Eli writes:
Are masks recommended on commercial flights or does the turn over of cabin air once in flight mean they are not needed?
Eli
Anita writes:
First of all, I would like to thank you and Vincent for your wonderful podcast and all of the terrific information that you continue to share.
While listening to the most recent TWIV, you responded to an email about hepatitis B vaccination. I thought it may be worthwhile to mention Heplisav B as an option for your listeners.
Thank you!
Anita
Linda writes:
Hello,
I’m an 50 something who will be a poll worker on Election Day. I would like to get a Covid booster prior to this – what would be the best timing?
Also, I’ve never had chicken pox. I’ve had two chicken pox vaccines, the second one was about 20 years ago. I had a negative Varicella zoster IgG titer test in 2021. Do I still need to get a shingles vaccine?
Thank you!
Linda
Jay writes:
Dear Daniel and Vincent,
I am disappointed by Emily Schmall’s piece in the September 3rd New York Times (The Best Time to Get a Flu Shot) in which she writes, “. . . experts said that for most people, getting a flu shot at the start of September may be too early to provide protection that will last throughout the flu season.” What’s disappointing is that she did not provide any evidence to support this. This was expert opinion without even naming the experts.
I have not found any evidence that getting the flu vaccine later in the season – say October or November – leads to better meaningful outcomes. If I am missing something, I do want to know. Do you know of any evidence that getting the vaccine later in the season leads to less disease or death?
Thank you for your excellent work.
Jay
Jay Gladstein, M.D. | Chief Medical Officer
APLA Health & Wellness
Scott writes:
Hello Dr. Daniel. Scott here.
I am going through my second infection in 2 years, I have taken all the boosters whenever available.
The symptoms this time were incredibly mild, I still got Paxlovid which was discouraged by the urgent care medical staff I spoke with, bringing up concerns of “rebound”. Being a regular consumer of TWIV, I pushed back and got the prescription.
The last time I took paxlovid I did experience the situation where I tested negative and then several days later I got some sniffles and retested and was positive. In preparation for this possibility, my question: Am I contagious if this happens again? I will be at day 8 tomorrow and am symptom free and testing negative.
Appreciate the work you guys have been doing! Thank you.
-Scott
Laura writes:
Dear Dr. Griffin,
No doubt I am not the first person to send you this link to the Florida Surgeon General’s “Updated Guidance for COVID-19 Boosters for the Fall and Winter 2024-2025 Season.” As someone who taught and researched scientific and technical communication for my entire career, not to mention courses in research methods, I find the rhetorical approach of this new “guidance” to be, shall we say, interesting. Links to external studies (from credible sources, such as the Cleveland Clinic) provide readers with a sense of credibility; the logical flow then creates an overall narrative that invites trust. Yet logical fallacies, incorrect interpretations, and much cherry-picking abound.
I recognize that there are too many issues herein to be addressed on TWIV, but I wondered if you could perhaps speak to two of the most egregious: 1) DNA integration and what the memo suggests is the “the risk that DNA integrated into sperm or egg gametes could be passed onto offspring of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine recipients”; and, 2) the claim made about the Cleveland Clinic study that “[a]s efficacy waned, studies showed that COVID-19 vaccinated individuals developed an increased risk for infection.”
I find memos such as this, which do not on their face appear to be misinformation, to be much more worrisome than communication that is overtly not credible. In order to avoid legal issues, many physicians in FL don’t know what they can safely say to their patients except that when it comes to COVID boosters, you are on your own.
To quote you, what does one get when you mix science with politics? Politics.
Thanks for all you do.
Sincerely,
Laura