It’s almost June, and COVID cases are surging again — powered by a rising tide of omicron subvariants currently circulating the U.S.
The country’s seven-day average of daily new COVID cases has ballooned above 100,000 as of Friday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s more than three times higher than this time a year ago.
And while hospitalizations have remained relatively low during the current wave, some infectious disease experts say the virus’ unpredictable nature could lead to a fickle COVID summer.
Dr. Pamina M. Gorbach focuses on the biobehavioral epidemiology of infectious disease, especially how HIV transmission, acquisition and progression is affected by substance abuse. She is a Professor in the Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health and in the Division of Infectious Diseases, David Geffen School of Medicine. Dr. Gorbach's work in HIV prevention, treatment and care involves research in Los Angeles with long time partners the Los Angeles LGBT Center and the UCLA Vine Street Clinic she helped establish. Dr.
Education
- DrPH, University of North Carolina, North Chapel Hill, NC
- MHS, Bloomberg School of Public Health, The Johns Hopkins University
- BA, Brown University, Providence, RI
Dr. Frerichs is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Epidemiology and past Chair twice of the Faculty Executive Committee at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. He was Chair of the Division of Epidemiology (1988) and then founding Chair (1989-2001) of the Epidemiology Department when it changed in 1989 from a division in a single-department School of Public Health (SPH), and served in that capacity for 12 years, resigning in 2001 to return to the general faculty. He was also Chair of the UCLA Education Abroad committee, a post he held from 2003 until 2005.
Education
- BS, Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois, 1965
- DVM, Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois, 1967
- MPH, Epidemiology, Tulane University, 1970
- DrPH, Epidemiology, Tulane University, 1973
An unusually long coronavirus surge appears to have peaked in Southern California, with new cases and hospitalization numbers finally starting to decline.
On Wednesday, July 20, there were 2,154 people with confirmed COVID-19 cases in the hospital in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. By Monday, Aug. 1, the latest day available, that had ticked down to 1,967. And in the week ending Tuesday, Aug. 2, health departments in those four counties reported just over 60,000 new cases, down from about 72,000 the week ending Tuesday, July 19.
In her new position as Chair of the UCLA Department of Ophthalmology, Dr. Anne L. Coleman, sees it as a privilege and duty to share her commitment to healing as many people with eye and vision disorders as possible.
Monkeypox was declared a national public health emergency on Aug. 4. But since the first cases of monkeypox surfaced in the United States in May, reports on the spread have mainly targeted gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in this outbreak thus far, 99 percent of cases in the U.S. have occurred in men, 94 percent of whom reported recent male-to-male sexual or close intimate contact.
In an eerie echo of the coronavirus pandemic, more than a decade of warnings preceded the global outbreak of human monkeypox that has now spread to more than 31,700 cases — with about a third of those in the United States.
Two linked studies led by UCLA Fielding School of Public Health researchers have found strong associations between drug misuse generally and opioid misuse specifically among unemployed Americans, who were found to have a 40% higher likelihood to misuse opioids than those working 35-40 hours per week.
A professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health has been honored by the World Health Organization for his work to prevent HIV/AIDS in China.
"In this era of increased parasitic threat, Human Parasitic Diseases – A Diagnostic Atlas is a must-have for parasite identification. Coverage is complete, including well-recognized species of parasites as well as information on those less commonly encountered.