[uupretirees] Re: "Netscape Nurses" newsletter: Breakthrough infections

  • From: Eric Russell <ericprussell@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: Peter A Poccia <danangdoc@xxxxxxxxx>, Uupretirees <uupretirees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "uupad@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <uupad@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2021 17:23:30 +0000

Thanks, Pietro.  Hillary and I got our boosters Friday.  The reaction was much 
stronger than with the first two shots.  My arm is still sore and warm at the 
injection site.  I had about a degree of fever, loss of balance and 
disorientation.  I suspect that means that the first two shots were effective 
and my body was reacting to the invasive materials in the shot.  I seem to be 
over it already.  Exhaustion is a given but is nearly gone.  I slept a lot 
Friday afternoon and yesterday.
That said, I'd rather have a reaction than a breakthrough case.  Eric

________________________________
From: Peter A Poccia <danangdoc@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, September 26, 2021 12:47 PM
To: Peter A Poccia <danangdoc@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: "Netscape Nurses" newsletter: Breakthrough infections

I'm sending this to everyone because, if you are fully vaccinated, I thought it 
very important, short and it's in plain English.  This is what you need to 
know; it seems to be the latest, factual information available AT THIS TIME.  
Unless you sign up to their website, you cannot read their pages so I've done a 
cut and paste below.

Pietro





Medscape Nurses

NEWS & 
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POINT<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdecisionpoint.medscape.com%2F&data=04%7C01%7C%7C4528982c18664753f39d08d9810d79d0%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637682717158373423%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=BIZ7NPC7Sczy1QsJ4sfhJ08oxA%2B%2BLrsRuMSxr6sn7iw%3D&reserved=0>







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I Got a 'Mild' Breakthrough Case. Here's What I Wish I'd Known

Will Stone

September 20, 2021



Editor's note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape's 
Coronavirus Resource 
Center<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.medscape.com%2Fresource%2Fcoronavirus&data=04%7C01%7C%7C4528982c18664753f39d08d9810d79d0%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637682717158393415%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=Lxg2aADTALDzPX%2BgJDGpQD43PVg9WwEkggzQPQHQrCE%3D&reserved=0>.

The test results that hot day in early August shouldn't have surprised me — all 
the symptoms were there. A few days earlier, fatigue had enveloped me like a 
weighted blanket. I chalked it up to my weekend of travel. Next, a headache 
clamped down on the back of my skull. Then my eyeballs started to ache. And 
soon enough, everything tasted like nothing.

As a reporter who's covered the coronavirus since the first confirmed U.S. case 
landed in Seattle, where I live, I should have known what was coming, but there 
was some part of me that couldn't quite believe it. I had a breakthrough case 
of covid-19 — despite my two shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the second 
one in April.

I was just one more example of our country's tug and pull between fantasies of 
a post-covid summer and the realities of our still-raging pandemic, in which 
even the vaccinated can get sick.


Not only was I sick, but I'd exposed my 67-year-old father and extended family 
during my first trip back to the East Coast since the start of the pandemic. It 
was just the scenario I had tried to avoid for a year and a half.


Where did I get it? Who knows. Like so many Americans, I had loosened up on 
wearing masks all the time and physical distancing after getting fully 
vaccinated. We had flown across the country, seen friends, stayed at a hotel, 
eaten indoors and, yes, even gone to a long-delayed wedding with other 
vaccinated people.

I ended up in quarantine at my father's house. Two rapid antigen tests 
<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2021%2F09%2F04%2F1034281124%2Fmore-people-are-relying-on-covid-19-tests-but-experts-say-theyre-not-foolproof&data=04%7C01%7C%7C4528982c18664753f39d08d9810d79d0%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637682717158423390%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=25UWjD3rEK2M%2BnbpzcjNS9jpo4Ao%2BVn9gelt4iY5G1I%3D&reserved=0>
 (taken a day apart) came back negative  (“Rapid antigen” = what you buy in 
drug store. For ANY test to be valid, 2 tests must be take 5 days apart or 1 
test 5 days after being infected), but I could tell I was starting to feel 
sick. After my second negative test, the nurse leveled with me. "Don't hang 
your hat on this," she said of the results. Sure enough, a few days later the 
results of a PCR test for the coronavirus (this one sent to a lab) confirmed 
what had become obvious by then.

It was a miserable five days. My legs and arms ached, my fever crept up to 103 
and every few hours of sleep would leave my sheets drenched in sweat. I'd drop 
into bed exhausted after a quick trip to the kitchen. To sum it up, I'd put my 
breakthrough case of covid right up there with my worst bouts of flu. Even 
after my fever broke, I spent the next few weeks feeling low.


Of course, I am very lucky. I didn't go up against the virus with a naive 
immune system, like millions of Americans did before vaccines were widely 
available. And, in much of the world, vaccines are still a distant promise.

"You probably would have gotten much sicker if you had not been vaccinated," 
Dr. Francesca 
Torriani<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fproviders.ucsd.edu%2Fdetails%2F11556%2Finfectious-diseases-hiv%2Faids&data=04%7C01%7C%7C4528982c18664753f39d08d9810d79d0%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637682717158423390%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=jBCAAGwPpWHBUvz5M0xPvB4890omCDgiIVR%2FwN4Jdtg%3D&reserved=0>,
 an infectious-disease physician at the University of California-San Diego, 
explained to me recently.

As I shuffled around my room checking my fever, it was also reassuring to know 
that my chances of ending up in the hospital were slim, even with the delta 
variant. And now, about a month later, I've made a full recovery.

The reality is breakthrough cases are becoming more common. Here's what I wish 
I'd known when those first symptoms laid me low.


1. Is it time for a reality check about what the vaccines can — and can't do?

The vaccines aren't a force field that wards off all things covid. They were 
given the green light because they greatly lower your chance of getting 
seriously ill or dying.


But it was easy for me — and I'm not the only one — to grab onto the idea that, 
after so many months of trying not to get covid, the vaccine was, more or less, 
the finish line. And that made getting sick from the virus unnerving.


After all, there were reassuring findings earlier this 
year<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fmmwr%2Fvolumes%2F70%2Fwr%2Fmm7013e3.htm&data=04%7C01%7C%7C4528982c18664753f39d08d9810d79d0%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637682717158433382%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=nq%2FXyXNynhQHnO9P4NpVoEycj1ky1vEyVzd%2FCpgW2k4%3D&reserved=0>
 that the vaccine was remarkably good at stopping any infection, even mild ones.


"There was so much initial euphoria about how well these vaccines work," said 
Dr. Jeff 
Duchin<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fkingcounty.gov%2Fdepts%2Fhealth%2Fabout-us%2Fhealth-officer.aspx&data=04%7C01%7C%7C4528982c18664753f39d08d9810d79d0%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637682717158443380%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=sscm8GzXYHqwPe8ggtps6qrOBNNFABnhQ7KoZicZbCs%3D&reserved=0>,
 an infectious-disease physician and the public health officer for Seattle and 
King County. "I think we — in the public health community, in the medical 
community — facilitated the impression that these vaccines are bulletproof."


It's hard to keep adjusting your risk calculations. So if you'd hoped to avoid 
getting sick at all, even slightly, it may be time for a "reset," Duchin said. 
This isn't to be alarmist but a reminder to clear away expectations that covid 
is out of your life, and stay vigilant about commonsense precautions.


2. How high are my chances of getting a breakthrough case these days?

It used to be quite rare, but the rise of delta has changed the odds.


"It's a totally different ballgame with this delta phase," said Dr. Eric 
Topol<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.scripps.edu%2Ffaculty%2Ftopol%2F&data=04%7C01%7C%7C4528982c18664753f39d08d9810d79d0%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637682717158443380%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=A9KSJojoZwYa2z%2BinO5cn01UXKNKrDoMyb9d5CtkaD0%3D&reserved=0>,
 a professor of molecular medicine and director of the Scripps Research 
Translational Institute in San Diego. "I think the chance of having a 
symptomatic infection has gone up substantially."


But "quantifying that in the U.S. is very challenging" because our "data is so 
shoddy," he said.


The vaccinated still have a considerably lower chance of getting infected than 
those who aren't protected that way. Los Angeles County collected data over the 
summer as the delta variant started to surge: Unvaccinated people were five 
times more likely to test 
positive<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fmmwr%2Fvolumes%2F70%2Fwr%2Fmm7034e5.htm&data=04%7C01%7C%7C4528982c18664753f39d08d9810d79d0%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637682717158453374%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=icPUY7QUWffdvNlVAw%2Fo2fOHF01Xpfs%2BQUEm68rf9SQ%3D&reserved=0>
 than those who were vaccinated.


3. How careful do I need to be if I want to avoid a breakthrough?

Looking back, I wish I'd taken more precautions.


And my advice to friends and family now is: Wear masks, stay away from big 
gatherings with unvaccinated people and cut down on travel, at least until 
things calm down.


The U.S. is averaging more than 150,000 coronavirus 
infections<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Finteractive%2F2021%2Fus%2Fcovid-cases.html&data=04%7C01%7C%7C4528982c18664753f39d08d9810d79d0%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637682717158453374%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=nMfWYZVz1bxqw%2BiFya7eR%2FD2hNf%2BVo%2BEuogl4xlu%2BsQ%3D&reserved=0>
 a day (about twice what it was when I fell sick), hospitals are overwhelmed, 
and the White House has proposed booster shots. Scientists are still making 
sense of what's happening with breakthrough cases.


In many parts of the U.S., we're all more likely to run into the virus than we 
were in the spring. "Your risk is going to be different if you are in a place 
that's very highly vaccinated, with very low level of community spread," said 
Dr. Preeti 
Malani<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.uofmhealth.org%2Fprofile%2F922%2Fpreeti-n-malani-md&data=04%7C01%7C%7C4528982c18664753f39d08d9810d79d0%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637682717158463367%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=wvdkK3XYKsxdvKbPWCj9cep0vzW6xV%2Fv2hZAZUf6Ong%3D&reserved=0>,
 a specialist in infectious diseases at the University of Michigan. "The piece 
that's important is what's happening in your community."


4. What does a "mild" case of covid feel like?

In my case, it was worse than I expected, but in the parlance of public health, 
it was "mild," meaning I didn't end up in the hospital or require oxygen.


This mild category is essentially a catchall, said Dr. Robert 
Wachter<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fprofiles.ucsf.edu%2Frobert.wachter&data=04%7C01%7C%7C4528982c18664753f39d08d9810d79d0%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637682717158463367%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=yTm7YLP3LgiQv8%2F2Y9eak5x06yY6QIjfiY5NJTCjIc8%3D&reserved=0>,
 who chairs the Department of Medicine at the University of California-San 
Francisco. "Mild" can range from "a day of feeling crummy to being completely 
laid up in bed for a week, all of your bones hurt and your brain isn't working 
well."


There's not great data on the details of these mild breakthrough infections, 
but so far it appears that "you do way better than those who are not 
vaccinated," said Dr. Sarang 
Yoon<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhealthcare.utah.edu%2Ffad%2Fmddetail.php%3FphysicianID%3Du1074771%26name%3Dsarang-k-yoon&data=04%7C01%7C%7C4528982c18664753f39d08d9810d79d0%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637682717158473363%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=fnYDAvTUsWXW8SMECxuO7La9AQriszPDlA6WcJmZToc%3D&reserved=0>,
 an occupational medicine specialist at the University of Utah who was part of 
a nationwide 
study<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nejm.org%2Fdoi%2F10.1056%2FNEJMoa2107058&data=04%7C01%7C%7C4528982c18664753f39d08d9810d79d0%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637682717158473363%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=gXApSVt8yffEdk02lfrHd3cnGV0WJ0ggq8SInap6Lp4%3D&reserved=0>
 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on breakthrough infections.


Yoon's study, published in June with data collected before the delta surge, 
found that the presence of fever was cut in half, and the days spent in bed 
reduced by 60% among people with breakthrough infections, compared with 
unvaccinated people who got sick.


If you're vaccinated, the risk of being hospitalized is 10 times 
lower<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fmmwr%2Fvolumes%2F70%2Fwr%2Fmm7037e1.htm&data=04%7C01%7C%7C4528982c18664753f39d08d9810d79d0%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637682717158483356%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=hj8eDC76EmuJmpLeq5CqmpBOKeZc3Bh%2B%2FyBEnDuHYYU%3D&reserved=0>
 than if you weren't vaccinated, according to the latest data from the CDC. 
Those who get severely and critically ill with a breakthrough case tend to be 
older — in one study done before delta, the median age was 
80.5<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.yale.edu%2F2021%2F09%2F07%2Fstudy-examines-severe-breakthrough-cases-covid-19&data=04%7C01%7C%7C4528982c18664753f39d08d9810d79d0%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637682717158483356%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=pI4Jn%2F0p%2F9hADVyd7MCotLD3hntK2hnohX2tCN3iXtw%3D&reserved=0>
 — with underlying medical conditions such as cardiovascular disease.


5. Can I spread it to others, and do I need to isolate?

Unfortunately, you still have covid and need to act like it.


Even though my first two tests were negative, I started wearing a mask at my 
house and keeping my distance from my vaccinated family members. I'm glad I 
did: No one else got sick.


The delta variant is more than twice as contagious as the original strain of 
the virus and can build up quickly in your upper respiratory tract, as was 
shown in a cluster of breakthrough infections linked to Provincetown, 
Massachusetts<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2Fsections%2Fhealth-shots%2F2021%2F08%2F06%2F1025553638%2Fhow-a-gay-community-helped-the-cdc-spot-a-covid-outbreak-and-learn-more-about-de&data=04%7C01%7C%7C4528982c18664753f39d08d9810d79d0%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637682717158493351%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=YpGSM70N2nwp4cGFieJ%2BGk5DwA3Ha0zchTJBqqs2VS0%3D&reserved=0>,
 over the summer.


"Even in fully vaccinated, asymptomatic individuals, they can have enough virus 
to transmit it," said Dr. Robert Darnell, a physician-scientist at The 
Rockefeller University.


The science isn't settled about just how likely vaccinated people are to spread 
the virus, and it does appear that the amount of virus in the nose 
decreases<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41591-021-01316-7&data=04%7C01%7C%7C4528982c18664753f39d08d9810d79d0%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637682717158633272%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=%2BFx7YPUhemmPl%2BMX5IDTzmTWOvzDwWqnvqZvJid%2F3cM%3D&reserved=0>
 faster in people who are vaccinated.


Still, wearing masks and staying isolated from others if you test positive or 
have symptoms is absolutely critical, Darnell said.


6. Could I get long covid after a breakthrough infection?

While there's not a lot of data yet, research does show that breakthrough 
infections can lead to the kind of persistent symptoms that characterize long 
covid<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Flong-term-effects%2Findex.html%3FCDC_AA_refVal%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.cdc.gov%252Fcoronavirus%252F2019-ncov%252Flong-term-effects.html&data=04%7C01%7C%7C4528982c18664753f39d08d9810d79d0%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637682717158633272%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=JVKIA5O753O3jbFidOf3weU8CJLe9Rkgyhs1q8%2Fjh4o%3D&reserved=0>,
 including brain fog, fatigue and headaches. "Hopefully that number is low. 
Hopefully it doesn't last as long and it's not as severe, but it's just too 
early to know these things," Topol said.


Recent research from the United Kingdom suggests that vaccinated 
people<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thelancet.com%2Fjournals%2Flaninf%2Farticle%2FPIIS1473-3099(21)00460-6%2Ffulltext&data=04%7C01%7C%7C4528982c18664753f39d08d9810d79d0%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637682717158643276%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=IY4UXGiyQ%2BOWl9xsRYGn%2BpRLTOFKxdC3QgGgw9legTk%3D&reserved=0>
 are about 50% less likely to develop long covid than those who are 
unvaccinated.


This story is from a reporting partnership that includes NPR and KHN.




--
"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and 
conscientious stupidity"    Dr Martin Luther King, jr

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