04/24/2020
Update
There have been quite a few things that I have been reflecting on recently since the world around us seemed too so abruptly change. One of the things that I thought might be useful is to bring back that old tradition of having underwear with the days of the week on it so I could know what day it was. How much of what you were engaged in four or five weeks ago seems relatively trivial now? How much is the experience of dealing with COVID-19 clarified what your values really are? This devastating pandemic is affecting us all on so many levels. What we regard as normal as being completely flipped on its head. I believe one thing that still continues to be so important, now more than ever, is kindness.
When you’re kind to someone, it’s not just that person who benefits - there are side effects. Kindness makes you happier.. It’s good for your heart, it’s slows aging, help support your immune system, improve relationships, and it is contagious !! Any small act of kindness that you might perform is proven to have a ripple effect, reaching over 100 more people. During this time of social distancing, take the time to reach out to others.
Who have you not talked to in the last few months that would love to hear from you? Consider helping your children make cards or letters to people in nursing homes. In this time of social distancing —take time to make a ‘social difference’.
The knowledge about this virus continues to evolve. Some of the new information is that the virus can be transmitted with a cough or sneeze almost 13 feet, not the 6 feet that we have been talking about with Social distancing. It also has been found that the virus can be transmitted on your shoes, so leave your shoes in the garage.
We are rapidly approaching the time when we will have to reopen the country. There are a lot of numbers going around but one of the numbers I like to focus on is that 98% of people who get this disease survive.
I continue to monitor closely the availability of antibody testing. Science surrounding antibody testing is still developing. There are concerns about the tests being in-accurate, rushed, and not properly marketed. More than 100 organizations are trying to sell their tests in the United States, but the US food and drug administration has approved only a few as they are trying to verify the accuracy of these tests.
In a few recent studies it has shown how widespread that those with asymptomatic cases are. In a prison in Ohio they found 105 people who were symptomatic with the virus, but then they also found 1800 inmates who are positive for the virus but had no symptoms. In a city in Germany that was tested they found 14% of the entire city population was positive for the virus but never knew that they were sick.. New York City and Kansas City and Sacramento California have begun 3000 patient random testing to try and determine the extent of asymptomatic infection.
There appears to be many different variations of the Coronavirus now, but that is not unusual for RNA viruses in general, but the ‘spike protein’ that they’re making the vaccine against is not changing, so we can be less afraid that they won’t be able to make a vaccine. Still it is unlikely that a vaccine for general use will be available for up to another year.
The different varieties of the Coronavirus seem to be different in the way they attack patients and also in the severity of illness they cause. This may explains why some countries in Europe were hit harder than others, and why New York was hit harder, and yet the West Coast variety has not been as severe or deadly.
I continue to monitor the information on the COVID-19 pandemic, and still have to filter through what is opinion versus what is science. Certainly hand washing and not touching your face and using mask have good scientific evidence, but there is some question about how much the lockdowns and stay at home orders are helping at this point. I still recommend people taking extra vitamin C, there is well documented evidence of IV vitamin C being used in septic shock and for ARDS, and while the vitamin supplements are good we could all benefit by having a bowl of fruit in the morning to start your day. In 2017 a scientific study published on 11,000 patients showed that vitamin D could decrease the risk of acute pulmonary infections. We need to remember that this is still a brand new disease that is barely 5 months old, and we are constantly learning more and understanding more as time goes on.
We continue to provide personal care to our patients during this difficult time. It has required some out-of-the-box thinking. I have seen multiple patients in their own cars in my parking lot. We continue to use telemedicine for many of our visits. We have even done some home visits. It is important that, as best we can, I keep my patient safe, my staff safe, and my family and myself safe. We will all get through this and if you have any thing that I can help you with, reach out to us.
STAY SAFE
Dr J.
PS - (WASH YOUR HANDS)
