Back to Basics: spine-tingling news and updates
Plus: asks and points of interest
So it turns out that one way you can take care of your health is to take care of your back? And your humble correspondent isn’t always the best at that?
All of which is to say: no essay this week, mostly bullet points.
But before we get to those, let’s check in on the status of the respiratory virus season. There’s room for cautious optimism again this week:
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COVID levels in wastewater and lab tests are down, as are hospitalizations.
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In fact, severe COVID infections have gone down enough that the flu has taken the lead in causing hospitalizations.
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According to the CDC, most of the state is back to “new normal” levels of COVID hospitalization. One notable exception: the Milwaukee area. And we’re still in the middle of the pack for deaths.
Mostly good news here, then. But we’re not in the clear yet. Remember, it’s not unusual to see a “bounce” in numbers before the end of the season. There’s also plenty of threat to go around in our present state. RSV is still sending a lot of very young kids to the ER, flu is getting 5-17 year olds, and COVID is a problem both for the very young and the over 65 demographic.
Keep to those precautions, then, and let’s see where we’re at next week.
The Links
First up, a couple of requests from us. We are organizing an oral history of the COVID experience in Wisconsin churches. One of the goals of our project is to make sure Wisconsin is prepared for another pandemic. Part of that is to record lessons learned so they’re available the next time around. You can play a role!
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If you (collectively or individually) would like to be interviewed, please let me know.
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If you have any video or still images of life from the pandemic (i.e., with masks and/or social distancing), please feel free to share.
And now on to the links proper:
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As you may seen on the news, Prevea Health will be closing hospitals in Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls. That means it will take longer for emergency response, and there will be no hospital in northwest Wisconsin with a behavioral health unit. It also comes at a time when a new analysis indicates that COVID hit rural areas harder in part because residents were older and sicker than more populated areas.
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Katelyn Jetelina has a helpful roundup of Long COVID research.
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The World Health Organization has granted an emergency use authorization for Corbevax, a new COVID vaccine. It’s the 14th such vaccine to be authorized, and seems to be intended for use primarily in nations that might struggle to afford other vaccines.
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The Wisconsin DHS now recommends lead tests for all children.
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A study from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation suggests that Black Medicaid recipients are more likely than White patients to be hospitalized for preventable reasons. The three most common of those reasons? Asthma/COPD, diabetes, and heart failure, all of which are undertreated in Black communities.
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Here’s an interesting Vox article on “How Black churches could lead the way on teen mental health“.
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A new gene therapy has allowed an 11-year-old boy to hear for the first time.
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How — and why — to stimulate your vagus nerve.
See you next week with more news and analysis!
P.S.: My wife suggested I ask ChatGPT (artificial intelligence) for help coming up with a title for this week’s article. The results were…not great. Here’s what I got when I asked for a funny title: “Backstage Pass to Health: A Comedic Romp Through Spinal Care and Pandemic Updates.” Stick to your day job, ChatGPT.
