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Many other people don’t want to think about the virus, but a buildup in cases means it’s time for how to protect yourself and others.
By Dana G. Smith
You can’t believe it: Covid-19 cases are on the rise again.
Fortunately, since the vast majority of Americans have some form of immunity, either to vaccination, to a past infection, or to both, most inflamed people will have mild illness.
And while there are several circulating strains (almost all descendants of the Omicron XBB variant), they are unlikely to cause the “wildfire spread” that occurred with the Delta variant and the first Omicron variant, Professor Dr David Boulware said. medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School. This includes EG. 5, which was recently named a “variant under surveillance” through the World Health Organization and lately accounts for about 17% of cases in the United States.
“I don’t know if it’s an increase, consistent with itself, or just a slight increase,” Dr. Boulware said of the existing situation. Regardless, he added, it’s a reminder “that yes, covid still exists. “
Below is a reminder on how to manage an outbreak in your network or at home.
It’s much harder to monitor where and how much the virus is spreading since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stopped tracking cases in May, with the end of the federal public fitness emergency. However, there are still some parameters to pay attention to. , plus anecdotal evidence that others around you are getting sick.
The two best measures for tracking local infection levels are hospitalization rates and wastewater data, which can be found on the C. D. C. Covid data tracking website. For hospitalization rates, go to the map and your county. For wastewater data, scroll down to the tracking map and locate the nearest tracking site.
Since fewer people tend to have severe cases on those days, hospitalization data is less representative of the number of other people recently infected. But it can still be useful for measuring trends: across the country, around 9,000 people were hospitalised with Covid last week, a build-up of around 12% from last week.
Many experts say wastewater testing is a more accurate measure of identifying how much virus is circulating in a community. More than 1,300 wastewater treatment plants in all 50 states are recently tracking levels of the virus, which inflamed other people and was released into their feces.
“Wastewater is the source of knowledge we have that gives us early warnings of new outbreaks,” said Aparna Keshaviah, director of wastewater studies at Mathematica, a research consulting firm. the consequences of what has already happened.
Covid symptoms haven’t replaced much since the pandemic began: Sore throat, congestion, fatigue, fever and cough remain the most common, said Dr. Paul Sax, clinical director of the department of infectious diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. possibly also revel in gastrointestinal symptoms, and there are reports that the XBB. 1. 16 strain can cause conjunctivitis.
These generic symptoms mean it can be “extremely complicated to distinguish one virus from another,” Dr. Sax said. The way to know if you have covid or just a bloodless summer is to do a rapid test.
If immediate testing in your bathroom has passed its expiration date, check the manufacturer’s online page to see if the dates have been extended before testing begins. When immediate at-home testing was first allowed, the Food and Drug Administration demanded strict expiration dates, though many have since been relaxed.
Quick checks are effective for all circulating variants, and if you test positive, you can be sure you’re infected. If you have symptoms and still get a negative result, wait two days and check again; So-called serial checks, which are checked several times over the course of several days, are more than 90% effective in detecting symptomatic infections.
“If the virus is not provided in giant amounts,” you can get a negative result even when you have symptoms, said Dr. Apurv Soni, an assistant professor at the UMass Chan School of Medicine who has studied the accuracy of immediate tests. By doing serial testing, you’re giving yourself the possibility of contracting the virus when it rises to a higher amount in your body. “
If your check is positive for Covid and you are over 60 or if you have a condition that increases your threat of serious infection, ask your doctor to prescribe Paxlovid as soon as possible. For others in those groups, the drug reduces the risk of hospitalization if they start taking it within the first five days after an infection. For other young, healthy people, the benefits are less clear: Paxlovid doesn’t offer additional coverage against serious illnesses, but it can save you the progression of a long Covid.
Experts say C. D. C. La recommendation to self-isolate for five days after a positive verification result, meaning staying home and staying away from others as productively as possible, is still a smart recommendation. N95, KN95 or KF94 mask. Although Covid now behaves like a typical respiratory disease in a maximum of people, it can still be harmful to vulnerable populations, and Covid remains a risk for a long time, so it is vital to avoid infecting others.
If you have symptoms and the control is positive after five days, “then I would avoid touching other people,” Dr. Sax said. But if your control is positive after your symptoms have disappeared, studies now suggest you’re unlikely to remain contagious. At the time, Dr. Sax said, “Stop doing checks and get on with your life. “
Dana G. Smith is a reporter for the Well section, where she has written about everything from psychedelic treatments to training trends to Covid-19. Learn more about Dana G. Smith
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