CU Anschutz In The News

Search and rescue team members can be the overlooked patients in a traumatic mission, said Laura McGladrey.  She’s with CU Anschutz Medical School’s Stress Trauma Adversity Research and Treatment Center, working with cops, emergency service providers, search-and-rescue teams as well as guide services and ski patrols. Stress accumulation from exposure to traumatic missions can build up like a snowpack, McGladrey said. It starts gradually and following a big event, people can break in an avalanche of anguish.

Ross Kedl, an immunologist at the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine, says there is some prior evidence that mixing vaccines can be a boon. “We have used this method in animal studies for decades, and it is well known that this promotes a much better immune response than when immunizing with the same vaccine twice,” says Kedl.

“The evidence points to these immunocompromised patients as an accelerated cauldron of evolution,” said David Pollock, a professor of genomics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

“I am an infectious diseases physician, respiratory virus researcher, pediatric hospitalist and mother of two. I have taken care of children with Covid-19 and seen its devastating complications. I have engaged in this work while taking care of the academic and social-emotional needs of my children. I had to make the difficult choice to abandon the public school system, of which I was a strong proponent. My children needed to be in school. I needed them to be in school. I knew this could be done safely. I wish the same for everyone else.” Suchitra Rao, Associate Professor, Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine; Pediatrician, Infectious Disease, Children's Hospital, Colorado

Generally speaking, a population has reached herd immunity when each infected person passes a virus to no more than one other person, on average, said Dr. Jon Samet, dean of the Colorado School of Public Health. Under those circumstances, an epidemic will peter out, though some people still will get sick after reaching the herd immunity threshold, he said.

“Our children have been hurt in many ways,” says Dr. Steven Berkowitz, a medical doctor and a professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, where he studies child stress, trauma, and resilience. “School has been among the most significant pressure points.”

Dr. Sarah Jolley, a pulmonary and critical care specialist at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital [and CU School of Medicine] in Aurora, called for the medical community to create standardized definitions and guidelines of care.

“This is very exciting,” said Dr. Ross Kedl, a professor of immunology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. “It’s another home run.” While some are quick to point out that both Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines have higher efficacy rates, Kedl says it’s not as big of a difference as it seems. “The differences between 80% and 95% are not exactly quibbling, but they’re less significant than the overall message,” Kedl said. “We’re super excited when the flu vaccine has somewhere between a 30 and 60% efficacy.”