Mid Rivers Newsmagazine 11-18-20

26 I HEALTH I
November 18, 2020
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE
@MIDRIVERSNEWS
MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM
Thanksgiving and other holiday gatherings will likely look different this year
– and many may not happen at all – due to the pandemic. (Source: Adobe Stock)
health
capsules
By LISA RUSSELL
It’s finally time to celebrate the
holidays together … or not
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
recently poured cold water on the
Thanksgiving plans of many families, warning
that holding even small holiday celebrations
with loved ones may put Americans at
increased risk for contracting COVID-19.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases and now-controversial White
House advisor, backed up that warning with
a public announcement that his own children
won’t be coming home for Thanksgiving
this year because of the risk. “You
may have to bite the bullet and sacrifice that
social gathering,” Fauci advised as cases of
the virus continue to spike in many areas …
including Missouri, where hospitalizations
and deaths hit a new record in October.
However, deciding whether to host or
attend a particular Thanksgiving celebration
or other holiday gathering remains in
the hands of each individual and family.
Following are guidelines the CDC has provided
to help people make those decisions.
• Number of people at the gathering –
Gatherings with more people pose more
risk than gatherings with a few, although
the CDC does not have a limit or recommend
a specific number of attendees.
Instead, the size of a holiday gathering
should be determined based on the ability
to reduce or limit contact and virus spread
between attendees along with state and
local safety regulations.
• Food and drinks – Self-serve bars or
meals served buffet style pose more risk to
attendees.
• Community levels of COVID-19 –
Family and friends should consider the
number and rate of COVID-19 cases in
their own community and, just as importantly,
in the communities their guests are
coming from.
• The location and duration of the gathering
– Indoor gatherings generally pose
more risk than outdoor gatherings – for
indoor gatherings, keeping windows and
doors open to increase ventilation can help
to decrease risk. Gatherings that last several
hours also pose more risk than shorter ones.
• The behaviors of guests prior to the
gathering – People who are generally not
adhering to social distancing, mask wearing,
hand washing, and other preventive
behaviors pose more risk and should
potentially be left off the guest list, as
should those who refuse to follow these
behavior rules during the gathering.
Everyday habit may reduce
household COVID-19 spread
A large percentage of COVID-19 cases
to date have been due to the virus spreading
among family members or others living in
the same household … with a transmission
rate as high as 50% in some studies. But
taking the simple step of using mouthwash
or another oral antiseptic on a daily basis
may help to contain the spread by inactivating
the virus in the mouth and throat,
Penn State scientists have discovered.
A group of doctors and scientists at the
university’s College of Medicine tested
several different types of oral and nasopharyngeal
(nose and throat) products in a lab
for their ability to inactivate human coronaviruses
similar in structure to SARS-
CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
The products included various brands
of mouthwash, peroxide-based antiseptic
mouth rinses, a 1% solution of baby shampoo,
and a neti pot. They allowed these
solutions to interact with the viruses for
periods of 30 seconds, one minute and two
minutes before diluting them to prevent
further virus inactivation.
They found that many of the mouthwash
and oral rinse products effectively inactivated
greater than 99.9% of the infectious
virus after only 30 seconds of contact time,
while others took longer but also did so.
The 1% baby shampoo solution – which is
often used by head and neck specialists to
rinse the sinuses of patients – inactivated
Regular use of mouthwash/oral antiseptic
products may limit the spread of COVID-19
within households. (Source: Adobe Stock)
more than 99.9% of the virus after two
minutes of contact.
The team said that while more specific
studies are needed, these products may
have real potential to reduce the amount
of virus spread by people who are positive
for COVID-19, especially inside their own
homes.
New FDA guidelines warn about
NSAID use during pregnancy
In mid-October, the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration announced new labeling
requirements for all prescription and overthe-counter
nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory
drugs (NSAIDs). These changes will
include warnings that if taken after about
20 weeks of pregnancy, the drugs can
cause rare but serious kidney problems in
unborn babies which can lead to low levels
of amniotic fluid, which is essential for
their protection in the womb.
NSAIDs include medicines such as
ibuprofen, naproxen, diclofenac, and celecoxib.
While aspirin also is an NSAID, the
new recommendations do not apply to the
use of low-dose aspirin (81 mg), which is
an important treatment for some women
during pregnancy.
At about the 20-week mark, an unborn
baby’s kidneys begin producing most of
the amniotic fluid that surrounds it. In some
cases, fetal kidney problems and lowered
amniotic fluid levels have been detected
after as little as two days of maternal NSAID
use. The condition usually goes away if the
mother stops taking the NSAID.
Many Americans receive ‘surprise’
bills for colonoscopy expenses
Having regular colonoscopy screenings
is known to be the most effective way to
prevent colorectal cancer. Current federal
regulations require coverage of those
screenings as preventive care – meaning
that commercially insured patients should
pay nothing as long as their colonoscopies
are performed by providers that participate
in the medical insurer’s network.
For that reason, Americans who are covered
under their employers’ medical plans
and use the plans’ in-network providers