Bill Ruzicka, ARNP

5 quick tips for a Healthy Holiday season starting today.

As we prepare for Christmas and the coming new year it's never too late to start thinking about your health. Here are some simple tips to get you a leg up on staying healthy this season:

http://redefinedhealthclinic.com

Good morning all. Just a couple of quick updates for you all regarding...you guessed it, COVID vaccines.

Good news on the vaccines for school-age kiddos (ages 5-12) front. Pfizer and Moderna have both expanded their study size to an additional 3000 patients each. Results are expected in that age group in September. That will likely be the gate opening to provide vaccinations nationally. Ages 2 to 5-year-olds will be 1-2 months later, then 6 months to 2-year-olds in the Nov-January timeline.

Further, new information about the DELTA variant than any other variant we've seen so far. Here are the highlights:

- Viral swabs from the back of throats in people infected with the Delta variant is 1000x higher than other variants.

- The ability of earlier variants to spread person to person was about 2-3 people. The Delta variant is about 7-8 people.

-"The viral loads in the throats of vaccinated persons who become infected with delta rises at identical rates as in unvaccinated persons, but only for the first few days. After five days or so, the viral loads in the vaccinated person start to quickly drop whereas those in the unvaccinated person persist." This means a shorter time to be able to transmit the virus in vaccinated people. [Original variants were 7-14 days].

- We have known that the COVID vaccine creates an antibody response called IgG. In effect, the virus still attaches to your oral and nasal mucosa, but the IgG antibodies are like a guard dog waiting on the other side of the door when a burglar breaks in. It clears it up before the person gets very ill or even notices it at all. The vaccine creates the IgG response.

- Vaccine shows an 8x reduction in the development of symptomatic disease in people testing positive. 25x reduction in hospitalization, and 25x reduction in death.

- People are questioning "If I'm vaccinated, why do I need to keep wearing a mask?" Above, I noted a 5 day period of viral transmission in people that are vaccinated. It's because of that 5 day period of possibly infecting 8 others that some agencies are recommending masks again. What I don't know is how that number looks in adults compared to school-age children. Remember, the mask was NEVER about protecting you. It was about protecting others. Just like a surgeon in the OR. They wear masks to prevent spray into the wounds of patients. It doesn't eliminate it, but it CERTAINLY reduces the exposure.

As you know, there will be more to come.

Stay safe out there. Get vaccinated. And let's get back to even more normalcy.