General Wellness

FARTS DO NOT TRANSMIT COVID-19! 💨 💩

I saw this interesting posted question (I was about to type ridiculous rather than interesting but, as I tell my patients, the only bad or silly question is the one you didn’t ask!) and thought I’d write up and update on transmission of the coronavirus.

Just as a reminder, it is a virus spread through respiratory droplets either by inhaling them or touching them on surfaces and then touching a mucus membrane like the nose, mouth or eye.

Just like any other microbe however, the chances of getting an infection is based on the load one is inoculated with. A few viral particles are not likely to take hold but a good blast from a sneeze is a different thing. Sitting with someone infected but not symptomatic, outside where there is wind, 5-6 feet away, is an extremely low risk situation but sitting in an enclosed room for more than 15 minutes (a ballpark time frame many scientists use as a risky duration) is a more likely situation when transmission could occur.

The more forcefully you breathe, the more particles you exhale and the farther they go. Singing, talking loudly in a bar, breathing heavily in an enclosed gym, being inside with many people speaking loudly…these are all risky situations. Being outside with the hot sun and a breeze, is a much less risky situation.

Of course infection is also contingent on how healthy you are and as we know, even simply being overweight increases the chances of Covid-related complications 6x. Taking acid reducers increases the chances of getting covid 3.5x (Mother Nature didn’t give us stomach acid for no reason). The bottom line is that the healthier you are and the fewer drugs you take, the less likely you are to get infected or have complications if you do. The other really important issue is nutrition. 70% of our immune system resides in our intestines (the gut) controlled by all the trillions of microbes making up our microbiome. The best predictor of a healthy gut is the amount and variety of plants you eat. Simple. If you want to eat a little meat and fish, although the animal may not appreciate it, the health impact on you is small ASSUMING you are consuming lots of fiber, which you only get from fruits and vegetables. Enough preaching.

FARTS – zero risk! Although, the virus, or any least parts of the virus, does shed in your poop 💩 for weeks after being infected.

FOOD you purchased at the grocery store. No known infection has been documented this way, so as I have said before, stop Windexing your bananas 🍌 . However, coronavirus has been identified on refrigerated meat! The infection rate in meat-packing plants is high and the virus lives for much longer when refrigerated and indefinitely when frozen.

WATER. No known transmission has been identified. As far as swimming in it goes, nothing lives in the chlorine of a properly maintained pool but it’s all about proximity. Keep your distance.

TAKE-OUT food. Again, minimal to no risk. Certainly the food itself is fine, especially if cooked, is not a concern. Scope out the place and make sure the delivery people are wearing masks.

PACKAGES and MAIL. Although covid can live for a day on cardboard and paper, the amount of actual virus you would come into contact with is minuscule and the heat in the trucks is enough to kill anything so don’t worry about that package you got from your grandmother, or Amazon, just don’t hug the delivery man.

EATING OUT. Depends. Outdoors, with good distance is pretty safe. Make sure the servers are wearing masks. Disposable menus are preferable. Indoors with a lot of space is probably OK. What goes on before you go in however is where I have the greatest concerns. Lineups outside of establishments, close together in lines or benches,without masks, is a much greater risk than the eating part.

GETTING TOGETHER WITH PEOPLE. Again, outdoors with appropriate distancing is great. One family member acting as server wearing a mask. Consider disposable plates (crappy for the environment but might make everyone feel safer). Have a few hand sanitizers around. No shared bowls unless the food is well spread out. But ultimately, you have to know your audience. If you are getting together with a couple or family you know has been following safe practices, that’s one thing. But if the other couple has a truant, vaping teen who sneaks around with the hoodlums in the neighborhood, maybe a zoom cocktail is safer! 😉

CLOTHING. The virus can survive for a few days on clothing but again, it has to transfer to your hand then from your hand to your mucus membranes with enough of a load to be able to get a hold and replicate. Minimal risk.

We do need to try to live, in as normal a manner as possible, but it is what it is. This virus ain’t goin’ anywhere anytime soon. As I have said many times, we need to live with it and keep transmission rates controlled so that fewer people die while all the smart scientists work on a possible vaccine, the doctors work on better therapeutics or, by some miracle, it mutates and dies off (least likely scenario unfortunately).

WEAR YOUR MASK! It protects you. It protects others. It shows you care about your fellow man. Cover your nose and be careful how you handle the mask afterwards. By the way, a couple of days on your dashboard in the sun, espetially in this heat and everything dies.

WASH YOUR HANDS. And use hand sanitizer as needed.

DISTANCE.

DON’T TOUCH YOUR FACE AND NOSE.

GET HEALTHY. Eat better. Exercise more (I’m on a 42 day running streak if anyone wants to take me on! 👊)

Stay safe and be well.
AC 😎✌️🌱❤🐖🏃🏻🧘🏻‍♂️🌎😷

MASK UPDATE

It’s really getting pretty ridiculous already. For our leaders not to at least encourage, if not mandate mask wearing is the equivalent of malpractice in medicine. For the governor of Florida, the worldwide epicenter of this disease, to not close gyms because it “keeps people healthier” is not just infuriating, it’s criminal.

A recent study looked at getting infected with Covid with and without a mask. Without a mask, 17% of people became infected. With a mask, infection risk was 3%.

The distance of particle projection after coughing was also analyzed. The following was found with various types of masks:

• No Mask:            8 feet.
• Bandana:            3.6 feet.
• Folded Handkerchief:         1.25 feet.
• Commercial Cone Mask:    8 inches (0.66 feet).
• Stitched, 2-layer Mask:    2.5 inches (0.2 feet).

Just stick a sock over your mouth and it makes a big difference! Especially if you are also slewing ridiculous conspiracy theories.

And that’s with a cough which is orders of magnitude more forceful than singing and simple breathing.

The bottom line is that MASKS WORK! 

So does distancing and avoiding or closing places where people may congregate in ways which increases transmission, like bars and gyms. We have seen how responsibly our citizens have been with opening things up and we have failed. 

As far as the argument about safety and comfort are concerned, the is NO study which shows that masks are unsafe or lead to decreased oxygen levels. Wearing underwear can be uncomfortable but we do it.

When seat belts were mandated, there was an uproar and now, their life-saving benefits are clear and acceptance is fairly universal. Cars seats for kids generated similar resistance but now, it would be unconscionable not to use one. Outlawing smoking in public places is similarly pretty accepted these days. I was a big supporter of Mayor Bloomsberg’s limiting soda container sizes and higher taxes. When people demonstrate poor judgment and it impacts on everyone else (and soda has a huge impact on health and subsequent costs to the cost of Medicare and Medicaid which we ALL pay for). Responsible authorities need to step in and force people to do the right thing.

Wearing a mask is the right thing, not only for you but for everyone else.

Stay safe and be well. 

AC 😎✌️🌱❤🐖🏃🏻🧘🏻‍♂️🌎😷