As the highly transmissibleDelta variantspreads nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and theState Department are urging Americans to avoid traveling to the UK.
But that’s not going far enough, U.S., Dr. Ebony Jade Hilton, GoodStock Consulting co-founder and medical director, told Yahoo Finance Live. In fact, Americans should be careful traveling to certain areas within the U.S.
“If we’re going to talk about traveling to the U.K., then we should also caution Americans about traveling to Florida,” Hilton said. “Right now, one in every five new COVID cases are coming out of Florida.”
In Florida, only 47% of the population is fully vaccinated as the state is seeing an average of 55.1 daily new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people, the highest rate in the country, according to data from the Brown School of Public Health. And according to the Florida Department of Health's weekly COVID-19 report, the number of new COVID-19 cases nearly doubled in the state last week from the prior week.
'The Delta variant is a game changer'
During a press briefing on Friday, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeffrey Zients said four states accounted for more than 40% of all cases in the past week, with 20% of new cases occurring in Florida alone.
Arkansas is also among the nation’s current pandemic hot spots. Brown School of Public Health data shows the state is reporting an average of 38.1 daily new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people, and is designated “red” on the risk-assessment map.
“We're seeing an uptick across the Southeast, and even to the Midwest,” Hilton said. "We're looking at places like Alabama and Arkansas. So we can talk about the rest of the world, but the United States really needs to hone in and focus on what is preventing us from having a successful vaccine rollout in those heavily hit areas.”
The CDC is urging caution about traveling to Florida amid the spread of the Delta variant. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Vaccinations are the key to slowing the spread of the Delta variant. In Alabama, where only about 33% of the population is fully vaccinated, the state department reported a 39% jump in COVID-19 cases from June 26 to July 9, and unvaccinated people represented 96% of COVID-19 deaths in the state since April 1.
Nationwide, Johns Hopkins University data shows a total of 243,110 new cases were reported last week as the Delta variant spreads, accounting for about 40% of the total cases in the past month.
“The Delta variant is a game changer,” Hilton said. “New cases nationwide are up 140% in the last two weeks. Our hospitalizations are up 34%, and our deaths, unfortunately, are increasing by 33%. We're not finished with this pandemic.”
It was supposed to be the summer when things returned to at least“kinda normal”here in the Big Apple.
Lots of us have received the vaccine, and Wall Street’s biggest firms (JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs) have been boasting about their own form of herd immunity, with around 90 percent of their workforces vaccinated, senior execs at the firms tell me.
The financial industry — a major driver of the city’s economy — was slowly bringing its people (and their hefty salaries) back to the office to spread the wealth of a booming stock market to local businesses.
Not so fast. Word on the street is the CEOs of the big banks are growing anxious for an obvious reason — the rapidly spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus. And also a somewhat less obvious one: The propensity of elected officials here to screw up the public-policy response to the virus.
That means there’s a real possibility that the New York financial industry — the economic engine of the state and in many ways the country — could crawl back into its 2020 fetal position and delay returning to the office until well into the fall or possibly next year, senior execs at these firms reluctantly concede.
I want to underscore the word “reluctantly” because the CEOs of the banks that have begun to tell their employees to get back to the office really do want to keep it that way. Yes, there is a reason why JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley — the banks with the strictest return-to-work policies — are the crème de la crème of Wall Street.
Each has a culture of teamwork and excellence, and the people running the banks know both are difficult to achieve with Zoom meetings. Each firm has instituted the most rigorous back-to-office mandates in corporate America. Goldman and JPM are demanding that many employees return immediately. Morgan Stanley wants its people back in the office by Labor Day.
On the positive side of the Delta outbreak, New York City area hospitalization levels remain low. Those admitted to area ICUs are mostly unvaccinated, while most Wall Street workers got the shot. So-called breakthrough cases result in mild or no symptoms.
But there’s always a “but” when it comes to the public-policy response of our elected officials, particularly here in New York. Comrade Bill de Blasio won’t be mayor this time next year, but he officially doesn’t leave office until January. On top of that, we still have Gov. Cuomo to muck things up for at least 18 more months.
While hospitalizations from COVID-19 remain low, Gov. Andrew Cuomo can easily shut down Midtown Manhattan with another mask mandate.Robert Miller
Both deserve low marks for the harsh lockdowns that turned a nearly deserted Midtown Manhattan — the epicenter of our business community — into a playground for criminals and the homeless last year and continue to hamper our recovery now.
One worry at the banks is that the dynamic duo do it again, returning us to business closures or something less Draconian but still destructive to large businesses like massive indoor-mask mandates. And it’s something every big firm is planning to address with possible delayed reopenings, even if publicly they will tell you there are no “plans” to change course.
Good thing for New Yorkers that bank execs give low odds of a second harsh lockdown. The economic and political price would be severe since so many New Yorkers know what Cuomo and de Blasio ignored in 2020; non-lockdown states (Florida and Texas) fared better from a business standpoint and not drastically different from a COVID standpoint than we did.
A more likely, and still worrisome, response would be the return of the indoor-mask mandate, Wall Street executives tell me. Los Angeles just implemented one and California Gov. Gavin Newsom is weighing a statewide edict.
Cuomo has a history of following Newsom’s disastrous COVID policies, thus a real concern among bank executives is that he will do so when it comes to masks. The problem with masks: It’s difficult and maybe impossible to integrate thousands of people — the size of the New York banking workforce — in an office environment with their faces covered all day.
“It defeats the purpose,” one bank CEO told me. “Masking will definitely change reopening plans.”
Part of me wants to think our elected officials have learned something from 2020. Then again, this is Cuomo and de Blasio we’re talking about, and Wall Street is at least planning for the worst.
As the lethal COVID-19 pandemic enters its second year, the need for effective modalities of alleviation remains urgent. This includes modalities that can readily be used by the public to reduce disease spread and severity. Such preventive measures and early-stage treatments may temper the immediacy of demand for advanced anti-COVID measures (drugs, antibodies, vaccines) and help relieve strain also on other health system resources.
Design and Participants.
We present results of a clinical study with a multi-component OTC “core formulation” regimen used in a multiply exposed adult population. Analysis of clinical outcome data from our sample of over 100 subjects − comprised of roughly equal sized regimen-compliant (test) and non-compliant (control) groups meeting equivalent inclusion criteria − demonstrates a strong statistical significance in favor of use of the core formulations.
Results.
While both groups were moderate in size, the difference between them in outcomes over the 20-week study period was large and stark: Just under 4% of the compliant test group presented flu-like symptoms, but none of the test group was COVID-positive; whereas 20% of the non-compliant control group presented flu-like symptoms, three-quarters of whom (15% overall of the control group) were COVID-positive.
Conclusions.
Offering a low cost, readily implemented anti-viral approach, the study regimen may serve, at the least, as a stopgap modality and, perhaps, as a useful tool in combatting the pandemic.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in children is often asymptomatic or results in only mild disease.1 Data on the extent of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from children and adolescents in the household setting, including transmission to older persons who are at increased risk for severe disease, are limited.2 After an outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) at an overnight camp,3 we conducted a retrospective cohort study involving camp attendees and their household contacts to assess secondary transmission and factors associated with household transmission (additional details are provided in the Methods section in the Supplementary Appendix, available with the full text of this letter at NEJM.org).
We interviewed 224 index patients who were 7 to 19 years of age and for whom there was evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the basis of molecular or antigen laboratory testing. A total of 198 of these campers (88%) were symptomatic; symptoms developed in 141 of these 198 children or adolescents (71%) after they returned home from camp.
Of 526 household contacts of these index patients, 377 (72%) were tested for SARS-CoV-2, and 46 (12%) of those who were tested had positive results. An additional 2 secondary cases of infection were identified according to clinical and epidemiologic criteria.4 A total of 38 of the 48 secondary cases (79%) occurred in households where the index patient had become symptomatic after returning home from camp; the median serial interval (i.e., the interval between the onset of symptoms in the index patient and the onset of symptoms in the household contacts infected by that patient) was 5.0 days (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.0 to 6.5). Transmission occurred in 35 of 194 households (18%); in these households, the secondary attack rate was 45% (95% CI, 36 to 54) (48 of 107 households). Among the household contacts who became infected and who were at least 18 years of age, 4 of 41 (10%) were hospitalized (length of hospital stay, 5 to 11 days); none of the 7 persons with a secondary case of infection who were younger than 18 years were hospitalized.
Unadjusted and Adjusted Odds Ratio for a Secondary Case of SARS-CoV-2 Infection among Household Contacts.
Of the index patients who responded to our question regarding preventive measures, 146 of 217 (67%) reported that they had maintained physical distancing and 73 of 216 (34%) reported that they had always worn masks around contacts during the infectious period after they returned home. In a univariable logistic-regression model, among the index patients who were 18 years of age or younger, the increasing use of physical distancing and masks was associated with the older age of the patient (with age as a continuous variable, odds ratio for physical distancing, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.2 to 1.5; odds ratio for mask use, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.2 to 1.6). In a multivariable regression model, the risk of a secondary case of infection among household contacts was lower among contacts of index patients who had practiced physical distancing than among contacts of index patients who did not (adjusted odds ratio, 0.4; 95% CI, 0.1 to 0.9) (Table 1). Household members who had close or direct contact with the index patient had a higher risk of infection than those who had minimal to no contact (adjusted odds ratio with close contact, 5.2; 95% CI, 1.2 to 22.5; and adjusted odds ratio with direct contact, 5.8; 95% CI, 1.8 to 18.8). We excluded missing data from the regression models, and confidence intervals were not adjusted for multiplicity.
This retrospective study showed that the efficient transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from school-age children and adolescents to household members led to the hospitalization of adults with secondary cases of Covid-19. In households in which transmission occurred, half the household contacts were infected. The secondary attack rates in this study were probably underestimates because test results were reported by the patients themselves and testing was voluntary. In addition, a third of the index patients returned home from camp after the onset of symptoms, when they were presumably not as infectious as they were before and during the onset of symptoms,5 and two thirds adopted physical distancing because of a known exposure at camp; both of these factors probably reduced the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the household. When feasible, children and adolescents with a known exposure to SARS-CoV-2 or a diagnosis of Covid-19 should remain at home and maintain physical distance from household members.
Victoria T. Chu, M.D., M.P.H. Anna R. Yousaf, M.D. Karen Chang, Ph.D. Noah G. Schwartz, M.D. Clinton J. McDaniel, M.P.H. Scott H. Lee, Ph.D. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA pgz4@cdc.gov
Christine M. Szablewski, D.V.M. Marie Brown, M.P.H. Cherie L. Drenzek, D.V.M. Georgia Department of Public Health, Atlanta, GA
Emilio Dirlikov, Ph.D. Dale A. Rose, Ph.D. Julie Villanueva, Ph.D. Alicia M. Fry, M.D. Aron J. Hall, D.V.M. Hannah L. Kirking, M.D. Jacqueline E. Tate, Ph.D. Tatiana M. Lanzieri, M.D. Rebekah J. Stewart, M.S.N., M.P.H. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
INmune Bio, Inc. (NASDAQ: INMB) (the, “Company”), a clinical-stage immunology company focused on developing treatments that harness the patient’s innate immune system to fight disease, announced today that the Company will present a poster at the Alzheimer’s Association International Congress 2021, which is being held in a hybrid format, Denver and online, from July 26-30, 2021. In addition, Dr. Malu Tansey of the University of Florida College of Medicine and co-inventor of XPro1595 (pegipanermin), will deliver a plenary talk, entitled, “Therapeutic Approaches Targeting Innate Immunity in AD.”
“We are very pleased to participate in this year’s AAIC meeting and look forward to presenting a more detailed analysis of the positive data from our recently completed Phase 1b study of XPro1595 in Alzheimer’s,” stated RJ Tesi, M.D., chief executive officer of INmune Bio. “In that study, we were able to demonstrate that XPro1595 neutralizes soluble TNF and decreases biomarkers of neuroinflammation across multiple measures and assays in Alzheimer’s patients. The data suggest that decreasing neuroinflammation results in significant improvements in biomarkers of neurodegeneration and synaptic function. We look forward to initiating a blinded, randomized Phase 2 study by the end of this year as we continue to develop and advance novel therapeutics targeting dysfunction of the innate immune system.”
Details of the presentation are as follows:
Title: Phase 1b study of XPro1595 in Alzheimer's patients with biomarkers of inflammation
Presenter: CJ Barnum, PhD, Head of Neurosciences, INmune Bio, Inc.
Day: July 26, 2021
Time: 8:00am -12:00noon MT (9am-1pm ET)
Details of the plenary talk are as follows:
Speaker: Dr. Malu G. Tansey, Norman and Susan Fixel Professor of Neuroscience and Neurology, Co-Director Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease and the Parkinson’s Foundation Research Center, Department of Neurology, University of Florida College of Medicine
Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA), a late-stage clinical company with a robust pipeline of novel investigational therapeutics built on protein dysregulation expertise, today announced that it will present preclinical data on two of its Alzheimer’s disease (AD) programs at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference®2021 (AAIC®), to be held online and in-person July 26-30, 2021. The two presentations will focus on data for PRX012, Prothena’s next-generation anti-amyloid beta (Aβ) antibody being developed for subcutaneous administration for patients with AD, as well as data on the company’s dual Aβ-tau vaccine being developed for the prevention and treatment of AD.
PRX0012: Next-generation, high-potency Aβ antibody for Alzheimer’s disease with best-in-class potential
PRX012 is a next-generation, high-potency monoclonal antibody designed to deliver best-in-class efficacy, safety and patient experience for the treatment of AD. PRX012 binds to the N-terminus of Aβ, a key component of the plaques associated with AD. The PRX012 Investigational New Drug Application (IND) is expected in 1Q 2022. Data to be presented at AAIC will describe the ability of PRX012 to mediate microglial phagocytic clearance of both unmodified Aβ and pyroglutamate-modified AβpE3-42, in plaques of human AD brain tissue ex vivo.
Poster # 57773, available to view starting Monday July 26, 2021
Prothena’s multi-epitope vaccine, is a single agent designed to prevent the two key processes associated with AD: formation of Aβ plaques and intraneuronal tau tangles. Both Aβ and tau are considered main factors underlying the disease development and progression of AD. While the majority of vaccines and passive immunotherapies currently under development target one of these components, Prothena’s vaccine was designed to target both Aβ and tau simultaneously. Preclinical data to be presented at AAIC will describe the generation of appropriate antibody quantities, phagocytosis of Aβ, and blockade of tau binding to heparan-sulfate analog, a surrogate endpoint for neuronal uptake of tau by various vaccine constructs.
Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: ACAD) today announced that three scientific presentations in dementia-related psychosis (DRP) will be shared at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference® 2021 (AAIC®), being held July 26-30, 2021 in Denver, Colo., and virtually.
The poster presentations include two analyses of patients who have neurodegenerative disease taking pimavanserin while also receiving other antidementia medication. One presentation focuses on safety outcomes while the second describes the impact of an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (AChEI) on the pharmacokinetic profile of pimavanserin in patients with dementia-related psychosis. The third presentation will discuss a novel screening tool for psychosis in dementia patients.
AAIC Accepted Presentations:
Poster Presentation (#57661): Pimavanserin and concomitant antidementia medication use in patients with neurodegenerative and/or neurovascular disorders: safety outcomes from pooled clinical data and the HARMONY study, available to view starting Monday, July 26. Presenting Author: George Demos, M.D., Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Poster Presentation (#57479): Impact of concomitant acetylcholinesterase inhibitor use on the pharmacokinetic profile of pimavanserin in patients with dementia-related psychosis: modeling data from the Phase 3 HARMONY study, available to view starting Monday, July 26. Presenting Author: Mona Darwish, Ph.D., Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Poster Presentation (#57766): Development and Assessment of a Brief Screening Tool for Psychosis in Dementia, available to view starting Monday, July 26 Presenting Author: Jeffrey Cummings, M.D., Sc.D., Joy Chambers-Grundy Professor of Brain Science, Vice Chair for Research, and Director of the Chambers-Gundy Center for Transformative Neuroscience, Department of Brain Health, School of Integrated Health Sciences, University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV).
