Omicron: 2 infectious disease physicians on the new COVID variant

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[Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2022](. Find fast answers to inform your daily diagnosis and treatment decisions. Check out what’s new in your specialty. [Shop Elsevier Health](. --------------------------------------------------------------- KevinMD Plus: Nov 29, 2021 [Omicron: 2 infectious disease physicians on the new COVID variant]( Two infectious disease physicians share their unique perspective on this threat answer the following questions: How do these early days of the Omicron variant contrast with past variants? What do they think about the travel restrictions? How has the media covered Omicron? What are the best-case and worst-case scenarios? And about Omicron keeps them up at night? [How to end the misinformation pandemic]( Like any stressor, COVID-19 has revealed great strengths in science and medicine. But it exposed weaknesses that could have been tolerated before but now are untenable. Perhaps the best example of both is COVID vaccines — the success they have had against the COVID pandemic and the fuel they have provided for an equally dangerous [...] [Anger toward unvaccinated will only cause more harm]( Even though COVID infection rates are decreasing, health care providers are still struggling with how to handle unvaccinated patients. Last month, a Colorado hospital system, UCHealth, stated it won’t provide transplants to patients who choose to remain unvaccinated. In August, a family doctor in Alabama posted a sign refusing to see patients who are unvaccinated [...] [How Prior Authorization Fatigue Syndrome impedes asthma care]( I’m writing this case report to raise awareness about a condition plaguing the health care system. The condition is Prior Authorization Fatigue Syndrome (PAFS). This condition is the direct result of the circuitous process of prior authorization (PA). I am the physician owner of a medium-sized allergy practice in Southern Colorado. In our clinic, we [...] [Ignoring jaw pain comes at too high a price [PODCAST]]( “The COVID-19 pandemic challenged health care systems and patients’ personal economic capacity, leading to approximately six million adults losing their dental insurance. Additionally, the World Health Organization and the American Dental Association recommended dentists to limit their practices to emergency and urgent dental care. In the list of these diagnoses requiring emergency care, jaw pain [...] [Cancer provided an unexpected silver lining]( When I first met her, I perceived she was nervous. I could sense the doctor skepticism. She simply had a negative aura about her. An Eeyore, if you will. A “no” person. A drag. To my absolute non-surprise, she declined all screenings that a woman of her age is recommended to get. No labs. No [...] [To my patient who is going to lose her hair from chemotherapy]( I understand that the biggest fear you have about going through chemotherapy is losing your hair. I just want to tell you. You will be fine. Trust me. I know it’s barbaric. Why don’t we have medicines to treat cancer that will not make you lose your hair in this day and age? Strange, right? [...] [How advanced analytics can help social determinants of health]( Health care costs in the U.S. have increased dramatically over the past five decades, from $74 billion in 1970 to $3.8 trillion in 2019. This trend has been fueled in large part by an increase in the number of people who struggle with chronic conditions such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and lung disease. Stanford University [...] [To Aaron Rodgers, from a physician and Packers fan [PODCAST]]( “Mr. Rodgers, I’m glad you’re feeling well. This isn’t altogether unsurprising given your younger age and elite physical fitness (though cases in young unvaccinated people can and have become severe) and I hope you continue to feel well as you quarantine. The medical and scientific community works on data, lots and lots of data. The [...] [Doctoring during Kyle Rittenhouse’s acquittal]( I was sitting in my car on the phone when I heard the news. My boyfriend and I were chatting while I was driving to my parents’ house to have dinner. He mentioned to me that he had something to tell me and wanted to wait until I had stopped driving and had a chance [...] [What medicine can learn from the antiwork movement]( A record number of Americans are choosing to quit their jobs. This phenomenon has been termed The Great Resignation by economists. The reasons for the Great Resignation are multifactorial and a subject of great debate, but some insight can be gleaned from the rise of a movement that has been called ‘antiwork’. This movement is [...] [Why the medical profession should give people with criminal records a second chance]( I am a board-certified osteopathic family physician who worked most of my career as a hospitalist. I am thankful to my university, family medicine program, and the state boards for being open-minded and future-minded and admitting and licensing me, respectively. I was arrested and convicted of multiple counts of trafficking and abusing cannabis and MDMA [...] [Grieving our collective loss with compassion [PODCAST]]( “Cultivating compassion for ourselves and others is a practice in which we release judgment, anger and heal our emotional wounds. We can then move forward to a version of a better world where we have evolved to a new beginning. Change is always happening, and that is our constant. What we focus on while it [...] [Will the COVID Omicron variant change the world again? [PODCAST]]( “The variant keeps me up at night a little bit because it has 32 mutations in the spike protein, in contrast to the Delta mutation. But it’s not just the mutations. In terms of biological plausibility, it’s plausible that it could be more evasive against immunity. Not just vaccines, but potentially reinfection. What really worries [...] [Testing gravity during Ladder Season]( The transition from pumpkin spice to gingerbread lattes may conjure warm, cozy holiday feelings for some, but for those of us who treat trauma patients, it signals the beginning of Ladder Season. There is something in the crisp late Autumn air that is driving people to dust off their rickety ladders and climb onto the [...] [Loneliness and hopelessness are all around us, yet we are missing it]( It was dark as we entered a crumbling stone building, a one-room 15’ x 15’ structure. No electricity, no running water, no amenities, we assume “we all have.” I was leading a medical team to the poorest country in Europe, Moldova, a country I had come to know and love well. The team had finished [...] [Think TikTok is smarter than me? Then I’m not the right doctor for you.]( “I don’t think I am the right doctor for you.” In over 20 years of practice, I had never uttered those words before this year. Now, as my medical assistant of 20 years remarks, almost two years into the pandemic, I say it almost daily. I like to think I am a good physician and [...] [Fear of vaccines grows with the need for medical ethics [PODCAST]]( “While individual doctors have obligations to both the individual and public health, their first concern is their patients. And these decisions have to acknowledge fears and respect the stance. Providers must balance reassurance with acknowledgment, care, data, and the intent to ‘do no harm.’ It is undeniable that the COVID vaccination has saved countless lives [...] --------------------------------------------------------------- If a friend sent you this email and you want to subscribe, go to [KevinMD](. --------------------------------------------------------------- 345 Hudson Street New York NY 10014 USA [Unsubscribe]( | [Change Subscriber Options](