(Radio Iowa) – A study from the University of Iowa Post-COVID Clinic research team shows damage to the small airways in the lungs is a potential long-lasting effect of COVID-19. Doctor Alejandro Comellas says their C-T scans in the study found no difference based on the severity of a person’s COVID-19 case.  “That was the surprising part — that we found the same degree of involvement in the lungs independently of how severe was the acute illness,” he says. Comellas says they are trying to figure out why there’s no difference.  He says they don’t know, but speculate the virus infects and causes similar damage to the airway and the severity of the disease is dependent on how a person’s immune system responds.

Comellas isn’t sure if the lung damage can be treated.”That is the next question we are trying to assess,” according to Comellas. “We are now analyzing and studying what is happening to patients who have this finding and whether many months later some of them are recovering or are they staying the same or progressing.” He says they are trying some treatments such as inhalers that they use with asthma or C-O-P-D. The symptoms can be shortness of breath, a cough, scatter wheezing, sometimes chest tightness, but very nonspecific. Comellas says the lack of specific symptoms can let the problem go unnoticed.He says the regular type of testing could turn out to be normal unless you do the specific test where the patient exhales during the C-T scan to get a lung image.

Comellas says they are trying to find out if this will be a long-term problem following COVID. “We do not know whether the findings are due to lung inflammation in the airway — or whether these are damaged airways like a scar,” he says. He says this may be something you want to have checked out.  Comellas says if you continue to have some of these symptoms two to three months after having COVID, you should see a doctor if you have any type of damage.

Comellas says they hope to have more information as they continue to study COVID patients.

(Ames, Iowa) – Here’s a reminder from the Iowa Department of Transportation: Public input is now being accepted for the next two-weeks, with regard to a proposed reconstruction of existing pavement in Guthrie County on Iowa Highway 25, from Pecan Avenue to Nice Avenue (a 1.76 mile stretch of road).

The pavement is in need of replacement, and the guardrails for a bridge located within the construction area will be replaced. Construction is expected to start in June 2022.

Officials have said a detour will be in place during construction, which will include I-80 west of Iowa 25 to Antique County Drive, then north to County Road 325 (White Pole Road) in Casey. The approximate detour length is 6 miles.

Visit the Iowa DOT’s project-related public involvement event website at www.iowadot.gov/pim for information about scheduled public meetings and hearings, or view and offer input on any DOT project using the new “Map Search” feature. Comments and questions regarding the project should be received by April 11.

DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) — Food banks and pantries across Iowa are preparing for an uptick in clients as expanded SNAP benefits come to an end by April 1st. According to Iowa DHS, SNAP benefits were increased by a minimum of $95 a month at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to address food insecurity. Now, people will be losing anywhere from $95 a month to upwards of $250.

Last April, the USDA announced the expansion of benefits for people on SNAP. However, when Iowa’s emergency proclamation was not extended in February, it also impacted the federal money coming to Iowa for those expanded SNAP benefits.

The Food Bank of Iowa CEO says that equates to about $27-million less per month coming into Iowa’s economy, from the federal government. Food banks and pantries across the State are still doing their best, despite inflation and supply chain issues, to stock up on supplies.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak, today (Sunday), said a Red Oak man was arrested at around 12:18-a.m. today, for Driving While Revoked. 46-year-old Benjamin Eugene Maxwell was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $1,000 bond.