(By Dr. Patrick Jackson, assistant professor of infectious diseases) Even with three highly effective vaccines available in abundance throughout the country, the delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 continues to cause a large number of new infections, particularly in states where vaccination rates remain low. What’s more, as schools and businesses reopen and the holiday season approaches, another rise in infections may be on the way. There is, however, some good news.
Among the 252 children hospitalized with COVID last week, the majority of them were treated at six hospitals: Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters in Norfolk (73), Inova Fairfax (50), VCU Health (32), Carilion Roanoke (32), Chippenham (28) in Richmond’s South Side and the University of Virginia (12).
The number of COVID-19 patients at the UVA Medical Center is gradually increasing, which is putting a strain on the hospital system. Wendy Horton, chief executive officer at the UVA Medical Center, says elective procedures scheduled for next week will go on as planned, but that could all change depending on how many COVID-19 patients walk through the door. “The COVID patients take more resources from a nursing care perspective,” Horton said. “When we have more COVID patients, that’s different pressures on the health care system and that would be for any hospital in Virginia right now.”
Earlier this week, a UVA Health doctor tweeted that nearly 95% of the hospital’s ICU beds were taken and she said COVID-19 was a contributing factor. Wendy Horton, the CEO of UVA Hospital, says only about a third or less of ICU beds are being used by COVID patients.
Marlon Ross, professor of English at the University of Virginia, has written “Sissy Insurgencies: A Racial Anatomy of Unfit Manliness,” which is being published by Duke University Press. Ross is the author of “Manning the Race: Reforming Black Men in the Jim Crow Era” and “The Contours of Masculine Desire: Romanticism and the Rise of Women’s Poetry.” In the new work, Ross explores the concept of the sissy to take a new look at the ways in which manhood and boyhood have been envisioned in the United States since the 1880s and examines such public figures as Booker T. Washington, George Washingt...
(By Pinelopi Goldberg, professor of economics at Yale University) Eliminating gender and other forms of discrimination could plausibly generate even larger gains in developing countries. In a recent paper, Gaurav Chiplunkar of the University of Virginia and I find that eliminating just the barriers to female entrepreneurship could produce sizeable aggregate productivity gains in India.
The second study compared the levels of antibodies among 167 health care workers at the University of Virginia who were immunized with the Modernos or Pfizer vaccine. Antibody levels after the second vaccine were approximately 50%. higher for people who have been injected with Moderna, researchers said in a letter to the Jama Network Open on Thursday. However, as researchers began to delve deeper, it was found that the difference was largely explained by the weaker response of people aged 50 and older to the Pfizer vaccine, says Jeffrey Wilson, a University of Virginia immunologist and co-auth...
Exercise should beat diet for obese people trying to lose weight and live longer, experts have said, giving added credence to the “fat but fit” approach to a healthy life. Researchers found that when it comes to getting healthy and cutting the risk of dying early, doing more exercise and improving fitness was more effective than merely shedding kilos. Multiple studies over 40 years have shown obesity continues to rise despite people trying to lose weight, said Prof Glenn Gaesser, from Arizona State University, and associate professor Siddhartha Angadi, from the University of Virginia.
Models with the University of Virginia’s Biocomplexity Institute suggest a peak is possible by early October. But with a half-dozen scenarios projecting paths forward, the possibilities are wide-ranging.
Virginia crossed the threshold of having 5 million residents fully vaccinated against the coronavirus last week, representing 59% of the population. Immunity could be closer to 61%, according to an analysis by the University of Virginia Biocomplexity Institute. The scientists used statistical models to assess immunity as a combination of people with antibodies from natural infections, vaccinated individuals and people whose resistance to the virus has waned over time.
(Subscription may be required) The state’s most prestigious universities, which attract the wealthiest students, saw record applicant numbers last spring. The University of Virginia, the College of William & Mary and Virginia Tech saw their applicant pools swell in 2021.
There are four resident scholars for the 2021-2022 academic year at the University of Virginia Center for Politics. According to a release, this year’s scholars are journalist Jamelle Bouie, former Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Chris Krebs, former Virginia Del. David Ramadan and political commentator Tara Setmayer.
The University of Virginia has a program for people with HIV once they are released from jail or prison. CHARLI stands for Comprehensive HIV AIDS Resources and Linkages for Inmates. Medical care, food resources, and housing are just some of the things CHARLI affords to people post-incarceration.
Undergraduate students at the University of Virginia will be able to get a minor in real estate starting in the spring. According to a release, the Commerce School will host the 15-credit interdisciplinary minor that will be taught by faculty from across Grounds.
(Editorial) Many of Virginia’s higher learning institutions shed prior definitional restraints and have become not just centers of academic inquiry and instruction, but important venues of economic power, growth and employment. Policy has to be shaped with this reality at the forefront. Reform, amend and rearrange, as justified, but do so responsibly. Discourage populist nonsense.
(Subscription may be required) At the University of Virginia, Nicole Ruzek, director of counseling and psychological services, said students were struggling with issues beyond the pandemic. Many felt the impact of racial injustice following the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, among others, at the hands of police, as well as anxiety over the climate crisis and the divisive 2020 presidential election. She said students seemed to like both in-person and virtual counseling, so her department is providing hybrid options.
Researchers said doing more exercise and improving fitness is more effective than just shedding pounds when it comes to getting healthy and cutting the risk of dying early. Writing in the journal iScience, Professor Glenn Gaesser, from Arizona State University, and associate professor Siddhartha Angadi, from the University of Virginia, claimed that applying a “weight-neutral” approach to the treatment of health issues caused by obesity would also cut the health risks associated with yo-yo dieting.
Longtime member of Georgia Tech athletics, Lance Markos, have been promoted from assistant athletics director to associate athletics director for compliance. Markos holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia.
(Video interview) In today’s episode of Moving Medicine, in recognition of National Physician Suicide Awareness Day, AMA Chief Experience Officer Todd Unger discusses physician suicide with Corey (CEO of UVA Physicians Group) and Jennifer Feist, founders of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation that aims to reduce burnout of health care professionals and safeguard their well-being.
Fralin scientists have developed a novel way to isolate exosomes from cow’s milk to serve as couriers for medicine. The next step is figuring out how to load the peptide drugs into the exosomes, work that is underway with help from a chemical engineer at the University of Virginia, Rachel Letteri.