The number of COVID-19 patients at The University of Kansas Health System is holding steady today. 15 patients with the active virus are being treated, the same as yesterday. Of those patients, two are in the ICU, the same as yesterday. One of those patients is on a ventilator, the same as yesterday. Ten other patients are still hospitalized because of COVID-19 but are out of the acute infection phase, up from seven yesterday. That’s a total of 25 patients, up from 22 yesterday. Doctors report only one of the active patients is fully vaccinated and that patient has been COVID-positive since December because they are very severely immunosuppressed. Another unvaccinated patient is on life support in the ICU. They also noted, after talking with colleagues at other hospitals around the Metro, all are seeing an uptick in patients.
On today’s Morning Media Update, Dr. David Smith, medical director of Youth Sports Medicine sits on the Kansas State High School Activities Association Sports Medicine Advisory Committee. He shared what he will discuss at next month’s meeting about fall sports. He also described the concerns he's hearing from parents about the vaccine as well as the virus, and he addressed sports related COVID-19 outbreaks in greater Kansas.
Before getting into the discussion, doctors discussed reports that the makers of Regeneron are asking for emergency use authorization for the drug which has shown it can reduce the risk of death in severely ill COVID-19 patients by 20 percent. They also don’t feel that Kansas letting its emergency orders expire will have an impact on vaccination efforts because there is so much available. With the summer travel season coming, they are worried about the Delta variant, though not for those who are fully vaccinated.
Dr. Smith said when he appeared on the Morning Media Update this time last year, he was very discouraged about the prospect of summer and fall youth sports in Kansas. But with the availability of vaccine for those 12 and older and stringent safety guidelines, especially for large events such as track meets, he feels this summer and fall can look a lot more normal. He says they learned a lot in the past year and his advisory committee has been able to recommend safety measures for all youth sports throughout the state. Rules such as don’t share water bottles, don’t share towels, wash your hands, and don’t come to practice sick are being strictly enforced because the message is clear that the virus is still out there. He addressed outbreaks of COVID-19 among some teams in smaller communities and parents there who are not cooperating with contact tracers, but said that’s happening in larger cities as well. He believes honesty is the best policy and if you suspect your child has been exposed, you need to get them tested. He says you’re doing it not just for your family but for others. He reveals for the most part, parents are buying into having their young athletes vaccinated, but he occasionally finds some who are reluctant. He addresses their concerns with them and advises parents it’s always best to have an in-person conversation with your child’s doctor and not consult “Doctor Google.” He also described how some school districts, including the Shawnee Mission School District, are organizing vaccination programs for student-athletes as well as all the students. He also noted that some Major League Baseball teams are all in on vaccines while others are not. His best advice is not to take a back seat and say, “Oh good, we’re all over this,” but to stay vigilant. He says, “We’re all in it together on the same team.”
Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control at The University of Kansas Health System, says if you’re traveling by plane this summer, you will still need to wear a mask, and take all of the standard precautions, even if vaccinated. He believes outdoor activities like water parks are safe for those fully vaccinated. He explained that even though we hear a lot about the possibility of myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart, in younger people who get the vaccine, it’s not a serious problem and doesn’t last long. He feels the risk of not being vaccinated is far greater. He reminds parents to add the COVID-19 vaccine to their kids’ back-to-school physicals saying it will help keep them from missing out on their usual activities.
Steve Stites, MD, chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System, said it was a year ago when people thought the summer heat would make COVID-19 go away. That didn’t happen and he reminds us that just like vaccinations eliminated polio and smallpox, they will eliminate COVID-19 from the world, if we all do our part. He points to Israel, which has removed all restrictions because so much of the population has been vaccinated, as the best example for the United States. He also discussed what we know about the possible timing of booster shots. He described how great it felt for him and fully vaccinated family members to see a movie in a theater and says that’s the kind of thing we can all do again if we stay safe and get vaccinated.
Thursday, June 17 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Morning Media Update. We recognize migraine month during a time of COVID. Neurologist and migraine specialist Dr. Deetra Ford joins to talk about headaches, including how to tell when it's a migraine and not COVID- related, plus how the pandemic has been a pain trigger for many of her patients.
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