The University of Kansas Health System is treating a total of 14 COVID patients today, down from 19 Friday. Other significant numbers:
- 9 with the active virus today, 10 Friday
- 1 in ICU, 2 Friday
- 0 on ventilator, same as Friday
- 5 hospitalized but out of acute infection phase, 9 Friday
Key points from today’s guests:
Dr. Gary Doolittle, medical oncologist, The University of Kansas Health System
- On this Melanoma Monday, part of Skin Cancer Awareness Month, he urges everyone to get screened for this disease
- If caught early, melanoma can be cured. If not found early, it can spread throughout the body and can be deadly
- Look for signs such as moles that grow or that are itchy or bleeding
- Enjoy the sunshine but protect yourself from UV radiation with sunscreen and try to avoid the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Dr. Jessica Kalendar-Rich, Geriatric Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Medicine
- Beginning to see a rise in COVID cases at area nursing homes in the last few weeks
- Vaccines and booster shots are critical for nursing home residents
- Masking continues to be important in healthcare settings like nursing homes with vulnerable people
Dr. Marc Johnson, lead researcher, The Sewershed Surveillance Project, the University of Missouri
- Wastewater numbers lower than during omicron wave in January and February, but are starting to increase again
- Anytime you have an outbreak, there are three factors: the immunity of the population, the behavior of the population and the variant itself
- Current variant not causing huge spike like delta and omicron, but it is contagious enough to make the numbers go up
- Heading into the summer with relatively low levels of virus in wastewater
Dr. Nathan Bahr, infectious diseases, The University of Kansas Health System
- If there are pockets in the community not being vaccinated, it’s a problem for the whole community
- Boosters are very important for keeping people out of the hospital. We’ve had a pretty good amount of the population as a whole getting the initial couple of doses, but we’ve done a terrible job with boosting.
- Masking is still the best way to stop the spread of COVID
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control, The University of Kansas Health System
- Explained the difference between the Novavax vaccine and the ones from Pfizer and Moderna
- Current recommendation is not to test for antibodies
- There continues to be demand for long haul clinic with multiple specialties for COVID patients
- Looks forward to being able to vaccinate children under five soon
Monday, May 2 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update. Nearly 300-thousand people in the metro have Diabetes. Is there a possible cure with a new fad diet? What doctors say about this growing trend, and if cures are on the way.
ATTENTION: media procedure for joining:
Zoom link: https://kumc-ois.zoom.us/j/7828978628
Telephone Zoom link: 1-312-626-6799, meeting ID: 782 897 8628
TVU Grid link: UoK_Health_SDI
Restream links: Facebook.com/kuhospital
YouTube.com/kuhospital
Send advance questions to medicalnewsnetwork@kumc.edu.
