October 30, 2023 • 22 mins
What is the latest with COVID-19? With reports of a bump in positive cases and hospitalizations, is it resurfacing? Who should get the newest COVID vaccine? And how do we know when we are up to date on our COVID vaccinations?
Dr. K responds to a short email with a lot of questions about what is going on with the latest strain of COVID-19, the release of the new vaccine and whether the flu, pneumonia, RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) and COVID will join forces to make for a rough winter.
Additional resources for this episode:
https://www.vaccines.gov/
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/covid-19-vaccines
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/symptoms-causes/syc-20479963
Bridge Access Program for free COVID-19 vaccines for uninsured and underinsured adults: https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/07/13/cdc-launch-bridge-access-program-fall-2023-provide-free-covid-19-vaccines-treatments-uninsured-underinsured-adults.html
If you have a question for Dr. K, email QandAwithDrK@mpqhf.org. Your question will remain anonymous.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Beth Brown (00:09):
Welcome to Q&A with Dr. K, a podcast by Mountain
Pacific Quality Health, where wesit down with Dr. Doug
Kuntzweiler and get your healthquestions answered. Because on
Q&A with Dr. K, the doctor isalways in.
(00:34):
Hello, everyone, I'm Beth Brownyour host, and we're here for
another episode of Q&A with Dr.
K with the brilliant Dr. DougKuntzweiler.
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (00:42):
We didn't bring the brilliant one today.
We have the mediocre Dr. Ktoday.
Beth Brown (00:49):
Well, we'll take the one we've got, because I know
you'll still have some greatadvice for our listeners today.
And our question today, Dr. K,is about COVID. And so here's
the email. It's pretty short andsweet with lots of questions. So
here's how it reads. Can Dr. Kplease speak about COVID now
that it is surfacing again?
Signs, symptoms to watch for,information about the new
(01:11):
vaccine, risk factors, what todo if you have COVID and/or
symptoms of COVID. So let'sstart with the first part of
that. Is COVID surfacing again?
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (01:23):
I thought you said this was a simple
question.
Beth Brown (01:26):
Is it not? Sorry?
Well, yes, well, the questionsbut
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (01:32):
The truth is COVID never went away. Of
course, it has always been here.
But the emergency was declaredover in May. I don't know if
anybody bothered to tell theCOVID virus that the emergency
was over. But the numbers diddrop. During the summer, June,
July, August. Numbers definitelywere pretty flat. And I think
(01:53):
sort of people got lulled into afalse sense of well, this is
nothing this is all over. But inSeptember, we started seeing a
resurgence or resurfacing if youlike it. If it was under the
surface, it came back to the topI guess. And I talked to my
friends in urgent care and inthe emergency department, and
(02:15):
they were seeing tons of it inlike late September, and even up
till now. So things aredefinitely on the rise again.
And that makes sense. We knowit's a respiratory virus, it's
spread through droplets. Thosetypically during the summer
months when kids are out ofschool and everybody's outside
(02:37):
and we're not all confined andlittle heated cubicles.
respiratory viruses tend todiminish when the weather turns
cold. Again, people are crowded,you're you're not distancing
like you're doing the summer,kids are back in school, then we
tend to see things rise. Andthat's what's going on. I think
the average the last time Ichecked from the first part of
(03:00):
October, the average for Montanawas about two hospitalizations a
day for COVID, which is notanywhere near the peak that we
saw on in 2021. But butdefinitely on the rise. And it's
it's on the rise in most statesin the United States right now.
So sets definitely still around.
(03:24):
It doesn't seem to be any worsethan the earlier versions that
we've seen. In other words,people aren't there aren't more
people who are critically illwith it, it seems to be about
the same in terms of how sick itmakes people. But you never know
that could change too. So
Beth Brown (03:41):
well. The next part is about the signs and the
symptoms that we need to bewatching for and we know this
virus keeps mutating on us. Sohave the symptoms changed much
it is still a respiratory virus.
But what are we looking at thisday these days as far as
symptoms?
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (03:56):
Yeah, and all the symptoms don't seem to
change much what has changed isthat it has gotten more and more
contagious. And remember wayback in the beginning, it was
considered one of the mostcontagious viruses we had ever
encountered second only tomeasles more contagious than
influenza more contagious thanthe common cold viruses. And so
(04:19):
this this latest version the Idon't know what they call it the
crack and I love that the Krakenwas like a deep sea monster so
that makes sense. It saysresurface back Yeah. Anyway,
it's quite a bit our contagiousbut it doesn't seem to be making
people any sicker. And in termsof the symptoms, it's kind of
(04:42):
the usual thing, sore throatcough, sensitive shortness of
breath, maybe even some pressurein the chest. Some people run a
fever with it and of course thenyou have chills and muscle aches
and pains and all that sort ofthing. So that's very much like
other recipes to a viruses verymuch like influenza, but also we
(05:02):
are seeing with this one theloss of taste and, and smell. So
that's one of the things thatkind of distinguishes it, if you
have that pretty good chance tohave COVID If you have these
respiratory symptoms, you reallyneed to be tested because it's
very similar to influenza andRSV, and all these other cold
causing viruses.
Beth Brown (05:22):
Okay, and so if someone has symptoms and or they
do test positive, what's youradvice?
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (05:28):
Well, it really depends. A lot of people,
of course, are doing home tests.
And if they come up positive,and they're not particularly
sick, especially if you're nothaving any shortness of breath,
I think it's okay to first ofall, stay home, don't go to work
and contaminate everybody else.
Don't, you know, go out andabout and contaminate everybody
else, stay home to the extentthat you can rest. Make sure you
(05:50):
keep your fluids up, and simpleremedies like Tylenol for the
aches and pains, Ibuprofen isfine, sore throat, but really
rest and fluids are like most ofthese respiratory viruses,
that's what's going to get youover. But avoid being out and
about in crowds. Andparticularly if you have family
or friends who have chronicdiseases, avoid them, you should
(06:14):
go back to where you should havenever stopped. But you should be
doing your hand washing, ifyou're going to be around
somebody that you don't want toinfect, then you should wear a
mask. I know masks have gotten abad rap. But I don't know I
don't think a lot of people wanttheir surgeon to take their
appendix out without wearing amask. We know that masks sure
(06:36):
they do they work. And and thereare simple thing that's not that
onerous to wear masks. So justkind of common sense things.
That's pretty much it. Now onthe other hand, if you have
almost any chronic disease, butchronic lung disease, chronic
heart disease, kidney disease,liver disease, and you think you
might have it or you do a hometest, and you test positive,
(06:58):
that it's worthwhile to see yourprimary caregiver, because there
is medication or oral medicationyou can take that can help
prevent you from getting sicker.
And if you are worried aboutthat, then that's worthwhile to
see your primary caregiver or ifyou don't have one, go to an
urgent care, go to the emergencydepartment and talk to somebody
about it. I recommend that youhave a primary caregiver, of
(07:19):
course, it gets to know you, andthey can estimate your risk
better. But that's kind of ashared decision making is
whether or not you should takemedication for it. It really
depends on how old you are andhow healthy you are.
Beth Brown (07:35):
That's when those hospitalizations can happen is
along with those chronicconditions.
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (07:39):
Yeah, almost almost universally that
people who get really sick anddie or people who have
underlying chronic illnesses.
But that can be something assimple as high blood pressure or
maybe some mild kidney diseaseor you know, some chronic lung
disease, asthma. You don'tnecessarily have to feel like
you're on death's doorstepbefore you take medication for
COVID. If you have any chronicillness, and especially if you
(08:01):
have anything that alters yourimmune system, things like
rheumatoid arthritis, lupus orin any of those autoimmune
diseases, then it's it'simportant that you check in with
your primary caregiver if you ifyou think you might have COVID,
or if you test positive for itat home.
Beth Brown (08:19):
All right, great.
All right, let's move on throughthe email. The next question was
about the new vaccines. Andlet's talk about that new
vaccine. What strains does itcover? And what else can you
tell us about it.
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (08:29):
The initial vaccines were aimed at
the initial COVID 19 virus. Nowthis new one is aimed at the
latest Omicron five crackingvariant. And what we know is
that it is safe and effective asearlier vaccines are. And it
does seem to protect people fromserious illness, if you get the
(08:52):
latest variant, it stillprotects you from all of the
other variants that arecirculating around. And it
doesn't mean that if you get thevaccine that you can't get
COVID, you can still get COVIDbut it drastically reduces the
chance that you will get verysick with it. So it's worth
while getting the vaccine, ascontagious as this latest
(09:15):
variant is it's likely you'regoing to run into it at some
point this winter. If you havethe vaccine, you don't have to
worry so much that it's going tocause you to wind up in the
hospital or or even kill you.
Beth Brown (09:27):
It seems like there has been some delays because new
vaccine coming out I went to getmy flu shot was hoping to get my
COVID vaccine at the same timeand they didn't have the COVID
vaccine. So with that justbecause of the new strain coming
out and the vaccine wasn't readyor do you know what was going on
with the delays?
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (09:43):
No, I don't know exactly what the
delay is. I know that thedistribution it has to do with
the distribution more than themanufacturing. You know, there
are three different companiesthat are manufacturing this
latest vaccine and I think it'sgot more to do with distributing
it. I went to the VA AE and theVA had it. So I got that and I
got my high dose influenza atthe same time, I wanted to get
(10:06):
RSV, but they did not have RSV,so I'm gonna have to search for
that somewhere else. So yeah,there have been some problems
with finding it at this point.
You know, we're we're gettinginto late October, I think
people should really startpushing pretty hard to find out,
especially if you're over 65.
Or, as I mentioned, if you havea chronic disease, I would start
(10:27):
calling pharmacies, callingprimary care places, calling
public health departments,because some people have it and
some people don't. And it justdepends on where you're at.
Beth Brown (10:35):
And you mentioned, especially if you're over the
age of 65, who else shouldreally be looking to get the
vaccine?
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (10:42):
Well it's recommended for six months and
older, so it isn't necessarilyjust that you want to protect
yourself. It is if you havefamily or friends or you're a
caregiver for somebody who maybehas a chronic illness or has an
immune compromised, you don'twant to give them Coronavirus.
So that's another group thatshould think pretty strongly
(11:04):
about getting themselvesimmunized to protect those
family and friends or peoplethat you are taking care of. But
as as I said almost any kind ofchronic illness diabeetus is a
big one. I should have mentionedthat before. If you have
diabetes, or if you have chroniclung disease, you really ought
to consider strongly gettingvaccinated, this latest
(11:24):
vaccination. Even if you had theearlier vaccine, this this we
can look at as being more of abooster but it's aimed at the
variant that is most prevalentright now. So I would strongly
urge you to get it.
Beth Brown (11:37):
Okay about that part too. Because when we initially
started talking about the COVIDvaccine in two years ago, you
got that initial shot, and thenyou got your two boosters. Now,
what is the recommendation? Howdo we know when we're up to date
on the COVID vaccine?
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (11:53):
Well, we don't. These are things you
learn with experience. And weand obviously, we have more
experience now than we did in2019 2020. But because of this
Kraken that is so much morecontagious, it's recommended
that if you've had the vaccineprior to the 12th, of September
of 2023, so a month ago, if youhad a vaccine prior to that,
(12:16):
it's recommended that you getthis new vaccine, and then you
will be considered to be up todate. In the CDC, this, this
gets pretty confusing, because alot of the recommendations are
are based on age and riskfactors. But the CDC has a lot
of really detailed charts thatkind of break it down and make
it easier for you to follow. Andif you don't want to do that
(12:38):
then goes to your primarycaregiver, and they can look at
the charts and break it down andfollow the guidelines. But
really, it's recommended foralmost everybody.
Beth Brown (12:46):
Okay, do you know where folks can go to try to get
it?
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (12:49):
Well, I've been making some phone calls
today. I didn't have much luck.
I know that the VA has I knowthat county health department
has it peer view has it. Some ofthe pharmacies, like the chain
pharmacies have it. Some of themdon't, most of them are
requiring an appointment. Soyou'd have to call in wearing an
(13:10):
appointment. And I didn't get asense of what kind of volume of
vaccine any of these placeshave. So I don't know what their
supply looks like. But but all Ican say is call before you go
and find someplace who will holda vaccine for you and then go
get it.
Beth Brown (13:29):
That sounds like a good plan. And then what about
costs is the current vaccine,something that insurance usually
covers?
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (13:37):
Yeah, that's a course if you have
Medicaid or Medicare, that'sthey're going to cover it, it's
going to be free. If you haveany private insurance, the
Affordable Care Act mandatesthat the COVID vaccine be given
for free. So if you have anykind of private insurance,
you're covered, the vaccine isgoing to be free. If you don't
(13:58):
qualify for Medicaid or Medicareand you do not have private
insurance, HHS Health and HumanServices Department of the
federal government has a programcalled Bridge access that will
pay for your COVID vaccination.
I talked to a couple ofpharmacies who are aware of the
program but they weren't sureexactly how it operated. So all
(14:18):
I know is that you can get yourvaccine, it shouldn't cost you
anything. And probably thepeople who administer it are
going to be a little bit puzzledabout exactly how to do it. But
you should be able to get thevaccine for free no matter what
your status is.
Beth Brown (14:36):
Okay, well, maybe that's a good opportunity to put
a website with this episode.
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (14:43):
You know, the vaccine just got released
not that long ago. And I thinklike many of these things,
there's there's going to be alittle bit of stuttering before
they smooth out the wholebureaucratic part of this but
the vaccine is approved. It'sit's manufactured, it's around,
you might have to be a littleHave it persistent, find some
someplace where you can get it.
But it's, it's worth the timeinvestment.
Beth Brown (15:06):
And while you're here, let's talk about some of
the other vaccines. You know,we're in October. So I know we
should be getting on it if wehaven't gotten the flu vaccine.
And I know we've been talkingabout RSV, but holidays are
coming up. And those are thetimes where we're going to be
around more people. So what'ssafe to get together? You
mentioned you tried to get yourflu and COVID together? And RSV.
(15:27):
Can you get all of thosetogether? If all three are
available?
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (15:33):
Oh, yeah, I would take nine or 10 vaccines
at the same time, if I could.
Here's the way I explain it. Soyou're walking around doing your
job and your coworker sneezes,and your cat bites you before
you go to work. And you know,you cut yourself shaving and so
your body is constantly beingexposed to viruses, to bacteria
(15:54):
to fungi. I mean, we we live ina sea of various kinds of germs
and our body encounters them allthe time. And our immune system
is experienced at dealing withmany different insults at the
same time. So your cat bites youand your immune system reacts to
(16:15):
the bacteria that it injectedand your coworkers sneezes, and
your immune system responds tothe virus that you breathe in
from that blah, blah, blah, youeat some questionable tuna for
lunch. And our immune systemscan handle all of that it's
designed to handle all of thatsimultaneously. So you can give
(16:36):
multiple vaccines at the sametime now, I'm not saying that
you won't be hurt in your arm, Igot influenza and COVID in the
same arm and it was sore. Butyou know, 24 hours and you can't
even tell that it happened I wasgonna get all three but they
didn't have the RSV availablebut Oh, and when I when I went
(16:57):
in the military, they did notworry about that they gave you
about 10 That literally gave youfive vaccines and one arm and
five in the other arm and thenthey had to stand in formation
to see who fainted from it. But
[Beth (17:10):
wow,] that's but it's it's safe and it your body is is
adapted to that so it's safe andthe vaccines will all work.
Beth Brown (17:21):
Yeah, and side effects that might happen if you
do do all three other than thesore arm people might expect?
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (17:27):
The usual stuff, you know, muscle aches, I
always around a little bit of alow grade fever whenever I get
influenza vaccine. So I feelkind of crummy. You know that
first evening, but by the nextday, I can't tell what I get out
of it. So people know howthey're gonna feel you get a
sore arm, you get a little flufeeling but it shouldn't last
(17:47):
more than 24 to 48 hours. If itdoes, you know, you probably
ought to be seen, but nowthey're, they're safe. They're
effective. They're cheap.
Beth Brown (17:54):
Yeah, especially if they're free. Alright, so if
anybody has any questions orconcerns and they want the most
up to date information, what aresome resources that we can put
along for them to take a lookat?
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (18:05):
Well, one of the things we didn't talk
about was the pneumonia shottwo, that's another one that you
should be worrying about. Andagain, it's recommended 65 and
older that get vaccinatedagainst the pneumococcal
pneumonia, which is a bacterialillness, but it's a big deal,
because that's one of the topcauses of death is actuarial
pneumonia. And it's recommendedfor children, especially
(18:26):
children that maybe have chronicillnesses like diabetes, that
sort of thing. It's complicated,because there are about five
different pneumococcal vaccinesand how you get them and when
you get them as a little bitcomplicated. But again, the CDC
has a chart that you can walkyourself through and, and help
(18:48):
figure out which vaccine youneed. Basically, you need two
different vaccines in a yearapart, but because there are
four different vaccines therevarious combinations of them
that you can get, and so takes alittle bit of sleuthing to
figure out exactly what's yourbest combination. But again, you
know, if you get COVID, or youget influenza that lowers your
(19:09):
resistance to bacterialpneumonia, and that's a that's a
big deal. So you really shouldget vaccinated against a whole
raft of them.
Beth Brown (19:16):
That's good to know.
And I would guess your doctorwould be able to sleuth with you
as far as what you should bedoing for that.
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (19:23):
You're paying them so make them do the
hard work.
Beth Brown (19:26):
Perfect. Okay, good.
Did we forget anything else?
Then I want to make sure we'recovering all the bases here.
We're getting into that season,for sure.
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (19:34):
Well, yeah, I think we certainly
covered all of the importantparts, the highlights, it's hard
to say, you know, people try topredict what kind of a season
we're going to have based onwhat happened in the southern
hemisphere during our summer intheir winter. People are
worried. We haven't had a reallyhorrible influenza epidemic in a
(19:55):
while so people are worriedabout COVID and influenza
hitting at the same time. ofRSV, we're seeing more and more
adults now. So people areworried about this triple
epidemic of RSV, influenza andCOVID didn't happen really too
badly last winter, but you justyou just never know. It's like
trying to predict the weatherreally, we don't really know for
(20:16):
sure what what's going tohappen. But the way to mitigate
all that is to get yourselfvaccinated.
Beth Brown (20:21):
Yeah, trust the experts as best you can and do
what you can and and hope forthe best.
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (20:24):
Yeah, there's so much misinformation,
especially on the worldwide web.
The people who study this, youknow, they're just middle class,
hardworking people. They're notmultimillionaire politicians.
It's people who got fascinatedby, you know, health stuff, and
they studied viruses andbacteria, and they help develop
these vaccines and justhardworking bright people, and
(20:48):
there's no reason not to trustthem.
Beth Brown (20:52):
So where are those reliable resources? Dr. K, where
can folks go so that they don'tget misled?
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (20:58):
Yeah, there's the Centers for Disease
Control, the World HealthOrganization, major medical
centers, like Johns Hopkins havesome really good material on
their websites, the Mayo Clinic,there any number of them, but
stay away from the loan doctorwho knows more than anybody else
on the face of the planet. Thoseare the guys you want to stay
(21:18):
away from.
Beth Brown (21:19):
Okay, they might have their own agenda.
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (21:21):
Yeah, they missed the bus somewhere. The
bus stop.
Beth Brown (21:29):
Well, thank you, Dr.
K. We appreciate it. That wasgreat information. I don't buy
for a second that the brilliantDr. K didn't show up today.
We'll put the COVID and vaccineresources that Dr. K mentioned
along with this episode. And ifyou have a question for Dr. K,
please just email us at QandA...
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (21:46):
As long as it's easy, no hard questions.
Beth Brown (21:50):
Any question you want to - email it to
QandAwithDrK@mpqhf.org and wewill keep your identity
anonymous. We'll just ask yourquestion and you can get your
answers, and we'll put thatemail address with this episode
as well.
Welcome to Q&A with Dr. K, a podcast by Mountain
Pacific Quality Health, where wesit down with Dr. Doug
Kuntzweiler and get your healthquestions answered. Because on
Q&A with Dr. K, the doctor isalways in.
(00:34):
Hello, everyone, I'm Beth Brownyour host, and we're here for
another episode of Q&A with Dr.
K with the brilliant Dr. DougKuntzweiler.
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (00:42):
We didn't bring the brilliant one today.
We have the mediocre Dr. Ktoday.
Beth Brown (00:49):
Well, we'll take the one we've got, because I know
you'll still have some greatadvice for our listeners today.
And our question today, Dr. K,is about COVID. And so here's
the email. It's pretty short andsweet with lots of questions. So
here's how it reads. Can Dr. Kplease speak about COVID now
that it is surfacing again?
Signs, symptoms to watch for,information about the new
(01:11):
vaccine, risk factors, what todo if you have COVID and/or
symptoms of COVID. So let'sstart with the first part of
that. Is COVID surfacing again?
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (01:23):
I thought you said this was a simple
question.
Beth Brown (01:26):
Is it not? Sorry?
Well, yes, well, the questionsbut
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (01:32):
The truth is COVID never went away. Of
course, it has always been here.
But the emergency was declaredover in May. I don't know if
anybody bothered to tell theCOVID virus that the emergency
was over. But the numbers diddrop. During the summer, June,
July, August. Numbers definitelywere pretty flat. And I think
(01:53):
sort of people got lulled into afalse sense of well, this is
nothing this is all over. But inSeptember, we started seeing a
resurgence or resurfacing if youlike it. If it was under the
surface, it came back to the topI guess. And I talked to my
friends in urgent care and inthe emergency department, and
(02:15):
they were seeing tons of it inlike late September, and even up
till now. So things aredefinitely on the rise again.
And that makes sense. We knowit's a respiratory virus, it's
spread through droplets. Thosetypically during the summer
months when kids are out ofschool and everybody's outside
(02:37):
and we're not all confined andlittle heated cubicles.
respiratory viruses tend todiminish when the weather turns
cold. Again, people are crowded,you're you're not distancing
like you're doing the summer,kids are back in school, then we
tend to see things rise. Andthat's what's going on. I think
the average the last time Ichecked from the first part of
(03:00):
October, the average for Montanawas about two hospitalizations a
day for COVID, which is notanywhere near the peak that we
saw on in 2021. But butdefinitely on the rise. And it's
it's on the rise in most statesin the United States right now.
So sets definitely still around.
(03:24):
It doesn't seem to be any worsethan the earlier versions that
we've seen. In other words,people aren't there aren't more
people who are critically illwith it, it seems to be about
the same in terms of how sick itmakes people. But you never know
that could change too. So
Beth Brown (03:41):
well. The next part is about the signs and the
symptoms that we need to bewatching for and we know this
virus keeps mutating on us. Sohave the symptoms changed much
it is still a respiratory virus.
But what are we looking at thisday these days as far as
symptoms?
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (03:56):
Yeah, and all the symptoms don't seem to
change much what has changed isthat it has gotten more and more
contagious. And remember wayback in the beginning, it was
considered one of the mostcontagious viruses we had ever
encountered second only tomeasles more contagious than
influenza more contagious thanthe common cold viruses. And so
(04:19):
this this latest version the Idon't know what they call it the
crack and I love that the Krakenwas like a deep sea monster so
that makes sense. It saysresurface back Yeah. Anyway,
it's quite a bit our contagiousbut it doesn't seem to be making
people any sicker. And in termsof the symptoms, it's kind of
(04:42):
the usual thing, sore throatcough, sensitive shortness of
breath, maybe even some pressurein the chest. Some people run a
fever with it and of course thenyou have chills and muscle aches
and pains and all that sort ofthing. So that's very much like
other recipes to a viruses verymuch like influenza, but also we
(05:02):
are seeing with this one theloss of taste and, and smell. So
that's one of the things thatkind of distinguishes it, if you
have that pretty good chance tohave COVID If you have these
respiratory symptoms, you reallyneed to be tested because it's
very similar to influenza andRSV, and all these other cold
causing viruses.
Beth Brown (05:22):
Okay, and so if someone has symptoms and or they
do test positive, what's youradvice?
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (05:28):
Well, it really depends. A lot of people,
of course, are doing home tests.
And if they come up positive,and they're not particularly
sick, especially if you're nothaving any shortness of breath,
I think it's okay to first ofall, stay home, don't go to work
and contaminate everybody else.
Don't, you know, go out andabout and contaminate everybody
else, stay home to the extentthat you can rest. Make sure you
(05:50):
keep your fluids up, and simpleremedies like Tylenol for the
aches and pains, Ibuprofen isfine, sore throat, but really
rest and fluids are like most ofthese respiratory viruses,
that's what's going to get youover. But avoid being out and
about in crowds. Andparticularly if you have family
or friends who have chronicdiseases, avoid them, you should
(06:14):
go back to where you should havenever stopped. But you should be
doing your hand washing, ifyou're going to be around
somebody that you don't want toinfect, then you should wear a
mask. I know masks have gotten abad rap. But I don't know I
don't think a lot of people wanttheir surgeon to take their
appendix out without wearing amask. We know that masks sure
(06:36):
they do they work. And and thereare simple thing that's not that
onerous to wear masks. So justkind of common sense things.
That's pretty much it. Now onthe other hand, if you have
almost any chronic disease, butchronic lung disease, chronic
heart disease, kidney disease,liver disease, and you think you
might have it or you do a hometest, and you test positive,
(06:58):
that it's worthwhile to see yourprimary caregiver, because there
is medication or oral medicationyou can take that can help
prevent you from getting sicker.
And if you are worried aboutthat, then that's worthwhile to
see your primary caregiver or ifyou don't have one, go to an
urgent care, go to the emergencydepartment and talk to somebody
about it. I recommend that youhave a primary caregiver, of
(07:19):
course, it gets to know you, andthey can estimate your risk
better. But that's kind of ashared decision making is
whether or not you should takemedication for it. It really
depends on how old you are andhow healthy you are.
Beth Brown (07:35):
That's when those hospitalizations can happen is
along with those chronicconditions.
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (07:39):
Yeah, almost almost universally that
people who get really sick anddie or people who have
underlying chronic illnesses.
But that can be something assimple as high blood pressure or
maybe some mild kidney diseaseor you know, some chronic lung
disease, asthma. You don'tnecessarily have to feel like
you're on death's doorstepbefore you take medication for
COVID. If you have any chronicillness, and especially if you
(08:01):
have anything that alters yourimmune system, things like
rheumatoid arthritis, lupus orin any of those autoimmune
diseases, then it's it'simportant that you check in with
your primary caregiver if you ifyou think you might have COVID,
or if you test positive for itat home.
Beth Brown (08:19):
All right, great.
All right, let's move on throughthe email. The next question was
about the new vaccines. Andlet's talk about that new
vaccine. What strains does itcover? And what else can you
tell us about it.
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (08:29):
The initial vaccines were aimed at
the initial COVID 19 virus. Nowthis new one is aimed at the
latest Omicron five crackingvariant. And what we know is
that it is safe and effective asearlier vaccines are. And it
does seem to protect people fromserious illness, if you get the
(08:52):
latest variant, it stillprotects you from all of the
other variants that arecirculating around. And it
doesn't mean that if you get thevaccine that you can't get
COVID, you can still get COVIDbut it drastically reduces the
chance that you will get verysick with it. So it's worth
while getting the vaccine, ascontagious as this latest
(09:15):
variant is it's likely you'regoing to run into it at some
point this winter. If you havethe vaccine, you don't have to
worry so much that it's going tocause you to wind up in the
hospital or or even kill you.
Beth Brown (09:27):
It seems like there has been some delays because new
vaccine coming out I went to getmy flu shot was hoping to get my
COVID vaccine at the same timeand they didn't have the COVID
vaccine. So with that justbecause of the new strain coming
out and the vaccine wasn't readyor do you know what was going on
with the delays?
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (09:43):
No, I don't know exactly what the
delay is. I know that thedistribution it has to do with
the distribution more than themanufacturing. You know, there
are three different companiesthat are manufacturing this
latest vaccine and I think it'sgot more to do with distributing
it. I went to the VA AE and theVA had it. So I got that and I
got my high dose influenza atthe same time, I wanted to get
(10:06):
RSV, but they did not have RSV,so I'm gonna have to search for
that somewhere else. So yeah,there have been some problems
with finding it at this point.
You know, we're we're gettinginto late October, I think
people should really startpushing pretty hard to find out,
especially if you're over 65.
Or, as I mentioned, if you havea chronic disease, I would start
(10:27):
calling pharmacies, callingprimary care places, calling
public health departments,because some people have it and
some people don't. And it justdepends on where you're at.
Beth Brown (10:35):
And you mentioned, especially if you're over the
age of 65, who else shouldreally be looking to get the
vaccine?
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (10:42):
Well it's recommended for six months and
older, so it isn't necessarilyjust that you want to protect
yourself. It is if you havefamily or friends or you're a
caregiver for somebody who maybehas a chronic illness or has an
immune compromised, you don'twant to give them Coronavirus.
So that's another group thatshould think pretty strongly
(11:04):
about getting themselvesimmunized to protect those
family and friends or peoplethat you are taking care of. But
as as I said almost any kind ofchronic illness diabeetus is a
big one. I should have mentionedthat before. If you have
diabetes, or if you have chroniclung disease, you really ought
to consider strongly gettingvaccinated, this latest
(11:24):
vaccination. Even if you had theearlier vaccine, this this we
can look at as being more of abooster but it's aimed at the
variant that is most prevalentright now. So I would strongly
urge you to get it.
Beth Brown (11:37):
Okay about that part too. Because when we initially
started talking about the COVIDvaccine in two years ago, you
got that initial shot, and thenyou got your two boosters. Now,
what is the recommendation? Howdo we know when we're up to date
on the COVID vaccine?
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (11:53):
Well, we don't. These are things you
learn with experience. And weand obviously, we have more
experience now than we did in2019 2020. But because of this
Kraken that is so much morecontagious, it's recommended
that if you've had the vaccineprior to the 12th, of September
of 2023, so a month ago, if youhad a vaccine prior to that,
(12:16):
it's recommended that you getthis new vaccine, and then you
will be considered to be up todate. In the CDC, this, this
gets pretty confusing, because alot of the recommendations are
are based on age and riskfactors. But the CDC has a lot
of really detailed charts thatkind of break it down and make
it easier for you to follow. Andif you don't want to do that
(12:38):
then goes to your primarycaregiver, and they can look at
the charts and break it down andfollow the guidelines. But
really, it's recommended foralmost everybody.
Beth Brown (12:46):
Okay, do you know where folks can go to try to get
it?
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (12:49):
Well, I've been making some phone calls
today. I didn't have much luck.
I know that the VA has I knowthat county health department
has it peer view has it. Some ofthe pharmacies, like the chain
pharmacies have it. Some of themdon't, most of them are
requiring an appointment. Soyou'd have to call in wearing an
(13:10):
appointment. And I didn't get asense of what kind of volume of
vaccine any of these placeshave. So I don't know what their
supply looks like. But but all Ican say is call before you go
and find someplace who will holda vaccine for you and then go
get it.
Beth Brown (13:29):
That sounds like a good plan. And then what about
costs is the current vaccine,something that insurance usually
covers?
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (13:37):
Yeah, that's a course if you have
Medicaid or Medicare, that'sthey're going to cover it, it's
going to be free. If you haveany private insurance, the
Affordable Care Act mandatesthat the COVID vaccine be given
for free. So if you have anykind of private insurance,
you're covered, the vaccine isgoing to be free. If you don't
(13:58):
qualify for Medicaid or Medicareand you do not have private
insurance, HHS Health and HumanServices Department of the
federal government has a programcalled Bridge access that will
pay for your COVID vaccination.
I talked to a couple ofpharmacies who are aware of the
program but they weren't sureexactly how it operated. So all
(14:18):
I know is that you can get yourvaccine, it shouldn't cost you
anything. And probably thepeople who administer it are
going to be a little bit puzzledabout exactly how to do it. But
you should be able to get thevaccine for free no matter what
your status is.
Beth Brown (14:36):
Okay, well, maybe that's a good opportunity to put
a website with this episode.
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (14:43):
You know, the vaccine just got released
not that long ago. And I thinklike many of these things,
there's there's going to be alittle bit of stuttering before
they smooth out the wholebureaucratic part of this but
the vaccine is approved. It'sit's manufactured, it's around,
you might have to be a littleHave it persistent, find some
someplace where you can get it.
But it's, it's worth the timeinvestment.
Beth Brown (15:06):
And while you're here, let's talk about some of
the other vaccines. You know,we're in October. So I know we
should be getting on it if wehaven't gotten the flu vaccine.
And I know we've been talkingabout RSV, but holidays are
coming up. And those are thetimes where we're going to be
around more people. So what'ssafe to get together? You
mentioned you tried to get yourflu and COVID together? And RSV.
(15:27):
Can you get all of thosetogether? If all three are
available?
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (15:33):
Oh, yeah, I would take nine or 10 vaccines
at the same time, if I could.
Here's the way I explain it. Soyou're walking around doing your
job and your coworker sneezes,and your cat bites you before
you go to work. And you know,you cut yourself shaving and so
your body is constantly beingexposed to viruses, to bacteria
(15:54):
to fungi. I mean, we we live ina sea of various kinds of germs
and our body encounters them allthe time. And our immune system
is experienced at dealing withmany different insults at the
same time. So your cat bites youand your immune system reacts to
(16:15):
the bacteria that it injectedand your coworkers sneezes, and
your immune system responds tothe virus that you breathe in
from that blah, blah, blah, youeat some questionable tuna for
lunch. And our immune systemscan handle all of that it's
designed to handle all of thatsimultaneously. So you can give
(16:36):
multiple vaccines at the sametime now, I'm not saying that
you won't be hurt in your arm, Igot influenza and COVID in the
same arm and it was sore. Butyou know, 24 hours and you can't
even tell that it happened I wasgonna get all three but they
didn't have the RSV availablebut Oh, and when I when I went
(16:57):
in the military, they did notworry about that they gave you
about 10 That literally gave youfive vaccines and one arm and
five in the other arm and thenthey had to stand in formation
to see who fainted from it. But
[Beth (17:10):
wow,] that's but it's it's safe and it your body is is
adapted to that so it's safe andthe vaccines will all work.
Beth Brown (17:21):
Yeah, and side effects that might happen if you
do do all three other than thesore arm people might expect?
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (17:27):
The usual stuff, you know, muscle aches, I
always around a little bit of alow grade fever whenever I get
influenza vaccine. So I feelkind of crummy. You know that
first evening, but by the nextday, I can't tell what I get out
of it. So people know howthey're gonna feel you get a
sore arm, you get a little flufeeling but it shouldn't last
(17:47):
more than 24 to 48 hours. If itdoes, you know, you probably
ought to be seen, but nowthey're, they're safe. They're
effective. They're cheap.
Beth Brown (17:54):
Yeah, especially if they're free. Alright, so if
anybody has any questions orconcerns and they want the most
up to date information, what aresome resources that we can put
along for them to take a lookat?
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (18:05):
Well, one of the things we didn't talk
about was the pneumonia shottwo, that's another one that you
should be worrying about. Andagain, it's recommended 65 and
older that get vaccinatedagainst the pneumococcal
pneumonia, which is a bacterialillness, but it's a big deal,
because that's one of the topcauses of death is actuarial
pneumonia. And it's recommendedfor children, especially
(18:26):
children that maybe have chronicillnesses like diabetes, that
sort of thing. It's complicated,because there are about five
different pneumococcal vaccinesand how you get them and when
you get them as a little bitcomplicated. But again, the CDC
has a chart that you can walkyourself through and, and help
(18:48):
figure out which vaccine youneed. Basically, you need two
different vaccines in a yearapart, but because there are
four different vaccines therevarious combinations of them
that you can get, and so takes alittle bit of sleuthing to
figure out exactly what's yourbest combination. But again, you
know, if you get COVID, or youget influenza that lowers your
(19:09):
resistance to bacterialpneumonia, and that's a that's a
big deal. So you really shouldget vaccinated against a whole
raft of them.
Beth Brown (19:16):
That's good to know.
And I would guess your doctorwould be able to sleuth with you
as far as what you should bedoing for that.
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (19:23):
You're paying them so make them do the
hard work.
Beth Brown (19:26):
Perfect. Okay, good.
Did we forget anything else?
Then I want to make sure we'recovering all the bases here.
We're getting into that season,for sure.
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (19:34):
Well, yeah, I think we certainly
covered all of the importantparts, the highlights, it's hard
to say, you know, people try topredict what kind of a season
we're going to have based onwhat happened in the southern
hemisphere during our summer intheir winter. People are
worried. We haven't had a reallyhorrible influenza epidemic in a
(19:55):
while so people are worriedabout COVID and influenza
hitting at the same time. ofRSV, we're seeing more and more
adults now. So people areworried about this triple
epidemic of RSV, influenza andCOVID didn't happen really too
badly last winter, but you justyou just never know. It's like
trying to predict the weatherreally, we don't really know for
(20:16):
sure what what's going tohappen. But the way to mitigate
all that is to get yourselfvaccinated.
Beth Brown (20:21):
Yeah, trust the experts as best you can and do
what you can and and hope forthe best.
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (20:24):
Yeah, there's so much misinformation,
especially on the worldwide web.
The people who study this, youknow, they're just middle class,
hardworking people. They're notmultimillionaire politicians.
It's people who got fascinatedby, you know, health stuff, and
they studied viruses andbacteria, and they help develop
these vaccines and justhardworking bright people, and
(20:48):
there's no reason not to trustthem.
Beth Brown (20:52):
So where are those reliable resources? Dr. K, where
can folks go so that they don'tget misled?
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (20:58):
Yeah, there's the Centers for Disease
Control, the World HealthOrganization, major medical
centers, like Johns Hopkins havesome really good material on
their websites, the Mayo Clinic,there any number of them, but
stay away from the loan doctorwho knows more than anybody else
on the face of the planet. Thoseare the guys you want to stay
(21:18):
away from.
Beth Brown (21:19):
Okay, they might have their own agenda.
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (21:21):
Yeah, they missed the bus somewhere. The
bus stop.
Beth Brown (21:29):
Well, thank you, Dr.
K. We appreciate it. That wasgreat information. I don't buy
for a second that the brilliantDr. K didn't show up today.
We'll put the COVID and vaccineresources that Dr. K mentioned
along with this episode. And ifyou have a question for Dr. K,
please just email us at QandA...
Dr. Doug Kuntzweiler (21:46):
As long as it's easy, no hard questions.
Beth Brown (21:50):
Any question you want to - email it to
QandAwithDrK@mpqhf.org and wewill keep your identity
anonymous. We'll just ask yourquestion and you can get your
answers, and we'll put thatemail address with this episode
as well.
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