COVID-19 hospitalizations in Michigan surge 800% in March among people 40-49 years old

[multigraincracker]

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/03/24/michigan-covid-young-people/6983313002/

An alarming trend is emerging as coronavirus hospitalization rates in the state this month are surging among younger people, a group with the lowest vaccination rates among the state's populations, according to inpatient data collected by the Michigan Health & Hospital Association.

The group said Wednesday that from March 1 through Tuesday, hospitalizations increased by 633% for those aged 30 to 39 and by 800% for those aged 40 to 49.

The association's report said hospitalization rates decline as the vaccination rates per age group increases, underscoring the need for vaccinations. For example, hospitalizations are increasing by only 37% for those age 80 and older, and in Michigan 44% of the population age 80 and older are fully vaccinated, according to the report -- a far lower rate than for younger populations where the numbers are soaring.

"The correlation between high vaccination rates and lower hospitalization growth rates shows the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine and how it protects from the risk of severe disease or hospitalization," the release states. "The data also indicates that, although older adults still have a higher risk of hospitalizations, the percentage of hospitalized patients who are younger than 40 years old has doubled (outpacing older adults), showing that adults of any age are vulnerable to complications from the disease."

[Garion_55]

1. smart virus?

its almost morphing and changing like it knows what we are doing to attack it lol.

vaccinate the older people? no problem. just evolve into something that attacks the youngins instead. before it didnt need to worry about it, plenty of old people to spread to. now with the vaccine it has to adapt and change to keep rocking and rolling.

[wnylib]

3. Tempting to see it that way, isn't it?

But, in reality, viruses mutate a lot, randomly. Many mutations have little effect on the disease. But some do make the disease more contageous or more lethal. They need a host, though. Since vaccinated people are not hosts, the virus does its thing in the people who continue to be hosts for it.

[pstokely]

2. could the high obesity rate be a factor?

https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/0,5885,7-339-71550_63445_82471---,00.html#:~:text=Michigan%20is%20consistently%20ranked%20among,are%20overweight%20(BRFSS%202015).
how do unhealthy young(er) people do compared to healthy old(er) people?

[wnylib]

4. I read a study recently, done by

a university. Don't remember which university: it was in a Yahoo article. The study found that young, healthy people who did not have comorbidities and had mild cases with few to no symptoms still had long term effects thst did not show up until weeks or months later. The long term effects included brain fog, frequent stomach upsets, muscle pains, loss of energy, and periods of racing heartbeats after mild exertion

None of the subjects had been hospitalized when they had covid.

Obesity is definitely a factor in those who get worse cases, regardless of age, because the increased weight makes them more vulnerable to inflammation. But it is becoming more apparent that youth and general good health does not make people immune to damaging long term effects. The article said that we will be facing some effects as a society dealing with disabilities as these people age.

[Scrivener7]

5. But why the increase? What happened in the end of February that would have caused it?

(PS: I changed my name, y'all! I used to be Squinch.)

[Ace Rothstein]

7. My guess is that's when the British variant took over as the dominant strain.

[Scrivener7]

8. Oh, wow. You're probably right that it's one of the new contagious strains. And that is

horrifying that it would result in an 800% increase.

It is beginning to seem more and more as if this thing is going to be like Whack a Mole for years to come.

[Ace Rothstein]

9. I think it also coincided with MI opening up restaurants, bars, etc.

Kind of a perfect storm if people aren't vigilant.

[Scrivener7]

10. Oh, yes. I forgot about that.

[speak easy]

6. "The association did not provide raw data in its release Wednesday"

And thats the problem.

You can have a 500% increase in Covid hospitalizations of children under 18 years, and still only be talking about 5 people.