Covid-19 Misconceptions and Straight Talk – Episode 34, To Your Health With Dr. Jim Morrow

Dr. Morrow corrects some Covid-19 misconceptions, such as comparing Covid-19 to the flu. He also delivers straight talk on wearing masks, conspiracy theories about Covid-19 being man-made, whether it’s safe to fly, and more. “To Your Health” is brought to you by Morrow Family Medicine, which brings the CARE back to healthcare.

About Morrow Family Medicine and Dr. Jim Morrow

Morrow Family Medicine is an award-winning, state-of-the-art family practice with offices in Cumming and Milton, Georgia. The practice combines healthcare information technology with old-fashioned care to provide the type of care that many are in search of today. Two physicians, three physician assistants and two nurse practitioners are supported by a knowledgeable and friendly staff to make your visit to Morrow Family Medicine one that will remind you of the way healthcare should be. At Morrow Family Medicine, we like to say we are “bringing the care back to healthcare!” Morrow Family Medicine has been named the “Best of Forsyth” in Family Medicine in all five years of the award, is a three-time consecutive winner of the “Best of North Atlanta” by readers of Appen Media, and the 2019 winner of “Best of Life” in North Fulton County.

Dr. Jim Morrow, Morrow Family Medicine, and Host of “To Your Health With Dr. Jim Morrow”

Dr. Jim Morrow is the founder and CEO of Morrow Family Medicine. He has been a trailblazer and evangelist in the area of healthcare information technology, was named Physician IT Leader of the Year by HIMSS, a HIMSS Davies Award Winner, the Cumming-Forsyth Chamber of Commerce Steve Bloom Award Winner as Entrepreneur of the Year and he received a Phoenix Award as Community Leader of the Year from the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. He is married to Peggie Morrow and together they founded the Forsyth BYOT Benefit, a charity in Forsyth County to support students in need of technology and devices. They have two Goldendoodles, a gaggle of grandchildren and enjoy life on and around Lake Lanier.

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The complete show archive of “To Your Health with Dr. Jim Morrow” addresses a wide range of health and wellness topics, and can be found at www.toyourhealthradio.com.

Dr. Morrow’s Show Notes

MORE ON COVID-19

This virus is more easily transmitted than the flu virus.
- It is a much worse disease than the flu.
Respiratory distress occurs when your immune system produces cytokines o and the lungs get very inflamed
- and this inflammation causes fluid and debris to be deposited into the lungs
Attacks the heart and kidneys also. o Cardiomyopathy
- Renal failure – dialysis
Causes blood clots, venous and arterial. PE, strokes.
At first and for a long time we thought it was not affecting children.
- Now, we know that is not true.
- Attacks the blood vessels in young children and causes a condition known as Kawasaki’s Disease or a Kawasaki-like Disease.
  - This is pathologic changes that seem to result from an exaggerated immune response to a pathogen in patients with genetic susceptibility.
Hydroxychloroquine has been shown not to be effective and, in some cases, harmful in Covid-19.
- Has finally been put to bed. o Increased mortality if given late
Remdesivir might work.
- o Patients are often much worse in the second week of the disease. o This has to be given IV early.
- Hard to do that.
- Very short supply of this
Total cases have started to plateau in the US, but with social distancing waning somewhat and states opening up, we will definitely see a bump in cases.
Bacteremia: o Week 2-3 o Can be septic
- Can be fatal
Second trimester miscarriages are being linked to this infection
Peds: Multi-inflammatory Syndrome
Fever
Median age is ten – up to 20
Rash
Swelling of nodes in neck
Most get conjunctivitis, red eyes and red and cracked lips o Fuzzy thinking o Nausea o Diarrhea o Abd pain
Some heart involvement – LV dysfunction o This is still rare but definitely happening o Responds to therapy:
- IV-Ig;
- steroids
The healthcare system has been spared the overwhelming push that would have made all of this dramatically worse.
Masks:
- Wear one anytime in public.
- They protect others from you.
- 44% of people in a NY study who had NO symptoms were found to be positive for having the disease at the time they had no symptoms.
Viral Testing:
- - Lots of false positive and negative tests o Saliva test, approved by FDA.
  - At home tests available. Nasal swab
    - letsgetchecked.com
  - about $100
  - about a 4 day turn around
Antibody Tests:
- There are three antibodies that are tested for in most of these tests.
  - IgA, a respiratory antibody.
- One that is produced in response to a respiratory infection. As opposed to a stomach bug or what people insist on calling a “stomach flu”, even though that does not exist.
- IgM
- one that you produce acutely as you are in the midst of an active infection.
- IgG
- One you make that is at the end of an infection and the one that lasts the longest, giving you some degree of immunity to an infection you have already had.
IgA and IgM can cross react with the coronaviruses that cause the common cold, mainly 229E and OC43.
IgG is specific for the type of virus that caused a particular infection, such as SARS-CoV-2.
So, if you get the antibody test, you are looking for a positive IgG antibody to know if you were infected with or exposed to this novel coronavirus.
We presume that this infers some degree of immunity but we really are not certain of that yet.
ACE inhibitors and ARBs: stay on them if you take them. They could actually benefit you
Aspirin: stay on it
Allergy meds: stay on them; Covid-19 does not cause sneezing. Period.
You need to understand that scientists are accustomed to saying “I don’t know”
but the public is accustomed to us having all the answers.
For the past 75 years, when it comes to infections and public health issues, the public has come to expect medicine to know what’s what.
- But this is a totally new virus.
  - It’s like the time of Louis Pasteur when scientists did not know everything,
  - or hardly anything compared to today.
- Information that I learned two weeks ago is being proven wrong this week.
- Social media and the public’s access to information of all kinds,
  - most of it unproven,
  - is making it difficult to sort out fact from fiction.
- People have a need to believe something,
  - so when they see someone who sounds knowledgeable, they want to believe it.
  - When it gives them an answer they want to believe it.

Late stage issues:
- Prolonged positivity, up to 2 months
  - People get better,
- then get worse,
- PCR neg then wbc goes up,
- inflammatory markers up.
- Some are concerned about people getting reinfected…

o Late stage symptoms:

joint pain,
muscle pan,
leg pain,
think mucus.
Fever – to 102 for 2 months
Chronic diarrhea – we don’t understand this o
Making progress:
9 weeks ago: 1.03 people were infected by an infected person. o 7 weeks ago: 86 o A few weeks ago: 0.76
Last week: Back to 1.03 after state opened back up