COVID-19 Variant ‘Eris’ Still Dominates, but Hospitalizations Are Slowing

COVID-19 Threat Remains Low for Most People

COVID-19 certainly appears to be spreading, but it’s not causing serious illness in large numbers of people as it was earlier in the pandemic.

Even though there has been a surge in hospitalizations, numbers are still low in most of the country, per the CDC. In the newest CDC reporting, COVID-19 was related to 2.7 percent of all deaths in the country.

“Human pathogens [like the COVID virus] tend to evolve in order to more easily spread from person to person, so it’s not a great survival advantage for them to be more lethal,” says Dr. Winslow.

He adds that evidence suggests that vaccination may be preventing a lot of serious illness, hospitalization, and death. Updated vaccines should be effective against circulating coronavirus strains, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Peter Chin-Hong, MD, a professor of medicine at the University of California in San Francisco who specializes in infectious diseases, believes that the new vaccines will be a good match for variants such as EG.5.

“Although the vaccine is based on XBB.1.5, EG.5 is so closely related that the vaccine should provide similar protection,” says Dr. Chin-Hong.

Moderna released study data on September 6 showing that its reformulated COVID-19 shot produced an 8.7- to 11-fold increase in neutralizing antibodies not just against EG.5 but also against FL.1.5.1 and BA.2.86.

People Vulnerable to Severe COVID-19 Should Take Extra Precautions

As the CDC stresses, specific groups of people are more at risk of getting very sick from COVID-19. Adults ages 50 and older are more likely to need hospitalization, intensive care, or a ventilator to help them breathe. Most COVID-related deaths occur in people older than 65.

Individuals who are immunocompromised (have a weakened immune system) because of a medical condition or from immunosuppressive medications or treatments also face greater odds of severe illness, says the CDC. Underlying health conditions such as obesity, chronic pulmonary obstructive disorder, and heart disease heighten this risk as well.

Another group that has weakened defenses against the virus and can become very sick from infections are pregnant individuals and those who were recently pregnant.

Public health authorities advise those at increased risk to talk with a healthcare provider about taking extra precautions, such as wearing a mask, when hospital admission levels in their communities are medium or higher.

What Are the Symptoms of Eris? Should I Get Tested for COVID-19?

To help stop coronavirus spread, especially to these more vulnerable populations, Winslow urges everyone to get tested for COVID-19 if they have upper respiratory symptoms.

“Newer COVID-19 variants have very mild symptoms in general compared with the earlier variants, and can very much mimic the common cold,” Winslow says. Common COVID-19 symptoms include:

“Most of us would want to know if we’re actually infected with COVID-19 so we can be especially careful and maybe avoid elderly relatives and others who are at greater risk of severe illness,” Winslow adds.

Since the nationwide public health emergency due to COVID-19 ended in May of this year, free testing has become harder to find. But the CDC offers an online tool to help people without health insurance find no-cost testing.