Noymer – UC Irvine Wen Public Health

Health, December 15, 2024

Can Masks Help Prevent Mpox? What We Know So Far

"Mpox spreads a few different ways, but it's transmitted most easily through intimate or skin-to-skin contact. Mpox can also be transmitted through contact with contaminated objects or surfaces, such as shared bedsheets. Infected animals can also pass the virus but animals in the United States do not have mpox. " (Andrew Noymer)

The Orange Country Register, September 16, 2024

Polio? Mumps? Chicken pox? Many SoCal kids lack required vaccinations

"COVID shots — as well as flu —are not required for public school attendance. The must-do list targets contagious illnesses such as diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis; polio; Hepatitis B; measles, mumps and rubella; and varicella (chickenpox). Many of those require a series of shots, timed for maximum effect, over weeks or months." (Andrew Noymer)

The Orange County Register, September 9, 2024

California’s COVID booster rates are dismal as new shot debuts. More sickness ahead?

"During the Delta surge, it was clear COVID was going hell-for-leather. Now we get these surges, and it’s less predictable. Unlike 2020 and some extent 2021, most people have had a COVID vaccine by now...I still believe it reduces severity. I’d advise readers who haven’t gotten any to get on board. You could be saving your own, or someone else’s, Nana." (Andrew Noymer)

Verywell Health, August 27, 2024

Should You Get Another Mpox Vaccine Dose?

"We haven’t seen any clade 1 cases in the U.S. yet. I’m sure we will, and I’m sure that will be a game changer, but unless we see a large number of cases, dozens of cases, and death, it’s probably going to be kind of in the background. " (Andrew Noymer)

Southside Weekly, August 18, 2024

How to Protest Safely at the DNC

"COVID-19 levels are high in Illinois and cases have risen sharply over the last month, according to wastewater data from the Chicago Department of Public Health. More than half of states across the U.S. are experiencing ‘very high’ levels of COVID due to the summer wave of infections." (Andrew Noymer)

Verywell Health, April 8, 2024

Should You Worry About Rising Mpox Cases?

"The reason for the uptick in cases is unclear. A few factors could be at play: the disease is endemic, identification rates are lower, and vaccination rates have been declining. Mpox tends to stay in social networks rather than the population at large because it requires skin-to-skin contact and not airborne transmission." (Andrew Noymer)

The Orange Country Register, April 3, 2024

Why do so few in Southern California get updated COVID vaccinations?

"Most egregiously, its official guidance is not to let a positive COVID at-home test result keep us from going to work or school, as long as we are asymptomatic. Yet some people are advised to re-up their vaccines every four months. While new guidance on a cadence of every-four-months vaccines for 65+ may make sense in light of data on fading antibodies, it’s not going to do anything to help vaccine uptake. " (Andrew Noymer)

LAist: The LA Report, December 21, 2023

Heavy Rain, Snow, Flooding from SoCal Storm, New COVID Subvariant, & Holiday Travel Tips

"JN.1 is the fastest growing variant in the U.S. according to the CDC... it’s sub-variant of omicron but a change to it’s spike protein seems to help the virus escape our immunity. When there’s a mutation in the protein, it’s able to evade previous immune responses that we may have developed and therefore become a better infector." (Andrew Noymer)

LAist, December 21, 2023

Coronavirus Subvariant JN.1 Spreading Fast In LA County

"When there’s a mutation in the protein, it’s able to evade previous immune responses that we may have developed and become a better infector. I expect JN.1 to become the dominant variant, both worldwide and here in California by the end of the winter." (Andrew Noymer)

The Orange County Register, November 9, 2023

Drug arrests plunge, overdose deaths soar: Connection or coincidence?

"In some sense, the two trends are explainable in a vacuum. You get fewer arrests because Prop. 47 is working as intended, quote-unquote, and more deaths because of fentanyl infiltration. It’s all a bit unfortunate. In some sense, it’s just inopportune timing." (Andrew Noymer)