Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #112

[Gemmie]

An article about long covid research and what is known thus far:

Long COVID research continues: what we know : Oregon Health News Blog

A conversation with OHSU’s Dr. Aluko A. Hope, medical director at OHSU’s Long COVID-19 Program The medical mysteries associated with Long COVID are frustrating for many. For the patients who suffer…

covidblog.oregon.gov

 

[anneg]

An article about long covid research and what is known thus far:

Long COVID research continues: what we know : Oregon Health News Blog

A conversation with OHSU’s Dr. Aluko A. Hope, medical director at OHSU’s Long COVID-19 Program The medical mysteries associated with Long COVID are frustrating for many. For the patients who suffer…

covidblog.oregon.gov

Interesting article, thanks.

 

[sds71]

@FenitN

NEWS: Biden administration just announced it is restarting the free covid test program in late September.You'll be able to get four test kits mailed to you again.

I asked why we didn't get free tests for the summer wave.David Boucher, an HHS official overseeing the program, replied "with the resources we have available for covid, we need to be a little bit strategic" and fall is a good time ahead of holiday travel & gatherings

https://twitter.com/x/status/1827001542232379860

 

[weepingangel]

@FenitN

NEWS: Biden administration just announced it is restarting the free covid test program in late September.You'll be able to get four test kits mailed to you again.

I asked why we didn't get free tests for the summer wave.David Boucher, an HHS official overseeing the program, replied "with the resources we have available for covid, we need to be a little bit strategic" and fall is a good time ahead of holiday travel & gatherings

https://twitter.com/x/status/1827001542232379860

That’s nice. (Slight sarcasm, but at this point I’ll take what I can get) Four tests. For four adults. Three of whom work/school. In late September. *sigh*
On a postive note, with this summer surge, a lot of folks won’t need them in September. They can save them for the Nov- Feb winter surge, maybe.
Sincerely though, thank you for posting!

 

[Gemmie]

Wondering when to get the updated vaccine? This might help:

“We’re in the midst of a of a huge wave. Many people have recently had Covid,” he said.

“If you had it in the last three months, I would wait. There’s no need to get a vaccine, because you have, in a way. You’ve been ‘vaccinated’ by the by the current strain,” he said.

On the other hand, if you haven’t recently had Covid, and especially if you’re 65 or older, “I would get it as soon as possible,”

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/23/health/new-covid-19-vaccine-2024-wellness/index.html

 

[Gemmie]

The vaccine may be out early due to how bad this summer's surge is.

The US Food and Drug Administration is poised to sign off as soon as this week on updated Covid-19 vaccines targeting more recently circulating strains of the virus, according to two sources familiar with the matter, as the country experiences its largest summer wave in two years.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/16/health/fda-updated-covid-19-vaccines/index.html

 

[galiuro1]

First time for my son and I; he brought it back from a trip to Denver. Two weeks in and maybe, just maybe we are starting to feel a bit better. Haven't had a shot since 2022 because the vaccine gave both of us tachycardia. Will be tracking down Novavax after this. Yes we took Paxlovid, it helped but then rebound was possibly worse. NOT just a cold for us...

 

[Jsizzle]

current CDC Guidelines say if you are not symptomatic, just go on with life:
You can go back to your normal activities when, for at least 24 hours, both are true:

• Your symptoms are getting better overall, and
• You have not had a fever (and are not using fever-reducing medication)
• 
  
• Preventing Spread of Respiratory Viruses When You're Sick

they do suggest masking,cleaning, etc.

Yeah I was visiting her this past February and stayed with her for a few days. While I was there she felt off and tested. Came back positive. She had a slight fever and felt flu-y. She had to report to work “if she could” meaning not bedridden and she did. She just had a baby and her time off is better spent at home not sick with her baby. But she wore an N95 and rocked out her shift. My daughter nor myself ended up getting it. Ironically, we shared a meal the night before she tested positive and rode in the same car to dinner. It’s wild.

 

[Gemmie]

Yeah I was visiting her this past February and stayed with her for a few days. While I was there she felt off and tested. Came back positive. She had a slight fever and felt flu-y. She had to report to work “if she could” meaning not bedridden and she did. She just had a baby and her time off is better spent at home not sick with her baby. But she wore an N95 and rocked out her shift. My daughter nor myself ended up getting it. Ironically, we shared a meal the night before she tested positive and rode in the same car to dinner. It’s wild.

There is a chance that you and your daughter could have had asymptomatic cases. 44% is pretty close to 50/50, which IMO is a lot. It's not like it's 1 in every 1,000 or something (which would make it much rarer than a coin toss).

The overall estimate of the proportion of people who became infected with SARS-CoV-2 and remained asymptomatic throughout infection was 44.1%

Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infection by Age: A Global Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections have raised concerns for public health policies to manage epidemics. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the age-specific proportion of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infected persons globally by year ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Dr. Anthony Fauci was briefly hospitalized with West Nile virus

Fauci, 83, is recovering at home. He is expected to make a full recovery.

www.nbcnews.com

Dr. Anthony Fauci was briefly hospitalized after contracting West Nile virus, a spokesperson said.

Fauci, 83, who was chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, became a household name during the Covid pandemic. Fauci left as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in 2022...

 

[OnlyS]

If you’re referring to my eyeroll in the subsequent post, it was rolling towards my employer and the healthcare industry in general. Imo masks should be required by staff and visitors of all types of medical facilities - at minimum at least during surges before cases are peaking (Including drs offices, elderly care facilities, pharmacies etc) My apologies as I often don’t post as clearly as I should.

Sorry, I didn’t see the notification for this. I was meaning that I don’t understand why they do the eye roll and behave in that way. You were clear, it was me not using full sentences

 

[OnlyS]

Rsbm
The wastewater charts are pretty much all we have anymore and I think? The CDC was going to discontinue those soon (maybe don’t quote me on that). It’s so helpful to see the levels nationwide imo. My state does have an ok seasonal (seasonal- ha) respiratory report. Which I believe they started early this year due to summer Covid. And my local wastewater system does test, hopefully will continue to do so. But that’s all we have for numbers. Poop levels.

anecdotally, it doesn’t seem milder I agree. Seeing folks still losing smell and taste, bad body flu symptoms, gi stuff, and the usual cold and throat symptoms, as well as long lasting exhaustion . Not sure about the cough? And some breeze through with mild one or two day cold symptoms. And then the asymptotic folks too. It seems so random that way.

Came back to edit - hospitalizations and deaths are at a much much lower amount now, so there is good news. Now if we can just keep the failing healthcare system afloat.


Take care !

We have minimal info here in the Uk. I had the cough last time with a sore throat, but not too bad and comparable to the cough I get with the cold. The fog and exhaustion was the exhausting factor.

 

[ilovewings]

Dr. Anthony Fauci was briefly hospitalized with West Nile virus

Fauci, 83, is recovering at home. He is expected to make a full recovery.

www.nbcnews.com

Dr. Anthony Fauci was briefly hospitalized after contracting West Nile virus, a spokesperson said.

Fauci, 83, who was chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, became a household name during the Covid pandemic. Fauci left as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in 2022...

Hoping Dr. Fauci makes a full recovery. It was kind of shocking that he contracted this virus and required hospitalization. He is a wonderful man and physician.

 

[ilovewings]

Today (Wed 8/28/) I spoke with a friend of mine who had outpatient surgery at a Metro Detroit area hospital. They were going to admit her, but advised her that there are lots of Covid cases at that particular hospital and in several metro Detroit hospitals, and felt it was in her health interest to have her go home and recover there, which is what she did. I was kind of surprised that there is that much of an increase in cases here in Metro Detroit- I know about California, but I haven't read or heard about a marked increase here.

 

[Auntie Cipation]

Today (Wed 8/28/) I spoke with a friend of mine who had outpatient surgery at a Metro Detroit area hospital. They were going to admit her, but advised her that there are lots of Covid cases at that particular hospital and in several metro Detroit hospitals, and felt it was in her health interest to have her go home and recover there, which is what she did. I was kind of surprised that there is that much of an increase in cases here in Metro Detroit- I know about California, but I haven't read or heard about a marked increase here.

I know the UK has been having a big spike all summer, so it's not just California/the USA. I just assume it's spiking pretty much everywhere...

 

[ilovewings]

I know the UK has been having a big spike all summer, so it's not just California/the USA. I just assume it's spiking pretty much everywhere...

I kinda know it is probably in most states in the US, but I was surprised that there appear to be quite a bit of increased hospitalizations in this area. I guess I was hoping MIchigan was not surging too much.

 

[acutename]

made an online appt today- they do not tell you whether you will get the "new" COVID shot, the "old" COVID shot or what manufacturer's shot they are offering... I hope that unlike last year, when I get to the pharmacy, they will actually have vaccine

 

[sds71]

FDA Authorizes Updated Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine to Better Protect Against Currently Circulating Variants​

What You Need to Know

• Individuals 12 years of age and older who have never been vaccinated with any COVID-19 vaccine are eligible to receive two doses of this updated vaccine, 3 weeks apart.
• Individuals who have been vaccinated only with one dose of any Novavax COVID-19 vaccine are eligible to receive one dose of the updated Novavax COVID-19 vaccine at least 3 weeks after the previous dose.
• Those who have been vaccinated with a prior formula of a COVID-19 vaccine from another manufacturer or with two or more doses of a prior formula of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine are eligible to receive a single dose of the updated Novavax COVID-19 vaccine at least 2 months after the last dose of a COVID-19 vaccine

FDA Authorizes Updated Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine to Better Protect Against Currently Circulating Variants

FDA Authorizes Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine to better protect against currently circulating variants.

www.fda.gov

 

[Gemmie]

made an online appt today- they do not tell you whether you will get the "new" COVID shot, the "old" COVID shot or what manufacturer's shot they are offering... I hope that unlike last year, when I get to the pharmacy, they will actually have vaccine

Has the updated vaccine even been received by pharmacies? I thought it was September, maybe end of August (so now). Either way, what they are SUPPOSED to do, when a new/updated formula comes out, is to get rid of the old formula, so they only distribute the new. Key words... "supposed to".

I'm guessing that you'd be able to get a definitive answer once they've received the new formula as they are supposed to know what they'd done with the old (get rid of it (send it back?)). The latter is JMO from info given to me by my local pharmacy when I asked what they did to the old stock the first time there was a formula change. I did not want to be given the old formula, which happened to 20 people here at a vaccination event. The 1st 20 in line got the old vaccine. I posted about that back when it happened (~1 yr ago). They were contacted about the error but most choose not to believe it and were talking to neighbors on Nextdoor (an app to talk to neighbors). Someone contacted our Healthy Authority to inquire about it and shut down the rumors and it was true. They posted the communication they received from the HA.

So... best to make sure as you're doing. If it was me I wouldn't go until I was assured that they indeed sent back the old stock when the new was received. The bottles are also relabeled with different colors so the pharmacy doesn't make that mistake. Also info from an old post of mine long ago. I had contacted the CDC for that answer and posted their response to me here, way upthread.

 

[gremlin444]

Has the updated vaccine even been received by pharmacies? I thought it was September, maybe end of August (so now). Either way, what they are SUPPOSED to do, when a new/updated formula comes out, is to get rid of the old formula, so they only distribute the new. Key words... "supposed to".

I'm guessing that you'd be able to get a definitive answer once they've received the new formula as they are supposed to know what they'd done with the old (get rid of it (send it back?)). The latter is JMO from info given to me by my local pharmacy when I asked what they did to the old stock the first time there was a formula change. I did not want to be given the old formula, which happened to 20 people here at a vaccination event. The 1st 20 in line got the old vaccine. I posted about that back when it happened (~1 yr ago). They were contacted about the error but most choose not to believe it and were talking to neighbors on Nextdoor (an app to talk to neighbors). Someone contacted our Healthy Authority to inquire about it and shut down the rumors and it was true. They posted the communication they received from the HA.

So... best to make sure as you're doing. If it was me I wouldn't go until I was assured that they indeed sent back the old stock when the new was received. The bottles are also relabeled with different colors so the pharmacy doesn't make that mistake. Also info from an old post of mine long ago. I had contacted the CDC for that answer and posted their response to me here, way upthread.

CVS has the new booster, and when you go to make an appt on their app/website it specifies that. I live in the Chicago area, and the pharmacist said they just got it Wednesday. I got my 17 who has long Covid the booster there last night, and I (also with long Covid) am getting mine tomorrow afternoon. Really living it up in our house on the holiday weekend!