Government in a position to claim COVID-19 ended: The state of national emergency will end on May 11. In California, the state of emergency ended in February. Johns Hopkins University ended its national tracking of COVID-19 data this month.
But COVID-19 is not gone. Although cases and deaths have declined, many others continue to test positive, especially as mask wearing decreases and pandemic restrictions end. According to the World Health Organization, hundreds of other people still die every day from COVID around the world.
“It’s hard not to get Omicron,” said Paula Cannon, a professor of virology at USC’s Keck School of Medicine. “It’s very contagious, even if it’s been reinforced and vaccinated. “
After 3 years and what sounds like thousands of public fitness proclamations about testing and isolation, you might find yourself falling into a frantic Google gap after the line of that moment looks like a home test.
Here are lacheck’s protocols for what to do if you test positive for COVID in 2023.
If you’ve been exposed to COVID, symptoms of infection may appear two to 14 days later, according to a 2020 survey of reported cases. Most inflamed people began to spread symptoms 3 to six days after exposure; The average time since exposure to infection was five days. Of course, you may not necessarily know if or when you were exposed.
In 2020, one of the hallmarks of COVID was a sudden loss of taste and smell. But now, “whatever is going on in your head, your nose or your throat, you definitely have to be suspicious of COVID,” Cannon said. Sniffles, fatigue, cough, sore throat, fever, nasal congestion, muscle aches – all can imply COVID, they can also be symptoms of one of the many respiratory diseases floating in this triple-month winter.
Loss of taste is much less frequent now, but it can still be a symptom, said Muntu Davis, fitness officer for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. In a more severe case, he said, symptoms may present with shortness of breath. , immediate center rate, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
If you’ve done something where you may have been exposed to COVID, like traveling on a plane or going without a mask in a giant crowd, it’s a smart concept to check after a few days, even if you don’t have symptoms. Cannon said. He traveled to England and celebrated his birthday in a giant circle of family gatherings. Back home, he made a check as a precaution. He tested positive, the first time he contracted COVID in 3 years of the pandemic.
“I probably had no symptoms and wouldn’t have known I had COVID other than getting tested,” he said. “People should also be aware that no symptom is also a symptom of COVID. “
Home antigen checks are widely available and can reliably determine if you have a viral load high enough to be contagious. You do not want to have a follow-up PCR check if you have had a positive result at a home checkup.
You’re not required to report your result to the county or any other location, Davis said, even if you notify your health care provider.
The recent top advice from the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and PreventionUU. es self-isolate for five full days after the onset of symptoms. This means that the first day you start to feel bad is day zero; Your five-day countdown begins the next day. If you tested positive but have no symptoms, the advice is to isolate yourself for five full days after the positive test.
Those first five days are the time of maximum contagiousness, said Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association.
“Certainly, the first five days, you have to self-isolate,” he said.
But this is the minimum, not the maximum. Reaching the 6th day does not mean that you can abandon all precautions. This is the first day you can assess how you’re doing if you want to continue self-isolation: Are your symptoms improving?Have you been fever-free for at least 24 hours without taking over-the-counter fever medications (acetaminophen or ibuprofen)?
If you feel older and don’t have a fever without medication, you can end your isolation, Davis said. Otherwise, you will have to continue, up to 10 days.
While isolating himself, he stays home and restricts contact with anyone who is not infected, either inside and outside his home. If you have to leave your home for a mandatory explanation, for example, to pick up medicine or deliver groceries from your lobby: Benjamin said he wears a well-fitting N95 mask.
The duration of your symptoms will depend on many factors, adding whether vaccinations and boosters are up to date and whether you are taking Paxlovid (more on that in a moment). Some other people will feel better after a few days and other people will still have symptoms after 10 days or even weeks later.
Beyond taking Paxlovid, there’s not much you can do to make COVID symptoms go away. Do what you normally would do when you are sick: Rest; drink plenty of fluids; eating healthy meals; Take acetaminophen for pain and fever. In other words, take good care of yourself.
If you start experiencing severe symptoms, even if you’re fully vaccinated and reinforced, you go to the hospital, Davis said.
“Definitely [wow] if you’re having trouble breathing, catching your breath, if you’re very tired and there’s not much you can do,” he said. He also said chest tension or pain, confusion, difficulty waking up or staying awake, and bluish or pale gray lips and nails are symptoms that you want to see a doctor right away.
Paxlovid is an antiviral remedy for COVID-19. There is broad evidence-based clinical consensus that its use reduces the risk of hospitalization or death. It’s possible that Paxlovid also reduces the risk of prolonged COVID in some patients, Benjamin said.
Paxlovid is a five-day treatment taken twice a day. Treatment should begin within five days of the onset of COVID symptoms. Paxlovid may have negative interactions with some prescription drugs, by adding statins and some core and blood pressure medications. Some other people taking Paxlovid report noticing an unpleasant metallic taste in their mouth, the so-called Paxlovid mouth, which often goes away once you stop taking the drug.
Currently, Paxlovid is only prescribed in the USA. You use other people with certain threat points that increase the threat of harmful side effects from COVID-19 infection. These are a wide variety of situations and behaviors, in addition to being over 50 years old, not being vaccinated or not up to date on your booster shots, and fitness situations such as diabetes, center problems, body mass index classified as obese, pregnancy or recent pregnancy, smoking, physical and intellectual fitness problems, adding depression.
That list continues to grow, Benjamin said, and even for young, healthy people, “some would say [Paxlovid is] useless, but I would say call your doctor and take his advice. “
If you don’t have a regular doctor or can’t see you temporarily when you get sick, see a telehealth provider, Cannon said. She said in a video call with a “doc in a box” from a telehealth app within an hour of testing positive.
Cannon said he believes restricting who qualifies for Paxlovid at this time is a mistake and making the drug more available. You don’t feel well, if you think you’re reacting badly to respiratory infections,” it’s worth talking to a medical professional and asking for a prescription.
What other people call a “Paxlovid bounce” — where they have COVID, take Paxlovid, test negative and then test positive again days or weeks later — is actually a COVID rebound, Cannon said. The remedy is effective enough that you can lower your viral load so that an infection doesn’t look like a check; Then, once the remedy is over, your viral load rises again. It’s not Paxlovid’s fault, or a sign that it didn’t work, he said, “It’s an herbal rhythm of infection. “
Right now, Benjamin said, evidence suggests you’re contagious for the first five days after you start having symptoms or get a positive control result. During those first five days, it’s vital to stay home and isolate yourself as much as possible. .
Beyond that, you should assume that you are still contagious as long as you get a positive result in a house check. (PCR tests are more delicate than antigen controls, so a PCR test can yield a positive result even after a negative control or house control. ) That’s what Cannon did when he had asymptomatic COVID.
“I used the raw estimate from the small COVID control,” Cannon said. “If there is enough virus in my nose to test positive, then I know I still have the virus and am potentially contagious. Once the test comes back negative, I would. “He feels very comfortable saying that he is not contagious.
If you reached the five-day threshold and feel better and don’t have a fever without medication, it is sometimes considered safe for you to pass out. Benjamin said that, in theory, it remains contagious until day 10. much less, so you need to be careful with other people who may get seriously ill.
“If you’re around someone who is immunocompromised, if you happen to see grandma, I still wouldn’t do it within 10 days” of testing positive, he said.
Beyond that, he said, “you can assume it’s not contagious. The threat that it will be contagious [at this stage] is very low. Nothing is 100%. But it’s pretty good. “
Benjamin said the clinical world is still in the early stages of figuring out what constitutes prolonged COVID, who is most at risk, and contemplating preventative measures imaginable.
A study recently published in JAMA Internal Medicine suggested that an overall healthy lifestyle (nutrition and good enough sleep, normal exercise, moderate alcohol consumption) could reduce the risk of women developing COVID in the long term. Another study, published in Cell, knows 4 long-term COVID threat factors, adding type 2 diabetes.
We still don’t have a false answer to that question. Davis, the Los Angeles County fitness officer, said you were considered immune and shouldn’t have to retest within 90 days of having an infection; Now, he says, it’s 30 days. But this is only a guideline, not a definitive clinical consensus.
A recent and widely reported meta-analysis published in The Lancet showed that many other people had antibodies in their blood 10 months after infection. are lower. And coverage against reinfection turned out to be “significantly lower” for omicron variants, which have been the dominant strains in the U. S. He was in the U. S. for more than a year.
A CDC study of seroprevalence (tests to detect the presence of antibodies in people’s blood) showed that as of May 2022, nearly 95% of Americans had had COVID, been vaccinated against COVID, or both. At this point, it’s unlikely we’ll ever succeed at a point where herd immunity completely eliminated COVID. Some scientists are conducting tests that look at the immunity of T cells, rather than antibody levels, to assess whether someone is immune. For now, it’s to say how long you can avoid worrying about contracting COVID after you recover.
Folow
Jessica Roy is an associate editor on the Los Angeles Times Utility Journalism team. The team publishes stories and facts that other people solve problems, answer questions, and make important decisions about life in and around Los Angeles.
Subscribe to access Site Map
Folow
MORE FROM THE TIMES