The number of COVID patients at The University of Kansas Health System is slightly lower today. 54 patients with the active virus are being treated, down from 62 yesterday. Only 13 of the 54 are fully vaccinated, and many have significant health problems such as end stage liver disease, solid organ transplant, chemotherapy, lung disease and diabetes. There were two inpatient deaths yesterday, neither patient was vaccinated. 16 patients are in the ICU, down from 19 yesterday. 10 are on ventilators, down from 14 yesterday. 39 other patients are still hospitalized because of COVID but are out of the acute infection phase, up from 35 yesterday. That’s a total of 93 patients, down from 97 yesterday. HaysMed has 14 patients today, down from 13 yesterday.
There were some recent developments about discussions of a third booster shot of the vaccine. Steve Stites, MD, chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System, talked about the importance of a booster for immunocompromised. He also walked through the evolution of how the vaccine has helped reduce transmission of the Alpha variant and now with the Delta variant, the importance of the vaccine in reducing hospitalizations and deaths.
New data is showing that vaccination does reduce risk of transmission and cuts the risk of long-haul syndrome by more than half.
“We were looking for some of this data,” said Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control, “That is encouraging data and we’ll keep looking for more as well.”
Dr. Hawkinson and Dr. Stites shared graphs that show how recent FDA approval did seem to impact more doses of the vaccine. They also showed maps of less vaccinated areas across the U.S. contrasted with infection hotspots, which shows a clear correlation between vaccinations and cases.
Chelsey Smith, outreach coordinator with the Community Blood Center joined the program to discuss the dire situation with blood supply.
“Unfortunately, we have reached emergency levels with our local blood supply,” said Smith. “We’ve been at a shortage throughout the pandemic, but we haven’t been quite this low. We are sitting at a 2-3 day supply overall with a half day to full day supply of our O types.”
This is especially concerning heading into a holiday weekend. She stressed that blood donation is safe. They are doing their due diligence to maintain safety, which includes masking, disinfecting of facilities, social distancing of donors and frequent testing.
Low blood supply has a critical effect on hospitals. “During a time when resources are already strained due to the COVID outbreak, this is just an added strain to the public health care crisis,” she said
Those interested in giving blood can visit SaveALifeNow.org to schedule an appointment or get additional information.
When it comes to staying safer this Labor Day Weekend, Amanda Cackler, RN, director of infection prevention and control, discussed CDC recommendations on what we need to do to stay safe as we head into the long weekend.
“Outdoor activities are safer than indoor activities,” she said. “If you have guests at your house and are indoors, masks are recommended.”
She said there is not much difference between last year and this year. The big difference, though, is that this holiday weekend, we have vaccinations. She noted that many children can’t get vaccinated, so take their health into consideration when traveling or visiting friends and relatives.
There are no “safer” places to travel to in the U.S. than others. “Unfortunately, high transmission is everywhere,” she said. “Delta is different than what we were dealing with last year. Stay outside when you can.”
Dr. Stites summarized that mask mandates ending and Delta hitting at the same time, created a perfect storm of increased infections that has put us into the situation we’re in now.
Friday, September 3 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update. Dr. Vincent Racaniello, host of the podcast “This Week in Virology” will join to help dispel COVID misinformation and talk about vaccines.
NOTE: Journalists should rejoin the Morning Medical Update at 8am as doctors are growing too busy again for individual interview requests. Please bring questions or send to medicalnewsnetwork@kumc.edu until further notice. Thanks for all you do and helping to keep the community safe with your reporting.
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.
Telephone dial-in Participants: For those without Zoom, call 1-312-626-6799, meeting ID: 782 897 8628.
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.