Michelle writes:
My mother in law passed away about a year and a half ago. At the time she had a staph infection that had spread to her blood and though she was being treated for it, it was implicated in her death.
After she passed my husband had packed up several of her items and furniture when he cleared out her room. He was gloved and masked at the time as I am immunosuppressed and we didn’t want to have me get staph from handling her items.
These items have been in our garage for about 17 months now and my husband wants to bring them into the house. I’ve read that staph can last on surfaces and objects or furniture for months – is it safe to bring these items into the house after 17 months? These are items that she had in her room while she was sick – will the staph on these items still be infectious by this time?
I can also have him wipe down some of the items with disinfectant wipes but not all as several are paper products such as photos and documents as well as clothing — so disinfecting is not an option for everything.
Michelle
Ella writes:
My niece who is 33 weeks pregnant has a positive covid test with mild symptoms.
Her doctor said not to worry and consider it as ‘just as a flu’.
Is this a valid statement and what would be your advice?
Thank you for your input and the ongoing invaluable educational efforts.
Regards, Ella
Alina writes:
Dear TWIVers, and especially Dr Griffin,
I’ve depended on you for reliable information since the start of this pandemic, and I’ve been glad that I did. I felt reassured by your support of the mRNA vaccines. I’ve now had 7 of them (one AstraZeneca first and the others all Moderna or Pfizer) and was preparing to have the latest update this coming autumn.
The attached research article, however, now makes me worried about all this. Is reliable data emerging that vaccines are riskier than was thought? I hope you will discuss and comment on the article and its implications. Should I and others like me be worried? (I’ll turn 70 this year and am generally healthy and fit, though medicated this past year or so for cholesterol and high blood pressure.)
Please comment on the study. I’m sure I’m not the only person out here who has been getting dutifully vaccinated and is now getting a bit worried about long-term effects.
Many thanks for all your guidance over these years,
Alina
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10452662/
Lisa writes:
Hi Dr. Griffin,
I am traveling to France in mid September.
Could you comment on receiving flu and Covid vaccination in late August. I know that the updated Covid and flu vaccines for fall 2024 most likely won’t be available.
Sincerely,
Lisa Dodson MDPhD