December 11, 2024 • 6 mins
The holidays are about celebrating with friends and family and spreading joy and cheer. However, that’s not the only thing spreading. Respiratory viruses are also on the rise, making rapid diagnostic testing an essential tool for providing peace of mind. In this special public service interview, Mary Rodgers, Ph.D., will share important information about the benefits of rapid diagnostic testing and how it can be used to prevent the spread of illnesses among family and friends at seasonal celebrations. As a global virus hunter with health tech company Abbott, Dr. Rodgers hopes to encourage anyone who is feeling ill and plans to attend a holiday event to get tested. Of course, no one wants their holidays to be ruined by being sick, so learn how advances in rapid diagnostic testing technology can provide a diagnosis to ensure a healthier holiday. Dr. Rogoers visits with Mark Alyn on this edition of Late Night Health.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/late-night-health-radio--2804369/support.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/late-night-health-radio--2804369/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
This is Late Night Help. I'm Mark Allen. As we
enter the holiday season for twenty twenty four, we're going
to meet a virus hunter, a researcher, and virus hunter,
and it almost sounds like a science fiction movie come
to life. We're going to go to Chicago and meet
doctor Mary Rogers. Doctor Rogers, welcome to Late Night Help.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Pleasure could be here, thanks Mark.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
As we get into the holidays, people get sick and
I am the biggest baby in the world. I hate
being sick, and so during COVID I had the abbot
testing and constantly checked for COVID. First of all, do
we have to still worry about COVID?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Well, it's definitely out there, especially with people traveling a
lot for the holidays. If it's one place in the US,
it's everywhere in the US. I know that right now
in LA the levels are low, which is good, but
that can always change. So it's always a good idea
to be testing if you're starting to feel sick, so
that you can do something about it as soon as possible.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
And it's easy to test, isn't it. For COVID and
the flu and.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
RSB, it's very simple to do so whether you're testing
at home for COVID with Abbot's buyinax now, or you're
going into a pharmacy or an urgent care setting and
getting tested with Abbot's id now tests, which you can
get tested on id now for flu, COVID, RSV, and
STRAP and those all kind of have similar symptoms when
(01:43):
you're first coming down with something, so you can't really
tell which one it is unless you have testing to
answer those questions. And like you said, it is really
easy to do. You basically just take a swab, put
it in your nose or put it in your throat,
depending on the test, and then the swap just goes
into the test and it does all the work. So
fifteen minutes later you have a result and you can
(02:04):
do something about it. If you need to connect with
your healthcare provider, you can, and that test result can
serve as the basis for your decisions about what you
should be doing next.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
What about getting those results and deciding if I should
or should not go to the doctor or take my
kids to the doctor.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
It's always so hard to tell, and I know some
people are verse to going to the doctor's office, but
it's always important. No comment there but I do know
that if you connect with your healthcare provider, they will
give you the best guidance on whether or not you
need to come in. That's really key. They will give
(02:46):
you the best option there. But either way, whether you
go in or not, having a test result is going
to be important so that you can make a decision
about what you do next. So if you have the result,
you know, if you're positive or something, then you you
have options, you can get treatment, you can hopefully prevent
something from spreading within your own family. I know that
(03:07):
whenever I hear my own kids coughing, I go into
crisis mode because I'm a little nervous. Sometimes it ruins
the whole week. Sometimes it's no big deal, but I
don't know for sure. So testing really is important, and
it's fast. We have these tests widely available. It's easy
to do, and it helps you with your if you're
(03:27):
managing everyone's health in your household. It's really a good tool,
especially in the holiday season.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
And what about you know, spreading the viruses. You know,
they spread differently I believe than bacteria. I mean, during
the summer we have to worry about bacteria from food poisoning,
but viruses are different than bacteria, are they not.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Viruses are different, but even within viruses they spread slightly differently.
So something like say, influence is more likely to be
spread by touching things, whereas COVID is more likely to
be spread through the air and aerosols. Strep throat, on
the other hand, that is caused by a bacteria, and
that bacteria can also just spread by sharing a drink
(04:13):
with someone. So it's really important to do kind of
the basics when you're trying to stay healthy, some of
the common sense things like washing your hands often, not
sharing drinks with people, which especially in the holiday season.
I hate to see hot chocolate go to waste, and
I always intended to finish my kids drinks, but it's
probably a good idea not to do that this time
(04:34):
of year. And then, of course, if you know someone
is sick, just avoid them if possible, so that you
don't get it too.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
When you go to a holiday party. Is there anything
specifically that you should avoid in contacting people. I mean,
this is the time of season where we hug, we kiss,
we shake hands, all of the above.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
It's important to go in to those situations knowing if
you're healthy so you really can only control yourself right,
and you can make sure that you are coming into
these parties healthy. And sometimes that just means taking care
of yourself so that you're coming in and the best
overall health. Whether that means testing if you have a
sniffle to make sure it's not something that could be
(05:19):
more serious for someone who is vulnerable, or staying hydrated
so that if you do catch something you're better prepared
to fight it off. These are all kinds of things
that holiday season it's important, but really all the time,
these are important things to do.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
It is really hard to watch your kids being sick.
You want to be sick for them and take care
of take care of them. Doctor Rogers. Thank you very
much for your help. If people want information, I believe
they go to rapid test dot abbot. That's rapid test
(05:56):
dot abbot. We'll have that up on our screen. And
it's it's really important to continuously test to make sure
that everything is okay.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Very important. And yes, if people want more information, they
can go to our website.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Good deal, all right, thank you very much, doctor Rogers.
I'm Mark Allen. This is late night help
This is Late Night Help. I'm Mark Allen. As we
enter the holiday season for twenty twenty four, we're going
to meet a virus hunter, a researcher, and virus hunter,
and it almost sounds like a science fiction movie come
to life. We're going to go to Chicago and meet
doctor Mary Rogers. Doctor Rogers, welcome to Late Night Help.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Pleasure could be here, thanks Mark.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
As we get into the holidays, people get sick and
I am the biggest baby in the world. I hate
being sick, and so during COVID I had the abbot
testing and constantly checked for COVID. First of all, do
we have to still worry about COVID?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Well, it's definitely out there, especially with people traveling a
lot for the holidays. If it's one place in the US,
it's everywhere in the US. I know that right now
in LA the levels are low, which is good, but
that can always change. So it's always a good idea
to be testing if you're starting to feel sick, so
that you can do something about it as soon as possible.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
And it's easy to test, isn't it. For COVID and
the flu and.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
RSB, it's very simple to do so whether you're testing
at home for COVID with Abbot's buyinax now, or you're
going into a pharmacy or an urgent care setting and
getting tested with Abbot's id now tests, which you can
get tested on id now for flu, COVID, RSV, and
STRAP and those all kind of have similar symptoms when
(01:43):
you're first coming down with something, so you can't really
tell which one it is unless you have testing to
answer those questions. And like you said, it is really
easy to do. You basically just take a swab, put
it in your nose or put it in your throat,
depending on the test, and then the swap just goes
into the test and it does all the work. So
fifteen minutes later you have a result and you can
(02:04):
do something about it. If you need to connect with
your healthcare provider, you can, and that test result can
serve as the basis for your decisions about what you
should be doing next.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
What about getting those results and deciding if I should
or should not go to the doctor or take my
kids to the doctor.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
It's always so hard to tell, and I know some
people are verse to going to the doctor's office, but
it's always important. No comment there but I do know
that if you connect with your healthcare provider, they will
give you the best guidance on whether or not you
need to come in. That's really key. They will give
(02:46):
you the best option there. But either way, whether you
go in or not, having a test result is going
to be important so that you can make a decision
about what you do next. So if you have the result,
you know, if you're positive or something, then you you
have options, you can get treatment, you can hopefully prevent
something from spreading within your own family. I know that
(03:07):
whenever I hear my own kids coughing, I go into
crisis mode because I'm a little nervous. Sometimes it ruins
the whole week. Sometimes it's no big deal, but I
don't know for sure. So testing really is important, and
it's fast. We have these tests widely available. It's easy
to do, and it helps you with your if you're
(03:27):
managing everyone's health in your household. It's really a good tool,
especially in the holiday season.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
And what about you know, spreading the viruses. You know,
they spread differently I believe than bacteria. I mean, during
the summer we have to worry about bacteria from food poisoning,
but viruses are different than bacteria, are they not.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Viruses are different, but even within viruses they spread slightly differently.
So something like say, influence is more likely to be
spread by touching things, whereas COVID is more likely to
be spread through the air and aerosols. Strep throat, on
the other hand, that is caused by a bacteria, and
that bacteria can also just spread by sharing a drink
(04:13):
with someone. So it's really important to do kind of
the basics when you're trying to stay healthy, some of
the common sense things like washing your hands often, not
sharing drinks with people, which especially in the holiday season.
I hate to see hot chocolate go to waste, and
I always intended to finish my kids drinks, but it's
probably a good idea not to do that this time
(04:34):
of year. And then, of course, if you know someone
is sick, just avoid them if possible, so that you
don't get it too.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
When you go to a holiday party. Is there anything
specifically that you should avoid in contacting people. I mean,
this is the time of season where we hug, we kiss,
we shake hands, all of the above.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
It's important to go in to those situations knowing if
you're healthy so you really can only control yourself right,
and you can make sure that you are coming into
these parties healthy. And sometimes that just means taking care
of yourself so that you're coming in and the best
overall health. Whether that means testing if you have a
sniffle to make sure it's not something that could be
(05:19):
more serious for someone who is vulnerable, or staying hydrated
so that if you do catch something you're better prepared
to fight it off. These are all kinds of things
that holiday season it's important, but really all the time,
these are important things to do.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
It is really hard to watch your kids being sick.
You want to be sick for them and take care
of take care of them. Doctor Rogers. Thank you very
much for your help. If people want information, I believe
they go to rapid test dot abbot. That's rapid test
(05:56):
dot abbot. We'll have that up on our screen. And
it's it's really important to continuously test to make sure
that everything is okay.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Very important. And yes, if people want more information, they
can go to our website.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Good deal, all right, thank you very much, doctor Rogers.
I'm Mark Allen. This is late night help
Popular Podcasts
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.