Despite a decline in Pennsylvania\u2019s covid-19 cases, a recent spike of the virus in Allegheny County has prompted health officials to encourage people to get updated vaccinations ahead of this year\u2019s cold and flu season.<\/p>\n
While the Pennsylvania Department of Health no longer generates county-level reports on covid-19 cases and hospitalizations, data from the Allegheny Health Department showed 34 cases of covid the week of August <\/a>23<\/a>, the highest reported since the week of April 5, when there were 40 cases.<\/p>\n As of Aug. 30, there were 14 covid cases reported.<\/p>\n Neil Ruhland, a state health department spokesman, said mandatory reporting requirements for covid-19 ended in Pennsylvania when the national public health emergency concluded on May 11, 2023.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Pennsylvania Department of Health recommends that Pennsylvanians stay updated with their annual covid-19 and other recommended respiratory vaccinations and continue fundamental health and hygiene practices, like hand-washing, staying home when sick, and avoiding contact with people who have suspected or confirmed respiratory illness,\u201d Ruhland said in a statement.<\/p>\n The state health department and the National Center for Health Statistics reported 591 covid-related deaths in Pennsylvania between 2025 and 2026.<\/p>\n In the last week of August, there were 65 adult hospitalizations and nine pediatric hospitalizations due to covid in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n As of this week, the percent of people diagnosed with covid-19 during emergency health visits was \u201cvery low\u201d for all ages statewide, the health department said.<\/p>\n Ronnie Das, a county health department spokesman, advised taking the number of reported covid-19 cases with \u201ca grain of salt,\u201d since the low number might rise after the season for respiratory illnesses begins.<\/p>\n \u201cAt this point, we don\u2019t know how many cases there actually are right now,\u201d Das said. He added that many people may not be reporting cases in September, attributing respiratory issues to head colds or allergies instead of going in for covid testing.<\/p>\n Dr. Raquel Zemtsov, a family medicine physician at UPMC and an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh\u2019s School of Medicine, also said the number of reported cases in the county likely does not accurately represent the actual number of sick patients in the region.<\/p>\n \u201cAnecdotally, I think it was more than (34 cases) because I had several patients, plus I knew nine people socially who had it,\u201d Zemtsov said.<\/p>\n Dr. Brian Lamb, an internal medicine specialist with Allegheny Health Network, said because the number of covid-19 cases has decreased, many people aren\u2019t getting vaccinated for it anymore.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s basically become one of our nuisance upper respiratory viruses for most people,\u201d Lamb said. \u201cIt\u2019s no longer new to our immune systems.\u201d<\/p>\n Covid is now classified among other respiratory illnesses including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus on the department\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lamb and Zemtsov said they tell their patients to get vaccinated to maintain their body\u2019s resistance to the virus.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you haven\u2019t had a covid shot \u2014 especially if you haven\u2019t had a covid shot for a couple of years \u2014 it\u2019s worth getting that booster,\u201d Lamb said.<\/p>\n He recommends covid-19 boosters for all patients, but especially those over the age of 65 or who have underlying health conditions.<\/p>\n Zemtsov recommended adhering to the American Academy for Family Physicians vaccination <\/a>schedule<\/a>, which advises adults ages 65 and older to get vaccinated every six months, and adults ages 19 and older to get vaccinated once a year.<\/p>\n Zemtsov said getting a booster alongside the vaccine can decrease the likelihood of developing long covid \u2014 which can cause brain fog, long-term respiratory issues, and cardiovascular complications \u2014 and other health conditions.<\/p>\n \u201cEven if you had the primary series, the benefits starts to go down over time,\u201d Zemtsov said. \u201cThere\u2019s also been really interesting studies\u2026 that primarily show that the risk of dying from anything is lower when you have the covid vaccine.\u201d<\/p>\n For those with reservations about side effects, Lamb said experiencing pain at the vaccination site or developing flu-like symptoms after getting the covid shot are \u201cexpected\u201d as the vaccine works to develop antibodies. \u201cHaving the side effects usually shows that the vaccine is working,\u201d Lamb said.<\/p>\n Both Lamb and Zemtsov encouraged patients to talk to their doctors about vaccine and booster availability.<\/p>\n Das said reported cases will be more accurate in mid-November, when the season for respiratory illnesses is in full swing.<\/p>\n Ruhland said if symptoms develop, Pennsylvanians should test for covid-19 early and seek medical care promptly, as antiviral treatments are most effective when started soon after illness begins.<\/p>\n To prevent illness, Zemtsov said individuals can wear masks at their discretion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Despite a decline in Pennsylvania\u2019s covid-19 cases, a recent spike of the virus in Allegheny County has prompted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281785,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-281784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}