Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #104

[Sundog]

Oh my word! I feel awful for this poor woman.

Covid-19 and flu infections can happen at the same time. Here's what that could look like - CNN.
(CNN)Dr. Adrian Burrowes has seen hundreds of Covid-19 patients. But he's especially worried about what will happen this flu season -- even more so than last year.

This fall and winter could mark the first surge of patients infected with both the flu and the Delta variant -- the most contagious strain of coronavirus to hit the US.
"You can certainly get both the flu and Covid-19 at the same time, which could be catastrophic to your immune system," said Burrowes, a family medicine physician and assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Central Florida.
More at link........

Since this article is from September, we may not have too many combined delta+flu cases now since omicron is pushing out delta. Hoping that makes a difference in terms of severity of symptoms for people who end up with both at the same time.

 

[ilovewings]

Oh my word! I feel awful for this poor woman.

Covid-19 and flu infections can happen at the same time. Here's what that could look like - CNN.
(CNN)Dr. Adrian Burrowes has seen hundreds of Covid-19 patients. But he's especially worried about what will happen this flu season -- even more so than last year.

This fall and winter could mark the first surge of patients infected with both the flu and the Delta variant -- the most contagious strain of coronavirus to hit the US.
"You can certainly get both the flu and Covid-19 at the same time, which could be catastrophic to your immune system," said Burrowes, a family medicine physician and assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Central Florida.
More at link........

Terrific- as if we didn't have enough to worry about just trying not to contract Covid--- I do believe though that wearing a mask will help prevent contracting the flu. Last year when people were more cooperative with masks, there was not much flu in the population.

 

[LaborDayRN]

Terrific- as if we didn't have enough to worry about just trying not to contract Covid--- I do believe though that wearing a mask will help prevent contracting the flu. Last year when people were more cooperative with masks, there was not much flu in the population.

I agree. I know they're not 100% protective but I also got my flu shot a month ago just to be safe.

 

[LaborDayRN]

Since this article is from September, we may not have too many combined delta+flu cases now since omicron is pushing out delta. Hoping that makes a difference in terms of severity of symptoms for people who end up with both at the same time.

Me too......

 

[Sundog]

Dr. Eric Topol's chart of studies showing decreased lung infectivity with Omicron. Of course, "decreased" doesn't mean "no" infectivity...

https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1476678457778049024

Here's another article that describes studies that show that omicron has decreased lung effectivity.

Omicron variant may impact lungs differently, studies say

 

[SouthAussie]

I agree. I know they're not 100% protective but I also got my flu shot a month ago just to be safe.

Which is a really good idea. This winter (2021) in Australia, we had a revival of flu. We had almost no flu before that, during covid, due to our covid mitigation efforts.

A close friend of mine (nurse) thought for sure she had covid - very sick - turns out via testing that it was flu. Kept her out of action for a couple of weeks.

 

[Sundog]

I agree. I know they're not 100% protective but I also got my flu shot a month ago just to be safe.

Flu shots were required this year where I work, along with the Covid-19 vaccinations.

ETA We had to show proof of flu vaccines by December 15th, about a month after we had to show proof of vaccination against Covid-19.

 

[Cool Cats]

Green Bay doctor: Patients with and without COVID are waiting days for proper care. Do the right thing.

Sat, January 1, 2022, 11:31 AM

As I was leaving the hospital last night I reflected on the changes the last year has brought.

A year ago I wrote a letter to the Press-Gazette about the importance of wearing masks, social distancing and getting vaccinated for COVID-19 when a vaccine became available. I tried to convey the suffering of patients often hospitalized for weeks with COVID 19 infection or not recovering at all.

Last evening I admitted a patient to the hospital who was in her late 60s who had not been vaccinated for COVID-19 and was confused and struggling to breath due to her coronavirus infection, requiring a machine to assist her breathing.

She had come to a local emergency department two nights earlier with shortness of breath. That hospital did not have an intensive care unit. Normally such a patient would be immediately transferred to a hospital with an ICU equipped to treat her, but no ICU beds were available, so she had to wait in the emergency department 48 hours until being admitted to our ICU.

Jason Hoppe

Last week I admitted an elderly woman to an outlying hospital who had fallen at home and broken her hip. Surgical repair of the hip was planned for the following morning. Unfortunately, the stress of this injury resulted in a heart attack, which caused her to have heart failure and respiratory failure.

Normally, such a patient would be transferred to a hospital with a cardiologist to have emergent coronary angiography. Unfortunately, no hospital in Wisconsin had open beds to take her at that time despite multiple phone calls by myself and my colleagues. Ultimately she was transferred 24 hours later and received coronary angiography with two stents placed in a blocked artery in her heart. Her hip was then repaired.

Both of these patients, one with COVID-19 infection and one without, suffered the consequences of the current pandemic. The health care system is being overwhelmed by patients with COVID-19 in addition to the usual problems that bring people to our hospitals.

Many people who have not been vaccinated for COVID-19 suffer from the most severe pneumonia I have ever seen an organism cause in my 23 years of medical practice in Green Bay. The inflammation caused by the virus attacks the lungs, heart, kidneys and often the gut resulting in prolonged illness that can kill people several days after the infection begins. Many more people spend weeks in the hospital recovering requiring very high levels of oxygen. Patients usually do not even have the strength to walk a few feet to the toilet.

Patients vaccinated for COVID-19 fare much better — it’s rare to be hospitalized with the infection if you have been vaccinated.

Most people hospitalized with COVID-19 arrive at the hospital struggling to breath several days after they have been infected. The medications that we have including the corticosteroid dexamethasone, the antiviral remdesivir and the newer monoclonal antibodies work best when used prior to this period.

The best treatment for COVID-19 infection is not getting COVID-19 infection.

 

[Caylee Advocate]

How pathetic! In Ohio, small town Kroger's.


WCH pharmacist has license suspended after selling vaccine cards

 

[CrimeAway]

How pathetic! In Ohio, small town Kroger's.


WCH pharmacist has license suspended after selling vaccine cards

Wow! These people should be prosecuted IMO. It is so damaging for public health. JMO

 

[pocketaccent]

!! wow.... such a broad and weird mix of shortages.....

I couldn't find organic chili powder anywhere last month. So I googled how to make one. Duh, I already had all ingredients necessary in my spice cabinet. I made a large batch and it is delicious and won't buy premade ones ever again. The pandemic is teaching me to be creative.

 

[LaborDayRN]

Which is a really good idea. This winter (2021) in Australia, we had a revival of flu. We had almost no flu before that, during covid, due to our covid mitigation efforts.

A close friend of mine (nurse) thought for sure she had covid - very sick - turns out via testing that it was flu. Kept her out of action for a couple of weeks.

I'm sorry your friend went through that. I think the flu is something we should all take seriously especially as we age. I'm a life long asthmatic and the flu always hits me hard! I'll do what I can NOT to get it.
When I was a 11 years old, a little 7 year old girl that lived around the corner from me died from the effects of the flu. She came home from school with a raging temperature and didn't know who her parents were (as the story goes as told by my mother). They rushed her to the hospital where she passed away the next day. It was so sad and left quite a mark for me.

 

[LaborDayRN]

I couldn't find organic chili powder anywhere last month. So I googled how to make one. Duh, I already had all ingredients necessary in my spice cabinet. I made a large batch and it is delicious and won't buy premade ones ever again. The pandemic is teaching me to be creative.

That's awesome! Would you mind sharing? I can be in the Covid "recipe" page if you'd rather.

 

[acutename]

I tested positive a number of days ago. Getting better rapidly.

what symptoms have you had?

 

[pocketaccent]

That's awesome! Would you mind sharing? I can be in the Covid "recipe" page if you'd rather.

Done in the recipe thread. Check it out

 

[CharlestonGal]

The COVID antiviral drugs are here but they're scarce. Here's what to know

Two highly anticipated COVID-19 pills have been authorized for emergency use and allocated for shipment to states, but the supply is tight, and the rollout varies from state to state.

Pfizer's Paxlovid and Merck's molnupiravir are both oral antiviral pills that can be taken at home to keep patients out of the hospital. They're meant to be taken within the first few days of having COVID-19, and they reduce the risk of hospitalization and death by up to 88% for Paxlovid and 30% for molnupiravir.

Right now, they're just for patients at the highest risk of developing severe COVID-19 illness. For example, people with weakened immune systems, including transplant patients and older adults, are especially vulnerable. So many of the hundreds of thousands of people testing positive for the coronavirus daily would not be candidates for the treatments.

The scarce supply means there won't be enough for everyone. Wyoming, for example, is only getting enough Paxlovid for 100 people this week.

This could mean that some patients, after receiving a prescription from their doctor, must hunt around for a pharmacy that carries it – if they can find one at all.

 

[K.jill]

The thought of people running out of pet food scares me. I have enough for a month or longer but i am thinking about stocking up with more incase friends and neighbors run out. After seeing the way so many people around me have responded to covid (still booking flights, going to restaurants and bars and holiday gatherings) i’ve come to believe that too many people are either not smart, don’t have common sense or do not educate themselves on these things.
I have a friend who was shocked and offended that a NYE party was cancelled!

 

[MimosaMornings]

Anti-Vax Leader Traveling Country With Guns, Flamethrower, and Fake Badge in Quest to Arrest Dem Governors — The Daily Beast

“Anti-COVID-19 vaccine “Vaccine Police” organization leader Christopher Key, who has proudly claimed he would soon arrest Democrat Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards over vaccine mandates, has set off on a cross-country road trip with a fake badge and high capacity firearms. In a series of Telegram messages posted over the past week, Key has visited countless state offices and harassed officials over vaccines, masks, and mandates. In a phone conversation with The Daily Beast this past week, Key stated that he has been traveling the country “serving” people with packets of information he believes supports his conspiracy theory that COVID-19 vaccines are “bioweapons.” But it’s not only firearms Key has shown off, he also appears to have access to a flamethrower. “All those bioweapons that we have, that are not vaccines, they all need to be lined up, and they need to be exterminated,” Key said in a video posted in mid-December while brandishing a flamethrower. On Saturday night, when asked about the guns and if he intends to bring them along when conducting the planned arrests, Key told The Daily Beast he is “never about violence.” “I will do it [the citizen arrests] lawfully, and the sheriffs will be with me,” he added.”

 

[Arkay]

i’ve come to believe that too many people are either not smart, don’t have common sense or do not educate themselves on these things.

Or they think they are the exception.

Magical thinking, IMO.

Half a million cases daily just in the United States, spreading exponentially, but they are certain that we are overreacting.

Even though Covid is now in Antarctica, where very little can survive. But a virus, not being alive, can still flourish within its human hosts.

As has happened to so many, the nonchalant will feel differently once it hits them or someone whom they love.

It’s so disappointing, IMO, that there still are people who find a mask so cumbersome, and who cannot be bothered to employ this simplistic tool to keep their germs to themselves.

 

[Lilibet]

I just finished my “expanded” Instacart order to be delivered Sunday between 2-4 pm. It should hold us for several weeks unless our Freshly order flakes out like it did twice in December. I actually had to cook and made crockpot chili to get by. I did order some back-up items so I can make a meatloaf and more chili just in case. As I did my order, fortunately none of our staples and favorites were out of stock…yet. Tomorrow may be another story.

We’ve decided that it’s best if my dh doesn’t have to go to the natural food co-op two blocks away to pick up stuff we run out of stuff unless absolutely essential and only N-95 masked, goggled and gloved…it’s back to 2020…deja vu all over again!