The number of COVID-19 patients at The University of Kansas Health System is steady today. 25 people with the active virus are being treated, the same as yesterday. Of those patients, six are in the ICU, down from seven yesterday. Five of those patients are on ventilators, down from six yesterday. 10 other patients are still hospitalized because of COVID-19 but are out of the acute infection phase, down from 13 yesterday. That’s a total of 35 patients, down from 38 yesterday. HaysMed has one active patient, the same as yesterday.
Doctors report of the 25 current active COVID-19 patients, only one, in their 60’s, was fully vaccinated. ICU patients range in age from 38 to 56 and those on the regular medical surgical unit range from 23 to 81, with none of them vaccinated.
On today’s Morning Media Update, Dr. Carrie Wieneke, chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology, talked about issues related to COVID-19 and expectant moms. Plus, she debunked a few myths about pregnant women and the vaccine.
Dr. Wieneke says most states, including Kansas, had a decline in the birth rate nine months after COVID-19 first hit. But she says we are seeing a rebound in the pregnancy rate today, even calling it a baby boom. She’s advising all moms to get vaccinated against the virus because the disease affects pregnant women much more than non-pregnant women. She also says no pregnant or breastfeeding woman should skip the vaccine. She says it’s true that some COVID-19 positive women who are pregnant experience clotting, but pregnancy itself is a risk factor for clotting. She says there’s no evidence the vaccine causes menstrual changes, a common myth, and says reports it causes sterility have been investigated and debunked by the Society of Reproductive Medicine. Overall, she says there are no big safety signals or anything she finds worrisome about pregnant woman and the vaccines.
Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control at The University of Kansas Health System, commented on reports from some health experts that at the current rate of vaccination, we may never reach herd immunity in the United States. He reminds us that vaccination offers much better immune protection than the natural immunity from the virus and urges everyone not to skip the second shot. He says we could be vaccinating 12-16-year olds with the Pfizer vaccine as early as late May or early June. He also says just because local mask mandates have been lifted, we still need to protect ourselves and others because the virus is still out there, with the variants accounting for 50 percent of infections. He says the only thing that will help us end the pandemic now is for everyone, including the vaccine hesitant, to get vaccinated.
Steve Stites, MD, chief medical officer at the University of Kansas Health System, has a message for those who claim we don’t know the long-term side effects from the vaccines. He says it’s “just wrong” to continually focus on conspiracy theories and false information. He says the fact is with these vaccines, as with all vaccines, any side effects come in the first six weeks. He explains we’ve been using them for a year and there have been no long-term effects. He points out, however, that without the vaccine, if you get COVID-19, the long-term side effects can go on for months and months. He stresses, “COVID-19 is terrible and long-haul syndrome is terrible.” He believes once the vaccines get full FDA approval, which could happen this fall, we’ll see more and more employers requiring it. He also would not be surprised to see so-called vaccine passports required to get into big public events.
Wednesday, May 5 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Morning Media Update. Dr. Steven Simpson, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine specialist and President of The American College of Chest Physicians will explain the link between viral sepsis and severe COVID-19.
ATTENTION: media procedure for calling in:
The meeting is available by Zoom, both video and by phone. To join the Zoom Meeting by video, click https://kumc-ois.zoom.us/j/7828978628
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The feed is also available via TVU grid. The TVU source is UoK_Health and is being made available to all.
Feel free to send questions in advance to medicalnewsnetwork@kumc.edu.
