Lunchtime pandemic reading.
Standard disclaimer: this is a roundup of informative pieces I've read that interest me on the severity of the crises and how to manage them. I am not a qualified medical expert in ANY sense; at best I am reasonably well-read laity. ALWAYS prioritize advice from a qualified healthcare provider who knows your specific medical situation over advice from people on the Internet.
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Commentary:
Let’s talk about what to do when you get COVID, as both my parents and several friends recently just tested positive. A necessary disclaimer: I am not a qualified healthcare practitioner; consult your qualified healthcare practitioner for the most reliable advice about your specific health needs.
First and most immediate, if you test positive on a home rapid test, that means you are CONTAGIOUS. You are dangerous to other people. Thus, your first step is to keep away from others to the maximum extent you can.
If you live by yourself, this is straightforward. You isolate yourself in your residence and you don’t come out except for medical need or until you test negative two days in a row.
If you do not live by yourself, this is slightly more tricky. Do your best again to isolate yourself. If you live in a room within a residence, put a window fan in the window blowing OUT so that the fan is sucking air from the room. This way, you aren’t blowing infected air into the residence; you’re creating negative pressure.
If you can't put in a window fan, get a cheap box fan and strap a HEPA MERV13 or better filter to it to clean the air in your room, removing virus from the air. Keep it running 24/7, and once you test negative, throw the filter away.
Do your best to use separate restrooms, kitchen, etc. If that’s not feasible, double up two N95 or better masks and wear them when you’re in other parts of the residence to prevent as much spread as possible.
Remember that COVID is airborne. Think of yourself wandering around with a lit cigarette all the time. What steps would you take to avoid getting smoke on and around other people?
Once you’ve protected others, your next step is to care for yourself. I strongly encourage everyone to get an inexpensive fingertip pulse oximeter (they’re around US$20 on Amazon). When you have COVID, check yourself a minimum of twice a day, and any time you feel faint, light headed, very foggy, struggling to breathe, or in a lot of body pain. Take a reading (it takes about 15-30 seconds per test). If the number is 93% or below, take two more readings on different fingers, and if all 3 are below 93%, plan to go to urgent care or your healthcare provider. COVID is a vascular disease that can cause disruptions in your body’s blood supply, so when you detect low blood oxygen levels, that’s a sign you need to seek medical attention.
Note that some folks with darker skin may need more sophisticated oximeters. Talk to your healthcare provider about a model that's appropriate for you.
If your blood oxygen levels are okay, then it’s just a matter of self care. Rest as much as you can; sleep as much as you can. Hold off on caffeine and nicotine, eat healthful foods, drink astonishing amounts of water, and take NSAIDs as needed (ibuprofen, acetaminophen/paracetamol, aspirin) according to manufacturers’ directions.
If you have to go out for things like groceries, keep your trips short and get things delivered outside your home as much as you can. If you have to be near others, double mask with two N95 masks that do not have any kind of exhalation valve - your goal is to trap all the virus you’re exhaling before it can impact others. Be sure to notify any appointments etc. you have that you are COVID positive and contagious.
When should you leave isolation? When you test negative two days in a row. That indicates you are no longer contagious and therefore no longer dangerous to the people around you. The "recommended time limits" are unhelpful - some people clear COVID in 3 days. Other people can take 10 days. The only way to be sure you are no longer dangerous to people around you is two negative tests, two days in a row.
At your next healthcare exam, talk to your doctor about your COVID case and any lingering symptoms or unusual changes you’ve noticed (such as lack of energy, a change in smell or taste, etc). As time goes by, we may have more therapeutics for treating the lingering consequences of COVID.
To the best of your abilities after COVID, get back to health and fitness exercises as soon as your doctor says you can, with an emphasis on cardiovascular exercise like walking, running, elliptical/bicycle etc. Your goal is to get your heart and blood in the best shape possible.
Talk to your doctor about when you should next get a booster; most medical professionals are suggesting a minimum of 3 months after your last COVID infection.
Finally, COVID has been proven to cause lasting damage to immune systems. As a result, it’s a good idea to mask up all the time outside your home. While you will not be at significant risk for COVID for a few months, you will be at potentially increased risk from RSV, flu, and other diseases. Mask up and stay masked, especially this time of year in the northern hemisphere when airborne diseases are more prevalent.
Sources:
COVID is vascular:
COVID causes immune damage:
https://www.jhltonline.org/article/S1053-2498(21)02359-7/fulltext
End isolation when you test negative:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/08/01/biden-covid-cdc-guidance-isolation/
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A reminder of the simple daily habits we should all be taking.
1. Wear the best mask available to you when you'll be around people you don't live with, even after you've been vaccinated. P100 respirators are back in stock at online retailers, too and start around US$40 for a reusable respirator. Wear an N95/FFP2/KN95 that's NIOSH-approved or better mask if you can obtain it. If you can't get an N95 mask, wear a surgical mask with a cloth mask over it.
2. Verify your mask's NIOSH certification here: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/usernotices/counterfeitResp.html
3. Get vaccinated as soon as you're eligible to, and fulfill the full vaccine regimen, including boosters. Remember that you are not vaccinated until everyone you live with is vaccinated. For COVID, if you received an adenovirus vaccine (J&J/AstraZeneca), consider getting an mRNA single shot booster (Pfizer/Moderna) if available. If it's available, choose Moderna as your first choice for both vaccine and booster, Pfizer as your second choice. However, remember that any vaccine is better than no vaccine.
4. Wash/sanitize your hands every time you are in or out of your home. Sanitize the bottom of your shoes with a simple peroxide spray using ordinary drugstore/supermarket peroxide in a spray bottle. If you've come in close contact with others (rubbing or brushing up against them, hugging, etc.) consider showering and washing your clothes as well.
5. Stay out of indoor spaces that aren't your home and away from people you don't live with as much as practical. Minimize your contact with others and avoid indoor places as much as you can; indoor spaces spread disease through aerosols and distance is less effective at mitigating your risks.
6. Aim to have 3-6 months of living expenses on hand in case the pandemics give another crazy plot twist to the economy, or you know, a global war breaks out.
7. Replenish your supplies as you use them. Avoid reducing your stores to pre-pandemic levels in case an outbreak causes unexpected supply chain disruptions.
8. Ventilate your home as frequently as weather and circumstances permit, except when you share close airspaces with other residences (like a window less than a meter away from a neighboring window).
9. Masks must fit properly to work. Here's how to properly fit a mask:
10. If you think you may have been exposed to COVID-19, purchase several rapid antigen tests and/or acquire them from your healthcare provider or government. This will detect COVID-19 only when you're contagious, so follow the directions clearly. https://amzn.to/3fLAoor
If you think you may have been exposed to monkeypox, contact your healthcare provider about available testing.
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Common misinformation debunked!
There is no basis in fact that COVID-19 vaccines can shed or otherwise harm people around you.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-covid19vaccine-reproductivepro-idUSL1N2MG256
There is no mercury or other heavy metals in the Pfizer mRNA vaccine.
Source: https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/12/09/1013538/what-are-the-ingredients-of-pfizers-covid-19-vaccine/
There is no basis in fact that COVID-19 vaccines pose additional risks to pregnant women.
Source: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2104983
There is no genomic evidence at all that COVID-19 arrived before 2020 in the United States and therefore no hidden herd immunity:
Source:
There is no evidence SARS-CoV-2 was engineered, nor that it escaped a lab somewhere.
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/01/29/experts-debunk-fringe-theory-linking-chinas-coronavirus-weapons-research/
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0820-9
Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/05/anthony-fauci-no-scientific-evidence-the-coronavirus-was-made-in-a-chinese-lab-cvd/
Source: https://www.smh.com.au/national/are-we-ignoring-the-hard-truths-about-the-most-likely-cause-of-covid-19-20210601-p57x4r.html
There is no evidence a flu shot increases your COVID-19 risk.
Source: https://www.factcheck.org/2020/04/no-evidence-that-flu-shot-increases-risk-of-covid-19/
Source: https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciaa626/5842161
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Disclosures and Disclaimers
I declare no competing interests on anything I share related to COVID-19 or monkeypox. I am employed by and am a co-owner in TrustInsights.ai, an analytics and management consulting firm. I have no clients and no business interests in anything related to COVID-19 or monkeypox, nor do I financially benefit in any way from sharing information about COVID-19 or monkeypox.
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A common request I'm asked is who I follow. Here's a public Twitter list of many of the sources I read.
https://twitter.com/i/lists/1260956929205112834
This list is biased by design. It is limited to authors who predominantly post in the English language. It is heavily biased towards individual researchers and away from institutions. It is biased towards those who publish or share research, data, papers, etc. I have made an attempt to follow researchers from different countries, and also to make the list reasonably gender-balanced, because multiple, diverse perspectives on research data are essential.
This is also available as an email newsletter at https://lunchtimepandemic.substack.com if you prefer the update in your inbox.