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Newer omicron COVID-19 subvariants such as BQ.1.1 and XBB.1 have accumulated additional spike mutations that impact the efficacy of available vaccines, according to a pre-print study published Thursday by University of Texas Medical Branch.

Any protection is better than no protection,” said Kenneth Plante, associate director of the World Reference Center for Emerging Viruses and Arboviruses at the University of Texas Medical Branch.

The University of Texas Medical Branch was preparing for an uptick in hospital admissions. “We will typically see an increased number of injuries during the event,” medical branch spokesperson Dizhi Marlow said. “We caution against drunk driving and to prepare for the weather and drive safe.”

“First, people should talk to their physician who should indicate whether chemotherapy, immunotherapy or radiation therapy will weaken their immune system,” wrote Drs. Megan Berman and Richard Rupp in the latest Vaccine Smarts column.

Feeding fish can be a relaxing and even meditative activity. Plus, it has other health benefits, wrote Dr. Samuel Mathis in his newspaper column.

“We need to further promote the health benefits of breastfeeding on the health of newborns and their mothers,” wrote Drs. Norbert Herzog and David Niesel in Medical Discovery News. “This a public health issue that would save the lives of women.”

The Galveston National Laboratory at the University of Texas Medical Branch introduced Infectious Science, a podcast about new and emerging diseases and the One Health research to understand and prevent their spread. The first episode explored how dogs can smell SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients.

The VSV platform used in Merck’s shots was first developed nearly 20 years ago by virologists including Thomas Geisbert, then with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. During West Africa’s Zaire outbreak, which engulfed the capitals of Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia in 2014 and sickened tens of thousands of people in a matter of months, including a handful in Mali, Senegal, Nigeria, the United States, and Europe. “It was really frustrating because we had vaccines that were developed back in the early 2000s, and we knew that they would work, but we're just lab guys,” says Geisbert, who now has a lab at the University of Texas Medical Branch.

Six surgeons directly involved in caring for injured patients during the war in Ukraine shared their experiences Wednesday, Oct. 19, during the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Clinical Congress 2022 in San Diego. "We're not done improving medical and surgical care and burns until there are no deaths, no scars, and no pain. We're not there yet. We cannot be satisfied with the status quo," said Steven E. Wolf, MD, FACS, professor and chief, division of burn and trauma surgery, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

People with a recent diagnosis of dementia – including adults under the age of 65 – may have an increased risk of suicide, according to new research published in the journal JAMA Neurology. “This is the first national study of suicide risk within the first 12 months of dementia diagnosis,” Jeff Temple, PhD, a licensed psychologist at UTMB’s Center for Violence Prevention (who was not involved in the study), told Seasons. “This is important because it overcomes many of the limitations of previous studies that used local samples, which limits generalizability. The large sample also allowed the researchers to examine specific predictors of suicide risk.”

If you’re wondering whether your lack of motivation or anger outbursts could be warning signs of something more serious, you may want to consult a professional sooner rather than later. “Just like any illness, the earlier you do something about it, the better,” according to Dr. Jeff Temple, a licensed psychologist and the director of UTMB’s Center for Violence Prevention. When left unchecked, depression can wreak havoc on your quality of life and relationships. “I wish more men could get out of their own way and understand that it’s OK to not be OK, that being depressed doesn’t mean that you failed as a man or a husband or a father; instead, it means that you’re human and may need a little extra help,” Temple said.

Dr. Jeff Temple, a psychologist at the University of Texas Medical Branch, explained that we all have things that set us off, whether they’re triggers or micro-triggers. Temple adds that sometimes fearing these transitions can trigger us. “There’s anticipatory anxiety, which is anxiety about being anxious, as opposed to actual things to be anxious about,” he said.

In the latest Vaccine Smarts column, Drs. Megan Berman and Richard Rupp discussed the odds of getting shingles after having a chickenpox vaccination. “You cannot catch shingles from people with shingles,” they wrote. “Rather, unvaccinated people who have never had chickenpox can develop chickenpox when they come in contact with a shingles rash. Your vaccination should keep you from catching chickenpox.”

“If you have some time this week, find some butterflies, or better yet, let them find you,” wrote Dr. Victor S. Sierpina in his column. “Enjoy watching them do their cosmic dance. You will feel lighter yet more centered, knowing that small things can make big differences.”

​To make a main-floor bedroom as comfortable and safe as possible, Elena Volpi, M.D., director of the Sealy Center on Aging at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, suggests removing area rugs to prevent tripping and adding night-lights for middle-of-the-night bathroom trips. Make sure furniture including side tables, footstools, benches and storage items are removed from the path to the bathroom, for example.​

Drs. Victor Sierpina and Michelle Sierpina wrote about UTMB’s Willed Body program. “At UTMB, students and faculty begin each dissection session with a moment of silence to honor the donor. Students learn the sacred trust of donors and the beginnings of respect, ethics, and patient-centered care.”

A new blood test developed by the biomedical technology company SomaLogic in Boulder, Colorado, focuses on proteins in the blood that could provide an early warning for heart disease and stroke patients. Drs. Norbert Herzog and David Niesel discuss the research in Medical Discovery News.

Adults 65 and older should receive either Fluzone HD or Fluad, explained Drs. Meagan Berman and Richard Rupp in Vaccine Smarts. If these options are not available, Flublok is the next best thing, and it is a good choice for adults 50 to 64 years of age. Still, if none of these three are available, a standard injected flu vaccine is much better than remaining unvaccinated.

Recently, a large study in Great Britain has examined how humans sleep. The researchers classified sleep patterns into five different clusters and 16 different types of sleep. It is so much more complex than most of us ever imagined, wrote Drs. Norbert Herzog and David Niesel in Medical Discovery News.

Dr. Samuel Mathis encourages women to get screened for breast cancer and schedule a mammogram.