region about dealing with the disease. She stresses we are not out of the woods yet and worries too many people are letting their guard down, especially with winter coming. She noted last year COVID really took off around Thanksgiving and Christmas when everyone was indoors. She says, “If we can make it through November and not see that similar spike, we may be in the clear. But what I’m cautious about is that there are pockets of Kansas that still have very low vaccination rates and have very high test positivity rates.” She believes there are several reasons for big spikes, including pandemic fatigue, some confusing guidance about masks and a misconception that COVID can’t hurt kids. Last year they were hardly affected. But Delta changed that and now kids have the highest number of cases compared to all other age groups, rising by 1200 percent in the span of a year. This is because most of them are not vaccinated. She thinks vaccine approval for kids, which is expected soon, will make a big difference. She hopes all parents will be as excited as she is about the prospect and thinks it will help close the door on the pandemic. She says, “We have the tools to stop this pandemic. We’re unfortunately just not using them effectively as a society. It has been one of the biggest disappointments of this pandemic to have this life-saving technology and have people not taking advantage of it.” She urges everyone to get vaccinated as soon as possible, and in her words, “Don’t take COVID with you with the mashed potatoes when you go to Thanksgiving this year.”
Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control, discussed natural immunity vs. vaccination and said it’s different with Delta and you are much better off getting vaccinated. It will also protect against new variants, something natural immunity most likely will not. He reminded everyone that there are no preservatives in any of the vaccines. He adds there are no childhood diseases or conditions that would keep 5 to 11-year-olds from getting vaccinated when it’s ready. He says there are no new side effects reported from booster shots. He’s worried about large indoor sporting gatherings, like for basketball, which have the chance to spread COVID easier than outdoor events like football. As for Moderna saying its vaccine is safe for kids, he stresses it’s just the company saying it right now and we need to see all of the publicly available data.
Tuesday, October 26 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Open Mics With Dr. Stites. We’ll focus on vaccination boosters, pediatric vaccines and flu shots. Guests include Catherine Satterwhite, Region 7 health administrator for Health and Human Services, Dr. Bridgette Jones, Children’s Mercy and Mark Logan with Comeback KC. Those in the studio will also get their flu shots live during the show.