Decreased Vigilance Results In Increased Disease

Today I am feeling a combination of gratitude, sympathy and guilt.

I attended a large Ukrainian event last weekend. It was a black tie affair at the Bellevue Hotel in Philadelphia. It was a lot of fun and I saw and spent time with many friends and family and it was great. All three of my children came in for the event. There were about 600 people and the hall and adjacent rooms were packed and they were loud.

Unlike last year’s event, when there were some rules about masking in certain areas along with a covid vaccine requirement to attend, this year, it was a free-for-all. No rules. Just fun. There was only 1 person I saw the entire evening wearing a black KN95 mask. I don’t know if he was wearing it because of risk factors or he just wanted to protect himself. I did not wear a mask. I thought about it alot and felt that it may be time to let go a bit. I did so at a similar event the week before and came out unscathed (although some others did not).

Not too surprisingly, a few cases of Covid have turned up this week amongst my friends. Fortunately, so far none are suffering any severe symptoms. All have been vaccinated and fully boosted as far as I know. There will undoubtedly be more and there will likely be many who got infected but were asymptomatic, spreading the virus as they go about their lives.

I don’t think any of my friends came to the event infected. They most likely got infected at the event. This most recent variant can start to show symptoms within 48 hours after exposure.

I am sympathetic to their illness, grateful that I dodged another bullet (despite what I do, I have still not had Covid) but feeling guilty for not being more vigilant and recommending that attendees at least consider self testing beforehand. 

I appreciate that we have to move on with life but this event highlights the fact that this very infectious virus is still very much amongst us and is causing all kinds of trouble. Absenteeism from school and work, feeling ill as well as the potential for serious complications, illness and long-term side effects.

How do we juggle this persistent pandemic and move on with life? I don’t have the answer. Many aspects of this pandemic are out of our control. There are however things well within our control. Perhaps mandating vaccination and constant mask wearing is unreasonable for such an event, but appealing to peoples self interests and perhaps compassion towards others will. Testing beforehand is not a big deal. Tests are cheap and, although not 100% accurate, they are all we have. In addition, if you have any symptoms of illness, it may mean that you should stay away so you don;t pass whatever you have along to others, some of whom may have serious underlying conditions.

Before any such events, I test myself, regardless of how I feel. I would feel horrible if I was the cause of someone else’s illness or serious complication, not to mention death. 

Another thing we have 100% control over is how we take care of ourselves. Getting healthy is your best defense if you have been exposed. Eating well, focussing on a whole food, plant-based diet, stay well hydrated, daily exercise, stress management, sleeping well and social interactions are all extremely important for good health.

Please continue to be careful out there.

MASK up when reasonable and appropriate.

DISTANCE and/or ISOLATE if you are ill or live with someone who is.

TEST when there is a concern or if you plan to be amongst people, especially there may be at-risk individuals. Given the state of most Americans’ health, there is almost a 100% likelihood someone in your group is at risk. 

GET HEALTHY.

VACCINATE and BOOST.

Stay safe and Be well.

AC

Covid levels, including case numbers, hospitalizations and deaths, here at home have been steadily decreasing. There are a few minor hotspots, but nothing dramatic. That statement alone makes me sad since we have settled into acceptance of this pretty horrible infection as part of our daily medical landscape. Covid didn’t exist 3 years ago but today, it’s still the 3rd leading cause of death in the US. But, oh well. I just want my MTV and my Mochachino.

Just under 500 people a day continue to die from this disease. And no, these numbers are not fudged or made up as some conspiracy theorist believe. Interestingly, deaths from other causes are also up, and the trend is even higher whenever there is a Covid spike in an area.  

I continue to see many cases of long Covid. It can be pretty debilitating. Over 200 symptoms involving every single organ system in the human body have been linked to this chronic condition. Most are similar to long-haul symptoms of other common infections. It’s just that because the number of Covid cases are so much higher than any other infectious disease, the number of long-haulers is also much higher.

Not much has come of the XBB variant with respect to severity or increase in outbreaks. It is taking over, but is not any more virulent or infectious.

The bivalent booster continues to be effective at significantly reducing the risk of getting really sick or dying, as well as reducing the likelihood of long-Covid. To me, there is still no convincing argument to make this a yearly vaccination, like the flu. Unlike the flu, this is NOT seasonal. Unlike the flu, just breathing spreads it. Unlike the flu, it is more infectious. LIKE the flu vaccine, it’s efficacy drops by 10-15% per month, which is why timing the flu vaccine is important since the Flu season is almost 6 months long. It’s also why we need to keep this a twice a year vaccine. I certainly plan to get it every 6 months until something changes.

The situation in China seems to be slowing down and fortunately, no obvious variants have surfaced thus far. Latest estimates from reputable organizations are that ~ 27,000 people a day are dying from Covid in China, about a 25% drop from last week. Now, their population is quite massive, at 1.4 billion, but projected onto the US population, that would amount to ~6,400 deaths a day, double the peak of deaths in the US at the height of the pandemic. Their situation is still quite dire.

These deaths, anywhere, are not just statistics. They are someone’s father, mother, brother, aunt, child… These are real people dying from a disease which can be prevented, or at least whose severity can be mitigated with things like vaccination and getting healthier before getting sick.

I wrote about the H5N1 bird flu virus last time and I wanted to clarify a few things. Although it remains a virus of significant concern, as of now, there is nothing to suggest that numbers are becoming pandemic levels. Since it first appeared in the early 2000’s, there have only been about 900 human cases worldwide, most of them in East Asia however, half of those people died. It is still appearing in flocks in a major way with over 58 million chickens having died from the virus this year. It is 100% lethal in birds and 100’s of millions have died since this virus first surfaced. It has appeared in backyard coops and in zoos and has crossed to other animals like minks. Part of the point of bringing it up is that we are on the cusp of another outbreak at any time and sadly, even after all we have been through with Covid, we are no better prepared.

Please continue to be careful out there. Although we do need to socialize, and isolation has been devastating to many people, we also need to be cautious. I admit to letting go a bit, being less vigilant (or lazy) on occasion. It feels good to not worry so much but we need to keep the bigger picture in focus. Not only do we need to protect ourselves, we need to protect all those around us.

Have a great weekend.

GO BIRDS!!!

Stay Safe and Be Well.

AC