Here is Dr. Klotman’s Week 237 video update. It’s a pan-viral infection update in Q&A format. The highlights are:
About COVID
- m-RNA COVID vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are the best match to the most prevalent strain in the US – KP.3.1.1
- The Novavax COVID vaccine based on the JN.1 strain isn’t as a good a match as the m-RNA vaccines
- Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) occurs in 84 out of every million COVID vaccinations
- COVID infection rebound after treatment with Paxlovid happens in days – not months after treatment
- Taking multiple respiratory virus vaccines simultaneously is safe
- You can order free COVID test kits at www.COVIDtests.gov
About RSV
- RSV peaks in December and January and the symptoms are like those of COVID and Influenza
- There is no home RSV test
- RSV is worst for people>75yo, babies, and young children. Vaccinating pregnant people is the ideal way to prevent it in infants
About Influenza
- Flu spreads by respiratory droplets unlike COVID that is aerosolized
- Social distancing limits the spread of Flu; masking limits both Flu & COVID
About West Nile
- There have been ~400 reported cases of West Nile virus in the US this year – 46 of them in Texas
- 255 of those cases were neuroinvasive
My only editorial comment is that I worry every hurricane season that flooding will lead to higher mosquito activity and hence greater numbers of mosquito-borne viral infections like Dengue, West Nile, and Zika. So far this year, we have escaped unscathed.