Pat Hartman | Childhood Obesity News

The Exemplary State of Colorado

Pat Hartman June 30, 2021 No Comments

Admittedly, the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted procedures and practices for more than a year. When this is all over, every institution, business, and family will need to get back on track in numerous ways. Nobody wants to think of the conditions we currently struggle with as “normal.”

So even though it has been difficult to follow through with plans and programs that were laid out before the worldwide health emergency, it will be useful to take a look at what one state has in mind, at least aspirationally. Speaking of hopes, in 2013 the governor announced Colorado’s intention to become the healthiest state in the Union. Regardless of what the other parameters may be, it is currently the least obese state.

A rocky history

In 2014, Colorado’s overweight and obesity rates had been growing steadily for at least 20 years. Of its high school students, nearly one in five was overweight or obese. For children, the proportion was higher — nearly one in four overweight or obese.

Still, in that measurement of health, it was the third proudest state, bested only by Hawaii and the District of Columbia. Not content with even such an excellent position, in that year Colorado’s Department of Education published a guidebook for school nurses, the Healthy Weight Toolkit. An impressive number of specialists and experts contributed to the contents of this 32-page document. The five major categories cover health team guidelines; screening; referral; health care plan; and resources.

A push for change

In the section on obesity and co-morbidity screening, the use of Body Mass Index percentile charts issued by the CDC is recommended. Routine screening should start at age three. For children of 10 years and older who are in the highest 5% in BMI, it is a good idea to refer them for certain blood tests. There is extensive information about the various possible co-morbidities.

Professionals are encouraged to make parents aware of the 5-2-1-0 plan, which had already proven useful in Maine. What it means, spelled out, is a daily goal of “At least 5 servings fruits and vegetables, 2 hours or less of screen time, at least 1 hour of exercise, and 0 sugary drinks.” More detailed information about the whats and whys of 5-2-1-0 is also included. There is also additional information about nutrition and physical activity.

A generous section is about motivational interviewing, a subject that has also been covered by Childhood Obesity News, that has to do with how and why people change. Here is a profound series of sentences from the motivational interviewing canon:

You are not listening to me when:

• You say you understand.
• You say you have an answer before I finish telling you my story.
• You cut me off before I have finished speaking.
• You finish my sentences for me.
• You tell me about your or another person’s experiences, making mine seem unimportant.
• Your response is not consistent with what I said.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Overweight and Obesity in Colorado, dphe.state.co.usm, 2014
Source: “Colorado Healthy Weight Toolkit,” cde.state.co.us, 12/01/14
Image by Aaron Yoo/CC BY-ND 2.0

Who’s Who in Obesity

Pat Hartman June 29, 2021 No Comments

This blog recently discussed school involvement in weight monitoring. This is not a top-down, federal government type of decision, but is handled more locally, and it does not seem like consensus will be reached soon, if ever. It appears that for the moment, the best we can do is count the number of young people who are officially obese.

To start with some good news: The least-obese state, Colorado, is evenly tied with the District of Columbia. In both jurisdictions, the obesity prevalence is 23.8%. Colorado is a state of the young and the fit. The built environment evolved not randomly but through thoughtfulness and deliberation:

About 87.9% of children between 2 and 19 years old in the state have easy access to parks and playgrounds… About 89.5% of communities in Colorado are built in a way that promotes physical activity — which means having plenty of sidewalks, trails, bike lanes, and walking paths.

What state has the second-lowest obesity rate? The answer seems counter-intuitive — Hawaii. Isn’t it typical to imagine a population of laid-back people enjoying the weather and natural beauty, and not caring very much about fitness? But apparently, that is not the case. In addition to a low proportion of obesity, Hawaii boasts the highest life expectancy of all the states — an impressive 81.5 years.

A group called Consumer Protect aims to improve the lives of consumers by informing, protecting, and warning the public against “unfair and unsafe products, business practices, and technologies.” The organization helps consumers to file personal injury and product liability lawsuits, and will evaluate a potential case for no cost.

Consumer Protect has released its Couch Potato Index, with figures derived from the very official Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This was written about by Richard Meyer for a website geared toward people interested in direct-to-consumer marketing, otherwise known as advertising. Meyer wrote,

Consumer Protect looked at states where adults engage “in zero physical leisure activity…” Kentucky was No. 1, with 34.4 percent of adults in the state engaging in zero physical activity. Mississippi and Arkansas followed behind with 33.2 percent and 32.5 percent, respectively.

By a strange coincidence, slothful Mississippi is, by the CDC’s accounting, the state whose obesity rate is highest, and also the state with the shortest average life expectancy. Kentucky is the fifth fattest state, and Arkansas is the third fattest. The point here is, there is a very strong correlation between obesity, lack of exercise, and a needlessly shortened lifespan. For anyone who can face additional numbers at this point, here are some more, as phrased by Meyer:

In 2016, diseases caused by obesity and being overweight accounted for 47.1 percent of the total cost of chronic diseases in the U.S. — responsible for $480.7 billion in direct health care costs, plus $1.24 trillion in indirect costs related to lost economic productivity. The total cost of chronic diseases due to obesity in 2016 was $1.72 trillion — equivalent to 9.3 percent of the U.S. GDP that year.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Most Obese States 2021,” WorldPopulationReview.com, undated
Source: “This Is Where Colorado Childhood Obesity Ranks in the US,” MSN.com, 6/17/2021
Source: “What We Do,” ConsumerProtact.com, undated
Source: “Couch Potato Index,” WorldOfdtcMarketing.com, 07/31/19
Image by Infrogmation/CC BY 2.0

Growth Not Always Good

Pat Hartman June 28, 2021 No Comments

This cannot be said too often: Childhood obesity almost inevitably leads to lifelong obesity. Somehow it needs to be nipped in the bud, and preferably without coercion or any other violation of children’s human rights. It is not surprising that the motives and methods of weight-loss proponents (and opponents) are sometimes questioned. The following quotation is relevant:

According to the CDC’s most recent obesity numbers, the state with the highest obesity rate is Mississippi, with an obesity rate of 40.8%. Mississippi also has the shortest life expectancy among all states at 74.5 years. West Virginia has the second-highest obesity prevalence at 39.7% and the second-lowest life expectancy of 74.8 years.

It does not take a genius to put it together: There is a very direct correlation between obesity and a needlessly truncated lifespan.

Who should be in charge?

The previous post looked at some of the diverse opinions surrounding the concept of requiring, or even asking, that schools should keep tabs on children’s obesity status. As it turns out, opinions are available from even more sources. A California study published by JAMA Pediatrics looked at “6,534 elementary and middle school students in at least the 85th BMI percentile,” reports MedPage Today staff writer Elizabeth Hlavinka. She explains,

Children have become increasingly weight conscious over the past several decades and public health interventions designed to alert or remind families of children’s weight status may not be having their intended effect…

The parents were sent body mass index report cards and the followup study did not show impressive results in terms of weight loss. It could seem like this approach is a waste of time, energy, and financial resources, in addition to squandering goodwill that might have otherwise accrued to grownups who only tried to help.

A very strong faction believes that the promotion of healthy behavior counts for a lot more than an obsession with pounds or calories. UC Berkeley’s Dr. Kristine Madsen told the journalist,

The way you talk to parents about children’s weight status really matters. Using terms like obesity with families of young children is completely demoralizing and it’s not at all effective.

An interest in weight perceptions and weight loss behaviors caused a team led by Francesca Solmi, Ph.D., of University College London to study three generations of children:

Researchers […] found youth’s weight loss behaviors increased in a stepwise fashion from 1986-2015, and more youth saw themselves as overweight in 2015 versus 1986, regardless of their actual weight.

Some of those young subjects had depressive symptoms, particularly the girls. Hlavinka reminds readers, parents and professionals alike, that overweight kids are rarely allowed to forget their fat. Harping on the subject can’t help, especially when the afflicted are not offered useful alternatives.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Most Obese States 2021,” WorldPopulationReview.com, undated
Source: “Some Policies Aimed at Childhood Obesity Aren’t Cutting It,” MedPageToday.com, 11/16/20
Image by Micah Sittig/CC BY 2.0

Good Intentions, Bad Practice?

Pat Hartman June 25, 2021 No Comments

It is interesting sometimes to take a random fact and ponder its implications. For instance, this article mentions that people with college degrees are less likely to be obese than those who went no further than high school. What does this mean in terms of childhood obesity?

For one thing, it is possible that the social unease experienced by obese teenagers could encourage behavior like ditching school. Being fat-shamed might lead to a general lack of confidence that would make grades drop, and thoughts of higher education fall by the wayside. What are grades, when you can neither be nor date a cheerleader? A kid who is sick of being bullied or ignored might think, “What’s the use? College will probably just be more of the same,” and become de-motivated.

Zoom out

It seems pretty apparent that every societal problem that concerns obesity could be greatly alleviated by concentrating on obesity among children. The earlier obesity starts, the more difficult it is to escape. The longer it continues, the longer it will take to shed the extra pounds. Early intervention must be the key to all future transactions between people’s bodies and the culture they live in.

Or maybe not. A persuasive philosophy holds that kids are already too restricted, harnessed, manipulated, scrutinized, pressured, or exploited. When it comes to child-rearing, the happy medium between license and over-control seems impossible to find. This can be the case in the micro-world of the family and the macro-universe of society. People with diverse views on other issues often agree that there is too much government control of one thing or another.

For instance, there are strong arguments against requiring schools to be involved in weight surveillance. Such a policy encourages bullying, they say. Also, bringing schools into the loop is said not to make any difference in the results.

According to a CNN article, about 40% of American children are likely to have letters or “report cards” about their weight sent home. This is based on a study published by JAMA Pediatrics. The team looked at 29,000 California children in third through seventh grade. Research indicates that the results are mixed, at best:

Such BMI report cards “increase parents’ weight-related anxiety but provide little guidance about evidence-based health promotion strategies and offer no structural support for behavior change,” said Dr. Tracy K. Richmond, an eating disorder specialist.

An increase in eating disorders is indeed one of the fears aroused by school involvement in monitoring weight. For parents who are uneasy with this practice, it is one area in which parents can make a difference by becoming activists at the local and state level.

Another point of view sees nothing wrong in the basic principle of school involvement but asserts that Body Mass Index measurement is not the way to go.

Of course, everything else depends on the current response to COVID-19. Will children even be in school? If they are, will the distancing rules preclude such activities as weight measurement?

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Most Obese States 2021,” WorldPopulationReview.com, undated
Source: “School warnings about children’s weight don’t work, study says,” KVIA.com, 11/16/20
Images by Harmony and puuikibeach/CC BY 2.0

Coronavirus Chronicles — The Gang of Two

Pat Hartman June 24, 2021 No Comments

Whether we label them colluders, allies, mutual enablers, partners in crime, teammates, a pair of matched bullies, gang leaders, the Grim Twins, the Mob of Two, or any other fanciful name, the situation remains unchanged. Obesity and the coronavirus, having apparently sworn a blood oath to support each other to the bitter end, are still thick as thieves.

Sometimes, awareness of their depredations sneaks up on us. Given all the other terrifying events of the pandemic era, a 2% increase in childhood obesity might not sound like a big deal, but many pediatricians see that figure as a very big deal indeed. Two things about childhood obesity have become starkly apparent: the earlier it takes hold, the harder it is to stop; and the longer it exists in an individual, the more difficult it is to reverse. COVID has done a splendid job of diverting attention and keeping the public mind occupied so that its bosom buddy, obesity, could make unprecedented headway.

A study published by Pediatrics in May turned the spotlight on patients cared for by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). The institution’s Care Network encompasses almost 30 urban, suburban, and semi-rural clinics around Philadelphia. The patients the researchers looked at were, on average, just over nine years old, and ranged from two to 17 years, almost evenly divided between girls and boys

Not surprisingly, race, ethnicity, and wealth figured heavily in the results. The disparities have become more obvious than ever. According to the study,

Nearly 25% of Hispanic/Latino or non-Hispanic Black patients seen during the pandemic were obese, compared with 11.3% of non-Hispanic White patients.

Sandra Hassink, M.D., of the Institute of Healthy Childhood Weight, told the press that the reasons include parental unemployment and children’s loss of access to healthful meals that they used to receive at school. Not surprisingly, the loss of access to physical exercise opportunities and the increase of time spent staring at electronic screens also contribute to the crisis.

Professionals had already become used to the seeming paradox of children gaining too much weight during summer breaks, but the pandemic has been an extended period with all the disadvantages of summer and none of its advantages. Medical personnel are warned to keep an eye out for such obesity co-morbidities as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, liver disease, and malfunctioning knee joints.

Guidance issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics in December advised doctors to counsel parents about “maintaining healthy nutrition, minimizing sedentary time, and getting enough sleep and physical activity.” Meanwhile, doctors and therapists have made the point that while BMI is relatively easy to measure and track, the loss of progress in learning and the decline of mental health among children, while certainly apparent, are more difficult to measure.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “‘Striking’ Increase in Childhood Obesity During Pandemic,” WebMD.com, 03/30/21
Images by Pedro Ribeiro Simões and Gage Skidmore/CC BY-ND 2.0

Coronavirus Chronicles — Beware the Delta, Continued

Pat Hartman June 23, 2021 No Comments

Earlier this month, at CovidActionGroup.net, complex systems researcher Carlos Gershenson noted that in the United States, COVID-19 cases and deaths were at their lowest point in a year, and went on to argue convincingly that it was too early to relax:

With more than half of the population vaccinated, it may seem that the worst has already passed. As we observe what is happening in other countries, however, we believe it is too early to relax. The U.K., Chile, Uruguay, Bahrain, and Mongolia have vaccinated more than half of their populations, but their COVID-19 cases are increasing.

In the previous post, we mentioned that the Delta variant of COVID takes root in people’s air passages more readily than its predecessors, and this probably makes it easier to transmit to others. Over the past months, the public has been warned to limit contact with anyone who has the virus, or might have it, to five consecutive minutes or 15 cumulative minutes.

In reality, we don’t know all the rules about how transmission works, partly because contact tracing has never really been a big feature of the American anti-virus strategy. Last year, it was only a rare combination of circumstances that allowed authorities to understand how one man’s visit to Tucson, followed by attendance at church, brought the pandemic to the Navajo Nation.

Now, the situation is even dicier. This is a phrase we will no doubt hear more of — “fleeting exposure.” From Australia, where contact tracing is taken more seriously, journalist Josh Taylor wrote:

NSW health minister Brad Hazzard said the Delta variant which is behind this outbreak is a “near and present danger” given the fleeting contact between cases at the Bondi Junction Westfield.

This refers to a case in Sydney where there no was contact between two individuals who simply walked past each other in a department store — yet one of them caught Delta-brand COVID from the other. And then, it happened again:

The new case is the second person thought to have been infected by only “fleeting contact” with an infectious person, after a woman in her 70s tested positive on Thursday for only sitting outside a cafe the initial case had visited.

The city responded by making masks mandatory on public transport for five days and strongly recommended their use in any indoor setting. In other countries, some areas and jurisdictions that had contemplated loosening up suddenly decided it would be prudent to stay tight. In the United Kingdom, the Delta variant accounts for almost every current case, and fully vaccinated people make up 10% of the COVID hospital admissions.

This is not the fault of the vaccine, which does the best job it can with the information that was known when it was produced. The virus mutates like crazy; it’s like watching a speeded-up movie of the evolution of life on earth — from one-celled organisms to dinosaurs in 3.5 seconds. Human ingenuity is eating dust.

In Israel, there have been two extensive Delta outbreaks in public schools, with the infected people including some fully vaccinated grownups. Speaking of Delta on Twitter, Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding states that…

It is surging exponentially in the US at now 31% of all cases, up from ~10% just a week ago. It is high time CDC takes decisive action. That’s why @endCOVID19 & @CovidActionGrp are petitioning CDC to “reinstate mask-wearing indoors regardless of vaccine status, guidance for vaccination verification, & resume breakthrough case identification.”

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “The pandemic isn’t over yet,” CovidActionGroup.net, 06/04/21
Source: “NSW Covid outbreak: three new Sydney cases of ’near and present danger’ Delta variant recorded,” TheGuardian.com, 06/18/21
Source: “Masks compulsory on Sydney public transport after new ‘fleeting contact’ case,” TheGuardian.com, 06/18/21
Source: “In 2nd school outbreak, 44 kids catch COVID — apparently the Delta variant,” TimesOfIsrael.com, 06/19/21
Source: “DrEricDing,” Twitter.com, 06/20/21
Image by Richard Harvey/CC BY 2.0

Coronavirus Chronicles — Beware the Delta

Pat Hartman June 22, 2021 No Comments

It is very well known that obesity and the coronavirus are intimately connected — to the point where some fit people believe that they don’t need to be vaccinated. And to the point where social media pests go out of their way to express how little they care if a bunch of fat people die. A typical quote from an anonymous troll: “You’re all obese, no wonder COVID hit you hard. If you’re under 80 years and old and not morbidly obese, you did fine.”

It is no wonder that parents don’t want their kids to come down with COVID, and they don’t want to catch it themselves, because then they can’t take care of their children, or much of anything else.

It seems our old, familiar coronavirus was relatively slow on the uptake, compared with the Delta variant which seems to be doubling its numbers every couple of weeks. Delta has tailored itself into a juggernaut that plows through the population like a race car escaped from the track. It is so obnoxious, the U.S. President made a speech against it on June 18, noting that in some parts of the country, case numbers and hospitalizations are going up because…

It’s a variant that is more easily transmissible, potentially deadlier and particularly dangerous for young people.

Nevertheless, surveys reveal that about one in three American adults does not have vaccination on their to-do lists.

Transmission

When people are put into quarantine or asked to self-quarantine, the length of time is determined by the incubation period, or a number of days between the first infection and the manifestation of symptoms. We have become accustomed to the idea of a 14-day quarantine period, and the frightening fact that a person can transmit the novel coronavirus before they even feel sick. Sometimes, they never even feel sick.

Infectious disease specialist Dr. Pamela Orr told a reporter that a person can be exposed to the Delta variant and become infectious within one day:

So the incubation period is completely flattened, and you can remain infectious for longer than 21 days.

Needless to say, the notion of a three-week isolation period is even less acceptable to the populace than the customary two-week period. There is still more bad news about transmission. Lab work done at London’s Imperial College causes scientists to suspect that Delta spreads through the human air passages with amazing ease.

This means, says virologist Wendy Barclay, that the victim is more likely to pass the virus along, and it may even imply that a shorter exposure period can do the job. Some experts have suspected all along that guideline numbers like five minutes or 15 minutes are nowhere near accurate, considering other variables that can influence the degree of infectiousness.

(To be continued…)

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Biden urges more Americans to get vaccinated but is silent on July 4 target,” WashingtonPost.com, 06/18/21
Source: “Doctors fear COVID delta variant, say Manitoba reopening plan ignores it,” CBC.ca, 06/18/21
Source: “Delta variant Q&A: are the symptoms different, and do vaccines protect against it?,”
Telegraph.co.uk, 06/18/21
Image by Public Health England/Open Government Licence v3.0

Coronavirus Chronicles — The Covert Threat of Toxoplasmosis

Pat Hartman June 21, 2021 No Comments

Very often, homes where children live also contain cats. Cohabitation with cats is one way to catch toxoplasmosis, which is thought to infect from one-quarter to one-half of all humans. It can invade a person who eats undercooked meat, drinks contaminated water, works in a garden, eats vegetables that have not been sufficiently washed, handles cat excretions, plays in a sandbox, or lets cats walk on kitchen tables and counters. The toxoplasma gondii parasite then takes up residence inside the person, and mostly does not do much else. Or does it?

Let’s look at the relationship between the parasite and its frequent host, the mouse or rat. T. gondii can sexually reproduce only inside of a cat, so when it winds up in a rodent, it knows that it needs to get back into a feline. It tinkers with the mouse’s brain and sets up a “fatal attraction” trigger, making the mouse sexually aroused by the odor of cat urine.

The mouse loses all fear, and gets silly and dances around in front of the cat as if daring it to pounce. Enough mice end up inside of cats to start the process all over again. Sometimes, the plan fails, because the reprogrammed rodent becomes so bold and aggressive, the cat changes its mind, as seen in this one-minute video clip.

Our bodies

Inhabiting people, the parasites can asexually reproduce, form cysts around themselves, and stay forever. Mostly Toxo is basically latent, supposedly, but on the other hand, it has been accused of warping bodies and behavior in a bewildering variety of ways.

Toxoplasmosis may exacerbate the effects of epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, autism, neurodegenerative disease, and other chronic conditions. It is why pregnant women are warned not to clean out cat litter boxes. Mothers with latent Toxo might have babies whose motor development is delayed. The parasite has been investigated relative to weight gain and thyroid disease in pregnancy, along with gestational diabetes mellitus, and the fetus’s height, body mass index, and waist-hip ratio — so there is a childhood obesity link.

Our selves

The parasite is also suspected of meddling with our mental and psychological health. Among the qualities it seems to affect are intelligence, cognitive function, novelty-seeking, learning ability, personality changes, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

According to legend, a medical professional noticed that motorcyclists who show up in the Emergency Room have a tendency to test positive for toxoplasmosis. Not surprisingly, Toxo has also been linked with altered reaction time, impulsivity, heightened extraversion, and car accidents caused by reckless speeding. It is accused of making people less conscientious and more prone to rage disorder, poor impulse control, and suicidal behavior.

Men in particular tend to become “introverted, suspicious, oblivious to other people’s opinions of them, and inclined to disregard rules.” Maybe this explains the mindset that leads people to recklessly gamble with COVID, refusing masks, vaccines, and any other form of caution. The Toxo has gotten to them.

Our coronavirus

A study that has not yet been peer-reviewed, or published with the imprimatur of a respected journal, may yet contain a pertinent warning, especially when it originates with a researcher who has published scores of other papers, many of them having to do with the same parasite discussed here. That researcher is Jaroslav Flegr of Charles University in Prague, who is ruthlessly on the trail of relationships between T. gondii and various human malfunctions and ailments. He says,

In the past ten years, numerous studies had shown that infected subjects have a significantly higher incidence of mental and physical health problems and are more prone to exhibiting the adverse effects of various diseases.

Toxoplasmosis is known to mess with lung function and the immune system. Since it is a background factor in such a large portion of humanity, the researcher wonders whether it might be an overlooked or ignored factor in susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2. There are grounds for suspicion that feline pets could be a vector for the transmission of COVID within a family. How Flegr reached this conclusion is of course explained in great detail, and it seems possible that a deeper involvement could be hiding in the evidence somewhere. He says,

Because toxoplasmosis affects a large segment of the human population, its impact on Covid-19-associated effects on public health could be considerable.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Rat Shows Cat Who’s Boss,” YouTube.com, 11/08/18
Source: “Jaroslav Flegr,” Orcid.org, undated
Source: “How Your Cat Is Making You Crazy,” TheAtlantic.com, March 2012
Source: “Toxoplasmosis: An important risk factor for acquiring SARS-CoV-2 infection and a severe course of Covid-19 disease,” MedRxiv.org, undated
Image by Paul Anderson/CC BY 2.0

Coronavirus Chronicles — Variants Cause Unwholesome Changes

Pat Hartman June 18, 2021 No Comments

The previous post described two of the worrisome COVID variants, and one more will be mentioned here — the formidable Alpha, or the U.K. variant, otherwise known as B.1.1.7, which is rampant in Britain and has spread to 50 other countries. It mutates like crazy, and what its progeny seem to have in common is the ability to improve their spike protein, which helps them latch on to our cells.

Alpha is at least 50% (and maybe as much as 70%) more transmissible than before. The victims are more than twice as likely to be hospitalized. Journalist Zeynep Tufekci wrote of it,

Compared with previous surges, case-for-unvaccinated-case, this surge has the potential to cause more illness and more deaths, infecting fewer but doing more damage among them. We can also expect to see more younger, unvaccinated people falling sick and dying.

Tufekci also mentions the phrase “exponential growth,” which provides another opportunity to recommend a two-minute animated explainer that will be difficult to unsee. Trevor Bedford, a scientist with a ton of credentials, amassed over 300,000 Twitter followers through relating such facts as,

[I]t’s clear that non-variant viruses have been declining throughout the spring, while variant viruses have been responsible for multiple state-level-epidemics.

The latest crisis is messing with the Olympics and the World Economic Forum and the plans and hopes of millions of individual humans. Remember how some countries initially got a handle on the virus? They have lost their grip, thanks to the variants:

Cases are soaring in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos for the first time and returning in numbers that haven’t been seen in months in Singapore, Malaysia and Japan.

Taiwan’s defenses worked spectacularly for a while, until they didn’t, and in May the numbers exploded. Some experts blame complacency, while others blame the emphasis on border control while neglecting in-country preventative measures. In any case, the new variants play a role. And then there is Singapore, which…

[…] has seen a sharp jump in cases, prompting the government to order lockdown measures on Sunday for the first time in nearly a year. The reversal marks a serious blow for Singapore, which has vaccinated one-fifth of its population and imposed border controls, deploying so-called safe distancing ambassadors and making a contact tracing app mandatory.

Muddled thoughts prevail

Americans seem prone to a particularly naive and dangerous brand of wishful thinking. It’s as if we expect the virus to give us credit for loving our families and trying to sustain human relationships. But the virus does not care about anything except its own agenda. It wants us to pick it up and carry it to our parents and grandparents and children and best friends. It preempts our finest qualities, our love and loyalty and longing for in-person communication, and turns those traits into weapons that threaten our whole population.

Abhishek Rimal, the Asia Pacific emergency health coordinator at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, sums it up:

The world needs to realize no one is safe until everyone is safe.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “The Coronavirus Is a Master of Mixing Its Genome, Worrying Scientists,” NYTimes.com, 02/08/21
Source: “The Fourth Surge Is Upon Us. This Time, It’s Different,” Archive.is, 03/30/21
Source: “Legend of the Chessboard,” YouTube.com, 01/11/11
Source: “Trevor Bedford,” Bedford.io, undated
Source: “These parts of Asia beat coronavirus early. Why they’re suddenly in lockdown,” LATimes.com. 05/18/21
Image by Marco Verch/CC BY 2.0

COVID Variants, New and Different

Pat Hartman June 17, 2021 No Comments

Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding is always up to date on the latest coronavirus news. Earlier this month he wrote,

I feel that ignoring the risks in kids has been one of the biggest blunders of many Covid denialist and minimizer scientists (after ignoring airborne). (P)oliticians often act too late. Scientists are often too shy to shout from the roof tops early… What you get is inaction by politicians & slow vocalization by scientists until too late. Why did we not realize kids transmitted #SARSCoV2 last year?

He also reminds readers that people of any age — yes, even children — can serve as human incubators in which a new mutation may flourish. Other wise words come from writer Gregory Barber, who suggests framing the SARS-CoV-2 variants as “a series of epidemics within the pandemic.”

Scary for real

The reason for alarm is that the longer the virus is left alone to do as it pleases, the more it takes advantage and transforms into worse versions of itself. Many different variants are circulating, of which five are labeled “of concern” in the U.S. The most troubling ones at the moment seem to be Delta, Gamma, and Alpha. Delta is especially notable for sweeping through areas the seemed to have a pretty good handle on things.

In the most recent India resurgence, and due mainly to Delta, 730 doctors have already succumbed to the contagion. This new, improved COVID is spread faster, causes more severe illness, attacks children and teens, and is responsible for four times as many reinfections as the original virus. It does not give a fig about a single dose of Pfizer vaccine, though it does have some respect for the double shot.

In the United Kingdom, Delta (aka B.1.617.2) accounts for 90% of new cases and an exponential rise in hospitalizations. The government had contemplated full reopening, and then changed its mind and delayed that long-awaited moment for another month. In the U.S., Delta has already become the dominant strain in California and Hawaii, and the rest of the states are expected to follow suit.

Now, what about Gamma?

The so-called Brazil variant, or P.1, appears more eager than its predecessor to kill pregnant women, or at least to make their babies stillborn or premature. To pediatric patients, it is also liable to bring along its partner in crime, multisystem inflammatory syndrome, or MIS-C.

The Brazil variant travels twice as fast as good old-fashioned COVID-19, does not recognize the concept of immunity, and kills a lot of kids. Its devastating effects on the young include severe gastric disorders, hearing impairment, and blood clots that develop into gangrene. Bloomberg.com says,

Given the presence of the Gamma variant in the United States — about 7 percent of Covid-19 cases in the United States can be attributed to this variant — it’s possible that pediatric and newborn Covid-19 cases could soon become more prevalent.

(To be continued…)

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “DrEricDing,” Twitter.com, 06/07/21
Source: “Variant Hunters Race to Find New Strains Where Testing Lags,” Wired.com, 04/09/21
Source: “Covid-19 is killing infants and young children in Brazil,” ClinicalTrialsArena.com, 05/24/21
Source: “Gangrene, Hearing Loss Show Delta Variant May Be More Severe,” Bloomberg.com, 06/07/21
Image by Dennis Sylvester Hurd/Public Domain

The Exemplary State of Colorado

A rocky history

A push for change

Who’s Who in Obesity

Growth Not Always Good

Who should be in charge?

Good Intentions, Bad Practice?

Zoom out

Coronavirus Chronicles — The Gang of Two

Coronavirus Chronicles — Beware the Delta, Continued

Coronavirus Chronicles — Beware the Delta

Transmission

Coronavirus Chronicles — The Covert Threat of Toxoplasmosis

Our bodies

Our selves

Our coronavirus

Coronavirus Chronicles — Variants Cause Unwholesome Changes

Muddled thoughts prevail

COVID Variants, New and Different

Scary for real

Now, what about Gamma?

Profiles: Kids Struggling with Weight

The Book

About Dr. Robert A. Pretlow

Presentations

Food & Health Resources