Experts say that as the number of cases of delta variants increases, it is “over time” to be vaccinated.

Charleston, South Carolina (WCSC)-Infectious disease experts said Tuesday that an increase in COVID-19 cases is disrupting the “safety net” of communities across the country.

Dr. Catherine O’Neill is Chief Medical Officer at Louisiana State University and Director of Infection Prevention at the Hour Lady of the Ray Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge.

“What I mean is that ambulances take longer to reach sick patients. They are COVID and non-COVID. These are children playing in playgrounds that can be injured today. These are the people who are in the car when they get into a car accident, “she said. “But all care takes time.”

She said that as the number of incidents increased, people should immediately do some things to protect themselves.

“When you see cases get so high, you start to limit your behavior, start wearing masks, and be more careful because you know you have a lot of COVIDs,” she said. “Also, if you choose not to vaccinate yet, start talking to your healthcare provider.”

She said that those who have not yet been vaccinated should be vaccinated now.

“It’s time. It’s timeless,” she said. “But it’s not too late to start protecting yourself, as it begins to take effect within 10-14 days of receiving the vaccine.”

O’Neill said it’s very difficult to predict when things will feel “normal” again.

“We saw that sometimes this pandemic affected us in the waves and we felt safer, and there were too many of these waves, masks and us. We’re moving away to help, but we have something we’ve never seen before, it’s vaccination, “O’Neill said. “What overwhelms the community is that too many people have not yet chosen to be vaccinated, and it is very clear that vaccination can make a big difference to the normal mood of this community. It’s a surge. By next spring, it’s certain that normality will be brought about and maintained in itself, but I think the only way to get there is through vaccination. “

Symptoms of delta variants can be overlooked at first

O’Neill said he found that the early symptoms of a delta variant infection were easy to miss.

“We have noticed that there are more patients in our community who started with sinus symptoms. In the South, this is very difficult as many of us have sinus symptoms every day. “She said. “So I noticed people ignoring them for a day or so, and then they started having fever and cough and very severe muscle aches and realized that this wasn’t your average.” I grass I have a runny nose because I mowed it. ‘”

She kept an eye out for people and encouraged them to take a test to see if you had new sinus symptoms. It may be the first sign of a delta mutant.

Of further concern is the rate of progression of the delta variant.

“People used to have a cold, had a few flu-like illnesses, and after staying home for a week or so, they appeared in the hospital,” she said. “And now I’m sick one day, I’m in the hospital within 72 hours and I’m using my respiratory system right away.” And that’s how infectious the delta mutant is, it’s in our body. It tells how fast it grows. “

Despite the “breakthrough”, the vaccine works, experts claim

O’Neill said the breakthrough cases that occur in people after being completely vaccinated do not indicate that the COVID vaccine does not work.

“I don’t know how often you look at college campuses, but you’ll see breakthrough cases of measles and mumps,” she said.

She said that if unvaccinated people enter the “severely vaccinated MMR population,” unvaccinated people endanger those who have been vaccinated.

“So I think we should have expected a breakthrough case,” she said. “Scientifically, we know you’ll never say zero, but the more people you get vaccinated, the more herd immunity you get. That is, these There are few breakthrough cases. “

O’Neill is a “very well-studied vaccine” for all three available vaccines, the two-dose Physer and Moderna vaccines, and the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and all three are “very well-studied.” It is “very safe” and “very, very effective” and prevents serious infections and illnesses caused by COVID-19.

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