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Dr. Gene Dorio: Snippets From The Frontline

Doctor’s Diary:  February 9, 2021

COVID-19/BLM:  Glitter

COVID-19 vaccines are being distributed as we pursue the safety of “herd immunity.”

Receiving your shot does not guarantee immediate immunity from this virus.  It might take weeks for antibodies to build up, and even after that, exposure to a swarm of viruses could still overwhelm your system.

I call it “glitter”, and had hoped somewhere a young genius would create a spray illuminating their environmental presence.  But science fiction hasn’t caught up with reality.

We use the term “viral load” discussing HIV, but now it can apply to the amount of exposure from a highly infected person.  If someone is “loaded” with glitter, coughing on you or your environment increases the chance of being infected.  Despite receiving a vaccination and having an intact immune system, one can still be overwhelmed and not be able to suppress an attack.

Therefore, even after inoculation, don’t be overconfident you might not be exposed to a large “viral load” of glitter invading your body.

Maintain social distance, wash your hands, and wear masks.

These vaccines will contribute to herd immunity, but we must await the inventiveness of that young genius before we can feel safe.

Gene Uzawa Dorio, M.D.

Doctor’s Diary:  February 15, 2021

COVID-19/BLM:  Hit by a variant?

I saw it coming but was too slow getting out of the way.  Boink, got me in the head!  I didn’t lose consciousness, and as it laid on the ground nearby, I quickly took a photo.

Yep, it seemed like a variant, and didn’t know if I would have side-effects.  My wife told me not to touch it, and as you see by the picture, it has tentacles looking like thorns.  She said, “how can that get into your lungs and infect you, especially when it fell from a tree?”

COVID-19 is a virus and like most organisms, duplicates genetically.  Mistakes happen, resulting in mutations sometimes fatal to the virus, or allows it to proliferate.  The fear is whether some variants will enhance transmission or infectivity.

One has to wonder whether the 1918 pandemic also had variants.  Probably so.  Plus we know with WWI it was worldwide, and despite jet-age travel not yet evolving, millions had it and died.

My wife is right though, this tree variant would be hard to inhale, and masking with social tree-distancing won’t make a difference.

Next time, I have to move faster.

Doctor’s Diary:  February 21, 2021

COVID-19/BLM:  Asking for treatment in the vaccine gray zone

The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine has been deficient leaving many Americans in a gray zone.  Fear of exposure and hospitalization lingers, but medical technology has provided an option.

If you develop COVID-19 symptoms and a swab test is positive, call your nearest emergency room and inquire if they carry the “monoclonal antibody.”  In the U.S. it should be free, and in certain hospitals, available for infusion.  But you have to ask!

Yep, sometimes doctors will not give you this medical option, yet the former President, his attorney, and a previous governor of New Jersey received this treatment, so why not you?  It is being underutilized.

The vaccine stimulates your immune system to make antibodies, but medical technology now provides us with a manmade antibody which is thought to be just as effective when you are ill.

You must be an outpatient (which you are in the emergency room) and meet certain criteria (look up online).  And of course, check with your primary care physician.

Even though you might be in the gray zone awaiting your vaccine, there are still options.

You just have to ask!


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Dr. Gene Dorio: Snippets From The Frontline

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