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GOOD MORNING AND WELCOME TO THE 98TH EDITION OF C 19 TALK WITH LOCAL HEALTH AUTHORITIES.
ERICA BROWN, REPRESENTING HARRIS COUNTY, DR. DAVID PER REPRESENTING THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
UH, SPECIAL THANKS TO KATHY INGER, PAST PRESIDENT ROTARY CLUB OF HOUSTON FOR PROVIDING US WITH THESE QUESTIONS OVER THE 98 SESSIONS THAT WE'VE HAD SO FAR.
AND TO OUR, OUR PRODUCERS, DAVID CASTILLO AND PRISCILLA KEY.
I'M STEPHEN WILLIAMS, THE DIRECTOR OF THE HOUSTON HEALTH DEPARTMENT.
OKAY, Y'ALL, THREE MORE TO GO.
LOOKS LIKE HARRIS COUNTY IS AT YELLOW.
WHAT SHOULD WE KNOW? SO, YELLOW STATUS, UM, MEANS THAT UNFORTUNATELY, UM, HOSPITALIZATIONS ARE RISING.
UM, POSITIVE TESTS ARE RISING.
SO OF COURSE WE WOULD LIKE EVERYBODY TO STAY UP TO DATE WITH THEIR COVID VACCINES, INCLUDING GETTING THE BOOSTER.
UM, GET TESTED IF YOU'VE HAD, IF YOU HAVE SYMPTOMS OR HAVE BEEN EXPOSED.
UM, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS RESTARTED THE PRE COVID TESTING, UM, KITS, UH, SO YOU CAN, UH, GO ONLINE AND REQUEST THOSE KITS, AND THEY DO COME FAIRLY FAST.
UM, WEAR A MASK IF YOU HAVE SYMPTOMS. UH, CERTAINLY IF YOU HAVE A POSITIVE TEST TO ISOLATE FOR A MINIMUM OF FIVE DAYS OR UNTIL YOU ARE, UM, MAINLY, UH, ASYMPTOMATIC.
UM, CONSIDER WEARING A MASK IN GENERAL, UM, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE GOING INTO, UH, CROWDED PLACES, UM, OR AROUND OTHERS IN, UH, UM, SMALLER WORKSPACES.
UH, FOR HARRIS COUNTY, UM, WE, WE DO REQUIRE 75% OCCUPANCY WHEN WE GO TO YELLOW CHINA.
NO LONGER REPORTS CASES, BUT THE NEWS SHOW 37 MILLION MAY HAVE BEEN AFFECTED THERE ON A SINGLE DAY IN DECEMBER.
THAT NUMBER IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE.
WHAT DOES IT PREDICT FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD? I SAW THAT ON THE NEWS THIS MORNING ABOUT THEM NOT REPORTING CASES.
SO WE'RE, WE ACTUALLY, UM, DR.
PERSON AND I HAD CONVERSATION ABOUT THIS A LITTLE, A LITTLE WHILE AGO THIS MORNING.
WE ARE NOT REALLY CLEAR, UM, ON THE SPECIFIC NUMBERS AND HOW CHINA IS CALCULATING, UM, THEIR NUMBERS.
UM, WE DO KNOW THAT UNFORTUNATELY THEY ARE, UM, SEEING A HUGE SURGE.
UM, UM, BUT NOT CLEAR AGAIN ON THE NUMBERS.
THE QUARANTINE RESTRICTIONS WERE LIFTED, UM, UNDER THE ZERO COVID POLICY.
UM, UM, THESE REASONS MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE CALCULATION OF THIS NUMBER.
UM, AND SO MEANING THAT THEY, THEY JUST DIDN'T, WEREN'T AWARE PRIOR TO, UM, UM, THERE'S NO SOURCE OF DATA THAT'S BEING RELEASED BY CHINA HEALTH OFFICIALS.
HOWEVER, IF THEY'RE, IF THE TREND IS ACCURATE, UM, NATIONALLY, WE'LL PEAK IN EARLY JANUARY.
THAT'S NOW MAAM, BASED ON WASTEWATER, CAN YOU ESTIMATE HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE IT OR IS IT JUST A LEVEL FOUND, WHICH COULD BE MADE OF ONE PERSON WITH A LOT OF VIRUS OR MANY WITH FIT
BUT, SO THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION IS THAT NO, YOU, YOU REALLY CAN'T ESTIMATE THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE, UH, BASED ON THE AMOUNT OF VIRUS THAT WE'RE FINDING IN THE WASTEWATER.
THERE'S A NUMBER OF REASONS FOR IT.
THE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE COLLECTING THIS FROM THESE WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS, WHICH COVER, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE ALL VARYING SIZES.
ONE OF THEM IS NEARLY 50% OF THE CITY, AND THEN THE REST IS A VARIETY OF SMALLER ONES, BUT STILL, THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF HOMES AND OR BUILDINGS, UM, YOU KNOW, THOUSANDS OF TOILETS, IF YOU WILL, UH, PER WASTEWATER, UH, SHED THAT WE, WE TAKE THIS FROM.
AND THE OTHER THING IS THAT THROUGHOUT AN ILLNESS, WHEN ONE PERSON IS ILL, THE AMOUNT OF VIRUS THEY PRODUCE IN THEIR STOOL VARIES THROUGHOUT THE ILLNESS.
AND SO IT, IT KIND OF PARALLELS HOW SICK THEY ARE.
SO WHEN THEY'RE AT THEIR MOST SYMPTOMATIC, THEY'RE PRODUCING THE MOST AMOUNT OF VIRUS IN THE STOOL, BUT THEN EVEN AFTER THEY START FEELING WELL, IT WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE VIRUS.
AND IT'S, THAT'S OFTEN JUST VIRAL DEBRIS THAT THE BODY IS JUST GETTING RID OF.
THESE AREN'T ACTIVE VIRUSES, BUT IN THE WASTEWATER, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR.
SO YOU REALLY CAN'T ESTIMATE THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT ARE, UH, INFECTED BASED ON THE, THE AMOUNT OF VIRUS WE'RE FINDING THE WASTEWATER.
SO THAT'S WHY WE FOLLOW THE TREND.
AND AGAIN, THE, YOU KNOW, THE ABSOLUTE VALUE THAT WE REPORT ISN'T WHAT'S IMPORTANT.
IT'S WHICH DIRECTION IS IT CHANGING AND HOW STEEP OF A CHANGE ARE WE SEEING OVER SEVERAL WEEKS? WASTEWATER TESTING IN PLANES IS INTERESTING.
IS THAT COMMON? SO IT'S NOT COMMON, IT'S NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE THAT I KNOW OF.
IN FACT, I'M NOT EVEN SURE THAT IT'S, UH, BEING DONE NOW, BUT THERE IS TALK ABOUT IT.
UM, AGAIN, THE PROBLEM HERE WOULD BE A COUPLE FULL ONE IS THAT YOU WOULD HAVE TO TAKE THE
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SAMPLE FROM ALL THESE DIFFERENT AIRCRAFT AND YOU'D HAVE TO, YOU KNOW, TEST THEM.UH, AND AGAIN, WE LOOK FOR FRAGMENTS OF, OF, OF THE, THE VIRUS IN THE WASTEWATER.
AND SO IF WE'RE DOING THIS TO SEE IF THERE ARE INFECTED PEOPLE COMING BACK, WELL, THERE'S CERTAINLY, THERE'S GONNA BE SOME PEOPLE THAT ARE, YOU KNOW, PAST THE ILLNESS OR NO LONGER INFECTIOUS, BUT THEY'RE STILL SHUTTING VIRUS.
SO THAT'S GONNA BE IN THE WASTEWATER IF WE'RE DOING IT TO SEE IF THERE ARE NEW VARIANTS THAT ARE POPPING UP.
THE WAY THE TESTS WORK IS YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT SEQUENCE OF AMINO ACIDS YOU'RE LOOKING FOR.
SO IT'S NOT A GOOD WAY TO DETERMINE OR TO DISCOVER NEW VARIANTS.
YOU REALLY NEED TO GET THAT FROM A PATIENT AND THEN SEQUENCE THE ENTIRE, UH, VIRUS FROM THAT PATIENT.
BECAUSE IN THE WASTEWATER, JUST LOOKING FOR FRAGMENTS SO IT WORKS DIFFERENTLY, THAT WOULD NOT BE A GREAT WAY TO, TO SEEK OUT AND FIND NEW VARIANTS.
AND I THINK IT WOULD PROBABLY NOT BE REALLY HELPFUL TO SEE IF THERE'S A LOT OF FOLKS THAT ARE COMING IN THAT ARE INFECTED, BECAUSE EVEN FOLKS WHO ARE NOW BETTER ARE STILL GONNA SHED SOME VIRUS.
AND THAT'S GONNA BE DETECTED IN THE, IN THE TESTING.
IS IT CORRECT TO SAY HOME TESTS ARE RESULTING IN MORE FALSE NEGATIVES THAN IN THE PAST? NO, I DON'T THINK THAT THAT'S A, A CORRECT STATEMENT.
UM, UM, HOME TESTS ABSOLUTELY HAVE A VALUE, UM, WHEN TESTING FOR COVID.
UM, UM, IT IS TRUE HOWEVER, THAT IF THERE IS, UH, UH, A LOW VIRAL, UM, LOAD, UM, THAT THEY MAY NOT DETECT EARLIER, UM, UM, IN INFECTION, AND SO, UM, IT, IT'S ADVISED TO TEST AGAIN IN A DAY OR TWO, UM, BECAUSE THE, THE FACT IS AS WELL, IF THE TEST IS POSITIVE, IT'S POSITIVE.
AND SO THAT'S WHAT HOME CLUSTER ARE USED FOR, IS IF YOU'RE FEELING SYMPTOMATIC, UM, TO GET A HOME TEST SO THAT YOU'RE NOT GOING OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY POTENTIALLY EXPOSING OTHERS AS WELL AS FOR CONVENIENCE, UM, UM, TO BE ABLE TO ISOLATE AND KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DEALING WITH AS WELL.
UM, SO THEY, THEY ABSOLUTELY HAVE VALUE.
IT'S, IT'S JUST A MATTER OF KNOWING THE LIMITATIONS IF THE TEST IS NEGATIVE, RETEST IN A DAY OR SO, UM, TO MAKE SURE THAT THE TEST IS NEGATIVE BECAUSE THE, THE LIMITATION OF THE TEST, WHICH DOESN'T MEAN THAT, UM, THAT, UM, IT'S, IT'S NOT, IT DOESN'T HAVE A, A, A VALUABLE USE, BUT THE LIMITATION IS IF, IF THE VIRAL LOAD IS LOW, UM, YOU MAY NOT, IT MAY NOT BE ABLE TO DETECT AS EARLY PREVALENCE FROM CHINA TO THE US AND OTHER COUNTRIES MUST TEST 48 HOURS PRIOR TO BOARDING THEIR PLANES PCR TESTS AND NOT, MAY NOT SHOW A POSITIVE DURING THAT PERIOD.
SO DOES THIS, SO DOES THIS DO ANY GOOD AT ALL OR DOES IT CREATE OVERCONFIDENCE AND SAFE FLYING? SO THE PCR TESTS ARE, ARE REALLY HIGHLY ACCURATE, RIGHT? SO, AND THEY'RE ALSO VERY SENSITIVE.
IN FACT, THAT'S ONE OF THE PROBLEMS THAT WE HAD WITH THEM.
IF YOU RECALL, WHEN WE CAME TO, YOU KNOW, YOU HAD TO TEST NEGATIVE TO GET BACK TO WORK, WELL, PEOPLE CONTINUE TO TEST POSITIVE LONG AFTER THEY WERE, UH, FEELING BETTER AGAIN, AND WERE NO LONGER INFECTIOUS BECAUSE IT'S SO SENSITIVE.
UM, SO THE, THE RAPID TESTS ARE THE ONES THAT ARE MORE LIKELY TO GIVE A FALSE NEGATIVE IF YOU TEST SOMEONE TOO EARLY, UH, AS DR. BROWN JUST EXPLAINED.
BUT, UH, THE PCR TESTS ARE, ARE FAR MORE SENSITIVE NOW IS ARE THEY, ARE THEY ABSOLUTELY 100%, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, PROTECTIVE, NO, BECAUSE THERE, THERE IS STILL GONNA BE SOME PEOPLE WHO ARE STILL SO EARLY IN THE ILLNESS THAT THE, EVEN THE PCR TEST WON'T PICK IT UP.
AND THEN THERE'S ALSO PEOPLE WHO WILL TEST TWO DAYS BEFORE AND ARE NEGATIVE, AND THEN IN THAT 48 HOUR PERIOD THEY BECOME EXPOSED.
AND THEN WHEN THEY LAND IN THE COUNTRY, THEY'RE TRAVELING TO, THEY THEN DEVELOP SYMPTOMS THERE.
ARE ALL THE NEW VARIANTS FROM OMICRON NOW WAS TALKING ABOUT THIS AS WELL? UM, I ALL IS A VERY STRONG WORD.
I WOULD SAY MOST, ALMOST EVERYTHING THAT WE'RE SEEING YES, IS A VARIANT OF, OF OMICRON.
UM, BUT JUST IN GENERAL, UM, UM, IF YOU LOOK AT THE LINEAGE ACROSS THE BOARD, RIGHT? WE STARTED WITH ALPHA, THEN WE WENT TO DELTA.
SO IT'S ALL, IT, IT'S THE FAMILY TREE THAT JUST KEEPS BRANCHING OFF.
YOU HAVE MENTIONED ONE HOSPITAL DOING A GOOD JOB TESTING ALL PATIENTS FOR COVID TYPES.
WHAT IS THE LATEST ANALYSIS? YEAH, SO WE, WE LOOK AT A COUPLE PLACES AND THERE, THERE'S MORE THAN ONE HOSPITAL THAT DOES IT, BUT ONE, ONE HOSPITAL SEEMS TO DO, UM, A, UH, A LARGER PERCENTAGE OF THEIR PATIENTS THAN, THAN SOME OF THE OTHERS.
BUT WE HAVE GOT GOOD RELATIONSHIPS AND WE'RE, WE'RE GETTING GOOD DATA FROM THE HOSPITALS.
AND WE'RE FINDING, GOES BACK TO PREVIOUS QUESTION, PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING IS, UH, A IN WITHIN THE OMICRON FAMILY.
UM, THE, UM, UH, NO BIG SURPRISES THERE.
THE BIG TALK NOW IS THE XBB AND XBB 1.5.
WE ARE SEEING A LITTLE BIT OF THAT IN THE HOUSTON AREA.
THAT'S MAKING BIG NEWS UP IN NORTHEAST.
UM, BUT, UH, FOR THE MOST PART IT'S ALL OMICRON AND, AND, UH, NO SURPRISES AT THIS POINT.
A WALL STREET JOURNAL ARTICLE SOUNDED AN ALARM ON
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X BBB SAYING IT HAD EVOLVED TO ELUTE ANTIBODIES INDUCED BY THE VACCINE.SO AS WE'VE DISCUSSED IN PREVIOUS EPISODES, UM, THESE MUTATIONS INVOLVE CHANGES IN THE ENVELOPE.
UM, I THINK, UM, PREVIOUSLY I REFERRED TO THE OREO COOKIE, AND SO THEY, THEY INVOLVE CHANGES TO, TO THE, THE, THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF FILLING FOR THE COOKIE.
AND SO THIS, UM, X BBB ONE AND X BBB, ONE POINT, 0.1, 0.5, UM, UM, ARE, ARE CHANGES TO, TO THE FILLING AND THE COOKING.
AND SO WHAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE TO VACCINATE WITH, UH, IS MORE SPECIFIC TO, UH, THE, UH, SOME OF THE EARLIER OMICRON VARIANTS.
I WILL SAY IT DOES APPEAR, AND WE'RE VERY, VERY EARLY IN THIS, UM, AGAIN, AS WE'RE CONTINUING TO MONITOR THE PANDEMIC AS A WHOLE, YOU KNOW, DATA STILL IS STILL BEING EVALUATED ACROSS THE BOARD.
IT APPEARS THOUGH THAT, UM, THE, UH, UM, ILLNESS, THE SEQUELAE FROM IT, UM, IS, IS, UH, A LITTLE BIT LESS THAN THAN PREVIOUS.
SO, SO WHILE IT'S VERY TRANSMISSIBLE, UM, YOU, IT'S NOT CREATING SEVERE ILLNESS, UM, WHICH IS A GOOD THING BECAUSE IT, IT LOOKS LIKE THE VACCINES MAY NOT BE AS EFFECTIVE, UM, FOR THESE TWO VARIANTS.
IS THE FLU SEASON ALMOST OVER THIS YEAR? OH, NO.
MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE IS ABSOLUTELY NOT.
I GET THE FLU, GET YOUR FLU SHOT, GET YOUR FLU SHOT, THEY'RE FREE.
CAN YOU GET COVID AND FLU AT THE SAME TIME?
UH, IF YOU AREN'T SURE WHAT YOU HAVE, WOULD IT HELP TO START TAMIFLU WHILE AWAITING RESULTS? YEAH, I'LL TAKE THIS.
SO, YOU KNOW, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET RESULTS PRETTY QUICKLY.
THE THERE ARE, UH, CERTAINLY THE COVID TESTS THAT WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT, THE RAPID TESTS ARE, ARE RAPID TESTS, RIGHT? AND YOU CAN GET THE ANSWER WITHIN 15 MINUTES.
AND THERE ARE RAPID FLU TESTS AS WELL.
NOW, INTERESTINGLY, THE RAPID FLU TESTS ARE, IRONICALLY, THEY'VE BEEN AROUND A LONG TIME.
THEY'RE NOT AS ACCURATE AS THE RAPID COVID TESTS.
SO, UM, AND THERE ARE, AND HERE'S THE OTHER THING.
YOU COULD TEST NEGATIVE IN BOTH OF THOSE, AND KEEP IN MIND THERE ARE PLENTY OF WHAT WE CALL PARAINFLUENZA VIRUSES THAT ARE CIRCULATING, WHICH ARE NOT THE FLU, BUT MAKE YOU FEEL SIMILAR TO THE FLU.
UM, SO IT, YOU REALLY SHOULDN'T, UM, YOU REALLY SHOULD BE ABLE TO TEST FOR ONE OR BOTH.
AND BASED ON THOSE RESULTS, UM, YOUR CLINICIAN SHOULD BE ABLE TO, YOU KNOW, THEN HAVE A CONVERSATIONS WHERE, WHICH WAY TO GO BY, YOU KNOW, FOR THAT.
SO JUST STARTING ONE WHILE YOU'RE WAITING FOR RESULTS, NO, GO GET TESTED AND THEN MAKE A DECISION AFTER THAT.
IS THERE ANY CONNECTION THAT FLU AND RSV SEEM TO BE DOMINANT WHERE COVID IS DOWN LOW, WHERE COVID IS HIGH? UM, I, I'M NOT SURE WHETHER WE'RE TALKING ABOUT GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION OR WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE SCIENCE OF THESE, UH, VIRUSES.
UM, GEOGRAPHICALLY I'M NOT AWARE.
UH, BUT WITH REGARD TO THE SCIENCE OF THE VIRUSES, THERE IS, UM, SOME DATA THAT SHOWS THAT, UM, UM, RHINOVIRUS CAN INTERFERE, UM, WITH THE, UM, SARS COV, UH, TWO VIRUS.
UM, AND THAT THERE'S, THERE'S ALSO SOME EVIDENCE THAT, UM, FLU AND, UH, COVID CAN, CAN BLOCK EACH OTHER.
BUT AS WE JUST SAID, IT IS VERY POSSIBLE AND DOES HAPPEN, UM, WHERE YOU CAN HAVE BOTH, UM, UH, COVID AND FLU INFECTION, YOU CAN HAVE BOTH, UM, THIS AND THAT, A, B, C OR D PICK ONE.
UM, YOU CAN BE CO-INFECTED AND THE DATA IS STILL OUT ON HOW THESE TWO MAY BLOCK EACH OTHER.
BUT EVEN IN BLOCKING, IT'S NOT A HUNDRED PERCENT.
YOU CAN BE CO-INFECTED WITH MANY THINGS IN RETROSPECT.
AND PERHAPS FOR THE NEXT YEAR, WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE BEST DATE TO GET A FLU SHOT TO HOLD US THROUGH? WHAT WAS AN EARLY SEASON THIS YEAR,
SO, YOU KNOW, THE FLU SHOT GENERALLY BECOMES AVAILABLE FOR MOST PEOPLE.
WE, WE RECOMMEND THAT, THAT YOU GET YOUR FLU SHOT IN SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER.
THE FLU SEASON GENERALLY RUNS FROM ABOUT OCTOBER ALL THE WAY THROUGH UNTIL MAY.
SO GOING BACK TO THE EARLIER QUESTION, NO, FLU SEASON IS NOT OVER.
UM, NO, WE DID JUST HAVE A BIG WAVE OF FLU, UH, VERY EARLY IN NOVEMBER.
UH, THAT DOES NOT MEAN, AND WE HAVE SEEN IT IN THE PAST, SURELY, THAT YOU CAN GET TWO WAVES IN THE SAME CALENDAR.
WELL, YOU KNOW, THE SAME SEASON, THE SAME FLU SEASON.
SO WE RECOMMEND THAT MOST FOLKS GO AHEAD AND GET VACCINATED IN, UH, MID TO LATE SEPTEMBER OR OCTOBER.
UM, BUT CERTAINLY IF YOU HAVEN'T GOT VACCINATED YET, IT'S NOT TOO LATE.
IT FLU SEASON ISN'T OVER, BUT THIS BIG WAVE CAME THROUGH.
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IF YOU DIDN'T GET THE FLU AND YOU HAVEN'T GOT VACCINATED, I'M ANTICIPATING ANOTHER WAVE.I'M FULLY ANTICIPATING WE GET ANOTHER WAVE, UH, COME, YOU KNOW, LATE JANUARY, EARLY FEBRUARY, BECAUSE THAT'S WHEN WE USUALLY GET IT.
SO, UM, YEAH, THAT, THAT'S WHEN I WOULD GET IT.
AND ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE ELDERLY OR IF YOU'VE NEVER BEEN VACCINATED BEFORE, YOU NEED TO GET THE TWO SHOTS.
YOU WANT TO GET STARTED ON THAT.
EARLY CURRENT BOOSTERS LAST ABOUT TWO TO THREE MONTHS.
THE CDC SAYS THEY MAY REDUCE THE RISK OF INFECTION AND HOSPITALIZATIONS BY ABOUT 50%.
I'M OVER 65 AND MY LAST SHOT WAS A BIVALENT AT THE BEGINNING OF SEPTEMBER.
WHAT IS NEXT? HOW PROTECTED AM I, WHAT WOULD BE THE DOWNSIDE TO GETTING ANOTHER SHOT NOW? SO THERE IS NO RECOMMENDATION IF YOU HAD YOUR BIVALENT BOOSTER TO GET, UH, ANOTHER VACCINE.
UM, THE BEST THING THAT YOU CAN DO IS, IS WHAT WE WOULD CONSIDER, UM, UM, OTHER, UH, MORE UNIVERSAL PRECAUTIONS, WHICH IS AGAIN, MASK WEARING, WASHING YOUR HANDS, CERTAINLY, UM, IF YOU ARE FEELING, UM, I'LL GET TESTED, UM, AND STAY AT HOME, BUT, BUT MASK WEARING AND HAND WASHING AND, AND, UM, GOOD, UH, HYGIENE ARE PROBABLY THE BEST THINGS THAT YOU CAN DO AND, AND TO BE, UM, CAUTIOUS, UH, AS YOU DETERMINE WHERE YOU GO OUT TO, WHETHER IT BE OUT TO DINNER, WHETHER IT BE OUT TO AN EVENT, ET CETERA, BASED ON YOUR RISK, BECAUSE THERE IS NO ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATION FOR ANOTHER BOOSTER.
HAVING SAID THAT, THOUGH, UM, THERE IS SOME INHERENT IMMUNITY ONCE YOU'VE BEEN VACCINATED, UM, AND WITH THE BOOSTER.
AND SO WHILE, WHILE THE, UM, HIGHEST EFFICACY LAST FOR SEVERAL MONTHS, THERE IS STILL GOING TO BE SOME EFFICACY BECAUSE YOUR BODY RECOGNIZES, UM, THE, THE, UH, UH, SARS, UH, COVID, UH, VIRUS.
AND SO THERE, THERE'S STILL SOME PROTECTION THERE.
I HAVE TO ADMIT, I'VE THOUGHT ABOUT THAT TOO.
COVID-19 VACCINE TEMPORARILY ALTERS HEART RATE VARIABILITY, AND IT SHOULD BE NORMALIZED IN THREE DAYS.
YEAH, SO THIS WAS A, UH, A STUDY THAT WAS DONE OUTTA SOUTH KOREA, AND THEY WERE, BUT BY A BUNCH OF RESEARCHERS WHO LOOK AT HEART RATE VARIABILITY.
AND SO THEY DECIDE TO LOOK AT PATIENTS WHO HAD BEEN IN, UM, UH, VACCINATED WITH THE COVID-19 VACCINE.
AND WHAT THEY FOUND WAS, NOW THIS GETS A LITTLE, WELL, IT DOESN'T GET A, IT GETS QUITE TECHNICAL, BUT WHAT THEY FOUND WAS THAT THERE ARE DIFFERENCES IN THE ROOT MEAN SQUARE, THE SUCCESSIVE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NORMAL HEARTBEATS.
OKAY, WELL, WE ALWAYS DEAL WITH THE ROOT MEAN SQUARE OF SUCCESSIVE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NORMAL HEARTBEATS, DON'T WE? I MEAN, EVERYBODY DOES THAT.
WHEN YOU GO OUT TO YOUR DOCTOR, IT'S PROBABLY THE FIRST THING YOU ASK, HEY DOC, WHAT'S THE ROOT MEAN SQUARE OF THE SUCCESSIVE DIFFERENCES IN MY NORMAL HEARTBEATS? SO THE POINT IS THAT THIS IS A GROUP OF FOLKS WHO WERE LOOKING AT, AT A, UH, SPECIFIC VARIABLE, AND WHAT THEY FOUND WAS THAT FOR ABOUT THREE DAYS AFTER VACCINE BEING VACCINATED, UH, FOLKS DO GET A LITTLE BIT OF A CHANGE IN THEIR, THEIR HEART RATE.
IT ONLY LASTS FOR ABOUT THREE DAYS.
IT APPEARS TO HAVE ZERO CLINICAL IMPACT, NO CLINICAL IMPORTANCE WHATSOEVER.
WHAT THEY ALSO FOUND IS THAT, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS THEY LOOKED AT WAS IF THE PEOPLE ARE SYMPTOMATIC, AND SOMETIMES AFTER YOU GET YOUR FLU SHOT, AND I THINK WE, MANY OF US EXPERIENCE THIS, YOU GET ACHY AND YOU GET THE SORE ARM, YOU MIGHT GET A LITTLE FEVERISH.
IF YOU FEEL A LITTLE CRUMMY FOR A DAY OR TWO, WELL, THAT'S GONNA CHANGE YOUR HEART RATE TOO.
YOUR HEART RATE'S GONNA GENERALLY GO UP A LITTLE BIT.
BUT THEY ALSO FOUND IT IN FOLKS WHO HAD ALMOST NO SYMPTOMS. BUT AGAIN, IT, THE, THE AUTHORS COME BACK AND THEY SAY, THIS IS JUST FURTHER EVIDENCE OF THE SAFETY OF THE, UH, VACCINE, AND THAT THEY WERE LOOKING TO FIND SOMETHING VERY SPECIFIC.
AND WHAT THEY FOUND WAS VERY, WAS, YOU KNOW, SPECIFIC BUT VERY SUBTLE AND HAD NO CLINICAL IMPACT.
SO I FEAR PEOPLE WILL TAKE THIS AC SEE, HERE'S ANOTHER PROBLEM.
NO, THIS IS, THIS IS FURTHER EVIDENCE THAT THERE'S BASICALLY NO PROBLEM, OR AT LEAST IN THIS AREA, THERE WAS NO PROBLEM, UH, WITH THE VACCINE.
THIS IS, UH, ONE OF THOSE ARTICLES THAT CAN BE COMPLETELY MISINTERPRETED, UM, IF, IF SOMEBODY WANTS TO MISINTERPRET IT.
YEAH, I WAS THINKING ABOUT THAT.
THERE'S NO WAY THAT I WOULD BE TELLING PEOPLE THAT THEIR HEART RATE'S GONNA SLIGHTLY CHANGE IF THEY TOOK A COVID VACCINE.
YEAH, ALMOST TOO MUCH INFORMATION.
AND IMMUNOLOGY STUDY SAYS THAT MILD CASES OF COVID CAN RESULT IN A REACTIVATION OF VIRUSES WITH SIMILAR SYMPTOMS TO CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME.
DOES REACTIVATION MEAN THAT YOU GET THE EXACT TYPE OF PREVIOUS VIRUS? NO, IT DOESN'T.
UM, SO, UM, SIMILAR TO WHAT HAPPENS WITH, UM, UH, EPSTEIN-BARR, UH, RE SYNDROME OR EVEN SHINGLES, UM, IS SOMETHING THAT MOST PEOPLE ARE FAMILIAR WITH.
UM, THERE ARE SOME VIRUSES THAT LAY DORMANT IN THE, IN THE BODY SYSTEMS, AND WHEN THE BODY IS STRESSED, THEY CAN REACTIVATE.
AND HAVING COVID INFECTION IS CONSIDERED A STRESS ON THE BODY.
AND SO IT REACTIVATES OTHER VIRUSES
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THAT MAY HAVE BEEN LAYING DORMANT IN YOUR SYSTEM AND CAN CAUSE CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROMES AND OTHER SEQUELAE.SO FOR INSTANCE, WITH SHINGLES, UM, CAN CAUSE THE RASH AND THINGS LIKE THAT WITH EPSTEIN BARR AND, AND GUAM BREY SYNDROME MAY CAUSE SOME NEUROLOGIC ISSUES, BUT THESE ARE VIRUSES THAT WERE ASLEEP AND THEN THEY GET WOKEN UP BECAUSE THE BODY IS STRESSED IN SOME WAY.
AND IN THIS CASE, THE STRESS WOULD BE COVID INFECTION.
I'VE HEARD LONG COVID SYMPTOMS DESCRIBED AS NEUROLOGICAL, WHERE THE BRAIN INTERPRETS AND DISTORTS SENSE DATA, LIKE THE ABILITY TO SMELL OR TASTE.
IS THAT AN ACCURATE INTERPRETATION? UM, WELL, IT IS IN THAT THE, THE NEURONS THAT FOR SMELL ARE BASICALLY RIGHT AT THE BASE OF THE BRAIN.
IT'S RIGHT AROUND THE NOSE, OBVIOUSLY, AND YOUR TASTE BUDS ARE, YOU KNOW, IN YOUR MOUTH.
AND SO THEY ACTUALLY, THE, THE SCIENCE HAS SHOWN THAT WITH THE COVID INFECTIONS, THAT THOSE NEURONS, UM, BECAUSE THEY'RE DIRECTLY EXPOSED TO THE VIRUS, UH, YOU KNOW, GET IMPACTED.
AND THIS IS WHY PEOPLE HAVE A LOSS OF, YOU KNOW, THEIR ABILITY TO TASTE AND SMELL THINGS.
NOT, NOT UNIVERSALLY OBVIOUSLY ONLY SOME PEOPLE, AND MOST PEOPLE IT, YOU KNOW, IT, THEY RECOVER.
IT'S VERY RARE THAT SOMEBODY HAS PERMANENT.
IN FACT, I DON'T KNOW OF ANY CASE SOMEBODY HAS, WELL, THERE'S ONE CASE I HEARD OF WHERE SOMEBODY HAD A LOSS OF, UH, THEIR SENSE OF TASTE FOR MANY, MANY MONTHS.
USUALLY IT COMES BACK WITHIN A, A FEW MONTHS, UH, I BELIEVE IT WAS SIX MONTHS OR LESS.
SO IT CAN GO ON FOR A LONG TIME.
BUT, UH, YEAH, IT IS A, IT IS NEUROLOGICAL.
I THOUGHT LOSS OF SMELL AND TASTE WERE SYMPTOMS OF OMICRON, COVID, OMICRON, ANY NEW SYMPTOMS. SO IN FACT, UM, LOSS OF TASTE AND SMELL, UH, WERE PREDOMINANTLY SYMPTOMS OF THE, UH, PREVIOUS VARIANTS.
UM, SO THE DELTA VARIANT, THE ALPHA VARIANT, IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT IF YOU LOSE TASTE AND SMELL, IT CAN'T BE OMICRON VARIANT.
AND IN FACT, IF YOU DO, THAT'S A PRETTY STRONG SIGN THAT YOU NEED TO GET TESTED.
UM, BUT MOST OMICRON VARIANTS, UH, AND MOST OF THE SYMPTOMS ARE MORE CODE LIKE SYMPTOMS. THEY ARE NOT LOSS OF TASTE, SMELL ANY NEW INFORMATION ON RISKS FOR THOSE UNVACCINATED WHILE PREGNANT? WELL, THE, THE ONE THING I THINK THAT, UH, PREGNANT WOMEN NEED TO KEEP IN MIND IS THAT THE CODE INFECTION IS, IS DANGEROUS.
UM, IT CAN LEAD TO, YOU KNOW, WE'VE HAD MOMS WHO HAVE DIED, WE'VE HAD A, A, A FAIR, VERY MEASURABLE AMOUNT OF PRETERM BIRTHS AND STILL BIRTHS AND MISCARRIAGES.
UM, AND, AND IT, THE, THIS DEGREE OF ILLNESS THAT THE MOM IS EXPERIENCING DOESN'T SEEM TO NECESSARILY RELATE TO THE, THE, UH, OB COMPLICATIONS.
SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE REALLY, REALLY SICK WITH COVID IN ORDER TO HAVE A PRO FOR, FOR THE BABY TO HAVE A PROBLEM.
IT COULD BE A, A MILDLY SYMPTOMATIC MOM, AND YET THE BABY WILL STILL HAVE SOME SERIOUS PROBLEMS. AND THE BOTTOM LINE ON THIS IS THAT FOR ALL THE CONCERN ABOUT THE VACCINE, THE INCIDENTS OF PROBLEMS WITH THE VACCINE ARE INFINITESIMALLY SMALLER THAN THE RATE OF COMPLICATIONS FOR A MOM WHO CONTRACTS COVID.
SO, UH, NO, NOTHING REALLY NEW, BUT I THINK THAT'S AN IMPORTANT POINT THAT WE NEED TO STRESS IS THAT IF YOU'RE PREGNANT OR IF YOU'RE PLANNING ON GETTING PREGNANT, UM, THEN YOU NEED TO SERIOUSLY CONSIDER GETTING VACCINATED.
IF I COULD ADD TO THAT JUST REALLY QUICK, UM, UM, WE, HARRIS COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH IS, IS HAS A PROGRAM THAT WE'RE LAUNCHING FOR MATERNAL HEALTH AND LOOKING AT THE STATISTICS AND THE DATA OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS, EXACTLY TO YOUR POINT, THE DATA IS SO CLEAR THAT UNFORTUNATELY THE MATERNAL MORTALITY RATES PART OF THE, IN A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THE INCREASE WAS MOMS WHO HAD COVID, AND THAT'S MATERNAL MORTALITY, MEANING THE MOM PASSED AWAY.
UM, AND SO I CAN'T STRESS ENOUGH HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO GET YOUR VACCINE PREVENTABLE DEATHS.
LONG COVID HAS IMPACTED MANY DO WE KNOW ANYTHING NEW? THE THE RESEARCH IS STILL ONGOING.
UM, UM, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY WE'RE STILL TRYING TO FIGURE OUT, UM, UM, WHY THE WHY BEHIND IT.
THERE'S JUST A LOT OF RESEARCH ONGOING.
MEDICINE, FDA GAVE FIELD APPROVAL OF ZUMA.
PLEASE EXPLAIN WHEN AND WHY THIS TREATMENT IS USED.
YEAH, SO THIS IS A, UH, A NEW MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY THAT, UH, DOESN'T REALLY WORK SPECIFICALLY ON COVID, BUT IT WORKS ON, IT INHIBITS THE INTERLEUKIN SIX, UH, RECEPTOR, WHICH IS PART OF THE INFLAMMATION RESPONSE THAT YOU GET TO, UH, THE COVID INFECTION.
AND SO IT'S, UH, GIVEN IV INTRAVENOUSLY, SO YOU NEED TO BE HOSPITALIZED FOR IT.
AND, AND AGAIN, WE'RE, IT'S ONLY BEING GIVEN TO THE FOLKS WHO ARE CRITICALLY ILL AND ARE WORSENING AND REQUIRING LOTS OF OXYGEN, FOR EXAMPLE.
SO THESE ARE PREDOMINANTLY ICU PATIENTS.
UM, IT'S IN SHORT SUPPLY, UH, GLOBALLY, AND THAT'S ANOTHER REASON WHY IT'S ONLY BEING USED ON THOSE WHO ARE MOST IN NEED.
AND, YOU KNOW, HOPEFULLY WE WILL, YOU KNOW, SEE MORE MEDICINES LIKE THIS THAT ARE EFFECTIVE COMING
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ON BECAUSE RIGHT NOW WITH THE, WITH THE NEWEST VARIANTS, SOME OF OUR MONOCLONALS THAT WE HAD USED IN THE PAST ARE NOT, THEY'RE NOT AS EFFECTIVE.AND SO WE DEFINITELY NEED FOR NEW MONOCLONALS OR, OR ANY THERAPY TO COME ALONG THAT'S GONNA BE HELPFUL.
IS PAXLOVID MORE SUCCESSFUL THAN THOSE WHO RECEIVED IT BIVALENT VACCINE? IT DOES APPEAR TO PROVIDE, UM, SOME ADDITIONAL PROTECTION.
THERE WAS A STUDY, UM, UH, A VA STUDY DONE, UH, THE VA HEALTH SYSTEM WHO TESTED
UM, UH, NINE THOU, ABOUT 9,000 OF THEM WERE GIVEN PAXLOVID, AND THEY SAW A LITTLE BIT MORE SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION ON COVID, UM, AND REDUCTION IN, IN, UH, POST ACUTE DEATHS, UM, AND HOSPITALIZATION.
SO IT DOES APPEAR, BUT AGAIN, THIS WAS ONE STUDY DONE SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF PEOPLE.
BUT, BUT THIS GOES SIMILAR TO EVERYTHING WITH LONG COVID IN GENERAL, THAT THERE ARE STILL STUDIES ONGOING TO UNDERSTAND STATUS OF AN INHALANT DELIVERY MECHANISM.
SO AS FAR AS I KNOW, AND I WILL DEFER TO DR. BROWN IF SHE HAS SOMETHING MORE RECENT.
AS FAR AS I KNOW, THOSE, UH, STUDIES CONTINUE TO BE GOING ON AND THEY'RE PRETTY SUCCESSFUL, BUT I'VE NOT HEARD THAT THEY'RE COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE JUST YET.
UM, DR. BROWN, DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING MORE THAN THAT? I DON'T, JUST AS WHAT YOU SAID AROUND THE WORLD, THEY'RE, THEY'RE LOOKING AT DIFFERENT OPTIONS, BUT NOTHING, UM, BEEN APPROVED.
YEAH, THE, FROM WHAT I KNOW, THE, THE MOST RECENT STUDIES THAT I'VE SEEN, THEY, THEY ALL LOOK VERY ENCOURAGING, BUT THEY JUST HAVEN'T GOTTEN ACROSS THE THRESHOLD OF BECOMING COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE YET.
ANY NEW PREVENTIVE MEDICINE PENDING? UM, SO, UH, THE FDA IS, IS LOOKING AT APPROVAL, BUT IT'S GONNA TAKE SOME TIME.
UM, UM, THERE IS, UH, A MEDICATION IN JAPAN, UH, ZBA, UH, I THINK IS HOW YOU PRONOUNCE IT, OR EX ZBA, UH, UM, THAT HAS BEEN APPROVED, UH, AGAIN IN JAPAN.
AND THE FDA IS LOOKING AT THAT.
BUT THIS'S GONNA TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF TIME, A LITTLE BIT OF TIME.
THOSE ARE ALL THE QUESTIONS THAT WE HAVE FOR THIS 98 SESSION OF COVID TALK WITH LOCAL HEALTH AUTHORITIES.
OKAY, FOLKS, WE HAVE WHAT, TWO MORE TO GO.
UH, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US WITH COVID-19 TALK WITH LOCAL HEALTH AUTHORITIES.
JOINING US, REPRESENTING HARRIS COUNTY IS DR.
ERICA BROWN, REPRESENTING THE CITY OF HOUSTON, DR. DAVID PURSE.
SPECIAL THANKS TO PAST PRESIDENT ROTARY CLUB OF HOUSTON, KATHY FINNER, OUR PRODUCERS DAVID CASTILLO, PRISCILLA KEY.
I'M STEVEN WILLIAMS, THE DIRECTOR OF THE HOUSTON HEALTH DEPARTMENT.