Tag: pandemic

COVID into the fifth year

Four years ago, here in the US, things were pretty much shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. B was working from home. I was the household’s designated shopper and would go, masked, to the grocery store every other week to stock up, although I’d sometimes have to visit more than one store because supply was a problem. We managed to keep ourselves safe, although we were horrified at the death toll in the US and around the world and at the people who became very ill. Over time, we also saw that some people had lasting damage to their lungs or other organs and others had symptoms that debilitated them for months.

Now, things are much better, due to vaccines and other precautions that have cut down on serious illnesses, although the US has slipped on vaccination, even as the virus has mutated in ways that make SARS-CoV-2 more infectious and immune-evasive. There are still way too many people getting sick and suffering long-term damage or death. While there are studies and some treatments on-going, there are still a lot of people suffering from long COVID.

We finally had our first case of COVID in our house last November, when B contracted it at a rare, in-person event for work. He isolated in part of our house and daughter T and I remained infection-free.

I don’t know how much longer we will be able to manage that status.

I was disappointed when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed their guidance about isolating when infected with COVID. The new recommendations are for respiratory viruses in general and say that people can resume normal activities when their symptoms are improving and they have been without fever for 24 hours without being on fever-reducing medication. People are supposed to use masking, distancing, and other strategies to protect others from infection for five days afterward.

While I appreciate CDC’s reasoning, which is based on statistics, I don’t find it personally useful. It is typical that a person with COVID is infectious for ten days. It’s entirely possible to be fever-free and have improving symptoms and still be infectious. I’m afraid that most people won’t hear or won’t follow through on the part of the recommendation for masking and taking precautions to avoid exposing others after they leave isolation. This is especially troubling to me because so many people are not current on their vaccinations and/or are vulnerable due to age or health conditions. It’s great that the immunity level in the population halved the rate of serious illness and death, but that’s cold comfort if you expose a loved one, neighbor, co-worker, etc. and they become seriously I’ll or die.

If/when I contract COVID, I will isolate and mask until I test negative and am reasonably sure I can’t transmit the virus to anyone else. I want to protect my family and my community, especially our elders and those with medical issues, from contracting a virus that could cause them severe symptoms.

Please remember, when you see someone wearing a mask in public, to be kind and understanding. It’s entirely possible that they are trying to protect your health, not just their own.

(COVID Photo by Martin Sanchez on Unsplash)

long COVID research summary

I realize I’ve done A LOT of COVID posts this month, but I had to share this post from Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, writing as “Your Local Epidemiologist.” She gathers together the major research advances in understanding long COVID from 2023, with lots of links to the original research.

One of the main takeaways, which I included in this post earlier in the week, is that vaccines help cut down on long COVID cases, with more doses contributing to lower risks.

Dr. Jetelina also suggests subscribing to The Sick Times newsletter, which is dedicated to sharing the latest information about long COVID weekly.

I’m grateful that the rate of long COVID has declined from early in the pandemic, but it is still affecting millions, some new cases and some months or years old. It’s important to learn more about it so treatments can be developed for long COVID and other post-infection syndromes.
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Join us for Linda’s Just Jot It January! You can use provided prompts or post whatever you like, even multiple posts about COVID. (Okay, that’s just me,) Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/01/19/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-19th-2024/

JN.1

It’s been four years since the first cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the US but it’s still a major health issue. While vaccines, treatments, and preventative measures have made the current situation less severe than the initial onslaught of SARS-CoV-2, people are still getting sick, with some needing to be hospitalized and some, unfortunately, succumbing to the disease, including the person I referenced in this post. In the week of Dec. 31, 2023-January 6, 2024, COVID caused 4% of all deaths in the United States.

The virus continues to mutate. The current strain that is dominant in the United States and globally is JN.1, which is related to the BA.2.86 variant of Omicron. The good news is that the most recent vaccine, which is based on the related XBB lineage, is a good match for JN.1, so the vaccine significantly reduces the risk of severe symptoms, hospitalization, and death while offering some protection against infection. The bad news is that, in the United States, only about 8% of children and 19% of adults are estimated to have received the newest vaccine, contributing to a surge of cases, amplified by holiday travel and gatherings.

More good vaccine news. This large study from Sweden concludes that vaccination reduces the risk of developing long COVID and that additional vaccine doses reduce risk even more. As someone who has particular concerns about long COVID, I appreciate that these studies are continuing to increase our understanding.

Another recent study shows that the Omicron variants don’t cause peak viral loads until day 3-4, much later than the earlier strains of the virus. The practical implication of this is that at-home COVID tests may not pick up a positive reading until several days into the illness, during which time the person could be infecting others. It also has implications for prescribing anti-virals, which need to begin within the first five days of symptoms to be effective. For me, this is a reminder to mask around other people whenever I have symptoms, as an early negative test might not be accurate.

A study published just a few days ago seems to put some science behind what we have all experienced, that SARS-CoV-2 doesn’t have a “season” in the way that some other viruses, like influenza, do. Changes in temperature and humidity don’t appear to have significant influence in transmission. This seems to go along with what we have experienced in the United States, with major waves happening in different seasons of the year. We’ve had waves in the heat of summer as well as the cold of winter. This suggests that our current winter wave is due more to low vaccination rates and holiday travel and gatherings than to the fact that it is winter. It also highlights the importance of increasing ventilation and using masks in crowded indoor spaces, as both summer heat and winter cold tend to drive people to gather indoors.

Four years in, I’ve written a lot of COVID-19 posts. From my days as part of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine trials through the present, I’ve always tried to give the most updated information and public health guidance available. It’s frustrating that there is less information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention than when the state of emergency was still in effect but some useful recent data can be found here. A lot of the information in this post came to my attention through this post from Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, writing as “Your Local Epidemiologist” and this post from Those Nerdy Girls.

Through all these challenges, especially when spouse B had the first case of COVID in our house in November, I’ve managed to avoid infection, unless I had a totally asymptomatic case at some point. I use my research to make decisions about vaccination, masking, crowd avoidance, etc. that are right for me and my family. I don’t think that advocating for health measures ought to be seen as controversial or political. There are, though, forces in the US that have warped disease prevention into a political test. It’s very sad that Republicans are more likely to die from COVID than non-Republicans. Please, don’t put your health and the health of your family and neighbors at risk over politics. COVID-19 is still out there. Take care of your health and your loved ones.
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another COVID-19 risk

I had saved this article on a research study that showed that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can directly infect coronary arteries, which may help to explain the increased risk of heart attack and stroke among people who have contracted it.

It came to mind now because we received news that a friend’s family member with COVID has suffered a heart attack.

While it’s not known if infection and inflammation of the coronary arteries caused this particular person’s heart attack, it is a stark reminder that COVID can cause serious health complications. Way too many people are still getting sick and dying from it.

While there are no iron-clad ways to avoid infection, preventative measures like vaccines, avoiding crowds, and masking in indoor public spaces reduce your chances of infection and its follow-on risks.

Even if you don’t care about your personal risk of infection, remember that you could pass the infection on to someone who may be more vulnerable than you due to their age or underlying health condition. I know this has been a powerful motivating factor for me.

Please do what is right for you to protect yourself and others to the greatest extent possible.
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Join us for Linda’s Just Jot It January! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/01/08/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-8th-2024/

Snow!

We are having our first major snowstorm of the season here in the Southern Tier of NY.

The system, which is coming up the Atlantic coast, arrived a bit earlier than had originally been expected. I had thought I’d be able to attend vigil mass at 4 PM as I usually do on Saturdays but the roads were too bad for travel. It’s still snowing this morning and some freezing rain is predicted, so it looks like this will be an at-home religious observance weekend, as all of them were during the pandemic.

Good thing I didn’t take the programming for recording mass out of my DVR.

Best wishes to those celebrating Epiphany this weekend and to those celebrating Christmas under the Julian calendar.
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Join us for Linda’s Just Jot It January! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/01/07/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-7th-2024/

a belated Thanksgiving

Because spouse B had contracted COVID and needed to isolate at home and daughter T and I were masking around each other in case one of us was infected, we didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving last Thursday – or, I should say, we celebrated with a nice, but not fancy, dinner of roast pork with roasted vegetables with T and I eating in the dining room and B at the kitchen table where we could talk to each other at a safe distance. Instead of the traditional pie, we had (the also-traditional) Aunt Gert’s Indian pudding for dessert.

That Thursday was Day 12 of B’s COVID experience and the first day he had tested negative. On average, Omicron infections last for eight days, so B was on the long side of the spectrum but someone has to be to balance out those who have a short infectious phase. Because he needed to have two negative tests 48 hours apart for us to be unmasked around each other, he decided that our fancier Thanksgiving dinner should be on Sunday.

While, for many years, I did the bulk of the cooking at our house, I don’t especially enjoy it. B, on the other hand, likes cooking and baking, so he chose the menu and made the meal. We enjoyed a delicious dinner of individual beef Wellington with roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon and a Braeburn and Cortland apple pie for dessert.

One of the things for which we are most thankful is that B’s bout with COVID was relatively mild, even if his infectious period did hang on longer than expected. We are also thankful that T and I remained uninfected. The pool of people I know who have never had COVID has dwindled to just a few, so I know it’s likely we will contract it someday, but, for now, we are all happy to be able to spend time together at home unmasked in the same room, whether or not there is a fancy late-Thanksgiving meal on the table.

Photo by Pro Church Media on Unsplash

still positive

Spouse B is still testing positive for COVID on Day 11, although the line on the test kit is fainter so maybe he is getting closer to the two negative tests 48 hours apart to be ready to be unmasked together without worry.

Not sure yet what we will do about Thanksgiving. It will just be the three of us and we were planning to do something other than the traditional turkey dinner. Maybe we will just postpone until we can all eat together in the same room. T and I have been eating in the dining room while B sequesters himself in his office at mealtimes.

We all remain grateful that his symptoms were relatively mild and short-lived but we are anxious to actually spend time together again. We are also grateful that T and I aren’t infected but we want to make sure we remain cautious. B would feel so badly if his case spread to us because we got tired of following protocol. Given the length of time that has passed, we all realize T and I dodged catching it when he was infectious before and in the early hours of the symptomatic phase.

So, at least, three more days of masking in our future.

I might need to order some more KF94 masks…

(COVID Photo by Martin Sanchez on Unsplash)

One-Liner Wednesday: household COVID update

Spouse B seems to be through most of his symptoms on Day 5, but will continue to mask and isolate at home, while daughter T and I are continuing to be symptom free and are masking at home when we are with each other and when we have to go out in public. (COVID Photo by Martin Sanchez on Unsplash)
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This update brought to you as part of Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Join us in these brief (usually fun or inspirational) posts! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2023/11/15/one-liner-wednesday-worried-who-me/

out of luck

I’m sad to report that, despite our best efforts, we finally have a case of COVID-19 in the house.

My spouse B tested positive yesterday. We think he was exposed at an in-person work event on Wednesday.

We are taking precautions to isolate from each other but daughter T and I were both exposed to B before he developed symptoms when he was probably infectious, so it’s a waiting game at this point. We’ll be testing before going out in public and masking when we do to avoid infecting anyone else, in case we are pre-symptomatic.

So far, B has had fever and symptoms similar to a bad cold. Our primary care practice wants to hold off on prescribing Paxlovid but will if his condition worsens over the next couple of days.

I knew our luck would run out one day but I’m upset and worried to have COVID in the house. Because I’ve been reading about it and observing the twists and turns in its history since the beginning, I know that things sometimes go very badly, even in someone who is healthy and up-to-date on vaccines, so…

Photo by Martin Sanchez on Unsplash

One-Liner Wednesday: booster

Today, I’m getting my sixth dose of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, this one targeting Omicron variant XBB.1.5 and shown to be effective against other currently circulating Omicron sub-variants. Please consider joining me if your health professional or public health agency recommends it for you.
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This public health message is brought to you as part of Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays. Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2023/09/20/one-liner-wednesday-the-ultimate-404-error/