【《We Chinese in America》Media Editor Tang Zhao, July 26, 2022】Per County of San Diego Communications Office, as the number of human monkeypox cases increases in the region, the County continues to work with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community to develop messaging, education materials and to administer the limited number of vaccines coming to the area. (Photo credit: County of San Diego Communications Office)

The County is sponsoring two vaccination events July 28 and 29, where about 800 doses will be administered to those most at risk. Appointments are required to get a vaccine and are available by calling 2-1-1.

As it did earlier this month, the County is working with LGBTQ representatives and organizations to get the word out about the upcoming vaccination clinics. Appointments are expected to fill quickly.

Given the scarcity of the monkeypox vaccine and as guided by the California Department of Public Health, the County is focusing on delivering first doses to as many people at high risk as possible.  For the current outbreak, that includes men who have sex with men and multiple partners, as well as close contacts of reported cases. The County’s approach is in line with strategies in other large jurisdictions with monkeypox outbreaks, including New York and San Francisco.

Along with the two vaccine events, the County has sent about 900 doses to local vaccine providers such as UC San Diego, Family Health Centers of San Diego, Vista Community Clinic and San Ysidro Health. The County’s STD clinics also have some doses available for patients being seen at those clinics.

The state allocates vaccines to counties based on the number of monkeypox and syphilis cases in men reported in a region. To date, San Diego County has received about 2,200 doses and has 20 confirmed and probable cases.

“The virus is primarily spreading in gay and bisexual men who have more than one sexual partner or attend sex parties, but anyone who is exposed can get it,” said Cameron Kaiser, M.D., M.P.H., County deputy public health officer. “Having intimate contact or anonymous sex with people you meet in dating or hook-up apps increases your risk of contracting the virus. Please ask your partners about recent illnesses or rashes.”

The County is getting 80 courses of tecovirimat or TPOXX, an antiviral medication to treat people who have been infected with monkeypox. The treatment will be delivered primarily through the region’s established healthcare partners, with priority to patients who may be at risk of complications.

County health officials will continue to meet with LGBTQ representatives to determine how and where vaccines should be distributed when more doses become available as well as appropriate messaging on steps people can take to prevent infection. Based on information from the CDC, the acute shortage of vaccinations is expected to continue into 2023.

About Monkeypox

Monkeypox is a viral infection that can spread through contact with body fluids, sores on the body of someone who has monkeypox, or from shared items (e.g., clothing and bedding) that have been contaminated with fluids from sores of a person with monkeypox.

The disease can also spread between people through saliva or respiratory droplets, typically between people in a close setting. Although monkeypox is not generally considered a sexually transmitted disease, it can be transmitted during sex through skin-to-skin and other intimate contact, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, including close contact that may not be necessarily sexual.

Monkeypox Symptoms

Symptoms of monkeypox are similar to, but milder than, the signs and symptoms of smallpox, a related but extinct virus. They include:

• Fever
• Headache
• Muscle aches
• Backache
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Chills
• Exhaustion

A rash usually develops within 1 to 3 days after the appearance of fever.  This rash can look like pimples or blisters that appear on the face, inside the mouth, and on other parts of the body, like the hands, feet, chest, genitals, or anus.

Most people who develop monkeypox experience symptoms within seven to 14 days (and up to 21 days) after exposure.

Most people who become infected with monkeypox have a mild illness that improves without treatment over two to four weeks. Monkeypox is contagious and can spread to others once someone has symptoms from it and until scabs have fallen off and a new layer of skin has formed.

What People Should Do

Anyone who thinks they may have symptoms of monkeypox, including unusual rashes or lesions, should contact a healthcare provider right away or call 2-1-1 for more information.

You must have a rash, or spots, to get a monkeypox test. The monkeypox test is done on your skin with a swab at a clinic or health care provider. The swab is rubbed against spots on your skin, or parts of your rash, and then sent to a specialized lab for monkeypox testing. A preliminary lab test result is usually available within a few days.

Those waiting for results are asked to take steps to care for themselves and others. These include:

• Stay home and away from others.
• Put off travel on public transportation.
• Contact your sex partner(s) and people you have had close contact with since the start of your symptoms.
• Protect any pets.

For more information on monkeypox, visit the County’s monkeypox website.

(Source: County of San Diego Communications Office)

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【《We Chinese in America》Media Editor Tang Zhao, July 26, 2022】CDC is closely tracking cases of monkeypox recently detected in the United States. CDC urges healthcare providers in the U.S. to be alert for patients who have rash illnesses consistent with monkeypox. (Photo credit: Original Newsbreak.com)

Monkeypox spreads in different ways. The virus can spread from person-to-person through:

• direct contact with the infectious rash, scabs, or body fluids
• respiratory secretions during prolonged, face-to-face contact, or during intimate physical contact, such as kissing, cuddling, or sex
• touching items (such as clothing or linens) that previously touched the infectious rash or body fluids
• pregnant people can spread the virus to their fetus through the placenta

It’s also possible for people to get monkeypox from infected animals, either by being scratched or bitten by the animal or by preparing or eating meat or using products from an infected animal.

Monkeypox can spread from the time symptoms start until the rash has fully healed and a fresh layer of skin has formed. The illness typically lasts 2-4 weeks. People who do not have monkeypox symptoms cannot spread the virus to others. At this time, it is not known if monkeypox can spread through semen or vaginal fluids.

(Source: CDC website)

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【《We Chinese in America》Media Editor Tang Zhao, July 26, 2022】Per County of San Diego Communications Office, a homeless outreach effort in the Waterfront Park is changing lives through direct, same day assistance. The County’s Department of Homeless Solutions and Equitable Communities teamed up with Sheriff’s deputies, Sheriff’s resource teams and other County support teams to walk the park and engage with unsheltered individuals. County public health nurses were also standing by to help. (Photo credit :Getty Images)

Events like this one are critical in reaching people where they are and connecting them to resources immediately.

(Source: County of San Diego Communications Office)

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【《We Chinese in America》Media Editor Tang Zhao, July 25, 2022】More than 70 percent of adults age 50 and older haven’t received a second COVID-19 booster shot, and if you’re part of the pack, U.S. health officials say now is the time to roll up your sleeve. Cases of COVID-19 are once again on the rise — hospitalizations are double what they were in early May — and a highly contagious version of the omicron variant, known as BA.5, is behind the uptick, accounting for about 65 percent of coronavirus infections in the U.S.（Photo credit: Business Insider）

Those numbers could continue to rise, experts warn, largely due to BA.5’s immune-evading abilities. Here’s what you need to know about BA.5, including steps you can take to help stay healthy this summer.

BA.5 IS “MAXIMIZED TO EVADE IMMUNITY.”

When viruses replicate, they can mutate. Some of them shift into less menacing versions of themselves, while others pick up changes that make them more problematic. It’s a process that we’ve seen play out throughout the pandemic with the emergence of alpha, delta and then omicron.

BA.5 is what’s known as a subvariant of omicron — think of it like a branch on the omicron family tree. It has several mutations that set it apart from other variants of the virus, including its parent variant. And these mutations — many of which are on the part of the virus that binds to cells — make it easier for the virus to dodge frontline defenses put in place by either vaccination or a previous infection.

Even those who had COVID-19 this winter or spring are susceptible to another bout with this subvariant, experts say.

“So it’s sort of maximized to evade immunity,” says Andy Pekosz, a virologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

IT’S VERY CONTAGIOUS.

On top of its immune-evading skills, BA.5 also transmits from person-to-person more easily than others in the omicron family, including the original omicron variant (BA.1), which burst on the scene in late 2021 and caused the largest spike in infections to date.

“And those viruses were transmitting much, much more efficiently than previous variants,” Pekosz points out. “So it’s sort of reaching a pinnacle in terms of not only being able to transmit but also to evade immune responses that are present in the population, and that’s why people are really looking at this carefully and following the surge of cases.”  

SYMPTOMS STILL SEND SOME TO THE HOSPITAL.

“There’s no evidence to suggest” that BA.5 causes more severe disease than its predecessors, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky, M.D., said in a July 12 briefing, though data is still being collected and reviewed. And the symptoms the subvariant causes seem to be similar to those brought on by its sibling strains. Fatigue, runny nose, sore throat, cough and fever are all common with BA.5.

“We’re not seeing loss of smell so much,” says Abinash Virk, M.D., a professor of medicine and infectious diseases at Mayo Clinic. For many, it’s mostly cold- and flu-like symptoms, she adds, though “some people are still getting sick enough to get into the hospital.”

In fact, each day about 5,775 people, on average, are being admitted to the hospital for COVID-19, CDC data shows. Adults 70 and older are being hospitalized at a rate much higher than younger people.

MOST AMERICANS ARE UNDERVACCINATED.

Still, vaccine effectiveness against severe disease and death from COVID-19 remains high for omicron and its other subvariants, “and likely also for BA.4 and BA.5,” Walensky said. “So staying up to date on your COVID-19 vaccines provides the best protection against severe outcomes.”

Many Americans, however, are not up to date. Less than half (about 48 percent) of individuals eligible for a first booster dose have received one. And fewer than one-third (about 28 percent) of adults 50 and older, who are at increased risk for complications from COVID-19, have gone back for their second booster, federal data shows.

“We know immunity wanes with coronaviruses, whether that’s [immunity from] natural infection or vaccination,” top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci, M.D., said in the July 12 briefing. “And so if you’ve been infected or vaccinated and your time comes for a boost, that’s when you should go and get the boost.”

Older adults, especially, have a less robust immune response than younger adults, making boosters all the more important. “It’s a matter of getting somebody who is at higher risk of severe disease a little edge to handle a potentially severe problem,” Virk says.

Data shows that as of April, people age 50 and older who had one booster dose were four times more likely to die from COVID-19 than those with two boosters under their belt. And adults 50 and older who had been vaccinated and boosted twice were 42 times less likely to die from COVID-19 than unvaccinated individuals in the same age group.

“If you’re over 50, that extra booster dramatically lowers your risk of getting into the hospital, going to the ICU, and dying,” said Ashish Jha, M.D., White House COVID-19 response coordinator.

REINFECTIONS COME WITH RISKS.

Reinfections are becoming more common now that we’re two-plus years into the pandemic. And that will likely continue as immune-evading variants such as BA.5 tear through the country.

But reinfections come with risks, experts caution. Your symptoms may not be as bad if you get COVID-19 a second or third time, the thinking being that “you’ve got some immunity that’s going to prevent the disease from progressing quickly and to that severe disease state,” Pekosz says.

Emerging research, however, shows that with each infection, even an asymptomatic one, your risk of developing complications — heart attack, stroke, diabetes and long-term cognitive impairment — increases.

Another concern: “We don’t know how reinfection is going to affect things like long COVID,” Pekosz says — a term used to describe new or worsening symptoms that persist well after an initial coronavirus infection. “And certainly, if you’re reinfected you can spread the virus to others and continue the cycles of transmission,” he adds.

The best way to STAY SAFE FROM THE SUMMER WAVE

Don’t sleep on your booster.

BA.5 may sound like a lot of doom and gloom, but health experts say we have the tools we need to help protect us from some of the worst outcomes. Topping the list are the vaccines. Everyone 6 months and older is eligible for a primary series; people 5 and older can get a first booster; and adults 50 and older can get two — so can people with certain health conditions.

If you recently had COVID-19, you don’t need to wait months, or even weeks, before getting vaccinated or boosted. You just need to make sure you’re out of isolation before getting your next shot, the CDC says.

(Source: AARP)

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