COVID-19 is no longer in the top 10 reasons why Coloradans die, according to the state’s annual death data, but the virus still casts a shadow over the numbers. 

Long COVID is starting to be listed as a “significant contributing factor” in the deaths of some Coloradans, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Since January 2023, there have been 52 deaths among Colorado residents in which long COVID was recorded as playing a role.

“It doesn’t surprise me. It’s definitely something that we should pay attention to because long COVID exists,” said Dr. Dana Dabelea, an epidemiology professor at Colorado’s School of Public Health, where she’s associate dean for research. 

Read more at CPR.

In late March, a worker on a commercial dairy farm in Texas developed a case of pink eye. He eventually tested positive for the highly pathogenic avian influenza Type A H5N1, also known as bird flu. Scientists were shocked to find out that cattle, not birds, were the host — and that large amounts of H5N1 were found in the infected cattle.

So far this year, there have been four confirmed cases in humans following exposure to a dairy cow, with at least 143 dairy herds affected in a dozen states. For years, scientists have warned that bird flu could become another pandemic like COVID-19 (which hasn’t exactly ended.) In other species, scientists have seen H5N1 decimate populations of seals and cats.  Now, a new study published in the journal Nature takes a deeper look at the virus infecting cows, shedding light on the risk it poses to the human population. 

Read more at Salon.

Jefferson County Public Health is launching its first mobile clinic to take health care on the go.

The clinic is inside a van that will travel through the county, offering the same services available at on-site clinics. The goal is to deliver services to people in rural areas, people with limited mobility and who don’t have access to transportation.  

“We have very talented nurses and providers that want to be able to get out and render this kind of important clinical public health care,” said Max Johnson, director of clinic services with Jefferson County Public Health. “This is our way of saying, ‘We see you, we hear you, we understand the needs and we want to meet them.'”

The van is filled with technology to stay powered in rural areas. In the past, the health department would have to rely on community partners for power and shelter for clinics held in rural parts of the county. 

Read more at 9 News.

Higher Covid-19 vaccination rates are associated with protection against children experiencing symptomatic asthma, according to the findings of a new JAMA Network Open study. The researchers reported that for every increase of 10 percentage points in the coverage of Covid-19 vaccination, the prevalence of pediatric asthma symptoms decreased by 0.36 percentage points.

“Asthma is one of the most common chronic illnesses among children in the United States, with about 4.7 million children experiencing symptoms each year,” lead author Matthew M. Davis, Executive Vice-President, Enterprise Physician-in-Chief and Chief Scientific Officer of Nemours Children’s Health, said in a press release. “Whether asthma is mild or severe, it affects children’s quality of life. So anything we can do to help kids avoid flare-ups is beneficial.”

Read more at Forbes.

recautions such as shutdowns and social distancing, combined with the fast rollout of vaccines, saved 800,000 lives in the United States from the clutches of COVID-19, a new study co-authored by a University of Colorado professor estimates.

But the price of that prevention was also tremendous. Shuttered schools creating lasting learning loss and achievement gaps. Delayed routine medical care leading to bigger problems and deaths down the road. And, perhaps most serious of all, a newfound hostility to public health measures, which could leave us more vulnerable for the next pandemic.

“Our hope in the paper is not to downplay those things or say these measures saved 800,000 lives, period,” said Stephen Kissler, an assistant professor of computer science at CU Boulder.

Read more at The Colorado Sun.

On Wednesday, Helping Hands plans to offer free vaccines for hepatitis, chickenpox, HPV, and Covid through their community fair.

They plan to offer these free vaccines on Wednesday at St. Mary-Corwin Hospital in Pueblo.

The vaccination clinic, to be held on the first Wednesday of every month, is the latest addition to assist the community with access to resources, food, and health checks.

The director of Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center’s Southern Colorado operations Sal Katz said that around 250 people attend Helping Hands every month.

Read more at KKTV.

The first phase of human trials studying a possible nasal COVID-19 vaccine has opened, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced.

The clinical trial, sponsored by the federal health agency, is enrolling participants at three sites across the U.S.

Researchers believe the vaccine candidate may provide even better protection against emerging variants than the COVID vaccines given via injection.

“The concept is that we’re looking for next generation vaccines,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor. “Throughout the pandemic, we had the incredible scientific breakthrough of COVID vaccines that happened, that got into production incredibly quickly and were safe and effective. But of course, we also recognize that there are challenges of the existing vaccines.”

Read more at ABC.

The U.S. government will pay the vaccine maker Moderna $176 million to develop a pandemic vaccine that could be used to treat bird flu in people as cases in dairy cows continue to mount across the country, federal officials announced Tuesday.

The funds are targeted for release through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and will pay for continued development of a vaccine that uses the same mRNA technology that allowed rapid development and rollout of vaccines to protect against COVID-19. The award was made through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, a program that focuses on medical treatments for potential pandemics.

Read more at PBS.

Colorado, along with much of the country, is experiencing a summer bump in COVID-19 infections, showing the virus has yet to fall into a seasonal pattern.

Flu, respiratory syncytial virus and other common respiratory bugs typically start spreading in the fall and peter out by spring. In Colorado, the worst points of the pandemic fell in the fall and winter, but COVID-19 hasn’t disappeared in the warmer months, as flu does.

Four years ago, at the beginning of the pandemic, scientists expected the virus would be well on its way to settling into a seasonal pattern by now, said Talia Quandelacy, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health.

Read more at The Denver Post.

With fresh Covid cases bubbling up in some parts of the country, health officials are setting course for a fall vaccination campaign.

On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended new shots for all Americans this fall.

“Our top recommendation for protecting yourself and your loved ones from respiratory illness is to get vaccinated,” CDC director Dr. Mandy Cohen said in a statement.

Officials acknowledged the need for vaccinations is not as dire as it was only a few years ago. Most Americans have some degree of immunity from being infected, from past vaccinations or both. Covid deaths and hospitalizations last month were at about their lowest point since the pandemic first hit the United States in 2020.

Read more at NBC.