City Of Louisville: Children Feeling Impact Of COVID Surge In Pediatric Hospitals

Press release from the City of Louisville:

August 17, 2021

Get the latest updates. 

Today, Mayor Greg Fischer, joined by Dr. SarahBeth Hartlage, Associate Medical Director for the Louisville Department of Public Health and Wellness, said the pandemic is a personal health issue for everyone and urged people to take steps to protect themselves and their families, including their children.

Today, Mayor Greg Fischer, joined by Dr. SarahBeth Hartlage, Associate Medical Director for the Louisville Department of Public Health and Wellness, said the pandemic is a personal health issue for everyone and urged people to take steps to protect themselves and their families, including their children.

Louisville’s COVID-19cases have sharply increased in the past three weeks and today’s data resembles those in mid-February, prior to widespread vaccine availability in the city. With the Delta variant driving the spike in new cases, Mayor Fischer said, “The unvaccinated are bearing the brunt of new infections, and practically the entire load of serious illnesses.”

Louisville’s COVID-19cases have sharply increased in the past three weeks and today’s data resembles those in mid-February, prior to widespread vaccine availability in the city. With the Delta variant driving the spike in new cases, Mayor Fischer said, “The unvaccinated are bearing the brunt of new infections, and practically the entire load of serious illnesses.”

The mayor stressed that anyone that is hesitant to receiving the vaccine to speak with a medical expert about any questions regarding the vaccine.

The mayor stressed that anyone that is hesitant to receiving the vaccine to speak with a medical expert about any questions regarding the vaccine.

“The Delta variant, clearly much more infectious than the previous version of the virus, is driving this tragic spike in new cases largely by finding the unvaccinated,” he said. “It’s understandable if you have questions about the vaccines, but please bring your concerns to a doctor or pharmacist as soon as possible.”

“The Delta variant, clearly much more infectious than the previous version of the virus, is driving this tragic spike in new cases largely by finding the unvaccinated,” he said. “It’s understandable if you have questions about the vaccines, but please bring your concerns to a doctor or pharmacist as soon as possible.”

Here are the key COVID-19 data metrics for August 17, 2021:

Here are the key COVID-19 data metrics for August 17, 2021: Here are the key COVID-19 data metrics for August 17, 2021:

Vaccines

Vaccines Vaccines

With the Delta variants increased level of contagiousness, Dr. Hartlage said that one person infected with the Delta variant has the potential to infect five to seven people. She said the virus is comparable to chicken pox, a viral infection that has up to a 90% chance to infect people who are not immune to it. She said the development of the two-dose Varicella vaccine helped with preventing transmission by protecting friends, family members and the community.

With the Delta variants increased level of contagiousness, Dr. Hartlage said that one person infected with the Delta variant has the potential to infect five to seven people. She said the virus is comparable to chicken pox, a viral infection that has up to a 90% chance to infect people who are not immune to it. She said the development of the two-dose Varicella vaccine helped with preventing transmission by protecting friends, family members and the community.

“The Varicella vaccine was introduced in 1995, and my generation was possibly the last where 95% of us contracted chicken pox as children,” Dr. Hartlage said. “Since that vaccine was introduced that incidence rate has dropped by 97%. That chicken pox vaccine, much like the COVID vaccine is very effective at preventing serious illness, hospitalization and death from the viruses that they work against.”

“The Varicella vaccine was introduced in 1995, and my generation was possibly the last where 95% of us contracted chicken pox as children,” Dr. Hartlage said. “Since that vaccine was introduced that incidence rate has dropped by 97%. That chicken pox vaccine, much like the COVID vaccine is very effective at preventing serious illness, hospitalization and death from the viruses that they work against.”

Dr. Hartlage said residents should continue to use the public health and safety measures of wearing a mask, using six feet of space to distance and sanitizing hands often if they are out in the community going to work, running errands, traveling and around groups.

Dr. Hartlage said residents should continue to use the public health and safety measures of wearing a mask, using six feet of space to distance and sanitizing hands often if they are out in the community going to work, running errands, traveling and around groups.

“The most important step you can take is to get vaccinated,” Dr. Hartlage said. “Kids under 12 do not have that option. When you get vaccinated, you’re helping not only to protect yourself but the children in our community. If you haven’t gotten vaccinated yet, now is the time. There is plenty of availability out there. Go out and get your shot.”   

“The most important step you can take is to get vaccinated,” Dr. Hartlage said. “Kids under 12 do not have that option. When you get vaccinated, you’re helping not only to protect yourself but the children in our community. If you haven’t gotten vaccinated yet, now is the time. There is plenty of availability out there. Go out and get your shot.”   

Individuals who need assistance scheduling a vaccine appointment or finding a vaccine clinic can call the LOU Health Helpline at 502-912-8598 or visit vaccines.gov to find providers near them. They can also text their zip code to GETVAX (438829) for English or VACUNA (822862) for Spanish to receive an address of nearby vaccination centers.

UofL Public Health Expert Shares Latest Information on Booster Vaccine Doses

UofL Public Health Expert Shares Latest Information on Booster Vaccine Doses

Dr. Paul McKinney, Professor and Associate Dean at the University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences, and a member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), shared his expertise regarding COVID-19 booster doses. Last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced an updated recommendation that approves an additional dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in moderately and severely immunocompromised individuals. Dr. McKinney said the announcement was an important breakthrough for Americans with those high-level health complications. He said 40 to 45 percent of individuals hospitalized with breakthrough cases are immunocompromised which he attributed to them not receiving primary antibody response in the first round of vaccine doses.

Dr. McKinney said people who are immunocompromised include those receiving include organ transplants, stem cell transplants and cancer treatments, as well as individuals immunosuppressed since birth and other high-level conditions. This group makes up nearly seven million adults in the U.S., he estimated.

“The concern was that the additional doses of the mRNA vaccine should be targeted first at people who were unlikely to have had a good primary response to the vaccine,” he said. “Among those with compromising conditions of a severe nature, it’s estimated that only around 35 to 40 percent of them had developed a primary antibody response that would be protective against the coronavirus and the variants in circulation. These individuals, if infected, will harbor the virus for longer periods of time, they can transmit it to a lot of folks, and there’s a greater chance that mutations develop as the virus continues to multiply in their system. It’s important that they are protected.”

Dr. McKinney said that a third dose of the vaccine should help improve the antibody response in that group from 35 percent to 70 percent. Speaking further, he said the third dose would not be modified in anyway to focus on the Delta variant, but instead will be the exact same as prior doses from the amount of mRNA present, to the volume of the injection.

“I think over time there will be modifications to mRNA vaccines, but the plan now is to use the same one because it looks sufficient for the present time to provide protection that’s needed,” he said.

For other groups that are not immunocompromised, Dr. McKinney said there is data that suggests a decline in efficacy from preventing symptomatic disease in people that have received the vaccine. He said studies are ongoing and data is being monitored closely, and added that protection against mortality and hospitalization is still high but does show a level of drop-off in preventing symptomatic disease after six months.

“I think there will be reconsideration for that additional dose in those individuals very soon,” Dr. McKinney said. “I would expect in a month or so, perhaps couple months, that it will become an offering as well. The focus now is on the immunocompromised. Hopefully all those folks will get the message either directly or through their healthcare providers that now is the time to get immunized. That should help overall with a number of hospitalizations that are occurring and reduce the burden on our healthcare facilities in the U.S.”

Norton Children’s Hospital Medical Director Discusses COVID in Pediatrics

Norton Children’s Hospital Medical Director Discusses COVID in Pediatrics

Dr. Mark McDonald, Medical Director of Norton Children’s Hospital and a pediatric care physician, has been caring for patients during the pandemic and provided a look into what the hospital is seeing with regard to COVID cases in adolescents. He said the virus impacted adults early in the pandemic while sparing the pediatric population. At the height of the previous spike in cases, Dr. McDonald said there was approximately two to three in-patients total in the entire hospital with one ICU patient. During this latest surge of the Delta variant, he said children have been hit harder with 11 in-patients and four ICU patients with three new admissions of COVID patients.

“The patients are much sicker with the Delta variant and they’re requiring a lot more support than previously,” Dr. McDonald said. “We’ve put together guidelines for treatment and distributed them throughout the state for pediatric practice.”

Of the children in the hospital, none are vaccinated, he said. He said Norton is promoting vaccinations because children can certainly spread the virus to adults.

“The message about vaccinations is important, especially to the pediatric population,” he said. “If you have children 12 and over you can get the vaccine for them. We’re actually going to start vaccinating children within the hospital, that are admitted, that are not vaccinated.”

Speaking on “long haul” COVID complications in adolescents, Dr. McDonald said that some children experience myocardial dysfunction, fatigue, memory fog, headaches, and an inability to focus when they read after recovering from the virus.

# # #

View this week’s COVID-19 briefing with public health officials here. The city’s COVID-19 data dashboard, a complete list of COVID-19 testing sites, vaccine information, prevention and contact tracing can be found at www.louisville.gov/covid19. The LOU HEALTH COVID19 Helpline is also available: 502- 912-8598.

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This press release was produced by the City of Louisville. The views expressed here are the author’s own.