![]() To date, we have followed an incoherent plan that seesaws between trade agreements and sanctions because we have failed to listen to, much less understand, China’s goals. China is the undeniable other major global player with a large and diverse economy, a significant military presence, and a unique political system. We have never understood how to work with China.Īny dealings with China are complex and challenging. Incurred health care costs will drive some to bankruptcy and leave society holding the bag. People without jobs will lose health insurance. Those with little or no sick leave may lose their jobs. The ill will become sicker, miss work and may require hospitalization. Americans facing inflationary forces will be unlikely to spend their money on therapeutics. Similarly, the cost of a single dose of vaccine is expected to quadruple to $120. When the agreement expires, the projected out-of-pocket cost is expected to exceed $530 per course of Paxlovid treatment. Currently, the government pays $530 per course of Paxlovid and $30 per dose of Covid-19 vaccine. Food prices are 12% higher than a year ago while wages increased by only 5.2% over the same period.įederal subsidies for therapeutics like Paxlovid and vaccines are to expire in January. Inflation exposed the weaknesses of our fragile economy. Inflation is a threat to our economy and our health. Disruptions increase the price of medications creating problems for individuals who are uninsured or who have high deductibles and copays. The FDA lists nearly 125 medications and medical devices that are currently in shortage. Supply chain disruption has already caused a shortage of common medications like Adderall and the antibiotic amoxicillin. Some regional pharmacy shelves are empty, and physicians are having to be creative in addressing the problem. Basic medicines and therapeutics do as well. Just-in-Time works well when supply chains are reliable, but it is not flexible enough to efficiently deal with disruptions.Įggs, toilet paper and produce rely on a fragile system of distribution. The inability to get a new car or major appliance will be seen as inconveniences compared to difficulty accessing basic goods. In Boston, patients lie on hallway gurneys for 8 hours awaiting transfer to a floor bed. Then, once a decision is made to admit a patient from the ER, it takes hours to find an open bed. Emergency Room wait times are frequently measured in hours. Other winter-related injuries requiring hospital care include falls, heart attacks, hypothermia and carbon monoxide poisoning.Īdd to this list the need to treat chronic lung disease, diabetes, cancer and trauma and the strain becomes all too obvious. Infections are not the only reason patients require hospital care. As RSV subsides, the winter Covid-19 surge will take over. RSV infections are currently overwhelming hospitals and their intensive care units raising bed occupancy to over 80% in many regions. Our healthcare infrastructure will have a difficult time meeting the challenges of the coming surge in new Covid-19 infections. Restoring normal function will save countless lives. Treating Covid-19 sepsis requires a better understanding of the destructive processes wrought by the dual infections which cause one limb of the immune system ( the lectin pathway) to become hyper-activated. Delays in administering targeted treatment can have lethal results. ![]() Current laboratory testing methods require days or longer to determine the presence of a secondary pathogen, identify it, and determine its sensitivity to treatment. This is important because a delay in making an accurate diagnosis means a delay in administering targeted therapy and yields poorer outcomes.Ĭovid-19 sepsis is deadly. ![]() The combination of severe Covid-19 and Sepsis is deadly.Īn article appeared in OFID discussing the critical need for new diagnostics that can rapidly distinguish one infection from the other because the two can coexist. It is the most immunity-evasive variant to date and no accessible therapies exist to neutralize XBB.1.5. ![]() The variant is a recombinant (fusion) of different Omicron variants and the CDC forecast of infections has nearly doubled in prevalence over the past week representing close to 41% of new cases. A new and very worrisome Covid-19 variant is in its ascendancy – XBB.1.5.
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