Anonymous writes:
What is it about : Clostridium difficile and the patient’s immune system that makes infection in some previously IV antibiotic treated, hospitalized, patients recur? Are patients simply re-infected with spores in their environment, likely from the original infection?
Lolly writes:
Hi Dr. Griffin!
Thank you for all you do.
So…I lost my sense of smell when I had Covid for the 2nd time in 2023. I had never experienced that before with any cold, flu, or illness, including my first bout w/Covid in March/April 2020. My sense of smell came back shortly after I became sick w/ Covid & recovered in 2023. So not long. I took Paxlovid which stopped me from getting very sick. So now, I am sick again w/a bad flu of some kind & I have lost ALL taste & smell. Full on respiratory symptoms, perpetual snot factory, non stop runny nose, weak, tired, can’t think straight, aches, sore throat, etc. but no fever. I did 3 rapid covid tests, all negative -so it’s something else. I have never, ever lost my taste & smell in all my 50+ years of influenza & all other bugs, except that once w/ Covid in 2023. Does this mean I had some kind of neurological change since Covid? I am worried this is neurological. So, I do have Fibromyalgia & did, or do, have Long Covid, but I also am ill w/ a ‘flu’ right now – which is different from my normal ‘problems’. My partner is sick w/ this ‘flu’ too, but not like me – just the normal stuff (weak, stuffy nose, aches). So as I said, I have long Covid too, most of it is not as bad as it was in 2020/21. But I have had other stuff since, that could be neurological. So this is my question: I am concerned about MS & the lot. Is there a post Covid relationship with MS, or other neurological diseases/disorders? Since I lost taste & smell w/ Covid & now this, am I more prone to losing it every time I get a respiratory virus?
Laurie writes:
Again thank you, thank you for all that you and Vincent do.
Please help. We are a large pediatric practice in SF, doing the best we can to stomp out disease (we have won awards for our high vaccine rates : ) and now we are being told not to do what we love best – vaccinate our kids from a tricky and potentially dangerous virus.
We are divided on what we should do: should we continue to vaccinate and ask parents to sign a waiver or do we follow “CDC guidance” and stop offering the vaccine. We have always followed CDC guidance in the past but what even is the CDC now and is this really their guidance?
Also the recommendations seem vague on who is considered high risk. No one seems to know. Any thoughts on who we should include in this group?
Please advise, we need help!
Laurie Schultz MD, MPH
Golden Gate Pediatrics
SF CA
Lori writes:
Hi Daniel and Vincent,
Quick question about eligibility for the vaccine against sars CoV 2 . With new “guide lines” does that mean people who live with or care for people with co-morbidities or with seniors will not be eligible? I hope this is not the case, seems short sighted if it is.
The way things are going is like watching a train wreck.
Another quick question, receiving the vaccine against chick pox as a child can it make you susceptible or help prevent shingles as an adult?
Thanks for continuing to keep us up to date and educated, deeply appreciated.
Lori
Paula writes:
Dr. Griffin,
I’m an urgent care physician in Wisconsin so I test a lot of people for Covid/Influenza/RSV. I love listening to all topics included in microbe tv. Thank you for helping me stay up to date!
I would like your opinion on my practice of giving very high risk patients paxlovid when they test positive for Covid even if they may be outside the 5 day window.
My arguments for prescribing it are as follows:
1. How do we know they didn’t have allergies or a different virus 6-7 days ago (or whenever their symptoms “started”)?
2. Wouldn’t it still help decrease replication of some of the viruses? It may not decrease your risk of hospitalization or death by 89%, but wouldn’t it still decrease it by some percentage?
3. Also might it decrease your risk of long Covid?
4. Isn’t the potential benefit worth the small cost and side effects of the medication?
Those are my thoughts. My partners rarely prescribe it if the patient has had symptoms longer than 5 days. I, of course, want you to back up my reasoning, but please let me know if I should stick to the guidelines of not prescribing if symptoms started more than 5 days prior to being seen.
Thank you!
Paula