The Governor of Texas has released the mask mandate for our State. I'd prefer to read between the lines. While on the face of it, the new policy risks prolonging the pandemic, allows time for new vaccine resistant strains to erupt, and hampers the decline of new COVID infections, the devil is in the [Read More]
News & Media
A Look at This Year’s Flu Season
While the flu season is not over, enough weeks have passed to assess the impact of the COVID. And this is a much needed small bright spot on the blight of the pandemic. It's a pretty mild flu season. Check out the link. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm#S2 It is panning out to [Read More]
Cedar Fever or COVID-19
It is Cedar Fever season in Central Texas! This year is worse than most. Weird name for it, Cedar Fever, as it is not caused by cedar nor is there a fever. It is caused by Ashe Juniper tree pollen, and the males of the species are to blame. The symptoms stink--headache, sinus congestion and pain, [Read More]
Receiving the COVID-19 vaccine
The vaccines are here! I gratefully received my first shot Sunday December 20, 2020 at 11:15 am at St. David's South Austin Medical Center. I watched on CSPAN as the FDA had an open panel discussion regarding the data surrounding the Pfizer vaccine. They repeated that action regarding [Read More]
The Arrival of the COVID-19 Vaccine
The vaccine is here. The UK has started administering it this week. The FDA has used Emergency Use Authorization to allow it to come to market in the US. There is resistance to the vaccine both in people and in their bodies. From what I hear, more in the former than the latter. I've been on record [Read More]
Increase in COVID-19 cases
The Fall Surge (The Third Wave) The Fall Surge is upon us. It has arrived by all telling. We are early in it's course and there is opportunity for mitigation. The 1918 Pandemic of the Spanish flu also had 3 waves. The Spring, the Fall, and the Winter waves of 1918. The Winter of 1918 saw the end [Read More]
Coffee and Colorectal Cancer
Colon cancer is in the news these days. A few weeks ago Chadwick Boseman passed away in his early 40's of metastatic colon cancer. In one fell swoop, his tragic passing highlighted three traits of colon cancer: 1) Colon cancer is increasing in younger Americans aged 20-50. 2) Black Americans are [Read More]
Urgency to Get Flu Shots
The seasonal flu shot is starting to become available. The American Academy of Pediatricians recommends getting the flu vaccine optimally between now and the end of October. It can take a few weeks to be fully effective. This year with the dual respiratory viruses of influenza and [Read More]
Convalescent Plasma
CONVALESCENT PLASMA The story on the news cycle this week is convalescent plasma (which I shall abbreviate CP). CP is the plasma of an infected person who has recovered from an infectious illness. The idea is that if you administer the plasma of that person to a currently infected patient, [Read More]
COVID-19 rising as leading cause of death
SARS-CoVA 2 is now the 3rd leading cause of death in the United States this year. Heart disease and all cancer deaths still exceed the number of Coronavirus deaths. What is frustrating about this is that some Americans feel that this is not a big deal and that we are all overreacting. I was just so [Read More]
Cyclospora
Want to worry about something OTHER than the pandemic? Well, you're in luck! Let's worry about Cyclospora! It is a parasite that is increasingly prevalent in Travis County. Over 80 cases have been reported and my Physician's Assistant just got a positive result back on one of our patients so add [Read More]
Coronavirus Vaccine
The first phase 3 vaccine trial is underway! Moderna is the biotech company partnering with the National Institutes of Health that is first off the blocks. Phase 1 trials test safety. Phase 2 trials test efficacy and safety in a slightly larger number of people. Then phase 3 trials are done in even [Read More]
