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Strep throat is one of many illnesses to watch during an ‘immunological catch-up,’ Utah doctor says

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Just like many other illnesses, strep throat is more common this year than over the last few years, according to Dr. Timothy C. Larsen, a pediatrician at Intermountain Redrock Pediatrics. He encouraged washing hands and not sharing dishes as children return to school. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

SALT LAKE CITY — Just like many other illnesses, strep throat is more common this year than over the last few years, according to Dr. Timothy C. Larsen, a pediatrician at Intermountain Redrock Pediatrics.

And he said as school starts back up in January the number of cases might go up a little bit more, something that is typical at the start of the school year.

Strep throat is spread through direct contact with saliva so luckily, the spread can be prevented. Larsen suggested people don’t share utensils, cups or straws and that they wash their hands before eating.

Larsen said strep throat is one thing that people should get on top of and treat with antibiotics. He suggested taking children with symptoms of strep to a clinic within a day or two. Strep can lead to complications including rheumatic heart disease and kidney problems, but antibiotics can prevent those.

He said strep comes on quickly, typically with a sore throat and fever that begin at the same time and sometimes with swollen lymph nodes and inflamed tonsils or white spots on the tonsils. A runny nose, congestion or cough are not typical with strep.

Intermountain Healthcare’s GernWatch data, which tracks illness levels, shows limited data from across their care system, but Larsen said it is showing levels that are a bit higher than the last few years. He is also seeing a lot of the people coming into the clinic for same-day appointments are diagnosed with strep throat.

He said in general they have been very busy at the St. George clinic, as flu cases continue going up and are much higher than the last five years. Larsen said cases of respiratory syncytial virus, known as RSV, have been starting to decrease. He also said he has seen multiple COVID-19 cases which initially looked like strep throat.

Larsen said the rise in multiple illnesses this year can be attributed to measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 over the last few years which have led to a little less immunity.

“Those things did have an effect, they helped. Now we’re seeing the downside … now that we’re mingling, which we should be,” Larsen said.

He said it is like we are playing some “immunological catch-up,” but with strep throat it does not appear that the cases are worse even though they are more frequent.

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Emily Ashcraft joined KSL.com as a reporter in 2021. She covers courts and legal affairs, as well as health, faith and religion news.

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Health

Diabetes rates may surge in US young people, study finds

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Katherine Stewart, who is diabetic, puts her insulin pen in her pocket during a press conference at the Intermountain Healthcare Transformation Center in Murray on March 8. The number of people under age 20 with type 2 diabetes in the U.S. may increase nearly 675% by 2060 if trends continue. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News )

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

ATLANTA — The number of people under age 20 with type 2 diabetes in the U.S. may increase nearly 675% by 2060 if trends continue, researchers say, with an increase of up to 65% in young people with type 1 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes — in which the pancreas makes little or no insulin — is more common in young people in the U.S., but type 2 — in which the body doesn’t use insulin the way it should — has “substantially increased” in this age group over the past two decades, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The new study, published this month in the American Diabetes Association journal Diabetes Care, used data from the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth study, which is funded by the CDC and the National Institutes of Health.

The researchers found that if incidence rates from 2017 were to remain unchanged over the next decades, the number of young people with either type of diabetes would rise 12% from 213,000 to 239,000. However, if the incidence continues to rise as quickly as it did between 2002 and 2017, as many as 526,000 young people may have diabetes by 2060.

The researchers say young people who are Black, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander and Native American/Alaska Native are likely to have a higher burden of type 2 diabetes than White people.

The marked increase in expected type 2 diabetes rates could have several causes, including rising rates of childhood obesity and the presence of diabetes in people of childbearing age, the CDC says.

People with diabetes are at risk of complications including nerve damage, vision and hearing problems, kidney disease, heart disease and premature death. The disease may worsen more quickly in young people than in adults, requiring earlier medical care, the researchers note. This in turn could increase demand on U.S. health care systems and result in rising health care costs.

“This new research should serve as a wake-up call for all of us. It’s vital that we focus our efforts to ensure all Americans, especially our young people, are the healthiest they can be,” Dr. Debra Houry, acting principal deputy director of the CDC, said in a statement.

Christopher Holliday, director of the agency’s Division of Diabetes Translation, called the findings “alarming.”

“This study’s startling projections of type 2 diabetes increases show why it is crucial to advance health equity and reduce the widespread disparities that already take a toll on people’s health,” he said in a statement.

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Science

NASA images showcase eerie beauty of winter on Mars

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Ice frozen in the soil left polygon patterns on the Martian surface. (NASA, JPL-Caltech, University of Arizona)

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

ATLANTA — Mars may seem like a dry, desolate place, but the red planet transforms into an otherworldly wonderland in winter, according to a new video shared by NASA.

It’s late winter in Mars’ Northern Hemisphere, where the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter are exploring an ancient river delta that once fed into Jezero Crater billions of years ago.

As the planet’s main feature, dust also drives Martian weather. Dust usually heralds winter’s arrival, but the planet is no stranger to snow, ice and frost. At the Martian poles, the temperature can dip as low as minus 190 degrees Fahrenheit.

There are two types of snow on Mars. One is the kind we experience on Earth, made of frozen water. The thin Martian air and subzero temperatures mean that traditional snow sublimates, or transitions from a solid directly to a gas, before touching the ground on Mars.

The other type of Martian snow is carbon dioxide-based, or dry ice, and it can land on the surface. A few feet of snow tend to fall on Mars in its flat regions near the poles.

“Enough falls that you could snowshoe across it,” said Sylvain Piqueux, a Mars scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, in a statement from a NASA release. “If you were looking for skiing, though, you’d have to go into a crater or cliffside, where snow could build up on a sloped surface.”

So far, no orbiters or rovers have been able to see snowfall on the red planet because the weather phenomenon only occurs at the poles beneath cloud cover at night. The cameras on the orbiters can’t peer through the clouds, and no robotic explorers have been developed that could survive the freezing temperatures at the poles.

Patchy carbon dioxide frost, or dry ice, can be seen inside a crater during winter in the Martian Southern Hemisphere. (Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)

However, the Mars Climate Sounder instrument on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter can detect light that’s invisible to the human eye. It has made detections of carbon dioxide snow falling at the Martian poles. The Phoenix lander, which arrived on Mars in 2008, also used one of its laser instruments to detect water-ice snow from its spot about 1,000 miles away from the Martian north pole.

Thanks to photographers, we know snowflakes on Earth are unique and six-sided. Beneath a microscope, Martian snowflakes would likely look a little different.

“Because carbon dioxide ice has a symmetry of four, we know dry-ice snowflakes would be cube-shaped,” Piqueux said. “Thanks to the Mars Climate Sounder, we can tell these snowflakes would be smaller than the width of a human hair.”

Ice and carbon dioxide-based frosts also form on Mars, and they can occur farther away from the poles. The Odyssey orbiter (which entered Mars’ orbit in 2001) has watched frost forming and turning to a gas in the sunlight, while the Viking landers spotted icy frost on Mars when they arrived in the 1970s.

At the end of winter, the season’s buildup of ice can thaw and turn into gas, creating unique shapes that have reminded NASA scientists of Swiss cheese, Dalmatian spots, fried eggs, spiders and other unusual formations.

During winter in Jezero Crater, recent high temperatures have been about 8 F, while lows have been about minus 120 F.

Meanwhile, at Gale Crater in the Southern Hemisphere near the Martian equator, the Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars in 2012, has been experiencing highs of 5 F and lows of minus 105 F.

Seasons on Mars tend to last longer because the planet’s oval-shaped orbit around the sun means that a single Martian year is 687 days or nearly two Earth years.

NASA scientists celebrated the Mars new year on Dec. 26, which coincided with the arrival of the spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere.

“Scientists count Mars years starting from the planet’s northern spring equinox that occurred in 1955 — an arbitrary point to begin, but it’s useful to have a system,” according to a post on the NASA Mars Facebook page. “Numbering Mars years helps scientists keep track of long-term observations, like weather data collected by NASA spacecraft over the decades.”

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Science

Glass act: Scientists reveal secrets of frog transparency

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Some frogs found in South and Central America have the rare ability to turn on and off their nearly transparent appearance, researchers reported Thursday in the journal Science. (Jesse Delia, AMNH via Associated Press)

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

WASHINGTON — Now you see them, now you don’t.

Some frogs found in South and Central America have the rare ability to turn on and off their nearly transparent appearance, researchers report Thursday in the journal Science.

During the day, these nocturnal frogs sleep by hanging underneath tree leaves. Their delicate, greenish transparent forms don’t cast shadows, rendering them almost invisible to birds and other predators passing overhead or underneath.

But when northern glass frogs wake up and hop around in search of insects and mates, they take on an opaque reddish-brown color.

“When they’re transparent, it’s for their safety,” said Junjie Yao, a Duke University biomedical engineer and study co-author. When they’re awake, they can actively evade predators, but when they’re sleeping and most vulnerable, “they have adapted to remain hidden.”

Using light and ultrasound imaging technology, the researchers discovered the secret: While asleep, the frogs concentrate, or “hide,” nearly 90% of their red blood cells in their liver.

Because they have transparent skin and other tissues, it’s the blood circulating through their bodies that would otherwise give them away. The frogs also shrink and pack together most of their internal organs, Yao said.

The research “beautifully explains” how “glass frogs conceal blood in the liver to maintain transparency,” said Juan Manuel Guayasamin, a frog biologist at University San Francisco of Quito, Ecuador, who was not involved in the study.

Exactly how they do this, and why it doesn’t kill them, remains a mystery. For most animals, having very little blood circulating oxygen for several hours would be deadly. And concentrating blood so tightly would result in fatal clotting. But somehow, the frogs survive.

Further research on the species could provide useful clues for the development of anti-blood clotting medications, said Carlos Taboada, a Duke University biologist and study co-author.

Only a few animals, mostly ocean dwellers, are naturally transparent, said Oxford University biologist Richard White, who was not involved in the study. “Transparency is super rare in nature, and in land animals, it’s essentially unheard of outside of the glass frog,” White said.

Those that are transparent include some fish, shrimp, jellyfish, worms and insects — none of which move large quantities of red blood through their bodies. The trick of hiding blood while sleeping appears to be unique to the frogs.

“It’s just this really amazing, dynamic form of camouflage,” said White.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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Utah doctors keep encouraging vaccinations as hospitals fill due to respiratory illnesses

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Intermountain doctors are again urging Utahns to get flu and COVID-19 vaccinations as hospitals are at or near capacity dealing with high levels of respiratory illnesses. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

SALT LAKE CITY — Doctors are again urging Utahns to get flu and COVID-19 vaccinations as hospitals are at or near capacity dealing with high levels of respiratory illnesses.

Dr. Per Gesteland, pediatric hospitalist at Primary Children’s Hospital and University of Utah Health, said that in the last few weeks, communities in Utah have been hit hard with RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) and influenza and, to a lesser extent, other illnesses like COVID-19, seasonal coronavirus and strep throat.

“The surge has been so large that it has been placing a great deal of strain on our health care delivery system,” he said.

Gesteland said this is even more severe at children’s facilities, including at Primary Children’s Hospital, which has been at capacity for several weeks. The hospital has rescheduled about 50 nonemergency procedures in each of the last three weeks.

Although Gesteland said it seems like the RSV epidemic has peaked, it is still bringing patients to hospitals and keeping physicians busy. The flu, however, is reaching last year’s peak levels now, although it is not expected to peak until January or February.

Gesteland said he is hoping after learning about the situation that people are motivated to help prevent the spread of illness to themselves and their loved ones.

Dr. Tamara Sheffield, medical director for preventive medicine at Intermountain Healthcare, said doctors seeing the same issues in adults, with record cases of flu, COVID-19 and RSV. She said the increase of these three respiratory illnesses this year has been called a blizzard.

“We really are seeing an extraordinary amount of infections circulating within the community. And it’s not just putting a strain on the health system but also on the medications we use,” Sheffield said.

She said monoclonal antibody therapies are not working on the current COVID-19 strain, which means the antivirals they are using are in short supply. Sheffield said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance for how to prioritize antivirals used for flu. The flu treatment for children has become hard to get, she said, adding that some doctors have been taking adult medications and reformulating them for use in children.

Because of limitations in treatment options, Sheffield stressed that the best strategy is prevention — flu vaccinations, the bivalent COVID-19 vaccine, masks, staying home when sick, hand washing and covering coughs.

“(These are) things that we know are great ways to prevent respiratory illnesses from spreading. They are working and need to work for us right now,” Sheffield said.

She said it is never too late to get a flu vaccine. She urged people to get their vaccinations today, in order to allow a week or two before the holidays for the vaccine to become effective.

The current flu numbers are the highest the U.S. has seen in the last 10 years, Sheffield said, adding the increase is likely due to lower levels over the last few years and less exposure to illness. She said vaccines help teach immune systems to protect themselves and combat spreading illness.

Gesteland said supply chain issues and demand are also to blame for ongoing limitations in common pediatric medications, including for fever, as well as antibiotics. Although people have been putting information online about how to alter adult medications for children, he said he suggests talking to a pediatrician or pharmacist for advice, checking with neighbors who may have some to spare and treating children with honey, humidifiers or smaller doses of Tylenol or Advil instead of adult cold medications.

He said RSV starts with cold symptoms, a runny nose and sore throat, but it can lead to a more persistent cough, inflammation and pneumonia-like symptoms. If cold symptoms turn into to troubled breathing, Gesteland said, it is time to see a doctor.

Sheffield said the flu is different, as it typically has a very fast onset, instead of starting with a cold. She added that flu and COVID-19 antivirals are most effective if they are used in the first 48 hours that symptoms exist. Shortness of breath and deep, dry coughs can mean a person has COVID-19; Sheffield said, in this case, it can also be good to get tested and get some medication soon.

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Emily Ashcraft joined KSL.com as a reporter in 2021. She covers courts and legal affairs, as well as health, faith and religion news.

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Science

Flushing the toilet lidless could make you sick, researchers find

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In a new experiment, scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder were able to visualize airborne particles, invisible to the naked eye, that are shot into the air when a lidless toilet is flushed. (University of Colorado Boulder, YouTube)

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

TORONTO — If you thought flushing the toilet couldn’t get any more gross, think again.

In a new experiment using bright green lasers and camera equipment, scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder were able to visualize airborne particles, invisible to the naked eye, that are shot into the air when a lidless toilet is flushed.

While it’s been known by researchers for over 60 years that these tiny particles are released into the air upon flushing, this study, published in Scientific reports, is the first to directly visualize this to be able to measure how fast and far the particles spread.

Here’s the concerning part: These particles can transport pathogens, including bacteria, viruses, or other micro-organisms, that can cause disease, which could potentially pose an expose risk in public bathrooms.

These tiny water drops can carry pathogens such as E. coli, C. difficile, noroviruses and adenoviruses, and while many past studies have shown that these pathogens can live in the toilet bowl for dozens of flushes, the increase for potential exposure risk may be cause for concern.

The scientists reported that in just eight seconds the particles shot out at rocket speeds of 6.6 feet per second, reaching 4.9 feet above the toilet, the bigger droplets appearing to land on surfaces within seconds, while the smaller ones appearing to linger in the air for minutes or even longer, the study found.

The researchers note the importance of understanding the effects of these particles in order to mitigate exposure. “If it’s something you can’t see, it’s easy to pretend it doesn’t exist. But once you see these videos, you’re never going to think about a toilet flush the same way again,” said John Crimaldi, lead author of the study and professor of civil, environmental, and architectural engineering, in the study press release. “By making dramatic visual images of this process, our study can play an important role in public health messaging.”

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Business

Retail theft takes particularly hard toll on small local businesses

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Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

OGDEN — Inflation isn’t the only force behind rising prices as the former CEOs of Walmart and Home Depot say retail theft is growing at epidemic levels.

It’s a problem that costs retailers nationwide nearly $100 billion.

All of that theft is hitting small businesses hard.

In downtown Ogden, you can find dozens of family-owned, small businesses. They get hit to some degree with all the same things the big box stores get, but they don’t have the same resources to fight back.

“I believe that all of us have stories to share,” said owner Jonathan Pust, owner of Heebeegeebeez Comix and Games on Washington Boulevard. “A lot of our goal here is to recapture joy, the safety and the innocence of childhood. The things that reminded you when life was good.”

He is passionate about that. And when someone steals, it hurts just that much more.

“You try not to take it personally, but absolutely can take it personally because you feel like this is my house,” Pust said. “I’m welcoming the public into my place.”

Retail theft impacts businesses of all sizes. According to the National Retail Federation, big-box stores have increased their budgets for loss prevention and surveillance by more than 50% in recent years.

“It’s surprising how much there is out there,” said Riverdale Assistant Police Chief Casey Warren.

Some of those bigger stores report multiple thefts a day. “We try to work with them to see what’s going on, what’s causing it,” Warren said.

Much of the theft is driven by drug addiction, but they try to point offenders toward resources.

“We certainly try to encourage them to seek help, and if there’s anything the court system can do to help them through that process,” Warren added.

It can be tough to catch thieves if you don’t have the resources. It’s why business owners like Pust depend on others to be considerate and keep an eye out.

“Every man has the ability to go, ‘Hey, I think he’s stealing something’ or ‘Hey don’t steal that,'” Pust said.

He also points out that bigger retailers get bigger discounts on their inventory, while with some of his items, he may only have a 20% to 30% profit margin.

If one item is stolen, he has to sell several more to make up for the loss.

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Mike Anderson often doubles as his own photographer, shooting and editing most of his stories. He came to KSL in April 2011 after working for several years at various broadcast news outlets.

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Science

Oldest DNA reveals life in Greenland 2 million years ago

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This illustration provided by researchers depicts Kap Kobenhavn, Greenland, two million years ago, when the temperature was significantly warmer than northernmost Greenland today. Scientists have analyzed two-million-year-old DNA extracted from dirt samples in the area, revealing an ancient ecosystem unlike anything seen on Earth today, including traces of mastodons and horseshoe crabs roaming the Arctic. (Beth Zaiken, Associated Press )

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

NEW YORK — Scientists discovered the oldest known DNA and used it to reveal what life was like 2 million years ago in the northern tip of Greenland. Today, it’s a barren Arctic desert, but back then it was a lush landscape of trees and vegetation with an array of animals, even the now-extinct mastodon.

“The study opens the door into a past that has basically been lost,” said lead author Kurt Kjær, a geologist and glacier expert at the University of Copenhagen.

With animal fossils hard to come by, the researchers extracted environmental DNA, also known as eDNA, from soil samples. This is the genetic material that organisms shed into their surroundings — for example, through hair, waste, spit or decomposing carcasses.

Studying really old DNA can be a challenge because the genetic material breaks down over time, leaving scientists with only tiny fragments.

But with the latest technology, researchers were able to get genetic information out of the small, damaged bits of DNA, explained senior author Eske Willerslev, a geneticist at the University of Cambridge. In their study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, they compared the DNA to that of different species, looking for matches.

The samples came from a sediment deposit called the Kap København formation in Peary Land. Today, the area is a polar desert, Kjær said.

Professors Eske Willerslev and Kurt H. Kjaer expose fresh layers for sampling of sediments at Kap Kobenhavn, Greenland. (Photo: Svend Funder via Associated Press)

But millions of years ago, this region was undergoing a period of intense climate change that sent temperatures up, Willerslev said. Sediment likely built up for tens of thousands of years at the site before the climate cooled and cemented the finds into permafrost.

The cold environment would help preserve the delicate bits of DNA — until scientists came along and drilled the samples out, beginning in 2006.

During the region’s warm period, when average temperatures were 20 to 34 degrees Fahrenheit (11 to 19 degrees Celsius) higher than today, the area was filled with an unusual array of plant and animal life, the researchers reported. The DNA fragments suggest a mix of Arctic plants, like birch trees and willow shrubs, with ones that usually prefer warmer climates, like firs and cedars.

The DNA also showed traces of animals including geese, hares, reindeer and lemmings. Previously, a dung beetle and some hare remains had been the only signs of animal life at the site, Willerslev said.

One big surprise was finding DNA from the mastodon, an extinct species that looks like a mix between an elephant and a mammoth, Kjær said.

Many mastodon fossils have previously been found from temperate forests in North America. That’s an ocean away from Greenland, and much farther south, Willerslev said.

“I wouldn’t have, in a million years, expected to find mastodons in northern Greenland,” said Love Dalen, a researcher in evolutionary genomics at Stockholm University who was not involved in the study.

Because the sediment built up in the mouth of a fjord, researchers were also able to get clues about marine life from this time period. The DNA suggests horseshoe crabs and green algae lived in the area — meaning the nearby waters were likely much warmer back then, Kjær said.

I wouldn’t have, in a million years, expected to find mastodons in northern Greenland.

–Love Dalen, a researcher in evolutionary genomics at Stockholm University

By pulling dozens of species out of just a few sediment samples, the study highlights some of eDNA’s advantages, said Benjamin Vernot, an ancient DNA researcher at Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology who was not involved in the study.

“You really get a broader picture of the ecosystem at a particular time,” Vernot said. “You don’t have to go and find this piece of wood to study this plant, and this bone to study this mammoth.”

Based on the data available, it’s hard to say for sure whether these species truly lived side by side, or if the DNA was mixed together from different parts of the landscape, said Laura Epp, an eDNA expert at Germany’s University of Konstanz who was not involved in the study.

But Epp said this kind of DNA research is valuable to show “hidden diversity” in ancient landscapes.

This 2006 photo provided by researchers shows geological formations at Kap Kobenhavn, Greenland. The two people at the top are sampling for environmental DNA. (Photo: Svend Funder via Associated Press)

Willerslev believes that because these plants and animals survived during a time of dramatic climate change, their DNA could offer a “genetic roadmap” to help us adapt to current warming.

Stockholm University’s Dalen expects ancient DNA research to keep pushing deeper into the past. He worked on the study that previously held the “oldest DNA” record, from a mammoth tooth around a million years old.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you can go at least one or perhaps a few million years further back, assuming you can find the right samples,” Dalen said.

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Flu vaccine appears to be a very good match to circulating strains, CDC says

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This year’s flu shot appears to be “a very good match” to the circulating strains, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at a news briefing Monday. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

WASHINGTON — This year’s flu shot appears to be “a very good match” to the circulating strains, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at a news briefing Monday. However, she noted that flu vaccinations are lagging behind the pace of previous years.

Through the end of October, CDC data shows that vaccinations for pregnant women, a group that is more vulnerable to severe illness from influenza, are down about 12% from the same point in 2021.

Vaccination rates for seniors, the age group most likely to be hospitalized with influenza, were down about three percentage points from October 2021.

Flu vaccinations for children are down about 5% compared with where they were before the COVID-19 pandemic, Walensky said.

In a typical year, about 60% of American adults get vaccinated against influenza.

Flu hits the US hard

Flu season has gotten off to an early and severe start in the U.S., with hospitalization rates hitting levels that typically aren’t seen until December or January.

“We, of course, look in real time as to how well we think the influenza match is to what is circulating right now. The good news is that looks like it is a very good match,” Walensky said of the early start to the respiratory virus season.

She noted that the CDC would have more definitive data later in the season but that the data is encouraging.

Walensky said that even when the vaccine doesn’t closely match the circulating flu strains, “We see a 35% decrease in rates of hospitalization … which really just emphasizes, when we do have a good match, how much more effective it will be.”

CDC data shows that nearly 20,000 people in the United States were admitted to the hospital for flu during the week of Thanksgiving, almost double the number of admissions from the week before.

COVID-19 hospitalizations have ticked up as well, rising 27% in the week after Thanksgiving. But COVID-19 is no longer the only virus straining hospitals.

Just 5% of the U.S. population lives in an area considered to have a high COVID-19 community level.

Walensky said Monday that the CDC was “actively looking into” expanding its community levels beyond COVID-19 to include the effects of other viruses, such as the flu.

“In the meantime, what I do want to say is, one need not take wait for CDC action in order to put a mask,” she said.

People who are sick should stay home and away from others, use good hygiene like covering coughs and washing hands frequently, use a high-quality mask and improve the ventilation in indoor spaces, Walensky said.

Treatment is available

If you do get sick, it’s important to get tested, even if you’ve been vaccinated, said Dr. Sandra Fryhofer, board chair of the American Medical Association and an internal medicine physician in Atlanta.

If you have COVID-19 or the flu, there are antiviral medications for both. But flu antivirals don’t work against COVID-19, and vice versa.

“It is going to be a confusing respiratory infections season. Figuring out what’s making people sick is going to be a conundrum,” Fryhofer said.

In response to a question about shortages of key medications during this rough virus season, Walensky said that “CDC is aware of the reports of some of the shortages for both antivirals as well as antibiotics across the country. I know FDA is working … with manufacturers to try and explore what can be done to address this.”

She also urged doctors not to prescribe antibiotics for illnesses caused by viruses.

Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, said he and his colleagues have been astonished by the steep increase in flu cases this season. They have also wondered what could be causing it.

He says it’s likely that after two years without much flu activity in the U.S., we lost some of our immunity against that virus just as the country has returned to more normal travel and activity patterns.

It is going to be a confusing respiratory infections season. Figuring out what’s making people sick is going to be a conundrum.

–Sandra Fryhofer, American Medical Association

“Some of it has got to do with our behaviors in the past, having avoided flu and now opening up our lives to activities such as travel, religious services, getting together with families, going out to entertainment venues and doing all those things that take us into groups,” he said.

The flu vaccines are good at preventing severe outcomes, he said, but they don’t do much to stop the virus’ spread.

“It keeps you out of the emergency room, the hospital, the intensive care unit and the cemetery. It’s not very good at interrupting transmission, and it is not very good at preventing milder infection,” he said.

Schaffner says it’s likely that flu hospitalizations are going up because the virus is hitting the elderly, who, on the whole, tend to get less protection from vaccinations.

“The vaccine works least well among the population we most want to protect, namely older people, and that’s because they have immune systems that are much less robust than the immune systems of younger people.”

Schaffner noted that there are high-dose vaccines for seniors, which are preferred for this age group to help increase their protection.

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‘You don’t want to miss this’: How to view the lunar occultation of Mars

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A close up rendering of what Mars’ disappearance behind the moon will look like Wednesday evening. (Ryan Boyce, Stellarium 0.15.0)

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

SALT LAKE CITY — Look to the skies this week to witness the occult — a lunar occultation of the planet Mars, that is.

Beginning Wednesday night, the moon will slowly inch up towards Mars, until about 7:40 pm, when it will overtake the red planet, completely covering it for about 70 minutes, until Mars reappears on the other side.

No nightmare before Christmas, this is a novel astronomical event accessible to stargazers of all abilities. It’s a sight that will be visible to naked-eye stargazers since Mars is at its brightest in its roughly 26-month rendezvous cycle with Earth and you can’t miss the nearly-full moon. The view gets even better if you can view the visible obstruction with binoculars or a telescope.

Kevin Poe, the owner and operator of Dark Ranger Telescope Tours hopes Utahns won’t fear the event’s eerie name and will venture out to take a look.

“Whatever you do, don’t hide in your basement, because you don’t want to miss this,” he said.

Viewing the celestial vanishing act

A lunar occultation, according to the International Occultation Timing Association, occurs when the moon passes in front of another heavenly object.

University of Utah astronomer Paul Ricketts adds that this happens due to the motion of the moon. If you look close enough on any night, you can see the position of the moon change relative to the stars around it. With this motion, the moon will slip in front of Mars Wednesday night.

The exact time of the occultation varies based on location, according to earthsky.org. In Utah, this amounts to a difference of a few minutes, per in-the-sky.org; for example, it will be visible from 7:41 p.m. to 8:46 p.m. in Salt Lake City, or from 7:42 p.m. to 8:50 p.m. in Logan.

The timing is important. Ricketts said that if you get there late, you will miss the disappearance and need to wait an hour for the reappearance. While you can see this with your naked eye, you won’t be able to view the “contact” Mars makes with the moon without the aid of large binoculars or a telescope, Ricketts added.

Yet this should not deter anyone from taking a gander.

“You can go literally to your backyard to see it, because (the moon and Mars) are two very bright objects,” he said.

Poe, who will be at his observatory that is hosting a watch party Wednesday evening, said that at his position in southern Utah, Mars will enter and exit at about the center of the moon. What will this event look like through binoculars or a telescope?

A rendering of the Moon occultation of Mars on Dec. 7. (Photo: Ryan Boyce, Stellarium 0.15.0)

“One of the best ways to (describe an occultation) is to call it a pimple,” he said, drawing an analogy from dermatology. “What you’ll see is the moon will have a bright, red-orange pimple, (which) eventually moves behind (the moon).”

Instead of popping, he continued, the Mars pimple will recede into the surface of the Moon as it disappears.

A rare event

Lunar occultations of various heavenly bodies happen fairly often, yet a Mars occultation visible in Utah is rare. Ricketts said he believes only a couple have happened in Utah in the past few decades. And, Poe said that Utah won’t have another of this kind until 2059.

The moon will cut in front of Mars once again on Jan. 30, 2023; however, the full occultation will just barely miss Utah, according to in-the-sky.org. Poe expects to see this one from his vantage point near Bryce Canyon, a grazing occultation, where Mars skirts the edge of the moon. He sees a full occultation and grazing occultation happening in the same place during a short period of time — three lunar cycles — as even rarer.

Photographing the occultation is possible, said Ricketts, even with a phone placed up to a telescope.

“It’s just a simple observation this time, something easy to look at,” he said. “Pop outside and watch until you see (Mars) pop away behind the Moon.”

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Ryan Boyce is a lover of science and history. His first writing project was compiling the history of space exploration on his 3rd grade teacher’s computer, and he hasn’t stopped writing since.

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