Owen writes:

Hello Dr Griffin,

I’m a regular listener to your to your show on Saturdays. I’m a C3-4 quadriplegic and am 62 years old so I’m at an elevated risk of respiratory issues because of my age/paralysis. Early on in the pandemic there were plenty of places to monitor the amount of infection in local communities but now much of it has gone away. For the average Joe’s (such as myself), can you suggest a good strategy for monitoring levels? Maybe something similar to influenza monitoring?

Also, on today’s (10-7) show, you had a question asking about the location of the injection. Since my muscles have atrophy and my shoulders are subluxed, would you suggest a better muscle for Covid injections? Are the influenza vaccines in need of a similar muscle?

Thanks,

Owen

Lori writes:

Hi Daniel ,

I have a question regarding the measuring of cortisol levels, specifically related to Long Covid.  Does the time of day when blood is taken make a big difference in cortisol level ?  Also, if an individual who experiences fatigue has blood taken on a day when they are able to get out of bed ( feeling relatively good) how might their cortisol level differ from a day when they can not make it to the clinic to get blood drawn as they can’t get out of bed.  

When having routine blood work done would non classical monocytes be measured?

A member of my family had Covid in spring of 2020.  Over the next year she had tests done to try and explain her hypersomnia, fatigue and brain fog, of course this was before Long Covid was being widely recognized.   She is presently being treated with drugs for narcolepsy which along with her altering her daily activities, has helped a bit.  At this point I don’t think there is  any benefit for her to try and have any test done to diagnose LC as it would not change her medication, do you agree?

Lori

Lisa writes:

Dear Dr. Griffin,

Thank you for your weekly updates. You’ve made the pandemic so much easier to navigate.

I’m wondering if I should get vaccinated for shingles. I am 44 years old and I had shingles 11 years ago.

Does having shingles count as immunocompromised under the shingles vaccine guidelines… so I should get vaccinated?

I know this doesn’t work for Covid, but is there a shingles antibody test that can tell me whether I need to get vaccinated? Either a commercially available test or a test in a research lab?

Thank you,

Lisa

P.S.  I don’t know if this is relevant since I don’t think it counts as immunocompromised in regards to vaccines, but I have ME/CFS, POTS, mast cell activation syndrome, fibromyalgia, and von Willebrand type one.

Jen writes:
Hi Dr. Griffin,

Let’s suppose someone has the very bad luck of testing positive for covid a day or two after they receive their 2023-24 formulation covid vaccine. (Of course not due to the vax as that is impossible!) If this person takes Paxlovid, will it blunt both the virus replication (yay!) and also any helpful immune response to the vaccine (bummer!)? Are there any reasons Paxlovid should be avoided right after vaccination in a covid + patient who otherwise would be recommended to receive that treatment?

Thanks as always for sharing your expertise, helping us plan, and reducing worries!

Jen