News on Covid:

• As I said in June, there is a lot of Covid out there now. Fortunately, hospitalizations are way down, and it appears that with the immunity we’ve achieved by vaccine or infection the majority will experience mild to moderate symptoms, like a typical or perhaps bad cold.  For an excellent and very long list of common questions and answers about Covid, I like Dr. Leana Wen’s Q&A column in the Washington Post... here’s her latest.

• We are prescribing a lot of the anti-viral combination Paxlovid, which in studies reduced the risk of serious illness by 90%. Consider requesting the drug if you become sick, especially if over 50 or with medical conditions that put you at risk. Most are tolerating the drug well though there are a number of interactions with other medicines that need to be considered, and “rebound Covid”, milder but recurrent symptoms 3-5 days after finishing the 5-day course of medicine, is more common that initially thought (ask Joe Biden or Dr. Anthony Fauci!).

•  The medical profession continues to study and learn about long Covid, which is very real. Please let us know if you have a known Covid infection, even if you think it is mild and may not require treatment as we are tracking this in our practice.

•  Both Pfizer and Moderna are providing a “variant specific” Covid vaccine sometime this Fall. We will likely begin giving Covid vaccines in the office in the Fall as well, though it will require us signing up folks in blocks of 10 or so in advance. If you are planning travel and have not gotten a second booster (and it’s been more than 3-4 months since your last booster) I’d recommend you go ahead and get a booster shot soon before your travel. If you’re under 60 and healthy and would like to wait it might be reasonable to hold off on your booster till the new variant specific vaccines are out.

And Monkey Pox

• There is a lot of info now in the news about this virus, which causes painful blisters and rash with fever. There is also a lot of criticism about our public health response to this disease, which in many ways echoes the slow early responses to Covid. Transmission in most cases is from close personal contact with someone who is infected, and nearly all cases in the US have been among men who have sex with men or are bisexual. This could change moving forward. The vaccines that are available (and in short supply currently) are for high-risk groups only. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you feel you are in a high-risk group or have questions. More to come in the coming months.