So I'll start kind of with with the
pitch like let's say I'm you know
later tonight I I start to feel sick.
I take a test and I'm positive.
What's the first thing I do?
Do I run out to a pharmacy?
Do I stay at home?
I mean how do I handle
this? Yeah, really I hate saying
this right it depends right?
It depends where you are right if it's
you being a healthy young guy yeah
go home so so let's break it down a
little bit all right so let's say yes
someone is out there one of our viewers
starts getting some symptoms and goes
and gets one of those rapid tests.
From from wherever and
it comes back positive.
OK, first thing I do is think
about your own situation.
OK, number one.
If you are a young and when I say young
I mean less than 65 if you're less than
65 years old you are relatively healthy.
No other medical problems.
Go home, OK,
that's what you want to do.
Go home, isolate yourself,
don't get anyone else sick, right?
And this is especially if you've
already been vaccinated all right.
The chances are if you are healthy,
less than 65, you've been vaccinated,
the chances you have to go to the
hospital or end up in the hospital
is going to be far less than 1%.
OK, so so good for you you.
You're prepared basically.
OK, let's say now you're over
65 or you're younger than 65.
But you have some serious medical problems.
You have heart disease.
You have diabetes.
Now.
You have already preexisting lung disease.
Something like that.
You've had cancer, those kind of things
you need to be a little more careful.
All right, if you're that kind of individual,
you have a fever.
You feel pretty ill.
You do need to go see a doctor,
and the reason for that is
because for that group of people.
For older folks,
for those who are somewhat immunocompromised,
all right,
our treatments that we have
everyone's heard of packs loaded.
Right or even the the
antibody infusion treatments.
Those will decrease the chance that
you have to be admitted in the hospital
or that you will get very sick.
So you definitely should go see a doctor.
Get evaluated and see if you are
appropriate for either one of
those treatments to to prevent
your disease getting worse.
So really is 2 big groups of people and
it depends which one you fall into,
what you
do and it would. Is it fair to
say that you know 65 up and those
with with like underlying health
conditions are just? 65 and up
again, I would say both of those groups.
OK, so if you are 65 and up,
definitely go get checked out.
It may be that you're still doing well
enough that you don't really need anything
and go home and be OK, that's great,
but don't decide that on your own.
Let's let a doctor make that decision.
OK, if you're less than 65 and have
some of those comorbid conditions,
immunocompromising issues like I
talked about, then yes, again,
let a doctor decide whether
it's OK for you to just go home.
And isolate on your own.
So let's say I am me, right?
Let's say I'm somebody under 65 and
I I test positive on feeling sick.
Is there anything I definitely
should take or shouldn't take?
You know, people talk about vitamin C
and immune boosters or even ibuprofen
like what's OK and what's not. OK,
any of those are OK man.
Listen, you don't need to feel like crap
feeling like crap is not necessity right?
I mean so so if you feel like garbage
and you wanna go get some Motrin help
yourself feel better bring your fever.
Town Nyquil, any of those things are fine.
There's really nothing wrong.
That's why they're over the counter, right?
Because those are.
Those are generally safe things.
Use it within the prescribed
guidelines on the label you're
going to be good to go again.
I've told this people over and over.
There's no reason for you to suffer man.
If you feel bad, let's go get some
of those things over the counter.
Make yourself feel better.
Don't worry about masking
fever or anything like that.
OK, your your your body will
figure it out and if you and if
you're going to get super sick,
you're not going to mask it with some Motrin.
You're still going to be super
sick and you're going to want to.
Go into the hospital.
The things to look for.
That's the other part of your question,
right? Let's say you are young and healthy.
You feel OK, you take some Motrin.
You feel better.
Fine, the things to worry about
are these #1 passing out?
OK seems obvious but got to say
that out loud so people know right?
The other thing is if you have
any trouble breathing all right?
I don't mean like you know you used to be
able to run a mile and now you can't do it.
Well that's normal.
You're sick,
OK?
But I'm in trouble breathing
you sitting there,
watching TV and you're like Oh
my gosh like I have to take some
deep breaths or I don't feel very
good trouble breathing like that.
Get yourself to a doctor so
they can check you out.
No, that's really helpful,
especially that that signs to
watch because people alright.
Well, I am. I was fine and I'm,
you know, feeling not so fine.
If a family member tests positive for COVID,
does that count as just a normal exposure?
Should I do anything differently?
Should I also isolate? I mean,
how do people handle something like that?
Also really good question.
OK, with the variants that
are going around right now.
Basically Omicron or Omicron light, right?
That's kind of what's going on right now.
Being exposed to someone in the family
with COVID is not necessarily a huge.
Big deal, I would not necessarily
change your own patterns.
OK, especially like I said if
you were already vaccinated now,
don't go in there on purpose, right?
So? So let's say you know my
wife comes down with COVID.
There's nothing I can do about
having spent time with her already,
but going forward while she's sick.
Yeah, isolate her in her room,
you know and you try to avoid more
contact with her until she gets better.
That's the smart thing to do, right?
But there's no need for you
just because you were exposed.
To to run off and do a bunch of
tests and stuff on your own.
If you feel fine,
there's really no need to do that.
There's no need for you to change your life,
meaning you can still go out and
go to the grocery store and do
all those things that you do.
Go to work. No big deal.
What we do is what we recommend for, say,
for folks to to do is monitor for symptoms.
So again,
see if you you know start coming
down with the same head,
cold side symptoms or or or or or whatever.
So one other thing I wanted to ask
about you talked about if you were
vaccinated has been kind of the.
Comma before each of these thoughts.
You know one thing we've talked about for a
long time is people would always said this.
I say always said,
but people have been saying, hey,
this may be like the flu where
the vaccines are something you
get once a year like a flu shot.
To prevent this?
Well, we're coming up for a lot of people
now on probably a year since their booster.
Or if they haven't been boosted their
their their their for their third shot.
But let's say you've gotten all three
shots and you're somebody under 50
and so you don't qualify for the 4th.
At what point do you think we may be?
Needing a fourth or will we need a fourth?
Will there just be a thing where
actually it's not like the flu?
I think that's a question a lot
of people's minds because they're
seeing people as positive,
but they're not yet eligible
for another booster.
The question on my mind.
But let's be clear.
I mean again, right now,
let's just remind everybody
that you know prior to two two
and some months years ago,
let's say 2 1/2 years ago.
Never heard of COVID, right?
So so honestly,
our experience with this disease is
still not nearly extensive enough for
us to make those kind of predictions.
OK, there was some thought that yes,
this would be something like the flu.
And then we would need a shot every year.
But it's a little bit different than the flu.
OK, the the flu.
Has several major strains.
All right, the float around and they
just come come and go and come and go,
but there's several major strains and
they're all kind of the same every year.
OK, we just have to guess
which strain it is all right?
The problem with COVID right now
is COVID keeps changing right
as we've talked about variants.
OK,
it's not like the flu that there may
be five or six stable variants right now.
We keep finding new ones for COVID
so we really don't know where
this train necessarily ends.
We don't know where this picture.
Necessarily gets completely drawn,
so right now we really don't know and
and unfortunately that's a question
that's an answer that's unsatisfying, folks.
Quite frankly,
it's unsatisfying for me.
I would love to know right now how to
how to treat all of my patients here,
right,
and and give everyone boosters
that that all needed,
but but I think at this point
we just can't predict for the
greater population what that means.
All we know right now is the
groups that you pointed out,
the immunocompromise.
The older we know that boosting.
Helps them for sure.
The rest of us we don't quite know.
We're just going to have to hang on
until science gives us an answer.
What sort of guidance beyond
what I've already asked so
far are you giving to people?
What questions are you
hearing that I haven't asked?
Because I mean, yeah,
you're talking to people every day?
Yeah, the two real things.
Too many things that number one.
If you hadn't been vaccinated for God's sake,
let's go get that done.
OK, that I'm still telling
people that as you know,
there's still significant swaths of our
population that have not done that.
OK, need to get that done.
It's really the best thing to do.
OK, but then the next thing?
Relax and you know it's OK.
All right, we are getting to the
point now where we are considering
what it's like to live with COVID.
All right, it is no longer.
I think one of those things that
should make us all run out and buy
all the toilet paper in the world.
They just we're not at that point anymore.
So I think let's all take a step back,
take a deep breath,
but on the other side like I said,
be smart,
get vaccinated and and then
I think we can all live.
With COVID amongst US1
clarification, I want to get real quick
going back to because people you say relax,
but in that moment when you get that
positive test that's easier said than done,
I'm sure and people are like oh, am I sick?
We just talked about already and I don't
want to rehash like seeing a doctor.
Does that mean your primary care provider?
Does that mean go to an ER
because a lot of people think,
oh, I need to go to the hot.
I mean what sort of guidance
would you give there?
I think that's a great.
I think that's a great question.
The first step is going to be if
you can get in with your PCP, right?
You'll feel great, William.
I'm telling you,
you know I got a little fever.
This isn't good.
I definitely feel like I'm sick.
Yeah, the 1st Doctor you go
see is the easy one, you know.
However, if we have those symptoms
that we talked about, right?
If I'm sitting in front of the TV,
I feel like I'm breathing hard.
And and gosh, I want to go lay down,
but I can't make it up the stairs.
Well, come on in to the emergency room,
right?
So it takes a little bit of judgment there.
OK, but certainly the first step, you know,
if I'm just feeling a little bit crummy,
yeah, go to, go to your regular doctor.
Go to an urgent care or something like that.
Get your rapid test done,
and then then you'll know.
But those other big symptoms you know,
really high fevers. I can't.
I can't eat or drink, you know.
Or like I said,
I can't breathe,
and those need to go to the emergency
room. And then last thing I got for you,
I'll let you go. We talked about.
Hey, it's OK to get all that
over the counter stuff.
Is there anything that you guys have
found or anecdotally have heard seems
to be helping treat these symptoms?
Or is it treat each one kind of as they come,
whatever that might be?
Because this right if you fall into
those high risk groups, then yes we have.
We have the the antibody cocktails.
We have sex Logan but really,
for the vast majority of the rest of us.
It's it's time,
it's time that makes us better,
you know and you know you hate
hearing that from your doctor, right?
Just go home.
One of they say drink fluids,
you know rest and get better but
but that's what it is you know.
And from the very beginning you've
probably heard me say this over
the airwaves more than once.
You know, once you get really,
really sick with COVID, there's just
not a whole lot I can do for you.
I'm just helping your body fight it off,
not like some bacterial pneumonia.
I give you an antibiotic,
it kills the bacteria. We don't have that.
OK, and let's be clear.
Even things like Pax,
Lovid and some of these other things,
they don't kill the virus either.
OK again,
these are more ways of us helping
your body fight the virus so there
isn't a whole lot that we can say.
OK, well, this definitely works.
What we know is prevention works.
The rest of that it's a lot of
it is just kind of dependent
on your own Physiology.
Doctor Chang, thanks so much
for walking through all that.
I really do appreciate it.
I'm sure a lot of people will will
hopefully learn a lot from this.
Thanks so much. Take care.
Yeah, anytime you guys I
did have one question,
it may help your interview or not,
but kind of the same same vein.
What can we say to people who never
got vaccinated for whatever reason
and then says something like,
well, now, tons of people are
getting COVID who are vaccinated,
so why should I go get my shot?
I think that's I think it's
a fair question too.
I think it's I think it's gotten
from the very beginning, right?
While people have vaccinated also get sick.
Well, yeah, that's true, but they have
a whole lot less chance of dying,
so that's a good thing, right?
And the chances of you getting sick are much,
much, much lower, right?
We said 97 to 98% effective at
preventing disease altogether.
And almost 100%.
They're not quite 100% protection
against hospitalization.
So even though Omicron now is
not that down right, Omicron?
Because it's it's as infectious as it is.
You know, we're seeing many more
breakthrough infections instead of like.
5% breakthrough maybe seeing
10 to 15% breakthrough.
But again those cases are not.
In general,
hospitalizations and in general again,
those are not the ones that are dying,
and I think that's the important thing.
The other thing I will point out is a good
question that Chelsea asked right now.
If you just take a look right.
What percentage of of folks are sort of
what number of folks are getting sick?
Well, if you look at our positivity rates,
we've gone from about 2% positivity
rates to about 8 to 9% positive rates.
That's a lot right here in Dallas County.
That's a four fold increase,
but when you asked me what
about hospitalizations,
how much have they increased?
Well, they've only barely doubled.
OK, so you see again,
because we have a lot of people vaccinated
because Omicron is is a little bit less.
Infectious sorry,
more infectious but less severe
hospitalizations are actually
staying relatively low,
even though the breakthrough
infections are high.
So again,
the effective vaccination is very,
very,
very important,
because even if it doesn't completely
prevent you from getting COVID,
it can prevent you from joining
me here at the hospital and,
and that is really the important thing.
No, I think we'll we'll be
sure to hit on that as well,
because I think that's that's
a question that began comes up.
As you mentioned, you know,
since the beginning.
Thanks so much.
I really appreciated the plans
for this to run tonight at 6
we'll have something online too.
Alright brother, we'll see you later.