As Michigan continues to recover from the latest COVID-19 surge, state health departments are beginning to ease mask recommendations for indoor public settings. The new guidance now allows individual businesses and schools to decide whether or not their establishment requires masks. According to the state, no immediate resurgence of the virus is predicted so they’re calling this phase of the pandemic “recovery.” Dr. Teena Chopra, professor of infectious diseases at Wayne State University, says these relaxed rules mean individuals need to be flexible and more aware of their own risks. “People who are at higher risk…if they’re going to be in a setting where it’s going to be crowded, they should continue masking,” she said.  

COVID-19 vaccines have been instrumental in the fight against the pandemic. Life hasn’t returned to normal yet, but vaccines have been highly effective against severe disease and death, saving countless lives and helping our already strained hospital systems from being overwhelmed. Researchers are already working on the next generation of vaccines in hopes of fighting new strains of the virus and making it easier to deliver vaccines at home and around the world. Nearly 5.9 million Michiganders are fully vaccinated, but as we have seen, variants can present major setbacks. The next generation of vaccines could change how we deliver the shot. Nasal sprays and pills would make distribution easier, but those versions may not be available this year. “We are already hearing about technologically advanced vaccines that can help us with challenges and barriers and storage,” said Dr. Teena Chopra, a professor of infectious disease at Wayne State University. She says easier storage will be key to reaching rural areas and less developed nations, a vital step in stopping viral variants. Dr. Chopra says for now, we need to focus on making current COVID-19 treatments more available, and, in addition to technological advancement, social innovation. “…the U.S. has one of the lowest vaccine uptakes, and I think largely it is due to the lack of trust that our population has. So, I think we need to work on that trust component.,” she said.  

To be more successful when it comes to weight loss goals, the secret may be a good night's sleep. New research suggests that an extra hour of sleep every night could help sleep-deprived people who are overweight eat 270 fewer calories per day without even trying. That change translates to nearly nine pounds of weight loss over a year. The study is not the first to connect sleep with eating patterns. Despite a growing body of evidence suggesting that adequate sleep helps people stick to a healthy diet, sleep still doesn't tend to be part of weight loss conversations - even those that happen between doctors and their patients. But that's changing, says Dr. James Rowley, a professor of critical care and sleep medicine at Wayne State University. "For many years, sleep just was not considered part of the 'equation' so to speak," Rowley said. "Now there is growing recognition that sleep needs to be considered as an important component of cardiovascular health, metabolic health, and exercise and eating. It's clear that adequate sleep is important for overall health." Dr. Rowley said he's already started to recommend more sleep to aid in weight loss and weight maintenance in his own practice, and that this new research is an important piece of the puzzle that reinforces the effect improved sleep quantity can have on calorie consumption.  

As co-directors of the Wayne State University Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Marcus Zervos, M.D., Teena Chopra, M.D., M.P.H., Paul Kilgore, M.D., M.P.H., and Matthew Seeger, Ph.D, share their perspectives on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. The experts discuss parallels between previous pandemics, exacerbated health disparities, a lack of response and resource coordination, the dangers of misinformation, and ways the public health system can better prepare for future pandemics. Together, the co-directors assert that if we learn from this pandemic, our post-COVID-19 world will be more resilient, health disparities will be reduced, and our public health system will become stronger.  

By Michelle R. Smith  Anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made “deeply offensive” comments when he suggested things are worse for people today than they were for Anne Frank, the teenager who died in a Nazi concentration camp after hiding with her family in a secret annex in an Amsterdam house for two years, several Jewish advocacy and Holocaust remembrance groups said. Kennedy has invoked the specter of Nazis and the Holocaust in his work to sow doubts about vaccines and agitate against public health efforts to bring the pandemic under control, such as requiring masks or vaccine mandates. Although Kennedy has previously apologized for his use of such tactics, Dr. David Gorski, a cancer surgeon at Wayne State University School of Medicine and a critic of the anti-vaccine movement who has tracked Kennedy’s rhetoric for over 15 years, says his continued use of such comparisons indicates “he means it.” Gorski said the language demonstrates one of the ways Kennedy likes to connect with his audience: buttering them up by portraying them as going against the flow and smarter than everyone else. “If vaccine mandates are totalitarian like Nazis and the Soviet Union and that sort of thing, what does that make the anti-vaxxers? They’re brave freedom fighters,” Gorski said. “There’s flattery in those analogies.”  

The first case of Flurona has been reported in the United States. Doctors say the co-infections are a mix between Influenza and Covid, where patients will show positive results for both viruses. Health care professionals say the best defense is the vaccine, in addition to wearing masks and social distancing. Doctors recommend surgical masks, like an N-95, which provides the best protection, unlike cloth masks that don’t guard against the transmission of respiratory fluids. Flurona symptoms include fever, cough, fatigue, runny nose, body aches and sore throat. “Every year we get the annual Flu shot and it is still important this year, especially when we know that we have a very super-infectious variant circulating and we don’t want to get co-infections with Flu and Omicron,” said Wayne State University professor of infectious diseases Dr. Teena Chopra, MD, MPH. “Respiratory viruses have a very similar way of transmission. You know influenza transmission is through droplet infections, whereas Omicron, which is coronavirus, we know to be airborne and highly infectious.”  

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has awarded $4.3 million to the Wayne State University Center for Emerging and Infectious Diseases. The funds will increase lab facilities to collect and analyze genomic data to address emerging infectious disease threats and enhance the state’s ability to respond to those threats. The funding, part of $18.5 million provided to WSU, Michigan Tech University, Michigan State University and the University of Michigan, will increase infectious disease sequencing capacity in the state, beginning with the COVID-19 virus. “COVID-19 has clearly demonstrated that we need more lab capacity in the state, and specifically in southeast Michigan,” said Marcus Zervos, M.D., co-director of the WSU Center for Emerging and Infectious Diseases and COVID-19 advisor to the City of Detroit. “We must be prepared for the next mutation or the next disease.” 

As omicron COVID-19 cases skyrocket in Michigan, hospitalizations are increasing as well – although at a far slower rate – and prompting concerns about capacity. Even though the variant is mild for most, the wave has increased hospital admissions statewide by 400 in one week, a 10% rise, while forcing hundreds of critical health care workers to quarantine. Just a few weeks after hospitalizations dropped from a peak of nearly 4,800 patients, the health care system is girding again for another COVID-19 crunch, which may be less lethal but could tax its ability to provide care. On Monday the state reported 61,235 new infections for the past five days, an average of 12,247. For the past week, the daily average of 12,442 is up 65% from the previous week’s average of 7,533 daily cases. Dr. Teena Chopra, director of the Center for Emerging and Infectious Diseases and a professor at Wayne State University School of Medicine works with local hospitals and said that although a smaller fraction of those who get infected are requiring hospital care, the previously unseen scale of infections is still leading to hundreds of people sick enough to require a hospital visit, especially in Detroit which has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the state. “The sheer numbers are so huge, the hospitals are getting overwhelmed,” Dr. Chopra said.

By Darren Cunningham  The interest in keeping up with COVID and its variants varies from person to person. Some opt to just follow the protocols; others want to know the science behind the severity and transmissibility. Scientists say the newest strain, omicron, spreads quicker than delta but is less severe. Doctors, including Dr. Phillip Levy, a professor of emergency medicine and researcher at Wayne State University, said it's important to keep in mind most of the studies on omicron so far have been conducted in South Africa, a different population with younger people being infected. “So, when you say, ‘could it be more severe?’ It wouldn’t be more severe because omicron itself becomes something different. I mean that could happen, and it may create a new severe variant which would have a new Greek alphabet naming structure. But omicron itself, we still just don’t know what it’s going to do when it hits our population,” said Dr. Levy.

Wayne Health has been hosting drive-through clinics on Mack Avenue to provide monoclonal antibody treatments, which can be the difference between life and death for those most vulnerable to severe illness from COVID-19. But amid Michigan’s worst-yet coronavirus surge, there’s not enough supply of monoclonal antibodies nor are there enough health care workers to administer them. “COVID testing and vaccinations remain our pillar, but we’re also very heavily engaged in monoclonal antibody infusions, which are a great way to prevent people who do contract COVID – particularly high-risk individuals – from getting sick to the point where they require hospitalization or at risk for dying,” said Dr. Phillip Levy, professor of emergency at Wayne State University, chief innovation officer for Wayne Health, and assistant vice president for research. Levy said when the virus attacks the body, it’s like an internal war in which coronavirus particles are the invaders pitted against the antibody soldiers a person’s immune system has called to defend it. “The monoclonal antibodies basically are a pharmaceutical version of the antibodies your body would produce anyway to fight off the virus. And by taking these antibodies and sort of bolstering your natural immune system, you get more soldiers, more fighters against the virus,” said Dr. Levy.  

Hilary Marusak, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences at Wayne State University, wrote an article sharing an explanation of the impact exercise has on the body’s natural cannabinoids and the associated benefits for mental health and stress relief. The “runner’s high” has long been attributed to endorphins, but research from Marusak’s lab found that exercise reliably increases levels of the body’s endocannabinoids – which are molecules that work to maintain balance in the brain and body – in a process called “homeostasis.” This natural chemical boost may better explain some of the beneficial effects of exercise on brain and body.  

Santa made a recent visit to Detroit to spread holiday cheer and help encourage community members to get vaccinated. A Wayne Health Mobile Unit provided COVID-19 vaccines, as well as flu shots and other screenings, at the pop-up clinic at Saunders Memorial A.M.E. Church. The event also featured ice sculptures and food.  

Scientists at the John A. Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah have discovered a new type of nerve cell, or neuron, in the retina. The discovery marks a notable development for the field as scientists work toward a better understanding of the central nervous system by identifying all classes of neurons and their connections. The research team named their discovery the Campana cell after its shape, which resembles a hand bell. The published research study, “An uncommon neuronal class conveys visual signals from rods and cones to retinal ganglion cells,” was authored by Tushar Ganjawala, a Ph.D. student in the Wayne State University School of Medicine, and co-authors Brent K Young, Charu Ramakrishnan, Ping Wang, Karl Deisseroth, and Ning Tian. The work was supported by an NIH Core Grant, and an Unrestricted Grant from Research to Prevent Blindness, New York, NY, to the Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, University of Utah, and the Department of Ophthalmology of Wayne State University School of Medicine; additional support was provided by the Ligon Research Center of Vision, Kresge Eye Institute, and the Dryer Foundation. 

Chest pain is about more than pain in the chest. But when it comes on suddenly, experts behind new guidelines on evaluating and diagnosing it don’t want you pondering nuances. They want you to act – now. “The most important thing people need to know about chest pain is that if experience it, they should call 911,” said Dr. Phillip Levy, a professor of emergency medicine and assistant vice president for research at Wayne State University. “People shouldn’t waste time trying to self-diagnose. They should immediately go to the nearest hospital. And if they’re going to go to the nearest hospital to get evaluated for chest pain, ideally it should be by ambulance.” Levy helped lead the committee that wrote the new guidelines from the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology.  

By Megan Edwards  Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit is the first college in the United States to introduce a mandatory plant-based nutrition unit into their curriculum for first-year medical students. The four-week “Rooting for Wellness” learning module, launched in 2019, utilizes recorded lectures, online quizzes, cooking demonstrations, guest lecture panels, and a vegan community fair to teach students about the critical connection between nutrition and disease prevention. The curriculum’s creators recently published a report in the International Journal of Disease Reversal and Prevention about the success of the program and how other universities can follow their lead.  “I’ve always been passionate about community advocacy, nutrition, and the promotion of preventive medicine, but was disappointed by how sparingly these topics were covered in med school,” said Lakshman Mulpuri, a co-founder of Rooting for Wellness and student at the university. “I was in awe of the incredible stories of patients who had empowered themselves with a whole-food, plant-based diet. I knew that these stories and the science behind them needed to be shared with my fellow fledgling physicians.” 

By Alex Bozarjian  Researchers are learning more about how severe cases of COVID-19 can impact a person's mental health in the long term. A study conducted in Italy found that 30% of patients who recovered from COVID-19 developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). "This brain goes to fight or flight mode, and people have nightmares, people have flashbacks, and these flashbacks are as if I am there, I see things, I hear things--I feel the touches," Dr. Arash Javanbakht said. He researches stress, trauma and anxiety at Wayne State University. He said there are a lot of layers to recovery after COVID-19. It can either be mental or physical. 

Exposure to air pollution and road traffic noise over several years may increase the risk of heart failure, according to new research from a large observational study. The study examined more than 22,000 female nurses based in Denmark, aged 44 and older, over a period of 15 to 20 years to evaluate the impact of exposure to small particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, as well as road traffic noise. The results showed that increased exposure to these pollutants after just 3 years was tied to a substantially increased risk of new heart failure. With emissions standards now in place to combat pollution, it is interesting that the researchers thought to explore air pollution as a heart failure risk, says Ileana L. Piña, MD, a heart failure transplant cardiologist and professor of medicine at Wayne State University. "You think of respiratory illness in cities where there is a high level of pollution, but you don't think of heart failure," says Piña, who was not a part of this study. "Next I think we need to link up what it was in that polluted air that actually caused the trauma." 

Health care disparities in Black, Brown and impoverished populations are well documented, but the outcomes have never been as obvious as during the pandemic. For instance, in 2020, Black people were 2.1 times more likely than white people to die from COVID-19 in the U.S. In Michigan last year, roughly 30 out of every 1,000 Black people living in Michigan could expect to die from COVID-19, according to data published by Brookings Institution last March. To improve access to health care, the system must go mobile, said Dr. Philip Levy, professor of emergency medicine at Wayne State University and chief innovation officer for Wayne Health. Levy's practice is attempting to reinvent the model by putting primary preventive care on wheels and meeting patients where they live in an attempt to overcome systemic problems by treating chronic conditions like high blood pressure. The pandemic has also led to the most critical staffing crisis the industry has ever faced. Nationally, roughly 30 percent of nurses have either quit or been terminated during the pandemic. 

Avoiding fast foods, soda pop and processed foods can help prevent a condition called metabolic syndrome, or MetS for short. Diet changes often are far more powerful for preventing disease than the treatments we get when problems such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes are fully developed. The old saying is true: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. A syndrome means we diagnose a condition by a constellation of findings without a single definitive test. These are factors for MetS: Abdominal obesity Low HDL cholesterol High triglycerides Elevated fasting blood levels of glucose Elevated blood pressures This syndrome is present in an estimated 30 percent of the U.S. population. and probably more than that among Detroiters. Those with MetS have a fivefold increase in the risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) and twice the risk for heart disease over five to ten years. While there are obese individuals who don't show MetS, the diagnosis has become more common with a rise in the percentage of people worldwide who are overweight or obese.

BY Jen Christensen  Pregnant women who develop Covid-19 symptoms risk emergency complications and other problems with their pregnancies, according to two new studies. The disease also puts their children at risk. Dr. Gil Mor, a reproductive immunologist who did not work on the study but reviewed the work, said it's also possible that the problems could be related to chronic inflammation caused by Covid-19. "Inflammation is extremely dangerous for both the mother and the development of the fetus. A chronic inflammation is now a fight for the survival of the mother and the fetus, and in every fight, they pay they pay a price," said Mor, who leads a research lab at Wayne State University that studies the immune system during pregnancy and the impact of pathogens. "We need to do everything in our hands in order to prevent the chronic inflammation."