COVID hospitalizations and deaths continue to decline, but the virus' future has three options: control, elimination or eradication, according to Anthony Fauci, MD, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. At a June 13 conference, he said the least likely is eradication of the virus.
Here are five other updates about the endemic virus that you may have missed this month:
- An FDA committee unanimously voted June 15 to tweak the fall round of COVID-19 boosters to specifically target the XBB strain of the virus.
- COVID-19 increases patients' risk for contracting certain fungal infections, and since 2019, cases of hospital fungal infections have sharply increased, according to the CDC.
- New research on COVID-induced loss of smell and taste — two of the earliest known, defining symptoms of the virus — has found that while a common symptom in 60.5 percent of diagnosed cases, it is rare for loss of those symptoms to not recover in most instances.
- Recently released data from a study of nearly 46,000 patients revealed that kidney transplants from COVID-positive donors are safe.
While cases are down across many states, infectious disease experts have noted that COVID-19 is still one of the top five viruses they are watching closely as more social interaction increases this summer.