The University of Kansas Health System is treating a total of 42 COVID patients today, down from 43 on Friday. Other significant numbers:
- 22 with the active virus today, down from 23 Friday
- 3 in ICU, down from 4 Friday
- 1 on a ventilator, same as yesterday
- 20 hospitalized but out of acute infection phase, same as Friday
Key points from today’s guests:
Dr. Elizabeth Silver, managing director, Kansas Poison Control Center
- Medications looking like candy is a common issue at the poison control center. We always recommend making sure your medications are locked up, kept separate from candy to reduce the risk of children getting into it because they can't tell the difference between medication and candy.
- The DEA has released warning statements and precautions of rainbow fentanyl disguised as colorful candy. From the poison center perspective in Kansas, we have seen no evidence of this actually being given to children. However, a lot of these medications and drugs sold on the street are meant to stand out in a colorful, fun way and are very dangerous.
- Edibles are another concern because they can be mixed up with what kids can get – baked goods, gummies, and specifically branded candies that are THC infused.
- There's a wide range of symptoms that we'll see from kids eating edibles. So depending on how much they get in the dose, and how old the child is, you can see signs of confusion, but they can have changes in their vital signs – heart rate, blood pressure – either increasing or decreasing.
- If you think that they did ingest something and they're not having symptoms, call us at the Kansas Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222. If they're having severe symptoms – you're worried about their breathing and their responsiveness – that's definitely a 911 call.
- Glow sticks are nice for Halloween because they can add visibility for others, but if they are tampered with, they can be dangerous. The contents inside can leak out and if they get in the mouth, skin, or eyes, they can be irritating.
- For Halloween parties, be careful with dry ice. Make sure that you handle dry ice appropriately – have some sort of protective equipment if you're going to handle it. Do not put it in drinks. No one should be ingesting dry ice as it can cause severe burns in the mouth and the esophagus. It's a choking hazard. It's releasing carbon dioxide, so you're getting less oxygen and it can cause perforations.
Dr. Shannon Hoos-Thompson, cardiologist, The University of Kansas Health System
- The effects of too much candy on your heart is not typically an issue in the short term. You may see some sugar rush highs and lows above and beyond normal for our kids, but that usually doesn't trigger anything long term or problematic. That's just part of the holiday, so try to keep it in check.
- Halloween scares can make your heart “jump” and beat faster, but it's a protective mechanism that our body has. It's an innervation from the midbrain that goes down and one of the organs that is innervated and reacts in that situation is to make your heart pound stronger or more forceful and a little bit faster. It’s a completely normal response.
- When you go through the haunted house or down that dark alley or just watch a scary movie, and something jumps out, your heart and your body is doing what it is supposed to do when you have that trigger.
- A lot of times when you feel your heart pounding or racing, pay attention to what you're doing to your body as well as the environment around you because a lot of times it is your body reacting to tell you what it's sensing. It's usually not necessarily a sign that something is wrong with your heart.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control, The University of Kansas Health System
- Based on a recent study, during the height of the pandemic, people on ECMO machines had a 24 percent higher rate of new mental health diagnoses after discharge compared to other ICU survivors. Because patients on ECMO were some of the most severely ill, it certainly is reasonable that you have an increased degree of other problems, probably not just physical, but also those mental health diagnoses and issues afterward as well.
- We don't have a lot of interim reports yet on the ideal match between this year’s flu vaccine and the strains on the effectiveness of the vaccine, especially in preventing severe disease and hospitalization. It is believed the vast majority of the circulating influenza viruses right now are H3N2, so it is believed there should be a better a better match this year than there was last year and the past couple of years.
- There has not been a lot of data to support immune imprinting for COVID vaccines. We do know that you continue to evolve your immune system to have those broad responses to different strains. We should still continue to have a very high efficacy, especially with those T cell responses for protection, against hospitalization and severe disease.
Special Note: On Saturday, the Morning Medical Update team was honored with the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Emmy Award. This honor was given for the production of a powerful story focusing on the work of one of The University of Kansas Health System chaplains, Kathy Riegelman, as she visited with COVID patients in the ICU praying for them and with them.
Tuesday, November 1 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update where we are going deep inside the brain while the patient is awake. We’ll learn more about a surgical intervention that is one of many treatments helping epilepsy patients live fuller lives.
ATTENTION MEDIA: Please note access is now with Microsoft Teams:
Join on your computer or mobile app
Click here to join the meeting
Meeting ID: 235 659 792 451
Passcode: 6CSfGE
Download Teams | Join on the web
Or call in (audio only)
+1 913-318-8863,566341546# United States, Kansas City
TVU Grid link: UoK_Health_SDI
Restream links: Facebook.com/kuhospital
YouTube.com/kuhospital
Send advance questions to medicalnewsnetwork@kumc.edu.