COVID-19, Influenza, and RSV Trends by Dr. Sundari Mace, Sonoma County Public Health Officer
Our speaker for Thursday, December 15, 2022, was Dr. Sundari Mase, Sonoma County Public Health Officer. Dr. Mase started her tenure as the top public health officer in Sonoma County in March 2020, at the very start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Mase received her undergraduate degree from U.C. Berkeley and her M.D. from U.C.S.F. She completed her residency at U.C.S.F. and obtained a Master of Public Health with an emphasis on Epidemiology at U.C. Berkeley. Her prior experience includes working at the CDC and World Health Organization, and as Deputy Health Officer for Santa Clara County.
Dr. Mase detailed the current trends in respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (rsv), and the flu. Dr. Mace noted that COVID-19 is surging and that easily transmissible respiratory diseases trending during the winter may be in our future in the years to come. In the past 6 months we were seeing good news about COVID cases, hospitalizations, and positivity but in the last 6-8 weeks we have seen an uptick in each of these categories. We have not, thankfully, seen an increase in COVID deaths. Dr. Mace believes this is a result of boosters in elderly and underlying illness populations. As of December 13, 2022, Sonoma County had 13.4 new cases per 100,000 residents per day and 9.3% overall test positivity. 48 people are currently hospitalized with COVID and 26 people have died from COVID since June 1, 2022. Wastewater surveillance from Santa Rosa and Petaluma also show A COVID uptick, including the detection of variants. Influenza is also at a statewide high and very significant in the Southern California. Data show moderate levels of flu in Sonoma County. RSV data show an early peak but current downward trend. Flu and COVID, however, are on the rise.
COVID and flu hospitalizations are going up. Ambulance offload times are increasing, evidencing a strain in hospital capacity. Sonoma County is very weak in flu vaccinations, with only a 32% vaccination rate. Other Bay Area counties are doing better, with a 60-70% vaccination rate. State public health authorities recommend that all residents aged 6 months and older receive a flu shot. Bivalent booster vaccinations in Sonoma County are at 28%, while the overall California rate is 19.4%. The lowest socio-economic groups, including the Latino population, generally have the lowest vaccination rates.
Her office continues to highly recommend masking while in crowded indoor settings. This is a recommendation; she does not think we are going back to mandatory masking. She thinks that we can protect ourselves by masking, testing ourselves before going to holiday gatherings, taking precautions when travelling and staying home when we are sick. Sonoma County did well in the pandemic. We had higher vaccination rates and our hospitalization and death rates were much lower than in California and the nation. As Dr. Mace stated, “we saved lives!”
Dr. Mase told us about the key lessons learned in the pandemic. We learned that COVID is primarily transmitted through the air; this was not known at the beginning of the pandemic. We also learned that school closures made sense at the beginning of the pandemic but also that they caused significant damage to children due to the lack of socialization and learning advancement. Dr. Mace stressed that we know what to do to prevent or minimize respiratory illnesses. Vaccines prevent or minimize damage caused by these illnesses. Masks work. Dr. Mase noted one interesting fact proving that mitigation measures worked; in 2020 and 2021 there was almost no flu! In 2021 there were zero infant deaths due to influenza!
Thank you, Dr. Mace, for the extremely helpful information. More importantly, thank you for doing an amazing job in a very difficult and politically charged situation. We strongly believe that your efforts truly saved lives and helped our County weather a terrible situation!
Sunrise Rotary presents - Respiratory Disease update with Dr. Sundari Mase - Click HERE for the limited time recording.
