Yes, Sedgwick County has more COVID cases. What to know about the latest strain, new shot

Sedgwick County is experiencing an “expected” rise in COVID-19 cases as students return to school.

“We are seeing the expected increase that we anticipated to see,” Kaylee Hervey, the Sedgwick County Health Department’s epidemiology program manager, said Thursday. “Around when school starts, we have a bit of an increase and then it goes down a little bit, and then we see another one around the holidays.”

Coronavirus variant EG.5, dubbed Eris, is the dominant strain in the U.S. right now, Hervey said. While the county’s tests do not detect what strains people have contracted, the health department believes EG.5 is likely the dominant strain in Sedgwick County, as well.

“It is basically an offshoot still of the omicron variant that was circulating in November 2021,” Hervey said. “It, so far, has not been shown to really cause more severe illness. But the mutation could have a little bit of an impact on immunity from vaccines or previous infections, making those a little bit less effective.”

Despite this, the vaccine is still proven to protect against serious illness from COVID-19, Hervey said.

An even newer COVID-19 strain, BA.2.86, has been detected in the U.S. This strain, detected in human and wastewater specimens, is being closely monitored by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as cases rises.

“BA.2.86 may be more capable of causing infection in people who have previously had COVID-19 or who have received COVID-19 vaccines,” the CDC said in an Aug. 23 risk assessment.

As of that date, the strain had only been detected twice in the country, but it’s also been reported in Denmark, South Africa, Israel and the United Kingdom.

Here’s everything we know about the two new strains.

What are the EG.5 and BA.2.86 COVID-19 strains?

According to Yale Medicine, the EG.5 strain was first detected in February. It’s a descendant of omicron, which became the leading strain in November 2021. The CDC reports that by the third week of August, 20.6% of all COVID-19 cases were the Eris strain of the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the BA.2.86 strain, called Pirola, has only been detected in the U.S. on two occasions. Hervey said it’s unlikely this strain has made its way to Sedgwick County.

The CDC reports with the scant data, it is too soon to know if Pirola causes more severe infections than previous strains. But as of Aug. 23, the CDC reported the areas where the cases were detected had not seen an uptick of emergency hospital visits compared to other locations.

According to Yale Medicine, the many mutations that comprise BA.2.86 make it different than other COVID-19 strains, much like the difference between delta and omicron. This has given rise to concern from medical experts, specifically about what this variant could mean for immunity from the vaccines and prior infections.

COVID in Sedgwick County and Wichita

As of last week, the county’s positive test rate sat at 9.8%. This rate includes the 14-day average of recorded positives over the total number of tests administered. It does not include tests not reported to the health department, like at-home tests, and COVID-19 testing has severely declined since previous waves.

Sedgwick County has continued reporting cases via its dashboard, despite state and federal officials ending many reporting requirements. The health department reported 87 new positive tests from Aug. 25 to Aug. 31, according to the county’s dashboard, which updates every Friday.

Jessica Spore, the infection prevention director for Ascension Kansas, said across Ascension’s hospitals in Wichita, providers have seen 38 emergency room visits from patients with positive cases of COVID-19 in August.

While Spore said this is an uptick compared to previous months, it’s a significantly lower number than August 2022 figures, which was 141 visits for that month.

The cases this year have not proven to be severe, Spore continued, as most patients come in for other reasons before testing positive.

“The strain is not as severe as past years strains, so we are predicting that it not be a very severe strain and illness,” she said.

Spore said back-to-school season, sports starting and people being inside due to the hot weather could contribute to the rise in cases in Sedgwick County.

The Eagle also reached out to Wesley Medical Center via email, but hasn’t received a response as of Friday morning.

What to know about a new vaccine

According to the CDC’s vaccine tracker, 67.7% of Sedgwick County’s population has received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine. In all, 58.1% completed the primary series, while only 12.3% of the population received the updated bivalent booster.

The agency is expecting an updated COVID-19 vaccine to be available by mid-September.

“We do encourage people, when that does come out, to get that vaccine and make sure they’re fully vaccinated,” Hervey said.

According to U.S. World News & Report, the new booster shot was created to specifically target the strain XBB.1.5. While that isn’t the dominant strain circulating in the U.S., the shot is believed to still effectively target all omicron variants, which all current strains descended from.

Medical experts are still researching what the new, highly mutated strain BA.2.86 could mean for the new boosters.

The shots have to go through approval before they become widely available. They first must be authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, then a meeting Sept. 12 will dictate who gets access to the new booster first. That decision has to be approved by the CDC director, and then the new boosters can begin being administered.

If you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, it’s important to stay home until you can get tested. If you test positive, you should self-isolate for at least five days to not risk exposing others to the virus.

To prevent catching COVID-19, you can take these preventive steps:

• Avoid large gatherings where physical distancing is not possible

• Wear a mask when necessary

• Stay 6 feet away from those experiencing symptoms

• Wash your hands for 20 seconds with soap and warm water

• Get vaccinated against COVID-19 and stay updated on your boosters