How to navigate symptoms, variables and vaccinations this season

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It’s winter 2024, but the Covid-19 pandemic still hangs around. And as the virus continues to evolve, it’s doing so in increasingly predictable ways.

There are new variants in town, an improved vaccine on the horizon and new preventive treatments to help prevent the most vulnerable people from getting seriously ill from Covid. At-risk groups are now the main focus of the U.S. strategy on Covid – rather than the sweeping, one-size-fits-all approach adopted in the early days of the pandemic – which means there may be less for the average healthy person to do. But awareness is the key to staying healthy, experts say, so knowing how vulnerable you are is more important than ever.

Here’s what you need to know about COVID this summer.

A variant of the Covid-19 virus known as KP.3 is now responsible for a quarter of all cases in the US, more than any other strain, according to the latest data. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The KP.3 has recently surpassed its closest relative, the KP.2, but both belong to the group known as FLiRT variants. All of these cousins ​​are descendants of Omicron, the type of disease that wiped out the world by the end of 2021 and could easily spread.

However, the FLiRT variants “are sufficiently different from the last Omicron variant that protection is not very durable even from the current vaccine, which is based on that variant, XBB.1.5.” Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease specialist at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, tells Yahoo Life. “This is the new normal. New variants will constantly emerge and have the ability to infect many previously immune populations; This is what we should expect now and forever.

But the good news is that the new dominant variants aren’t more likely to cause serious illness, hospitalization or death, Adalja says.

Whatever differences you may find, the symptoms are all basically the same, says Adalja. “Everybody talks about these changing signals,” he says Dr. David Smith, head of the University of California, San Diego Division of Infectious Diseases. But the truth is, the good old cough, fever, sore throat, malaise or aches…are the same things from when the outbreak started. The New York Times also reported that patients generally feel “bloated”. As of 2011 CDCCommon symptoms include:

of The CDC recommends Anyone age 5 and older should get one dose of one of the current Covid vaccines made by Pfizer, Moderna or Novavax. Young children, adults 65 and older and people with compromised immune systems may need higher doses, the agency said.

However, with a new round of vaccines expected to become available this fall, expert advice is a little more complicated. If they don’t get the current dose of the vaccine, “most people can be prevented,” Adalja says. “If you get it now, it could cloud the effect of the new vaccine in the fall.” The FDA has asked vaccine makers to update their vaccines to make the vaccine effective against the JN.1 strain, of which the FLiRT variants are descendants.

For most people, Adalja says whether or not to shoot this winter will depend “on a case by case basis,” and recommends considering:

  • How long has it been since your last vaccination?

  • How high is your risk for severe covid.

  • What risk you are at (eg, elderly, overweight, people with chronic health conditions, immunocompromised people)

  • How long has it been since your last covid infection?

  • If you are pregnant

Smith said anyone age 65 and older should get a dose of the vaccine if they haven’t already. “The summer heat is coming, and the vaccine offers some protection against the disease [FliRT] Alternatives,” he told Yahoo! Life. “Relatively healthy and elderly people can make their own decisions. If not, there is a high chance of contamination during the summer heat.”

Very likely, yes, and issues are already starting to appear. In the year The rate of coronavirus tests rose to 4.5% in the week ending June 1, compared to 3.8% positivity in the previous two weeks. CDC data. In the week ending June 1, emergency room visits for Covid increased by 16.2 percent. However, hospitalizations and deaths remained stable.

Time reports that already, the first signs of the problem are being seen in wastewater control, hot spots in the Northeast, South, West and Hawaii. Sewage monitoring gives a preview of how many people have Covid (or other infectious diseases) before the test positive rate starts to change.

“The waves are just starting…but who knows if we’ll have big summer waves like we’ve had every summer since then. [the COVID pandemic] “It’s started,” says Smith. Adalja said he expects an increase in the number of Covid cases when a new variant comes in. “It’s not something that’s untreatable in the health care system, but it’s an increase,” he says.

Both experts warn that anytime you spend time in crowded places, especially during the FLiRT-fueled summer months, you can be at risk of contracting Covid. That doesn’t mean everyone should stay indoors, just be aware of your risks and do what you can to mitigate them.

“The main character we need to instill in our culture is, if you’re sick, stay home,” Smith says. “The personal issue is true: we should be more forgiving when someone says something I don’t feel well and I don’t think I should go in. [to work] Or go to that event. We should be grateful to that person for taking care of us by not exposing us to COVID or anything else.

Yes. of The CDC still recommends testing. If you have symptoms of covid or know you have been exposed to someone who has the virus. “If you don’t feel right, you should take a test,” Smith said. If your first home test is negative, the CDC says the best way to make sure you’re Covid-free is to get a second test within 48 hours of symptoms, and three home tests if you’re asymptomatic.

However, you can no longer order free tests from the US government. The program has been discontinued from March 2024. Private insurers are also no longer required to pay for tests. But some insurers still cover the tests, such as Medicaid and Medicare.

The CDC is relaxed. Recommendations After a positive test in March, quarantine and now suggest that people with symptoms stay at home and stay away from other people. If you are fever-free and symptom-free for at least 24 hours, you do not need to stay home.

“If you test positive, you need to talk to your doctor about whether or not you need treatment,” advises Smith. However, we still don’t have good treatments for covid, paxlovide is the only approved drug for covid. “It’s not about getting better like Tamiflu, but it’s about preventing serious disease,” says Adalja. of CDC It recommends that paxlovide – which requires a prescription – should be given to people at high risk of serious illness. Paxlovide should be taken five to seven days after the onset of symptoms.

But for most people, the agency can help you recover at home and use over-the-counter medications, including acetaminophen or ibuprofen, to help manage your symptoms.

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