Navigating Holiday Gatherings During the Pandemic - Updated
About a year ago Dr. Privett recorded a podcast o this topic. When he recorded it there was no vaccine and not Delta variant. Given the new circumstances we are in we asked Dr. Privett to provide an update on this topic.
Featured Speaker:
Darrin Privett, MD
Dr. Darrin Privett is an emergency room physician at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. Transcription:
Navigating Holiday Gatherings During the Pandemic - Updated
Melanie Cole (Host): Welcome to It's Your Health Radio with Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. I'm Melanie Cole. And today, we're updating a previous podcast we did on keeping you and your loved ones safe during the holidays. We're navigating holiday gatherings during a pandemic, but a lot has changed since the last time we did this. And joining us is Dr. Darrin Privett. He's an emergency department physician at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital.
Dr. Privett, welcome back. And as I said in my intro, boy, a lot has changed since you and I did this before. So tell us a little bit about what has changed. We've got the Delta variant now. We've got a vaccine now. Tell us what do we know now that we didn't know a year ago.
Dr Darrin Privett: Well, good morning. And thanks so much again for having me. I feel very grateful that I have this opportunity to be involved in community outreach and educating those within the community regarding what we can do to protect ourselves and, of course, the dangers associated with COVID-19.
And you're right, we did this last year and right about this time. Holidays are around the corner. We have Halloween, Thanksgiving coming up and Christmas. And so that usually indicates that a lot of our friends and our families are going to get together whether it's through some type of party that we have, whether we host some type of dinner or whatever activity or custom or traditions we do during or on holidays. But it basically means that we will get together and gather and co-mingle, so that usually means members from the same household, but majority of the time it's going to be mixing of households. And what we need to do is make sure that we discuss about whether it's safe or not as COVID-19 continues to permeate throughout our communities and the country.
But things have changed and a lot has gone on since last year. But nevertheless, we still need to make sure that we talk about this because there is a continued risk of transmission, even with vaccines and especially with the mutation of the virus with these various variants, and you mentioned Delta. And so this virus isn't going anywhere. And the sooner we realize that and learn to live our lives, the better off we will be.
Conditions have definitely gotten better and conditions have changed since last year, but we still need to be very cautious and careful.
Melanie Cole (Host): Well, we do. So when we talk about things that need to be different, like last year, it was like, "Okay, just don't even travel. Try and do Zoom Thanksgivings." and, you know, trick or treating, my goodness. I did a bunch of shows on that and it was like people were throwing candy, you know, out into the sidewalk, or they had some clever ideas where they were like running it down a bag. You know what I mean? All of that.
We now have learned about surfaces. That's one thing we've learned that we're not as nervous about. But one of the things that a lot of docs right now are talking about to me is this coinfection aspect of what we've been seeing with COVID and flu, this uptick in RSV that we're seeing in kids, allergies, asthma, obviously this time of year. So speak about the co-infection aspect as we get into this holidays. What do you want people to know about, first of all, getting their flu shots, vaccination? Anything that will help protect us from what could be really, you know, the perfect storm.
Dr Darrin Privett: Well, there has been a lot of things that have been different as the pandemic evolves. And we've seen different variants and specifically, obviously, everybody knows about the Delta variant. And as you understand virology, viruses, if they don't have a host, will stop spreading and stop living. And so typically during a pandemic like this, the virus, these things that are very smart and they'll do whatever they can to make sure that they can continue to live. And as the pandemic evolves, they become more contagious.
The scary thing we didn't really know like how that was going to affect, you know, mortality and morbidity. And it seems to be that as the virus becomes more contagious, it spreads more, it gets more hosts or it continues to live, but we hadn't really seen a huge spike in mortality, which is a good thing. But because of that, we've seen also an uptick, in other respiratory viruses, as you mentioned RSV among kids, which is really common around this time of year as is. We do see an increase in respiratory viruses specifically with the flu season as we're getting into the October, November, December months.
We really were nervous about that last year. Like what was going to happen during this time? And we were already having a difficulty in controlling COVID and how that was going to affect with the flu. And so there's are some things that we can do to mitigate it, just like we've been preaching over and over what we can do to help control the transmission of COVID. The same thing is with these other viruses and it just goes back to just good hygiene. I mean, if you're sick, you want to make sure that you stay away from your family and friends and then decrease the risk of spreading whatever respiratory virus you might have. You make sure you use good hygiene. Keep your hands clean. If you can't really be in a situation where you can wash your hands, you have hand sanitizer with you.
Obviously, we know now that masks are a good mitigator of respiratory viruses or anything that's coming from our intraoral airway. And so it's good to make sure that we maintain a proper fitting mask over our nose and our mouth. And now, obviously with the advent of the vaccine, we've seen that vaccinations certainly decrease the risk of serious illness and hospitalizations. And that's a hot topic, whether people should be vaccinated or not. And I think that we really need to educate ourselves and do everything we can do to help affect the effects of this pandemic and also these other respiratory viruses and co-infections that we're seeing.
And I think that's why we've seen a decrease in cases in hospitalizations and mortality is because we've definitely seen that the vaccination rates have increased throughout the country. But here in California and in our local community, we've seen vaccinations rates greater than 70%, which is really great. And I think now we're seeing the effects of that.
And vaccinations, it's political, it's a hot topic, but the reality is that it's a very personal decision. And I think it's really important that you, as a family member, especially if you're high risk, there's certainly a proportion of the population that would definitely benefit from being vaccinated to decrease their risk of disease, to decrease the risk of transmission. And these are the discussions that need to be going on within a family and to try to figure out what's best for you and what you should do.
Melanie Cole (Host): Well, you're right. I mean, it's such a shame that a public health crisis got politicized to the point where now there are sides. And I know you're not a psychologist, Dr. Privett, but you are such an awesome doctor. What do we do as the holidays are coming up about those discussions, those unvaccinated family members that are convinced of whatever they're convinced of, however they learned from their Facebook uncle, whatever it is that they learned? What do we do? Do we just say, "Sorry, we're not going to have Thanksgiving with you"? Do we hope that the masks definitely work? I mean, do you have any advice for us as an emergency room physician that doesn't want to see us show up?
Dr Darrin Privett: Well, I'm happy to see. Our doors are always open and we do everything we can to go above and beyond to make sure that the ER department is a safe place for you. I think a lot of people initially during the outbreak were scared to go to the ER. And we saw a lot of people got sick at home forsimple things like ruptured appendicitis or strokes or heart attacks.
And so, the ER is a safe place to go. And you want to make sure that obviously you want to have a safe place be at your house. And those are very intense topics to have. And we heard about that when the holidays came around during the election and there are definitely families that were divided. And I'm not a psychologist. I don't necessarily specialize in social pointers o what families should do and what they shouldn't do and how they should navigate these sensitive subjects. I would just say that, like I mentioned earlier, that as soon as we realize that this virus isn't going anywhere and we have to learn to live our lives, the better off we will be.
And I think that the virus is going to evolve from a pandemic more into an endemic. And like I said, it's not going anywhere. And so eventually, all of us are going to have to experience having the virus. I think if we can do that and make sure that we're as protected as much as possible and that we can decrease its mortality or morbidity upon us, the better off we'll be. And certainly, we have seen through the science and with data that this vaccine does decrease your risk of serious illness and it does decrease the rates of hospitalizations.
And so if you want to do everything you can to protect yourself, getting vaccinated is one of the best things you can do, especially for certain portions of the population that are high risk, those who are older. We know that there is a high risk of those who are older than 65, that we've seen the rates of mortality among those people have chronic medical conditions, those who are immunosuppressed. We've seen a huge risk of mortality among those who have had COVID in those who are obese. And so there's definitely a high risk populations.
And we do have family members who are high risk. And so that's what you have to decide, like, "Should we get together during the holidays for those members that are potential high risk?" And those are the decisions I think that families have to make themselves. And you have to use common sense and you just have to make sure you use caution.
If you do have family members who are high risk, you might want to spend as much time as you can outside and decrease the rates of transmission. You might want to have grandma and grandpa in an area of good ventilation. And you might want to try to practice social distances. And if you have members who are unvaccinated or if there's going to be a large number of gathering inside, that maybe you want to wear a mask. But those are all personal decisions that families need to make together.
I think you get into trouble if you try to bring up who in the family is vaccinated and unvaccinated. I think, I certainly don't want to get into that hot topic. But there's definitely families that are like that. And we've seen an increased risk of COVID among those who are unvaccinated, but we've also seen a lot of breakthrough cases of those who are vaccinated. And so I just go back to the point that we just need to make sure that we use extreme caution and utilize these safety precautions with masks, with good hygiene, utilizing good ventilated areas, try to honor social distance the best we can. And if you're sick, it might be best for you to stay home.
Melanie Cole (Host): Well, that was a list of great advice, Dr. Privett. It certainly is a discussion for families to have. And you're right. And us getting vaccinated and wearing masks also protects us, but it's also the best way we can as a caring society go about protecting the medically vulnerable patients. So I'm glad you discussed that as well.
And thank you so much for updating us on things that have changed because last year was frightening. And not that it's any less frightening now, but certainly we understand a little more. And thank you by the way for you and all of the healthcare providers. What you guys have done in the last year is really just absolutely astonishing. So, rock on. You're doing such a great job and thank you so much again for joining us.
And for more up-to-date information about COVID-19, go to henrymayo.com and click on the coronavirus information link at the top of the page. It is constantly updated as we learn more information. So it's a great place to get the information from the experts at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital.
That concludes this episode of It's Your Health Radio with Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. I'm Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.
Navigating Holiday Gatherings During the Pandemic - Updated
Melanie Cole (Host): Welcome to It's Your Health Radio with Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. I'm Melanie Cole. And today, we're updating a previous podcast we did on keeping you and your loved ones safe during the holidays. We're navigating holiday gatherings during a pandemic, but a lot has changed since the last time we did this. And joining us is Dr. Darrin Privett. He's an emergency department physician at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital.
Dr. Privett, welcome back. And as I said in my intro, boy, a lot has changed since you and I did this before. So tell us a little bit about what has changed. We've got the Delta variant now. We've got a vaccine now. Tell us what do we know now that we didn't know a year ago.
Dr Darrin Privett: Well, good morning. And thanks so much again for having me. I feel very grateful that I have this opportunity to be involved in community outreach and educating those within the community regarding what we can do to protect ourselves and, of course, the dangers associated with COVID-19.
And you're right, we did this last year and right about this time. Holidays are around the corner. We have Halloween, Thanksgiving coming up and Christmas. And so that usually indicates that a lot of our friends and our families are going to get together whether it's through some type of party that we have, whether we host some type of dinner or whatever activity or custom or traditions we do during or on holidays. But it basically means that we will get together and gather and co-mingle, so that usually means members from the same household, but majority of the time it's going to be mixing of households. And what we need to do is make sure that we discuss about whether it's safe or not as COVID-19 continues to permeate throughout our communities and the country.
But things have changed and a lot has gone on since last year. But nevertheless, we still need to make sure that we talk about this because there is a continued risk of transmission, even with vaccines and especially with the mutation of the virus with these various variants, and you mentioned Delta. And so this virus isn't going anywhere. And the sooner we realize that and learn to live our lives, the better off we will be.
Conditions have definitely gotten better and conditions have changed since last year, but we still need to be very cautious and careful.
Melanie Cole (Host): Well, we do. So when we talk about things that need to be different, like last year, it was like, "Okay, just don't even travel. Try and do Zoom Thanksgivings." and, you know, trick or treating, my goodness. I did a bunch of shows on that and it was like people were throwing candy, you know, out into the sidewalk, or they had some clever ideas where they were like running it down a bag. You know what I mean? All of that.
We now have learned about surfaces. That's one thing we've learned that we're not as nervous about. But one of the things that a lot of docs right now are talking about to me is this coinfection aspect of what we've been seeing with COVID and flu, this uptick in RSV that we're seeing in kids, allergies, asthma, obviously this time of year. So speak about the co-infection aspect as we get into this holidays. What do you want people to know about, first of all, getting their flu shots, vaccination? Anything that will help protect us from what could be really, you know, the perfect storm.
Dr Darrin Privett: Well, there has been a lot of things that have been different as the pandemic evolves. And we've seen different variants and specifically, obviously, everybody knows about the Delta variant. And as you understand virology, viruses, if they don't have a host, will stop spreading and stop living. And so typically during a pandemic like this, the virus, these things that are very smart and they'll do whatever they can to make sure that they can continue to live. And as the pandemic evolves, they become more contagious.
The scary thing we didn't really know like how that was going to affect, you know, mortality and morbidity. And it seems to be that as the virus becomes more contagious, it spreads more, it gets more hosts or it continues to live, but we hadn't really seen a huge spike in mortality, which is a good thing. But because of that, we've seen also an uptick, in other respiratory viruses, as you mentioned RSV among kids, which is really common around this time of year as is. We do see an increase in respiratory viruses specifically with the flu season as we're getting into the October, November, December months.
We really were nervous about that last year. Like what was going to happen during this time? And we were already having a difficulty in controlling COVID and how that was going to affect with the flu. And so there's are some things that we can do to mitigate it, just like we've been preaching over and over what we can do to help control the transmission of COVID. The same thing is with these other viruses and it just goes back to just good hygiene. I mean, if you're sick, you want to make sure that you stay away from your family and friends and then decrease the risk of spreading whatever respiratory virus you might have. You make sure you use good hygiene. Keep your hands clean. If you can't really be in a situation where you can wash your hands, you have hand sanitizer with you.
Obviously, we know now that masks are a good mitigator of respiratory viruses or anything that's coming from our intraoral airway. And so it's good to make sure that we maintain a proper fitting mask over our nose and our mouth. And now, obviously with the advent of the vaccine, we've seen that vaccinations certainly decrease the risk of serious illness and hospitalizations. And that's a hot topic, whether people should be vaccinated or not. And I think that we really need to educate ourselves and do everything we can do to help affect the effects of this pandemic and also these other respiratory viruses and co-infections that we're seeing.
And I think that's why we've seen a decrease in cases in hospitalizations and mortality is because we've definitely seen that the vaccination rates have increased throughout the country. But here in California and in our local community, we've seen vaccinations rates greater than 70%, which is really great. And I think now we're seeing the effects of that.
And vaccinations, it's political, it's a hot topic, but the reality is that it's a very personal decision. And I think it's really important that you, as a family member, especially if you're high risk, there's certainly a proportion of the population that would definitely benefit from being vaccinated to decrease their risk of disease, to decrease the risk of transmission. And these are the discussions that need to be going on within a family and to try to figure out what's best for you and what you should do.
Melanie Cole (Host): Well, you're right. I mean, it's such a shame that a public health crisis got politicized to the point where now there are sides. And I know you're not a psychologist, Dr. Privett, but you are such an awesome doctor. What do we do as the holidays are coming up about those discussions, those unvaccinated family members that are convinced of whatever they're convinced of, however they learned from their Facebook uncle, whatever it is that they learned? What do we do? Do we just say, "Sorry, we're not going to have Thanksgiving with you"? Do we hope that the masks definitely work? I mean, do you have any advice for us as an emergency room physician that doesn't want to see us show up?
Dr Darrin Privett: Well, I'm happy to see. Our doors are always open and we do everything we can to go above and beyond to make sure that the ER department is a safe place for you. I think a lot of people initially during the outbreak were scared to go to the ER. And we saw a lot of people got sick at home forsimple things like ruptured appendicitis or strokes or heart attacks.
And so, the ER is a safe place to go. And you want to make sure that obviously you want to have a safe place be at your house. And those are very intense topics to have. And we heard about that when the holidays came around during the election and there are definitely families that were divided. And I'm not a psychologist. I don't necessarily specialize in social pointers o what families should do and what they shouldn't do and how they should navigate these sensitive subjects. I would just say that, like I mentioned earlier, that as soon as we realize that this virus isn't going anywhere and we have to learn to live our lives, the better off we will be.
And I think that the virus is going to evolve from a pandemic more into an endemic. And like I said, it's not going anywhere. And so eventually, all of us are going to have to experience having the virus. I think if we can do that and make sure that we're as protected as much as possible and that we can decrease its mortality or morbidity upon us, the better off we'll be. And certainly, we have seen through the science and with data that this vaccine does decrease your risk of serious illness and it does decrease the rates of hospitalizations.
And so if you want to do everything you can to protect yourself, getting vaccinated is one of the best things you can do, especially for certain portions of the population that are high risk, those who are older. We know that there is a high risk of those who are older than 65, that we've seen the rates of mortality among those people have chronic medical conditions, those who are immunosuppressed. We've seen a huge risk of mortality among those who have had COVID in those who are obese. And so there's definitely a high risk populations.
And we do have family members who are high risk. And so that's what you have to decide, like, "Should we get together during the holidays for those members that are potential high risk?" And those are the decisions I think that families have to make themselves. And you have to use common sense and you just have to make sure you use caution.
If you do have family members who are high risk, you might want to spend as much time as you can outside and decrease the rates of transmission. You might want to have grandma and grandpa in an area of good ventilation. And you might want to try to practice social distances. And if you have members who are unvaccinated or if there's going to be a large number of gathering inside, that maybe you want to wear a mask. But those are all personal decisions that families need to make together.
I think you get into trouble if you try to bring up who in the family is vaccinated and unvaccinated. I think, I certainly don't want to get into that hot topic. But there's definitely families that are like that. And we've seen an increased risk of COVID among those who are unvaccinated, but we've also seen a lot of breakthrough cases of those who are vaccinated. And so I just go back to the point that we just need to make sure that we use extreme caution and utilize these safety precautions with masks, with good hygiene, utilizing good ventilated areas, try to honor social distance the best we can. And if you're sick, it might be best for you to stay home.
Melanie Cole (Host): Well, that was a list of great advice, Dr. Privett. It certainly is a discussion for families to have. And you're right. And us getting vaccinated and wearing masks also protects us, but it's also the best way we can as a caring society go about protecting the medically vulnerable patients. So I'm glad you discussed that as well.
And thank you so much for updating us on things that have changed because last year was frightening. And not that it's any less frightening now, but certainly we understand a little more. And thank you by the way for you and all of the healthcare providers. What you guys have done in the last year is really just absolutely astonishing. So, rock on. You're doing such a great job and thank you so much again for joining us.
And for more up-to-date information about COVID-19, go to henrymayo.com and click on the coronavirus information link at the top of the page. It is constantly updated as we learn more information. So it's a great place to get the information from the experts at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital.
That concludes this episode of It's Your Health Radio with Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. I'm Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.