Commentary from Grant Niskanen, MD: COVID-19
Category
Author
To: Herald and News
How to Survive COVID-19
COVID-19 has been with us for the last 2-1/2 years and does not show any signs of disappearing soon. The virus has continued to mutate over this time and has changed from a more deadly version, the Wuhan L strain, to more infectious strains, including the most recent variant of concern, Omicron BA5. COVID-19 has been linked to 1 million deaths in the U.S., including 210 deaths in Klamath County. Fortunately, both hospitalizations and deaths have been dropping in the last several months, but COVID-19 still accounts for 300 deaths per day nationally, and the number of infections locally have begun to rise again.
Most of the deaths have occurred – and are continuing to occur – in those 50 and older; in people who have medical conditions such as obesity, diabetes; individuals who are immunocompromised; and those who suffer with lung or heart disease. The older one gets, the risk of death from COVID-19 increases as the immune system wanes with age.
Reduce your risk
The easiest thing you can do to reduce your risk is to get vaccinated, particularly if you are 50 or older. Protection from the initial vaccine is diminishing, but a third and fourth booster shot 5-6 months apart, though not as effective at preventing acute infection, still helps to prevent serious illness and hospitalizations. The vaccines are safe and side effects are very rare. There have been nearly 600 million COVID-19 vaccine doses given in the U.S. The risk of natural infection, especially in those 50 and older, is many times greater than the vaccine itself.
In addition to vaccinations, we now have directed therapy to treat the virus itself. One is an oral medication called Paxlovid. It must be started within 5 days of developing symptoms. It is reserved for those at high risk for developing serious disease, people 50 and older who have medical conditions, and anyone 65 and older, regardless of existing medical conditions. It does interact with many medications which may limit its use.
There are also a variety of monoclonal antibody treatments. These have been changing over the last year as new antibodies are developed and mutations of the virus are decreasing the effectiveness of the older antibodies. Monoclonal antibody treatment must be given within 10 days of the onset of symptoms, and it is also reserved for high-risk individuals.
Finally, a barrier to treatment has been the ability to get rapid testing. Many people have at-home antigen testing kits. If this test is positive and you are high risk, call your provider as soon as possible to be considered for a treatment, whether you are vaccinated or not. The limitation of the home antigen tests is the possibility of false negative results. Because the test is not as sensitive, it does not always detect the virus when it is, in fact, present, so the test result may be negative even though someone has COVID-19. In that case, our drive-through testing site has begun offering rapid PCR tests, which are more sensitive and reliable to those individuals who are at high risk; at this time, rapid PCR tests must be ordered by your provider.
The Laboratory Services and Pharmacy departments at Sky Lakes Medical Center have done an outstanding job obtaining these tests and treatments. We are very fortunate compared to many other communities to have these resources.
Summary
Get vaccinated; boosters are especially important as protection from initial vaccination wears off.
People at high risk who have any cold or flulike symptoms should get tested as soon as possible with a rapid antigen or PCR test. If the test result is positive, contact your provider also as soon as possible for definitive treatment.
In addition, masks, particularly the N-95 and KN-95 types, prevent infection. It is still best for high-risk individuals to avoid large crowds of people, but if being in a large gathering is necessary, wearing a mask is still advisable.
With just a few added precautions, individuals can avoid hospitalization and death and we can all get back to normal.
Vice President for Medical Affairs
Sky Lakes Medical Center
