Portland, OR. An updated projection continues to show the number of Oregonians hospitalized with COVID-19 will well exceed the previous pandemic peak from the delta surge in September, according to a new projection from Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). The projection is forecasting a peak of about 1,650 people hospitalized by the end of January. This comes amid a sharp increase in reported infections over the past week, especially in the Portland metro area, although the forecast does draw upon new data showing Oregonians are increasingly heeding public health advice to wear facial coverings, refrain from gathering in large groups and increase the number of people getting booster vaccinations.
FILE – A nurse cares for a critically ill patient in the ICU at Oregon Health and Science University. (Kristyna Wentz-Graff/Oregon Public Broadcasting via AP, Pool)
If you’re looking for a place to have a Covid test, vaccine or booster in Oregon, CLICK HERE
For information about daily totals in the state: CLICK HERE. Peter Graven, Ph.D. (OHSU) has advice for people who are already vaccinated to help to prevent the spread of the virus by adhering to public health measures over the next few weeks.
Peter Graven, Ph.D. (OHSU)
“Anything Oregonians can do now to reduce the spread of the virus will help to preserve hospital capacity for those who need it most,” said Peter Graven, Ph.D., director of the OHSU Office of Advanced Analytics. “If we can spread the peak out over two months rather than just a few weeks, it will help ensure Oregonians get the timely hospital care they expect and deserve.”
The latest forecast calls for the peak to hit around Thursday, Jan. 27, followed by a sharp drop in hospitalizations as the virus finds fewer people who have not already been recently infected or vaccinated. A steep drop-off in cases has been reported in South Africa, where the omicron variant was first confirmed in late November. The drop-off may be somewhat slower in Oregon as the virus spreads to older age groups and more rural areas.
The forecast incorporates new data showing an increased ability for the virus to evade immune protection among people previously infected or vaccinated.
Omicron appears to cause a lower overall rate of severe illness than the previously dominant delta variant, however, its rapid spread combined with its ability to evade previous immunity is already driving an unprecedented number of daily infections in Oregon.
Hospitalizations are also rising with a total of 523 Oregonians in the hospital for COVID-19 as of Thursday, Jan. 6, according to the latest figures from the Oregon Health Authority.
It will remain crucial for Oregonians to do what they can to reduce the spread of infection by refraining from indoor gatherings, wearing masks in indoor public places and getting vaccinated or boosted as soon as possible. As with the beginning of the pandemic, the goal is to reduce the number of Oregonians who need hospital care all at the same time.
The updated forecast draws on data indicating that Oregonians are indeed responding by modifying their behavior to limit the spread of the virus.
OHSU is providing resources for those seeking a test and vaccine. Those who experience symptoms, or test positive, should first call their health care provider before seeking care in a hospital emergency room. OHSU has also established a toll-free hotline for people anywhere in the state to seek guidance about symptoms and care for COVID-19. Oregonians can call 833-OHSU-CCC (833-647-8222) seven days a week between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Portland, Or. More than 500 supporters of Providence Cancer Center came together at the Creating Hope Dinner to hear messages of gratitude from patients who found life through immunotherapy clinical trials. This year, the benefit raised a record $775,000. That, combined with Safeway’s annual “round up for cancer” during May pushed research donations to more than $1.2 million for the month. At the dinner, Walter Urba, Providence M.D., Ph.D., talked with NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts and Dave Underriner, Providence Health & Services Oregon Region chief executive. (Dan Fouts also played for the Oregon Ducks in the early ’70s.)
Patients benefitting from this research were filled with gratitude as they told their stories during the May 24th Creating Hope Dinner. Julie Randall and her husband Scott returned from their native Australia to give witness at the dinner to the life-saving work at Providence Cancer Center.
Julie Randall found a Providence clinical trial while searching online after receiving her stage 4 metastatic melanoma diagnosis on her 50th birthday. Instead of dying within months, she is alive and well five years after participating in the trial. Through tears, Scott told the crowd filled with researchers, clinicians and donors who support research, “Thank you for giving us back our Julie.”
Diane Davis was dying of stage 4 ovarian cancer, complicated by a specific gene mutation, when she happened to stumble across Providence’s work with immunotherapy. The Corvallis woman contacted Providence, and two immunotherapy trials later she is free of her ovarian cancer and her TP-53 mutated gene.
Diane Davis thanked the donors at the dinner. “Your generosity funded the research that made it possible for me to be here in front of you today,” said Davis. “Because of you, I am still living a full life, going on my third year since I was supposed to have died.”
Providence Cancer Center researchers Eric Tran, Ph.D., and Bernard Fox, Ph.D., explain the latest advancements in immunotherapy clinical trials and treatment to Providence Creating Hope Dinner emcee and AM Northwest host Helen Raptis.
Providence routinely has well over 100 open clinical trials at any given time, according to Bernard Fox, Ph.D., Harder Family Chair for Cancer Research and Member and Chief of the Laboratory of Molecular and Tumor Immunology at the Robert W. Franz Cancer Research Center in the Earle A. Chiles Research Institute. He attributes the robust clinical trial volume to donor support. “Seventy percent of research funding is now thanks to philanthropy,” Fox told the Creating Hope Dinner attendees. “Knowing we have your support, we are able to attract the leaders of the next generation of researchers – including Eric Tran.”
Eric Tran, Ph.D., a National Cancer Institute-trained scientist was welcomed to the Earle A. Chiles Research Institute faculty, at Providence Cancer Center, earlier this year, at the very time his immunotherapy research, entitled “T-Cell Transfer Therapy Targeting Mutant KRAS in Cancer,” was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. In addition, Tran was just recognized as one of 15 most promising young researchers in the nation for 2017 by the Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research. The honor comes with a $200,000 two-year grant to support his research.
“Eric could have gone anywhere, he was heavily recruited, but he chose to come here, in part, because of all of you who support immunotherapy research at Providence,” said Walter J. Urba, M.D., Ph.D., oncologist and director, Robert W. Franz Cancer Research Center in the Earle A. Chiles Research Institute at Providence. “We are a global leader in immunotherapy research,” said Dr. Urba. “To remain a global presence we must grow our team with brilliant scientists who are curious, passionate and supremely talented – and Eric is one of those scientists.”
Tran acknowledged the philanthropic support of the Portland community and told the dinner crowd he joined Providence because the research program is world class and focuses on immunotherapy which will synergize with his research. “We have the knowledge today to make a huge difference in the lives of people with cancer,” said Tran, assistant member Antitumor T-cell Response Lab. “We can change the face of cancer forever.”
“All of our researchers are amazing, and they share a common passion – our patients,” said Dr. Urba. “Everything done in the lab is in service to those with cancer, now or in the future. We work to give patients hope.”
From Providence Cancer Center:
At Providence Cancer Center, we work together to give patients and families the best care on the West Coast. We partner with them from diagnosis and treatment through all the stages of life, ensuring an excellent patient experience and seeking the best outcomes through research and innovation.
Portland, May 23rd, 2015. Humor and hope made for a winning combination at Providence’s 17th annual “Creating Hope for Cancer Patients Luncheon” which also marked the start of its #finishcancer campaign. The luncheon raised a record $615,000 for research at Providence Cancer Center, which is internationally known for its immunotherapy work. “CancerVixen” author and illustrator Marisa Acocella Marchetto hugs 10-year-old Scarlett Judson as Scarlett’s mother, Michelle Judson looks on. Scarlett and Michelle read Marchetto’s graphic memoire about her breast cancer journey several times over the course of Michelle’s own breast cancer treatment. The book prompted many conversations and Scarlett has since loaned it to classmates whose parents have been diagnosed with cancer. Scarlett* and Michelle* introduced Marchetto, Providence’s 17th annual Creating Hope for Cancer Patients Luncheon keynote speaker, to the crowd of more than 600.
Walter J. Urba, M.D., Ph.D., oncologist and director, Robert W. Franz Cancer Research Center in the Earle A. Chiles Research Institute, right, acknowledges the speakers at the Creating Hope for Cancer Patients Luncheon which included cancer survivor and luncheon co-chair Mark Williams, cancer survivor and Providence Cancer Center researcher Nick Morris, Ph.D., cancer survivor and CancerVixen author and illustrator Marisa Acocella Marchetto, cancer survivor Julie Randall, Julie’s husband Scott, and cancer survivor Michelle Judson and daughter Scarlett.
Guest speaker Marisa Acocella Marchetto, a cartoonist for The New Yorker, is the author and illustrator of the graphic memoir “CancerVixen,” which chronicles the artist’s personal breast cancer journey. Her keynote address had the 600 luncheon attendees roaring with laughter as she described her sometimes overbearing mother (or as she put it, “smother”). Many then found themselves wiping tears away as Marchetto came to realize her course of treatment would mean never having children.
“I never thought I would be a cancer patient,” Marchetto said. But, challenged by a friend, she left behind being a “victim,” and found her “vixen.” “What had me cowering suddenly became empowering.” She ended her humorous and poignant talk by urging others to join in the fight, “Right here, right now – it is time to end cancer on this planet.”
And the crowd responded generously by raising $615,000 for cancer research at Providence, which is led by Walter J. Urba, M.D., Ph.D., oncologist and director, Robert W. Franz Cancer Research Center in the Earle A. Chiles Research Institute. “All of us have been touched by cancer,” Dr. Urba told the crowd. “We fight because of you.”
Dr. Urba’s team of nearly 90 researchers is part of an elite international network eliciting novel immunotherapy treatments from the laboratory and quickly getting them into clinical trials with patients. “We work hard every day for cancer patients,” Dr. Urba said. “We work to give them hope. We are fighting to finish cancer.”
Providence Cancer Center researcher Michael Gough, Ph.D., explains immunotherapy studies to attendees at Providence’s 17th annual Creating Hope for Cancer Patients Luncheon. Prior to the program and lunch, the 630 attendees visited with a host of scientists describing the latest work at Providence Cancer Center. The cancer center focuses on immunotherapy – the ability of the body to heal itself.
To learn more about Providence Cancer Center, visit finishcancer.org.
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Portland, OR. An updated projection continues to show the number of Oregonians hospitalized with COVID-19 will well exceed the previous pandemic peak from the delta surge in September, according to a new projection from Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). The projection is forecasting a peak of about 1,650 people hospitalized by the end of January. This comes amid a sharp increase in reported infections over the past week, especially in the Portland metro area, although the forecast does draw upon new data showing Oregonians are increasingly heeding public health advice to wear facial coverings, refrain from gathering in large groups and increase the number of people getting booster vaccinations.
FILE – A nurse cares for a critically ill patient in the ICU at Oregon Health and Science University. (Kristyna Wentz-Graff/Oregon Public Broadcasting via AP, Pool)
If you’re looking for a place to have a Covid test, vaccine or booster in Oregon, CLICK HERE