IHME in the news

Americans are moving around like they were before the pandemic, mask wearing is low compared to last year, people are spending more time indoors because of cooler weather, and protection against infection, both from vaccinations and prior infection, is waning, says Ali Mokdad, professor of Health Metrics Sciences at the University of Washington's Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation.

"Today is a really sad day," epidemiologist Ali Mokdad, who has been tracking the coronavirus pandemic since the beginning at the University of Washington, told CNN. "Cases are going up. It was coming down. This is at a time when the United States has all the tools we need to prevent a surge, all the tools we need to save lives. We have the best vaccines, and we have plenty of them," he said. "And people are not willing to get them."

ALI MOKDAD: So we're going to see less mortality in our surge that we are predicting simply because people are vaccinated. And we're not going to see a lot of deaths because the vaccines are playing a big role.

Epidemiologist Ali Mokdad of the University of Washington, where teams have been tracking and forecasting the pandemic from the beginning, was horrified to see unmasked crowds at a recent Texas A&M football game on television. "They all ran onto the field," he said. "No one had a mask on."

“Delta and waning immunity — the combination of these two have set us back,” said Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington. “This virus is going to stick with us for a long, long time.” No state has achieved a high enough vaccination rate, even when combined with infection-induced immunity, to avoid the type of outbreaks happening now, Mokdad said.

“Delta and waning immunity — the combination of these two have set us back,” said Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington. “This virus is going to stick with us for a long, long time.”

Air pollution was the top risk factor for death in India in 2019, killing an estimated 1.67 million people, according to the Global Burden of Disease report.

Baja California residents reached mobility rates similar to before the pandemic sooner than many other states, which may explain this latest wave of contagion, Rafael Lozano, a professor at the University of Washington, said in an interview.

El IHME prevé que alrededor del 30 de diciembre España podría superar incluso las 92.000 infecciones ese día en el mejor de los casos, para descender inmediatamente después. Si se intensifican las medidas restrictivas, incluido el uso de mascarillas obligatorias en todos los lugares, el pico sería mucho más suave y no se superarían ese día los 8.500 casos diagnosticados.

El IHME vaticina cómo será en nuestro país el final del año. Repuntarán otra vez los nuevos casos, pero la alta vacunación frenará el número de muertes.

La Universidad de Washington advierte de lo que puede pasar en España desde la semana que viene.

In 2020, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and UNICEF found that a third of the world’s children have lead poisoning, and estimated that 1.23 million children in the United States have high blood lead levels.