Enjoy summer while you can, because it won’t be long before flu season starts, and the risks of COVID-19 and RSV go up as well.
Dr. Gary Kaplan, who practices in McLean, says this is the new normal: “COVID-19 is with us always and henceforth, evermore.” It’s not as tied to the seasons as a virus like the flu is, so it “just waxes and wanes,” Kaplan says, to varying intensity in different parts of the country.
The challenge now, Kaplan says, is the question of: “If you get sick, what do you have?” COVID-19, RSV, the flu, and a simple mild upper respiratory infection “all look very much alike.” But the responses to each one are different — especially in the case of COVID-19, since post-COVID syndrome “can be highly disabling,” Kaplan says. Flu kills 30 million people a year, and RSV can create severe problems, including long-term asthma.
Get a Test
“You can’t assume. You have to test,” Kaplan says. “The assumption is, if you only have a mild upper respiratory infection, it’s not COVID, and that’s not correct.”
“We know that the vaccine reduces your risk of developing long COVID by about 15 percent. We also know that if you get COVID and we treat you with Paxlovid, that in itself seems to reduce the risk of long COVID again by about another 15 percent. And if we give you Metformin for 10 days, that seems to reduce the risk of long COVID by about 80 percent. So there are things we can do once we know what the bug is, in order to treat you to get the best possible outcome.”
There are home tests for COVID and flu, but otherwise, Kaplan says you can seek testing at an urgent care center.
Vaccines
Kaplan says the other important thing to keep in mind is the importance of vaccines. “The whole objective of vaccinations is not necessarily to prevent you from getting the disease, but to lessen the impact of that disease. Vaccines save lives,” Kaplan says.
He says that the COVID vaccine might not be as important for people in their 20s and early 30s. “There’s a risk of cardiomyopathy, but the risk of cardiomyopathy is less than the risk of getting COVID and developing cardiomyopathy — dramatically so.”
Kaplan also acknowledges that those at risk of anaphylaxis or a condition called Guillain-Barre should talk to their doctors. “Any vaccine is capable of causing complications, but if you look at the number of complications versus the risk of the disease itself, no contest. … The reality of the matter is, for the majority of people, the vaccines save lives.”
Boost Your Immunity
Even with a vaccine on board, there are steps you can take to boost your immune system.
Kaplan says: “Don’t smoke; getting seven, eight hours of sleep on a regular time schedule is one of the best protectors of the immune system. Exercise is the best anti-inflammatory for our bodies and helps boost the immune system on a regular basis. Watching your diet: Don’t eat processed foods; don’t drink alcohol — all of those things weaken our immune system.”
A lot of supplements claim to boost your immune system, but only a few, Kaplan says, actually do.
“There’s some suggestion that a multivitamin may be helpful in some people. Vitamin D is essential for a healthy, functioning immune system. You should have your vitamin D measured,” he suggests.
Feature image courtesy stock.adobe.com
