Another One Bites the Dust

Hi all. Stepping out of retirement for a moment to say that the day has finally arrived. After four years of successfully avoiding COVID-19 infection I had a positive test yesterday. Symptoms are very mild—I've had worse colds. The provider at urgent care said almost all the cases they are seeing are the same. Mild symptoms may also be due to the fact that I had the original vaccine then the two boosters.

All this time I thought I might be a NOVID—one of those people who never get the bug. But no, it must have been my assiduous mask wearing and avoidance of high-risk situations when things were bad. So here's double middle fingers to all the kooks who think masks don't work (I've not been wearing masks for months now).

I don't know what variant I have but it's likely JN.1. It is said to be extraordinarily contagious and accounts for 60% of cases worldwide. It also tends to produce mild infections like the one I have. This article claims that right now everyone either has COVID or knows someone who does.

Is JN.1. common in Arizona? I tried to find out. Sadly Dr. Lim stopped updating his page on Arizona COVID variants last fall. Over at BioBot it looks like Yavapai County is the only one still reporting wastewater levels and the report does not include variants. Tempe, too, quit updating their dashboard in July.

For what it's worth, Yavapai levels have been on a consistent rise since the beginning of December, and now stand at 1,353 copies/ml, almost exactly the national average. That's pretty close to four times the level of the last weekly report I did back in May. On the other hand, it's only about half of their 2023 maximum.

I got a prescription for Paxlovid to have in hand just in case my infection suddenly goes south.  Interestingly, the first urgent care I went to, Honor Health, said their provider won't prescribe it. When I asked why, they said because it has potential side effects (don't all drugs?) and carries a risk of rebound. 

That last bit indicates that the Honor Health provider isn't keeping up on the latest research. Most studies show that there is no statistically significant difference in rebound between people who do and don't take Paxlovid (you can have rebound if you don't take it too). In studies showing rebound is more likely with Paxlovid the effect may be due to the fact that people who take it are more likely to have serious infections.

In addition, there is some research coming out suggesting that Paxlovid isn't as effective as it used to be. A friend (who I have mentioned before in this blog) is a hospitalist and is not a big fan. He doesn't see big benefits from his perch on the receiving end of severe cases. He thinks the articles we see lamenting underuse of the drug—like this one—could be the result of marketing efforts by Pfizer.

For these reasons, and because of unpleasant side effects the drug can have, I don't plan to use my prescription unless my infection gets seriously worse. But I can tell you that if you want a prescription, don't got to Honor Health. I went to NextCare and they were happy to give me a prescription since I met the criteria.

OK back to retirement. Be careful out there!