Larissa writes:
Hi,
I’m a 55 year old woman who got pericarditis with my first booster (and similar symptoms after my second shot). I got the Moderna vaccine. My cardiologist told me I can’t get any more boosters.
It’s been 18 months since my last shot. Do I have any protection against severe illness at this point, or am I essentially unvaccinated after all this time?
Related question: Since I can’t boosted, treatment is important. I take clonezepam. The Liverpool drug interactions website says not to administer Paxlovid with clonezepam.
My doctor said maybe I could reduce my dose, but she wasn’t sure. The pharmacist said I could not take it. There is no way to get Remdesivir in my area. Suggestions on how to figure out a strategy?
Thank you! Great podcast!
Larissa
Charmaine writes:
I just read that the NHS in the UK has stopped offering Covid vaccines to people who are not at high risk. This is nuts!! They said it’s to prioritize those most at risk and cut the backlogs and waiting lists. Good lord, don’t they have enough vaccines and/or personnel to give people jabs and is the demand still that high? Why would you tell people they CAN’T have it? My sense is that we’re swimming in the availability of vaccines.
– Charmaine
Walnut Creek, CA
Clarification from vr: While the country will stop widely providing the vaccine to those under 50 next month, anyone deemed to have a clinical need, such as those at risk of severe illness, as well as frontline healthcare workers and caregivers, will still be able to get the shot.
Paula writes:
Dear Dr Griffin,
since you brought up shingles / shingrix it reminded me to send a question about my friend who has repeated bouts of shingles in the roof of her mouth every few months. Nothing seems to stop it. Her doctor gets her on antivirals immediately if she calls to say it’s erupting again. She also seems to have it happen after any dental work. This has been going on for years. She had the shingles vaccine in between bouts of this and it stopped for slightly longer and then came back anyway. What causes this? What other options are out there?
Paula in MN
David writes:
Dear Dr. Griffin and Dr. Racaniello,
Thank you for all your work and consistent clinical updates. Consistent with Dr. Griffin’s comments on if you are not thinking about mpox in the differential, you will not test for it nor diagnose it, I wanted to share an article incorporating mpox into the differential of genital skin lesions due to infectious causes. The idea was to have a table with multiple variables listed together for the clinician to work through a genital skin lesion differential. I thought this could be helpful. Of course, sexually transmitted infections may occur concurrently, thus testing for co-infections is important to quickly identify all pathogens and appropriately treat individuals.
https://www.health.mil/News/Articles/2022/12/01/Brief-MSMR
Your commitment to updates over the past few years has been incredible. Thank you for your unwavering messaging and commitment.
DAVID R. SAYERS, MD, MTM&H
Lt Col USAF MC
Chief, Preventive Medicine
Air Force Medical Readiness Agency (AFMRA/SG3PM)
Falls Church, VA