Now is the time to take precautions to stay healthy
By Nick Landekic, contributing writer/RINewsToday News Team
As much as we would all like to forget about COVID, it’s
still very much with us and will be for a long time. Right now, we are
experiencing an atypical COVID surge with outbreaks
reported in 47 states. COVID levels (as measured by wastewater monitoring)
are Very High in Rhode Island with several areas reporting
the highest levels seen all year, including Jamestown and the East Bay
communities of Bristol, Warren, and Newport.
The rate of COVID infections right now is higher than it
was than at any time during the first two years of the pandemic. Over 1 million people are becoming infected with
COVID every day, and increasing. The Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative
estimates that between 1,900 and 3,300 Americans
are dying of COVID every week.
Flu has also come early this year. Every part of the U.S. is
showing high
flu test positivity which means we are in ‘flu season.’ Flu rates are climbing in almost every state
including Rhode Island.
If you haven’t yet gotten COVID and flu vaccine shots, now
would be a good time to talk with your doctor or pharmacist.
How serious are COVID and the flu?
COVID and influenza are the only infectious diseases that
regularly kill tens
of thousands of Americans each year. They are both serious infectious
diseases. The severity of infection can be reduced by vaccination.
For both flu and COVID, the most vulnerable people are
the very young and the very old. COVID is especially dangerous for seniors,
while the flu is more dangerous for infants.
One of the most damaging myths is that COVID has somehow
become ‘milder.’ It
has not. If anything some studies have
shown it has become worse. It most definitely is not like a cold or even
the flu. It’s much more serious.
Repeat COVID infections take an increasing toll on the body.
Studies have shown repeat infections have 2 to 3 times the risk of a
worse outcome, organ, tissue, and system damage, than the previous infection.
Even if you are lucky enough to have had a relatively mild
acute course of infection you can still develop Long COVID. Studies have shown that
most Long COVID cases started with initially mild infections. It’s
estimated that right now between 389,000 to 1,560,000 people are getting Long
COVID every week.
COVID isn’t something your body can handle getting over and
over again. Ask someone with Long
COVID what it’s like.
What’s happening in Rhode Island?
The Pandemic Mitigation
Collaborative rates Rhode Island, as well as neighboring Massachusetts and
Connecticut, as currently having Very High levels of infection. 26
states currently are at High or Very High levels. They also estimate that 1 out
of every 24 people in Rhode Island are actively infectious with COVID. This
also means if you are in a room with 10 people, there is a 34% chance someone
has COVID – and could infect everyone else in the room.
The
Rhode Island Department of Health also rates our current wastewater viral
activity level as High.
What about this year’s COVID vaccine?
The good news is a few months ago a total of four updated
COVID vaccines were approved by the FDA. All of them target the XFG variant
that is currently the predominant form of virus circulating.
- Pfizer’s
mRNA vaccine, Comirnity XFG, is approved for adults 65 years and older,
and people ages 5 to 64 years old with an underlying condition.
- Moderna’s
mRNA vaccine, Spikevax, is approved for people age 65 and older, and those
6 months to 64 years old with an underlying condition.
- Moderna’s
mNEXSPIKE was formulated to enhance activity and reduce side effects in
older people. It is approved for people age 65 and older, as well as
people 12 to 64 years old with an underlying condition.
- Sanofi’s
COVID-19 vaccine, Nuvaxovid, does not use mRNA technology.
Nuvaxovid is approved for adults ages 65 years and older, and people ages
12 years to 64 years who are at high risk for severe COVID-19.
In the past, the COVID virus has evolved so fast that by the
time a new vaccine is available, it’s a less good match. That’s not the case
right now. There have not been any new mutations to the viruses observed beyond
what the current vaccines are designed to target. Thus, the vaccines are
expected to give good protection. The more people who get them, the more likely
it is that more people stay safe and healthy through the winter.
In the spring scientists selected three flu strains that we
were likeliest to encounter later in the year and based the new vaccine on
those. Two of the three strains look like a good match. It is important to
remember that even when flu vaccines don’t protect against all infections, they
can still do a good job at helping prevent people from becoming seriously ill.
This is what vaccines are intended to do: not to absolutely prevent getting
infected, but to make milder what could otherwise be a serious or even fatal
infection.
There
are many forms of flu vaccine available in the U.S., including enhanced
high-dose formulations for people over 65 (Fluzone High-Dose, and Fluad), a
nasal spray vaccine for those between 2-49 (FluMist), and mFlusiva mRNA
vaccine. Talk with your pharmacist or doctor about which one may be best for
you and your family.
A major development this year is the first-ever mRNA vaccine
for the flu, mFlusiva.
mRNA vaccines are faster and easier to produce at large scale, meaning if the
flu virus suddenly mutated, we’re better positioned to quickly create a new
specialized vaccine for it. The main current method of creating the flu vaccine
is a six-month process that can lead to poor matches come flu season – it
doesn’t allow for that level of fast responsiveness.
There is also some evidence showing
that for patients 50 and older, the mFlusiva vaccine is more
effective than the standard flu vaccine.
Talk with your doctor or pharmacist to find out which option
might be best for you.
Why did these infection surges come early this year?
Usually flu season starts in the south, especially in
Florida, and works its way north. This year things are different: the hot spot
is the Northwest – our area.
According
to Maya Brownstein at the Harvard School of Public Health, this is probably
in large part due to the evolution of the H1N1 flu virus, which also caused an
unusually early flu season in Japan. In the time since this year’s flu strains
were selected to create the vaccine, the H1N1 virus picked up a mutation allowing
it to evade existing immunity in some people – especially children and
adolescents. This may be because children have only ever been exposed to the
strain of H1N1 that caused the 2009 flu pandemic and its descendants, while
older people have immunity against a wider diversity of H1N1 strains.
As a result, younger people, especially school-age children
– a group known to be major vectors of flu transmission – will likely have a
higher chance than usual of being exposed and infected. That could be a driving
force in the early spread of flu and could very well continue being an
important factor in how this year’s flu season unfolds.
COVID
has been surging across Europe for the past couple of months. Infection rates across
Europe are even higher than in the U.S. Some countries are closing schools,
cancelling surgeries, shutting bars and restaurants, and imposing curfews as
hospitals and doctor’s offices are overwhelmed with infected, sick patients.
The
viral variant sweeping across Europe is the same XFG strain currently dominant
in the U.S., and is sometimes being called the “American strain.” The
United Kingdom is being hit particularly hard. COVID is a worldwide
problem and travelers
between continents can help spread the virus, making it especially
important to take precautions when traveling on airplanes.
What else can I do to stay healthy?
One of the best and easiest ways to avoid respiratory
infections, that works against both the flu and COVID, is one many people
probably don’t want to consider: wearing a mask. Literally hundreds of
studies have demonstrated masks
work very well. A
N95 mask (or equivalent KN95, KF94, or FFP2) worn properly can
significantly reduce your risk of becoming infected, and even reduce the
severity of illness if you do become infected (by reducing the number of viral
particles inhaled).
Consider wearing a mask in crowded indoor spaces, and
especially when traveling by plane or other public transportation. The risk of encountering an infected person increases
the more people that are present in an enclosed space.
Masks can be one of the most effective protective measures
you can take and are not susceptible to variant evolution.
For anyone wanting more information additional resources are
available. The Pandemic Mitigation
Collaborative, coordinated out of Tulane University, compiles and analyzes
the available data to come up with real-time infection levels and risks. The People’s CDC is an independent group of
public health practitioners, scientists, healthcare workers, and others working
to reduce the armful impacts of COVID. Unbiased
Science, by public health scientist Dr. Jess Steier, compiles a variety of
news updates and informational resources. Mass
General Brigham Hospital has a renowned COVID Recovery Center. If you have
had COVID and are struggling with ongoing Long COVID problems they may be able
to help you.
We knew flu and COVID season were coming. This year they both arrived early. The things you can do to protect yourself and your family, such as getting vaccinated and wearing a mask in crowded indoor spaces, are easy and could save you a great deal of unpleasantness from a miserable infection.
Nick Landekic of Bristol is a retired C.E.O. and biotechnology entrepreneur who spent more than 35 years working in the pharmaceutical industry.