3310.
3310. THANKS SO MUCH FOR BEING WITH US.
>> INKS FOR HAVING ME, MY
PLEASURE.
>> FIRST QUESTION, WHAT WILL
ANTIBODY TESTS SHOW US AND HOW
WILL THAT HELP US REOPEN?
>> SO THIS IS A REALLY
IMPORTANT QUESTION BECAUSE WE
HAVE BEEN TALKING A LOT ABOUT
TESTING.
SCIENTISTS HAVE SPENT A LOT OF
TIME MODELING THE BEHAVIOR OF
THE VIRUS, TRYING TO SEE WHAT
IT IS GOING TO DO.
WHAT ANTIBODY TEST DO IS THEY
ACTUALLY TELL US WHAT THE VIRUS
HAS DONE.
INSTEAD OF RELYING ON ANY MODEL
THAT HAS ASSUMPTIONS BUILT INTO
IT, ANTIBODY TESTS TELL US NOT
JUST WITH THE PAST HAS BEEN, IN
OTHER WORDS, WHO HAS BEEN
AFFECTED AND RECOVERED, BUT
ACTUALLY WHAT THE FUTURE IS
GOING TO BE AND HOW WE SHOULD
MAKE OUR DECISIONS.
I LIKE TO THINK OF THE ANTIBODY
TEST IN ELIMINATING THE STEPS
TO TAKE.
LET'S TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT
WHAT THE TEST IS.
ANTIBODY TEST ITSELF LOOKS FOR
A PROTEIN IN THE BLOOD THAT IS
A MARKER IN THE IMMUNE SYSTEM
THAT TELLS US YOUR IMMUNE
SYSTEM HAS SEEN THIS VIRUS
BEFORE.
THE TEST USUALLY BECOMES
POSITIVE ABOUT SEVEN DAYS AFTER
VIRAL INFECTION, AND WE DON'T
EXACTLY KNOW HOW LONG IT STAYS
POSITIVE, BUT BASED ON WHAT WE
KNOW ABOUT OTHER CORONAVIRUS
IS, WE KNOW THAT AT LEAST FOR
SEVERAL MONTHS, POSSIBLY UP TO
A YEAR OR TWO YEARS, THE TEST
WILL BE POSITIVE.
BY DOING AN ANTIBODY TEST, WE
CAN IDENTIFY WHO HAS CONTRACTED
THE VIRUS AND RECOVERED FROM
IT.
NOW, WE THINK THAT HAVING THE
ANTIBODY MEANS THAT YOU HAVE
IMMUNITY TO THE VIRUS, BUT
AGAIN, THIS IS A LITTLE BIT OF
AN UNKNOWN.
YOU CAN IMAGINE, IF WE KNOW WHO
HAS GOTTEN THE VIRUS WILL
RECOVERED, AND THEN WE KNOW WHO
POTENTIALLY HAS IMMUNITY TO IT.
WE CAN TARGET THOSE PEOPLE TO
RELAX SOCIAL DISTANCING TO GO
BACK TO WORK BECAUSE THOSE
PEOPLE WOULD HOPEFULLY NO LONGER
BE AT RISK THEMSELVES AND
CERTAINLY NO LONGER BE A RISK
TO OTHERS.
THE SECOND BENEFIT OF THE
ANTIBODY TEST IS THAT WE CAN
HELP TO IDENTIFY A POTENTIAL
TREATMENT.
AS YOU KNOW RIGHT NOW, THERE'S
NO KNOWN TREATMENTS FOR COVID-
19 INFECTION.
FOR THOSE PEOPLE THAT ARE
EXTREMELY ILL, PRELIMINARY
STUDIES HAVE SHOWN US THAT
USING ANTIBODIES FROM SOMEBODY
ELSE AND PUTTING THEM INTO
THOSE ILL PATIENTS POTENTIALLY
HAS LED TO POSITIVE RESULTS.
AND SO, BY DOING ANTIBODY
TESTING, WE CAN REALLY FIND
THOSE PEOPLE WHO COULD BE
DONORS FOR THEIR ANTIBODIES.
>> YEAH, THAT WOULD BE GREAT
NEWS.
THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF UNREST
AROUND THE COUNTRY.
WHAT COULD HAPPEN IF STEADY
CITIES AND STATES OPEN TOO
SOON?
>> THAT IS GOING TO BE OUR
WORST NIGHTMARE COMING TRUE IF
CITIES AND STATES OPEN TOO
SOON.
ESSENTIALLY WHAT COULD HAPPEN
IS THE GENIE COULD COME OUT OF
THE BOTTLE.
THE VIRUS COULD GET AHEAD OF US
AND WE CAN HAVE MASS CASUALTIES
AND OVERWHELM OUR HOSPITAL
SYSTEM.
THERE'S TWO FACTORS WHEN YOU
THINK ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING
AND HOW MANY CASES THERE ARE
GOING TO BE.
ONE IS THE BEHAVIOR OF THE
VIRUS.
THAT DOES NOT CHANGE.
THE SECOND IS OUR BEHAVIOR.
SO FAR, WE HAVE KEPT THE VIRUS
AND CHECK WITH OUR BEHAVIOR,
WITH SOCIAL DISTANCING, WITH
STAYING AT HOME.
AS SOON AS WE RELAX THAT, WE
EXPECT TO SEE A SPIKE IN CASES.
OUR BIGGEST WORRY AND BIGGEST
FEAR IS OF THAT SPIKE BECOMES
UNMANAGEABLE, WE DON'T HAVE THE
TESTING, WE DON'T HAVE THE
TESTING IN PLACE TO CONTROL THE
SPIKE AND HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS
BECOME OVERWHELMED AND WE START
LOSING AMERICAN LIVES.
THAT WOULD BE THE BIGGEST FEAR
IF WE OPEN TOO EARLY.
>> OKAY.
EVIL ARE TRYING TO GAUGE, WHAT
IS REASONABLE AND WHAT IS NOT.
IS IT SAFE TO GO TO THE
DENTIST?
>> DENTIST IS AN IMPORTANT
QUESTION BECAUSE MANY STATES
ARE ACTUALLY ALLOWING ELECTIVE
SURGERIES TO RESUME AS EARLY AS
THIS WEEK OR NEXT WEEK.
I WOULD SAY AT THIS POINT, I
WOULD NOT RECOMMEND GOING TO
THE DENTIST FOR ELECTIVE
SEIZURES.
YOU CAN IMAGINE, THE DENTIST IS
A CLOSE CONTACT SORT OF
SITUATION AND YOU ARE IN
CONTACT WITH RESPIRATORY
DROPLETS.
IT COULD BE THAT YOU ARE
FEELING JUST FINE, BUT YOUR
DENTIST WITH A HYGIENIST HAS
BEEN EXPOSED TO SOMEBODY ELSE
CONTRACTED THE VIRUS WITHOUT
REALIZING IT, AND THEN PASSES
IT ON TO YOU.
REALLY, IT IS A TIME TO
POSTPONE THE SELECTIVE
PROCEDURES AND ONLY FOCUS ON
EMERGENCY CASES.
>> FOR THOSE OF YOU JUST
JOINING US, DR. PAYAL KOHLI ,
ABC10 HEALTH AND EXPERT HERE
TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS.
TEXT US AT 916-321-3310.
DR. KOHLI , A VIEWER ASKS, ARE
PREGNANT WOMEN AT RISK?
>> PREGNANT WOMEN ARE
CONSIDERED A VULNERABLE
POPULATION BECAUSE YOUR IMMUNE
SYSTEM IS SUPPRESSED.
THE GOOD NEWS FOR PREGNANT
WOMEN IS, SO FAR, WITH ALL OF
THE CASE REPORTS THAT WE HAVE
SEEN, THERE DOES NOT APPEAR TO
BE A HIGHER RISK OF CATCHING
THE VIRUS AND THERE DOESN'T
APPEAR TO BE A HIGHER RISK OF
COMPLICATIONS, INCLUDING LEGACY
COMPLICATIONS WHICH, BY THE
WAY, IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM
WHAT WE SAW WITH SARS WHICH WAS
A HIGHER RISK OF COMPLICATIONS.
THERE WAS A STUDY THAT CAME OUT
THIS WEEK THAT LOOKED AT WOMEN
PRESENTING FOR DELIVERY AND
BELIEVE IT OR NOT, ONE OUT OF
EIGHT OF THEM WERE POSITIVE FOR
THE VIRUS WITHOUT EVEN
REALIZING IT.
THEY HAD NO SYMPTOMS AT ALL.
IT IS TURNING OUT THAT PREGNANT
WOMEN ARE REALLY NOT AT AS MUCH
RISK AS WE HAD INITIALLY
THOUGHT.
THERE WAS ONE CASE OF MOM MAYBE
PASSING THE VIRUS ON TO BABY
WHILE BABY WAS IN EURO, BUT
THIS IS EXTREMELY RARE.
STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THE RISK OF