'National Banana Lovers Day'

Slice them onto cereal or toast, bake them into bread, or just enjoy a potassium-rich banana straight from the peel for a quick, easy, healthy and cheap snack.

Finally, the world’s most popular fruit gets a day of its very own, and it’s about time! Whether you like it straight from the peel, sliced on cereal, or baked into a banana bread, the whole world loves banana!

Who can blame them, considering how versatile it is? Banana Lovers’ Day celebrates those who just can’t get enough of this brightly colored monkey bait!

Read more here. . . .

August 27, 2023

 

COVID LEVELS ARE LOW AND RISING MODESTLY NATIONALLY.  WE ARE NOT SEEING A SIGNIFICANT SURGE OF CONCERN AT THIS TIME. THERE IS NOTHING CURRENTLY THAT COMPARES TO THE PREVIOUS SURGES. 

XBB1 IS THE COMMON SUB-TYPE AND BA.2.86, IS A RISING VARIANT, BUT IT’S SIGNIFICANCE IS MODEST AT THIS TIME.   THE TALK OF INCREASE IS REAL, BUT NUMBERS REMAIN LOW COMPARED TO PREVIOUS PEAKS.  WORRY FACTOR IS LOW BUT WE ARE MONITORING AND WILL ADVISE IF THIS NEW VARIANT CHANGES ANY RECOMMENDATIONS.

WE CONTINUE TO SEE COVID PRIMARILY IN TRAVELERS AND IN PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOT HAVE COVID YET WHO ARE EXPOSED TO RECENT TRAVELERS. CONSIDER BOOSTING 2 WEEKS OR MORE PRIOR TO TRAVEL…. AND MASKING DURING TRAVEL WILL KEEP YOUR TRIP COVID-FREE.

TIMING OF VACCINATIONS THIS FALL AND WINTER: 

•      FLU SHOT
•     COVID SHOT
•     RSV SHOT

DO NOT GET ALL SHOTS AT THE SAME TIME.

IF YOU WISH, YOU CAN GET FLU AND COVID AT THE SAME TIME. THAT IS PROVEN SAFE AND EFFECTIVE.

IF YOU ARE GETTING MULTIPLE SHOTS, PLEASE GIVE 2 WEEKS BETWEEN SHOTS

FLU SHOT:  

WHO SHOULD GET IT: RECOMMEND IT FOR EVERYONE OVER 65 AND FOR ANYONE OF ANY AGE WHO DOES NOT WANT TO GET THE FLU.

TIMING: ANYTIME FROM MID-SEPTEMBER ONWARD IS BEST.  FLU SEASON WAS EARLY LAST YEAR, BUT TYPICALLY BEGINS IN EARNEST AROUND THANKSGIVING IN ARIZONA. IT TAKES 2-3 WEEKS FOR THE FLU SHOT TO BE FULLY EFFECTIVE.

COVID SHOT:

UPCOMING AND CURRENT COVID SHOT VERSION:  

THE NEW COVID VACCINE FOR XBB1, THE DOMINANT VARIANT, IS NOT OUT YET.  

IT WILL BE AVAILABLE, WE ARE TOLD, IN OCTOBER. 

IN THE MEANTIME, THE BIVALENT COVID VACCINE IS AVAILABLE.

WHO SHOULD GET IT:  

IF YOU HAVE NOT HAD COVID YET AND ARE OVER 65, I RECOMMEND YOU STAY CURRENT WITH THE LATEST VERSION OF THE VACCINE. GET THE LATEST VACCINE WHEN AVAILABLE.

IF YOU HAVE HAD COVID, YOU HAVE ADDITIONAL PROTECTION AGAINST FUTURE INFECTION, BUT IS NOT A GUARANTEE. 

I WOULD MAKE SURE YOU HAVE HAD A COVID SHOT DURING THE 2023 CALENDAR YEAR FOR THOSE OVER 65 WHO HAVE ADDITIONAL RISK DUE TO HEALTH ISSUES SUCH AS:  ACTIVELY TREATED HEART FAILURE, LUNG DISEASE, OR DIABETES.

WHEN TO GET THE COVID VACCINE: 

I RECOMMEND WAITING UNTIL THE NEW VERSION IS AVAILABLE.  

(EXCEPTIONS ARE THOSE WHO HAVE NOT HAD COVID INFECTION YET AND WHO WERE NOT VACCINATED ANYTIME THIS YEAR…..AND THOSE WHO ARE TRAVELING EXTENSIVELY. YOU CAN GET THE CURRENT VERSION.

RSV VACCINE: 

THIS IS A NEW VACCINE THAT IS AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS YEAR.

THERE ARE TWO VERSIONS, BOTH SIMILAR, AND THERE IS NO SPECIFIC REASON TO CHOOSE ONE OVER THE OTHER (ONE IS GSK..MAKERS OF SHINGRIX, THE OTHER IF PFIZER…MAKERS OF THE COVID VACCINE)

GETTING THE VACCINE THIS YEAR IS ELECTIVE.  I AM NOT BROADLY RECOMMENDING IT.  SEE BELOW FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT FOR EVERYONE DURING THIS FIRST CALENDAR YEAR OF AVAILABILITY.

I DO THINK PEOPLE AT HIGHER RISK SHOULD CONSIDER GETTING THE RSV VACCINE THIS YEAR IF THEY ARE INCLINED…BUT DON’T FEEL OBLIGATED.   

FOR THOSE OVER 65 WHO HAVE ADDITIONAL RISK FOR SERIOUS ILLNESS AS A RESULT OF HEALTH ISSUES SUCH AS:  ACTIVELY TREATED HEART FAILURE, CANCER, LUNG DISEASE, OR DIABETES.

WHEN TO GET RSV VACCINE:  

GET IT ANYTIME…STARTING NOW…

THROUGH THE FEBRUARY.

WEST NILE SEASON IS STILL HERE.   USE PROTECTION. IF WE HEAR OF NEW CASES…WILL REPORT TO YOU. NOT CURRENTLY HIGH LEVEL IN TOWN, BUT NOW IS THE TIME.  BY THE TIME WE SEE THE INCREASE WE WILL BE RUNNING BEHIND…. SO BEGIN NOW.

PLEASE USE MOSQUITO REPELLENT DAILY UNTIL THE END OF SEPTEMBER, OR AT LEAST WHEN IN HIGH EXPOSURE SITUATIONS.

ARIZONA IS THE PRIME USA LOCATION FOR WEST NILE DUE TO HIGH WEST NILE VIRUS LEVELS IN RAPTOR BIRDS WHO ARE IMMUNE TO WEST NILE ILLNESS, BUT NOT IMMUNE TO CARRYING THE VIRUS.

 THIS CAN RESULT IN ARIZONA MOSQUITOS WITH PARTICULARLY HIGH VIRUS LEVELS WHEN THEY BITE.

TOP PODCAST DONE WEEKLY

BY DR. MICHAEL OSTERHOLM

(UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA)  

He is a world-renowned epidemiologist who was credited with first elucidating TOXIC SHOCK SYNDROME in the 1980’s.

He provides comprehensive and understandable/actionable ideas related to COVID.

Dr. Osterholm Update: COVID-19

August 24, 2023

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-vaccines/episode-138-more-confusing-times

'More Confusing Times'

In this episode, Dr. Osterholm and Chris Dall discuss the state of the pandemic in the U.S. and around the world, the latest research on long COVID, and the recently approved RSV vaccine for infants.

According to Dr. Osterholm……

• GET YOUR 5th BOOSTER (7th SHOT) IF YOU HAVE NOT HAD COVID OR IT’S BEEN LONGER THAN 4 MONTHS SINCE YOU HAD COVID YOURSELF
• A GOOD MASK, N95 OF KN95, DOES HELP REDUCE TRANSMISSION…. USE IT AT HIGH-RISK LOCATIONS
• GOOD VENTILATION IN ROOMS/HOME/BUSINESSES IS A GREAT WAY TO PREVENT TRANSMISSION
• VACCINE, VACCINE, VACCINE…THIS IS OUR PROTECTION.  ALL VACCINES ARE EFFECTIVE AND WITH TIME WE ARE SEEING THAT THE J&J VACCINE IS PICKING UP STEAM AND GIVES SOLID LONG-TERM PROTECTION.
• BOOST, BOOST, BOOST…THIS WILL BE NECESSARY TO PREVENT RECURRING SURGE AND TO RAISE ANTIBODY LEVELS IN THOSE ALREADY SET WITH THE PRIMARY COVID VACCINE SERIES.
• ANTIGEN TESTING IS USEFUL, BUT OF LIMITED VALUE. DON’T DEPEND ON IT…BUT USE IT.

Know that unvaccinated remain a source of potential infection.  Avoiding unvaccinated persons will reduce your risk of COVID.

If you’re at high risk of serious illness or death from Covid-19, it’s time to dust off those N95 masks and place them snugly over your nose and mouth to protect yourself from a recent uptick of the virus, according to a growing number of experts.

That advice should go all the way up to 80-year-old President Joe Biden, said Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a cardiologist.

“Octogenarians comprise the highest-risk group for complications following Covid infection,” Reiner said.

“At least until the numbers start to drop again, it would be appropriate for President Biden to take some precautions and wear a mask in crowds.”

Other high-risk groups include people with diabetes, cancer, chronic liver, kidney or lung disease, organ or stem cell transplants, HIV or other immunocompromising conditions, a history of heart disease or stroke, dementia or mental health issues.

“If you’re a caregiver for somebody who is at increased risk of complication following infection, then I think you should also consider putting a mask on in public places,” said Reiner, a professor at the George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences.

“And since the masks that are most effective are N95 that are now readily available, that’s the kind of mask you should wear,” he added.

Read more here. . . .

After you received your COVID vaccinations, please let us know!

We would like to document this information into your chart.



BUT FIRST.......

PLEASE COMPLETE THE INFORMATION ON THE CARD BEFORE YOU SEND IT TO US!

What we need:

1. Your name
2. Date vaccination received
3. Brand name
4. Lot number if available
5. Which dose you have received

**Email your COVID vaccine completed info HERE

At our office, we are continuing to follow CDC guidelines and will strive for ways to keep our patients and staff safe.



We recommend that all unvaccinated and vaccinated patients and visitors entering our office cover their nose and mouth at all times.

To prevent further spread of the Delta & Omicron variants, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its mask guidance on March 21, 2022, to recommend that fully vaccinated people wear masks when in areas with “substantial” and “high” transmission of Covid-19.

We have a limited supply of paper masks and will make these available to patients while they last, however, we encourage you to bring your own facial covering.

COVID-19 isn’t quite done with the world yet. Small surges of cases in the U.S., as well as upticks in COVID-19 hospitalizations over the summer, and new variants that weren’t around even three months ago, remind us that SARS-CoV-2 is still a health threat for the coming fall and winter.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to make a decision about which strain to target in the updated vaccine, which the agency says will be available in mid-to-late September. The FDA will be considering recommendations by the panel of independent vaccine experts it convened in June, which reviewed the latest data on an updated COVID-19 vaccine and which strains would likely be circulating in the fall and winter.

The 21-member panel voted unanimously to update the next COVID-19 vaccine, and recommended moving from the current bivalent shot that targets two Omicron variants, BA.4 and BA.5, to now include a single XBB strain. The agency is still deciding which specific XBB strain the new vaccine will incorporate, although at the time, the dominant strain causing new infections was XBB.1.5.

Read more here. . . .

SUMMARY OF A COVID KIT & CHECK LIST:

This is what you should have at home to prepare for possible COVID, to monitor yourself if you were to get infected:

DIGITAL ORAL THERMOMETER: MANY BRANDS ARE FINE…HERE IS ONE EXAMPLE:

https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Thermometer-Reading-Waterproof-Indicator/dp/B087T3S4TR/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=THERMOMETER&qid=1597159324&sr=8-6

PULSE OXIMETER:  TO CHECK OXYGEN LEVELS. MANY BRANDS ARE FINE...HERE IS ONE EXAMPLE:

https://www.amazon.com/Innovo-Fingertip-Oximeter-Plethysmograph-Perfusion/dp/B07YVGZPRZ/ref=sr_1_20?dchild=1&keywords=PULSE+OXI&qid=1597159388&sr=8-20

OTHER ITEMS FROM THE HOME MEDICAL KIT:

·       TYLENOL, ADVIL, OR ALEVE

·       Sudafed 30mg tablets

·       Chlorpheniramine 4mg tablets

·       Robitussin DM syrup

·       Imodium AD

'Big 30 Banana Eating Challenge!'

Eating 30 bananas has always been a dream of mine. Today, I set out to conquer this insane fruitarian eating challenge.

Will I be able to defeat 10 lbs of bananas? (peeled)