September 26, 2023 - Latest Data & Long Covid

Latest Data & Long Covid

September 26, 2023

Last night, the CDC’s website released its latest Covid hospital admissions data for the week ending September 16, 2023. In the United States as a whole, new weekly hospitalizations declined 4.3% compared to the prior week. The national hospitalization rate for the week was 5.93 admissions per 100K population, which is the nation’s first week-over-week decline since mid-June. This drop in national hospital admissions during the week of September 16 follows 12 consecutive weekly increases.

Alabama’s weekly hospital admissions declined even more rapidly - i.e. 18% - resulting in a drop from 412 admissions the prior week to 338 admissions during the most recent week. That equates to a per capita rate of 6.89 per 100K population. According to the latest data, Alabama’s 6.89 hospitalization rate remains higher than the national average, but it is a vast improvement over the prior week, when Alabama ranked 3rd highest in the nation. Alabama dropped 6 notches to 9th highest in the nation in the latest filing. Florida again leads the nation with 9.41 admissions per 100K.

Within Alabama, the Birmingham metropolitan area is probably the most challenged area of the State right now, although the comparative countywide data is highly volatile from week to week. Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, Blount and Bibb counties all experienced weekly hospitalization rates of 10 admissions per 100K in the latest data. That is consistent with the most recent wastewater collection data from five wastewater facilities surrounding Birmingham, which reflect only a flat to modest decline in the presence of coronavirus levels in central Alabama.

On a different note, the rise of Covid cases this summer has caused the management of long Covid to come back into focus. An article published yesterday in the journal Nature offers new clues into what could be causing this elusive condition. It discusses a study that compared blood samples of 268 people, some of whom had Covid but fully recovered, some had never been infected, and the rest had ongoing symptoms of long Covid at least four months after their infection.

Several differences in the blood of participants with long Covid stood out from the other groups in the study. Among other things, their T cells and B cells tended to have significantly lower levels of a hormone called cortisol. Low cortisol could help explain why many people with long Covid experience profound fatigue. In future studies, the research team intends to explore the role cortisol may play in long Covid. 

According to commentary surrounding the new study, there are likely multiple, potentially overlapping, causes of long COVID. And no one is suggesting that low cortisol levels are solely responsible for long Covid. The study is nevertheless significant because it confirms that the development of valid and reliable blood testing protocols for long COVID is possible, which would be a giant step forward in diagnosis of the condition. It is clear that reliable diagnosis is a necessary predicate to effective treatment. Stay tuned for the results of future clinical studies.