Video: Boston doctor provides latest on new omicron subvariant of COVID-19
Updated: 6:06 PM EDT May 18, 2022
IN NEED OF CE.AR >> BREAKING NEWS ON THE MEDICAL FRONT. THE UNITED STATES’S FIRST CASE OF MONKEYPOX HAS BEEN FOUND IN A PATIENT. >> JOINING US IS CHIEF OF INFECTUSIO DISEASES AT BRIGHAM & WOMEN’S HOSPITAL. THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US FIRST OF ALL. >> HAPPY TO BE HERE JESSICA AND ERIKA. GOOD EVENING. >> GOOD EVENING. WE WANT TO TALK ABOUT MONKEYPOX, WHAT EXACTLY IS THIS AND HOW CONCERNED SHOULD WE BE. SHAUN: MONKEYPOX IS A. >> MONKEYPOX IS A VIRUS SIMILAR TO SMALLPOX, IT’S MHUC LESS CONTAGIOUS AND IMPORTANTLY, MUCH LESS LIKELY TO CAUSE SERIOUS DISEASE. IT’S TYPICALLY ACQUIRED BY CONTACT WHIT ANIMALS THAT CARRY THE VIRUS OR WITH OTHER PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN INFECTED. SO IT’S UNUSUAL TO HAVE SUCH AN INFECTN.IO THE LAST OUTBREAK IN THE UNITED STATES WAS IN 2003, WHERE ABOUT 70 PEOPLE CONTRACTED THAT. AND THERE ARE ANTIVIRAL DRUGS THAT CAN TREAT THIS INFECTION AS WELL, SO I THINK MOST PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE NO CONCERNS ABOUT TH.IS >> OK. WELL, WE CONTINUE TO REMAIN CONCERNED ABOUT COVID THOUGH DOCTOR, SO TURNING THERE, A NEW SUBSTANTIAL CHANCE VARIANT POPPING UP ONCE AGAIN HERE. LET LOOK AT THE SCIENTIFIC NAME, IT’S GOT A LONG STRING OF NUMBERS, SO I WON’T GO IONT IT, BUT HOW DO YOU REFER TO IT, AND WHY AREN’T WE GETTING A NEW GREEK LETTER, IT’S STILL OMICRON? >> IT IS STILL OMICRON. THE ONLY WAY TO REFER TO IT IS BY THE LETTERS AND NUMBERS. THE REASON IT DOESN’T GET A NEW LETTER, IT’S SLLTI CLOSELY RELATED ENOUGHO T BA1 AND BA2 AND ALL THE OTHER OMICRON SUBSTANTIAL CHANCE VARIAN TTSHAT WE THINK OF IT STILL AS PART OF THE CLOSE FAMILY. IT’S NOT A DISTANT RELATIVE, LIKE, YOU KNOW, DELTA OR BETA WERE, AND THAT WE’RE SEEING OMICRON REALLY DIVERSIFY WITNHI THE OMICRON FAMILY, WHICH IS REALLY VERY INTERESTING FROM A VIRUS PERSPECTIVE, BUT IT’S NOT DIFFENERT ENOUGH TO RIMET IT SOME FAMILY NAME. >> WE’RE NOTICING, CLELYAR IT’S AT LEAST THE SAME IN TERMS OF CONTAGIOUS, OR MORE CONTAGISOU THAN OTHER SUBSTANTIAL CHANCE VARIANTS. ARE YOU SEEING ANY EVIDENCE THAT IT’S CAUSING MORE SEVERE SYMPTOMS? >> WE DON’T THINK IT’S CAUSING MORE SEVERE SYMPTOMS. EVEN THOUGH WE’RE SEEING AN INCREASEN I HOSPITALIZATIONS, THAT’S BECAUSE OF THE SPREAD OF ETH VIRUS, BUT WE’RE NOT SEEING AN INCREASE NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN THE ICU, FORTUNATELY, AND SO FAR, WE’RE NOT REALLY SEEGIN ANY INCREASED NUMBERS OF DEATHS. >>K. O WE ARE SEEING A LOT OF PEOPLE THOUGH TESTING POSITIVE, DOCTOR, FOR COVID, SOME FOR A SECOND, ENEV A THIRD TIME, SO WHAT ARE THESE REINFECTIONS TELL YOU ABOUT OUR IMMUNITY? >> WELL, SUGGESTING THAT THE VIRUS IS EVOLVING IN A WAY THAT IS ESCAPING FROM THIS IMMUNITY, AT LEAST PARTIALLY, EUGNOH TO CAUSE INFECTION, BUT NOTO S MUCH TO CAUSE SEVERE DISEASE AND THAT’S WHY WE’RE GETTING THESE PERIODIC WAVES OF INFECTIONS THAT ARE OCCURRING EVERY SEVERAL MONTHS IT SEEMS, AND IT — THIS MAY CONTINUE ON UILNT IT ALL QUTSIE DOWN, SOME TIME IN THE FUTURE. I CAN’T PREDICT YET. >> OK. WELL, DOCTOR, WE APPRECIEAT YOU, APPRECIATE YOUR INSIGHT AS WELL. THANK UYO SO MU
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Video: Boston doctor provides latest on new omicron subvariant of COVID-19
Updated: 6:06 PM EDT May 18, 2022
Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, of Brigham and Women’s, also discusses a case of monkeypox in Massachusetts, the country’s first confirmed case this year.
Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, of Brigham and Women’s, also discusses a case of monkeypox in Massachusetts, the country’s first confirmed case this year.
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