IN ABOUT A MINUTE OR SO. YOU’LL JOIN THANK YOU. THANK YOU.
>> WELCOME BACK. I’M
FORTUNATELY WE’RE NOT GOING
HAVE A CLEAN SLATE WHEN WE RING
IN THE NEW YEAR, AT LEAST WHEN
IT COMES TO COVID. THAT’S
BECAUSE WE’RE SEEING POSITIVITY
RATES UP. MORE KIDS BEING SENT
TO THE HOSPITAL.
>> AND JUST THIS PAST WEEK,
THE U.S. AVERAGED AN ALL-TIME
HIGH FOR COVID INFECTIONS.
SINCE THIS PANDEMIC STARTED.
JOINING US NOW TO BREAK IT ALL
DOWN FOR US IS DOCTOR RUTH
BERGGREN. SHE’S AN INFECTIOUS
DISEASE SPECIALIST WITH UT
HEALTH SAN ANTONIO DOCTOR
BERGGREN. THANK YOU FOR JOINING
US.
>> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING
ME ON. AND I WANT TO START BY
WISHING EVERYBODY, HEALTH AND
PEACE IN THE NEW YEAR. I THINK
THAT THAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT
MESSAGE THAT I CAN GIVE YOU.
BUT YOU’RE RIGHT. WE’RE SEEING
SURGES AND THE POSITIVITY RATE
AT THE UNIVERSITY IS AS HIGH
AS WE’VE EVER SEEN IT WITH A
31.0. 5 1% OF THE PEOPLE BEING
TESTED COMING BACK POSITIVE.
SO THIS IS LARGELY OMICRON AT
THIS POINT AND PEOPLE HAVE
GOTTEN THE MESSAGE THAT OMICRON
IS HIGHLY INFECTIOUS. MORE
INFECTIOUS THAN DELTA BUT LESS
LETHAL. AND THAT IS TRUE.
BUT
OMICRON IS CAUSING A HUGE
NUMBER OF PEOPLE TO COME TO THE
EMERGENCY ROOM TO BE EVALUATED
UP TO A 3RD OF THE ADULTS THAT
ARE COMING INTO THE UNIVERSITY
HOSPITAL. EMERGENCY ROOM RIGHT
NOW ARE COMING IN BECAUSE OF
COVID LIKE SYMPTOMS. VERY FEW
OF THEM ARE GETTING ADMITTED.
A LOT OF THEM ARE TESTING
POSITIVE, BUT THEY’RE BEING
SENT OUT. BUT WE’RE SEEING THIS
ENORMOUS BURDEN OF PEOPLE
COMING IN WITH SYMPTOMS TO THE
EMERGENCY ROOM, WHICH IS
CLOGGING UP THE MEDICAL SYSTEM
AND MAKING IT REALLY TOUGH FOR
US TO TAKE CARE OF PEOPLE WHO
HAVE
THE USUAL GAMUT OF MEDICAL
PROBLEMS. SO LET’S ADDRESS THAT
RIGHT NOW. LET’S JUST SAY FOR
THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE GOING TO
THE ER WITH WITH WITH ANY OTHER
ISSUES.
>> WHAT DO THEY DO, WHAT THEY
DO? INSTEAD WE’RE EACH GOING TO
GO. SHOULD THEY GO TO URGENT
CARE CENTERS IN STATUE, THEY GO
TO SEE THEIR DOCTORS.
RIGHT? SO IF YOU HAVE SYMPTOMS
OF COVID, THE FIRST THING YOU
SHOULD TRY TO DO IS GET A HOME
TEST IF YOU CAN STILL GET ONE.
>> IF YOU CAN’T GET THAT REACH
OUT TO YOUR PRIMARY CARE
PROVIDER OR GO TO ONE OF OUR
PUBLIC TESTING SITES, PUT A
MASK ON AND DON’T TAKE THAT
MASK OFF WHEN YOU’RE AROUND.
OTHER PEOPLE UNTIL OR UNLESS
YOU HAVE A CONCERNED NEGATIVE
TEST RESULT. SO YOU CAN DO A
LOT OF GOOD BEFORE GOING TO THE
EMERGENCY ROOM BY TRYING TO
DISCERN WHETHER YOU COVID OR
NOT. NEXT.
THE EMERGENCY ROOM. IT’S THE
PEOPLE THAT ARE REALLY SICK.
AND BY THAT, WE MEAN HAVING
SHORTNESS OF BREATH, HAVING
DIFFICULTY BREATHING VERY HIGH
FEVERS AND PEOPLE WITH THOSE
SYMPTOMS WHO ALSO HAVE
UNDERLYING HEALTH CONDITIONS
THAT PUT THEM AT HIGH RISK FOR
A BAD OUTCOME. THOSE PEOPLE ARE
THE ONES THAT NEED TO BE IN THE
EMERGENCY ROOM. THAT’S WHO WERE
THERE FOR. AND WE WANT TO TAKE
CARE OF YOU. BUT IF YOU’RE NOT
HAVING THOSE SERIOUS SYMPTOMS,
YOU’RE BETTER OFF GETTING CARE
FROM YOUR PRIMARY CARE DOCTOR
AND ALSO SEEKING A COVID TEST
IN THE COMMUNITY.
>> SO WHAT IS THAT THRESHOLD
WHEN IT COMES TO FEVERS?
AT ONE POINT, DO YOU SAY, OK,
I’M NOT GOING TO GO TO MY
DOCTOR. I’M GOING TO GO TO THE
EMERGENCY ROOM. WHAT’S THE
NUMBER THAT WE SHOULD BE
LOOKING OUT FOR?
>> OKAY. WELL, TYPICALLY IN
MEDICINE WE TALK ABOUT 101
PEOPLE AS BEING A HIGH FEVER
THAT COULD DIFFER DEPENDING ON
THE UNDERLYING CONDITIONS OF A
PERSON, PEOPLE WHO ARE VERY
ELDERLY WHO HAVE UNDERLYING
IMMUNOCOMPROMISED LOWERED GRADE
FEVER COULD BE MORE SIGNIFICANT
FOR THEM, BUT A HIGH FEVER
FEVER THAT DOESN’T COME DOWN.
WHEN YOU TAKE FEVER, LOWERING
MEDICATIONS. AND IF YOU ARE
SOMEBODY THAT’S VULNERABLE BY
VIRTUE OF BEING OLD OR BEING
ON IMMUNOSUPPRESSIVE MEDICINES.
THAT’S A WARNING SIGN THAT’S
WORTH GETTING CHECKED OUT FOR.
>> UNIVERSITY HEALTH WE KNOW IS
TELLING PEOPLE TO MIX THOSE
NEW YEAR’S PARTIES BECAUSE OF
THE RISE THAT WE’RE SEEING AND
ALL OF THESE COVID YET WE KNOW
THAT SAN ANTONIO, THE CITY IS
STILL HAVING. IT’S IT’S HUGE
PARTY FOR NEW
YEAR’S EVE TOMORROW. AND BUT
YOU’RE SAYING THAT’S OK BECAUSE
IT’S OUTSIDE.
>> OKAY. THE PROBLEM IS THAT
IF YOU GO IF YOU GET COLD AND
YOU GO INSIDE OR YOU’RE IN A
VERY, VERY BIG CROWD AND PEOPLE
AREN’T MASKED AND THEY’RE
COUGHING AND SNEEZING AROUND
THIS COULD LEAD TO
TRANSMISSION. SO IF YOU’RE
OUTDOORS AND YOU’RE KEEPING
YOUR DISTANCE FROM OTHER
PEOPLE, WE KNOW FROM STUDYING
THIS DISEASE THAT OUTDOOR
TRANSMISSION OF COVID IS
REALLY RARE. THE PROBLEM THAT
WE’RE WORRIED ABOUT IS THAT
PEOPLE WILL CROWD IN TOGETHER
AT REALLY CLOSE QUARTERS AND BE
COUGHING AND SNEEZING ON EACH
OTHER. IF YOU FIND YOURSELF IN
A CLOSE CROWD LIKE THAT, YOU
BETTER HAVE YOUR MASK ON AND IT
SHOULD BE A REALLY GOOD MASKS
LIKE THAT. KN 95 OR N 95 MASK
OR AT THE VERY LEAST A SURGICAL
MASK, A PLAIN OLD FACE CLOTH
COVERING. IT’S JUST NOT GOING
TO CUT IT. WHY? BECAUSE THE
OMICRON VARIANT OF SARS-COV 2
IS WAY MORE INFECTIOUS. MUCH
MORE TRANSMISSIBLE THAN THE
VARIANCE WE’VE BEEN DEALING
WITH PREVIOUSLY. SO PUT YOUR
MASK ON AND
STAY OUTDOORS.
>> OK, I’M REALLY GLAD THAT
YOU THAT YOU BROUGHT THAT UP
BECAUSE THERE IS A LOT OF
CONFUSION ABOUT THE IMPACT OF
THE OMICRON VARIANT BECAUSE WE
KNOW THAT THE SYMPTOMS TEND
TO BE LESS SEVERE. THE CDC IS
NOW SAYING, OK, THIS IS THE
DOMINANT STRAIN THAT WE’RE
SEEING RIGHT NOW IN THE
COUNTRY. SO YOU WOULD THINK,
BUT THAT WOULD MEAN FEWER
HOSPITALIZATIONS. BUT WE’RE NOT
SEEING THAT RIGHT NOW. CAN YOU
EXPLAIN THAT?
>> AND THAT HAS TO DO WITH THE
SHEER NUMBERS OF PEOPLE THAT
ARE GETTING INFECTED, INCLUDING
THE SYMPTOMS ON TOP OF.
BEING IMMUNIZED ALREADY.
SO RIGHT, WE SEE SYMPTOMATIC
PEOPLE THAT ARE BREAKTHROUGH
CASES THAT PEOPLE HAVE BEEN
VACCINATED. AND THEN YOU SEE
MORE SERIOUS SYMPTOMS IN PEOPLE
THAT WERE UNVACCINATED OR
PEOPLE WHO ASSUMED THEY WERE
PROTECTED BECAUSE THEY HAD A
PREVIOUS COVID-19 INFECTION.
WHEN YOU HAVE HUGE, HUGE
NUMBERS OF PEOPLE GETTING
INFECTED AND GETTING
SYMPTOMATIC ALL AT ONCE.
THAT IS WHAT OVERWHELMS THE
HEALTHCARE SYSTEM. AND AS A
VERY SMALL PERCENTAGE ARE GOING
TO BE SICK ENOUGH TO NEED TO
BE ADMITTED TO THE HOSPITAL.
BUT EVEN A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF
A VERY LARGE NUMBER IS STILL
A LARGE NUMBER, WHICH CAUSES
PRESSURE ON THE HEALTH CARE
SYSTEM. AND DON’T FORGET,
HEALTH CARE WORKERS ARE ALSO
GETTING INFECTED. SO THEY’RE
GETTING RIGHT SYMPTOMATIC
BREAKTHROUGH CASES AND THEY
CAN’T COME TO WORK WHILE THEY
HAVE SYMPTOMATIC OMICRON.
AND SO WE HAVE A DECREASE IN
THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE AVAILABLE
TO TAKE CARE, FOLKS WHEN
THEY’RE SICK.
>> OK, ONE LAST QUESTION.
I WANT TO ASK YOU, WE JUST HAVE
ABOUT 20 SECONDS LEFT. WOULD
YOU ADVISE US TO TAKE OUR
TEMPERATURES EVERY SINGLE DAY
AFTER WE HAVE ALL OF THESE
GATHERINGS IN JUST IN CASE WE
SUSPECT THAT WE THAT WE MIGHT
BE SICK OR IF WE DO HAVE COVID.
DO YOU RECOMMEND THAT WE JUST
TAKE OUR TEMPERATURES EVERY
SINGLE DAY AS A PRECAUTION.
AFTER WE MEET WITH OUR FRIENDS
AND OUR LOVED ONES.
>> SO THAT RECOMMENDATION FOR
CHECKING YOUR TEMPERATURE TWICE
A DAY IS PRETTY SPECIFIC TO
HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS
BECAUSE WE NEED TO MAKE SURE WE
IDENTIFY THEM RIGHT AWAY AND
GET THEM OUT OF CIRCULATION.
SO THEY’RE NOT INFECTING SICK
AND VULNERABLE PEOPLE. I THINK
SELF MONITORING FOR NON-HEALTH
CARE PROFESSIONALS IS A REALLY
GOOD IDEA IF YOU’RE FEELING
FEVERISH. SURE. GO AHEAD AND
TAKE YOUR TEMPERATURE. BUT
HERE’S WHAT’S EVEN BETTER.
IF YOU’VE HAD AN EXPOSURE OR
YOU’VE BEEN TO A PARTY WHERE
THERE’S A HIGH LIKELIHOOD THAT
YOU ARE EXPOSED, YOU NEED TO
WEAR A MASK AND GET YOURSELF
TESTED BY ABOUT DAY 3 TO 5 AND
GET A HOME RAPID TEST. IF YOU
CAN GET IT OR PCR TEST TO MAKE
SURE THAT YOU DIDN’T GET
INFECTED DURING THAT PARTY THAT
YOU WENT TO. PLEASE STAY AWAY
FROM THE PARTIES. IT’S HARD
TO HEAR THIS. WE ALL WANT TO
CELEBRATE, BUT IT’S DANGEROUS
RIGHT NOW.
>> UNDERSTOOD. DOCTOR RUTH
BERGGREN, INFECTIOUS DISEASE
SPECIALIST WITH UT HEALTH SAN
ANTONIO. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR
BEING WITH US HAVE A VERY HAPPY
NEW YEAR.
>> THANKS AND THANK YOU FOR