The University of Kansas Health System is treating a total of 12 COVID patients today, 10 Monday. Other significant numbers:
- 5 with the active virus today, 4 Monday
- 1 in ICU, 1 Monday
- 0 on a ventilator, 1 Monday
Key points from today’s guests:
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer, The University of Kansas Health System
- Our skin has its own immune system – it’s the first line of defense against all the germs outside the body.
- When the body goes through cancer treatment or has its immune system suppressed, the skin can go through drastic changes.
- It takes an important balance to maintain cancer treatment and still address the debilitating side effects of skin rashes.
Dr. Adela Rambi Cardonas, division chief, dermatology, The University of Kansas Health System
- There are some types of skin reactions that are so severe that even if they're not a threat to the patient, they impact their quality of life so much.
- For example, if the rash affects the palms and the soles of their feet, or they can't hold on to anything they can't walk, even if that's not the life threatening condition, that really impacts quality of life and oftentimes the chemotherapy regimen has to be adjusted or reduced.
- For bone marrow transplants, the goal is to replace a defective immune system and 80 percent of the time, the skin is affected.
- With cancer patients, the chemotherapy can trigger severe skin reactions in some patients and it is important to coordinate with the cancer care team to address that.
- The skin is a very complex organ. Not all rashes are created equal. But we're here to help patients get better.
Tamrah Edwards, breast cancer patient
- Tamrah had her first chemo session for breast cancer in November and about 10 days later, she developed a severe rash that led to her going to the ER.
- She was directed to Dr. Cardonas, where she determined the rash was a reaction to the chemotherapy medications. Dr. Cardonas worked with Tamrah’s cancer team to determine the best course of action to help Tamrah.
- Tamrah praised Dr. Cardonas and the dermatology staff for being aggressive in treating the rash so she could focus on her cancer fight – where she has now beaten Stage 3 cancer.
- Dr. Cardonas gave the credit to Tamrah for being such a great patient with a great attitude during very difficult circumstances.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director, infection prevention & control, The University of Kansas Health System
- The New York Times reported that excess deaths of Americans have fallen to pre-pandemic levels, which is good news.
- We still need to continue to promote prevention by getting vaccines, getting those regular screenings, and continuing to endorse infrastructure for public health. These are all things that will add up to help reduce those excess deaths.
- News outlets continue to report on the possible origins of the COVID virus. Based on the publicly available science and based on the expert opinions of people in science such as virologists, immunologists, and epidemiologists, the best theory out there is that the virus originated in an animal and spilled over to human populations.
Friday, July 21 at 8 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update. One mom never realized her 4-year-old had a vision problem. Without treatment, it would have become much worse. Learn more about how a simple visit with the right experts can detect vision problems in kids early.
ATTENTION MEDIA: Please note access is 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.