Latest / Fork U with Dr. Terry Simpson / Update: Flu and More Bird Flu

Transcript

Update: Flu and More Bird Flu · Fork U with Dr. Terry Simpson

• 0:03
  >> Dr. Terry Simpson: M this is our second bird flu and respiratory
• 0:06
  flu update and it's more important
• 0:09
  than ever to stay informed. With a
• 0:12
  temporary freeze on public information from federal
• 0:15
  agencies, I'm committed to sharing accurate,
• 0:18
  up to date information. So let's explore what's happening,
• 0:21
  what it means to you and how to protect yourself
• 0:24
  and those around you.
• 0:28
  I am, um, your Chief Medical Explanationist, Dr. Terry Simpson
• 0:31
  and this is Fork you, Fork
• 0:34
  University where we make sense of the madness,
• 0:37
  bust myths and teach you a little bit about food
• 0:40
  and medicine.
• 0:44
  Here's some of the current respiratory illness
• 0:47
  Trends as of January 24th.
• 0:50
  You've probably noticed that there has been an increasing bit
• 0:53
  of lung or respiratory illnesses driving people
• 0:56
  to seek medical care. So here's what we're
• 0:59
  seeing. Number one, some seasonal flu
• 1:02
  cases are elevated, particularly influenza A and
• 1:05
  rising in some areas. COVID 19
• 1:08
  thankfully is declining and RSV
• 1:10
  respiratory syncytial virus is also
• 1:13
  declining locally. Here in California we're sort of
• 1:16
  seeing a similar pattern as this. Bird flu
• 1:18
  continues to be a, ah, growing concern. It's also
• 1:21
  known as highly pathogenic avian influenza
• 1:24
  or the acronym HPAI.
• 1:27
  Since 1997,
• 1:30
  HPAI A or
• 1:32
  H5N1 infections have been reported in
• 1:35
  over 925 people with a
• 1:37
  staggering 50% case fatality
• 1:40
  rate. Early outbreaks included 20
• 1:43
  cases and 7 deaths in Hong Kong between
• 1:45
  1997 and 2003. And since
• 1:48
  November of 2003, more than 900 cases
• 1:51
  across 24 countries have been documented.
• 1:54
  Why is bird flu dangerous? Bird flu
• 1:57
  infections in human can range from mild symptoms like a
• 2:00
  sore throat or severe complications including
• 2:02
  pneumonia, respiratory failure,
• 2:05
  acute respiratory distress syndrome,
• 2:07
  multi organ failure and even encephalitis or
• 2:10
  dangerousness of the brain. Now, there are
• 2:13
  various types of bird flu, not just
• 2:16
  H5N1. There's an H7N1 and H9, but
• 2:18
  we're focused on H5N1. Many of the
• 2:21
  milder cases come from the H9 or
• 2:24
  H7 varieties. I know it's complicated, but
• 2:27
  stick with me. And since 2016,
• 2:30
  there have been sporadic cases reported every year
• 2:33
  globally, including. You probably heard about the man in
• 2:35
  Louisiana who Unfortunately died from
• 2:38
  H5N1. But with flu season in
• 2:41
  full swing, the risk of someone contracting both
• 2:44
  seasonal flu and bird flu at the
• 2:47
  same time increases. This co infection
• 2:50
  would allow the viruses to mix, potentially creating a
• 2:52
  new and more dangerous strain.
• 2:56
  And that is reflected in that Louisiana man. He died
• 2:59
  after handling wild birds infected with the
• 3:01
  HPAI or H5N1. And
• 3:04
  that tragedy is a stark reminder of how serious bird infections
• 3:07
  can be on Um, a good note. The young woman
• 3:10
  in Canada who is infected with H5N1
• 3:13
  recently had a downgrade in her
• 3:16
  illness, meaning she's actually doing a little bit better.
• 3:19
  There are other bird flu strains. There's H5N6,
• 3:22
  about 90 cases have been reported in China. They
• 3:25
  also have a 50% case fatality rate. And H
• 3:28
  AH5N8. In 2020, Russia had the first
• 3:31
  symptomatic human case in a poultry worker.
• 3:34
  Hospitals are now testing anybody hospitalized with
• 3:37
  severe flu symptoms. They have special flu
• 3:40
  tests from the Centers for Disease Control.
• 3:43
  We're also doing other things. We're looking at wastewater
• 3:46
  surveillance, emergency department visit data and lab confirmed
• 3:49
  cases.
• 3:50
  Now, here's some things you can do to protect yourself.
• 3:52
  Number one is obviously avoid exposure, not
• 3:55
  handling wild birds, dead poultry, contaminated
• 3:58
  environments. I talked about this more in
• 4:01
  depth in in my previous podcast about bird flu a couple
• 4:04
  of weeks ago. If you work with live
• 4:06
  birds or poultry, wearing gloves and eye protection is key,
• 4:09
  including face masks. They can greatly reduce your
• 4:12
  risk if you're exposed to infected
• 4:15
  birds. There are a number of medications like
• 4:17
  Tamiflu that can reduce the risk of infection,
• 4:20
  but they work best if started within 48 hours
• 4:23
  of exposure. And for high risk
• 4:26
  groups, There is an FDA approved vaccine
• 4:29
  against H5N1. This
• 4:32
  probably won't work against a pandemic because that'll be
• 4:35
  a mutated strain. But we typically give this
• 4:38
  to people who work in highly infected areas with poultry,
• 4:41
  as well as giving them influenza standard vaccine.
• 4:44
  Let's talk about air quality and respiratory illnesses.
• 4:47
  So all respiratory illnesses, especially those
• 4:50
  of us in California, sometimes come from air
• 4:53
  quality. The recent wildfires in California
• 4:55
  blanketed my car with ash, even though the fire was
• 4:58
  60 miles away and the poor air quality
• 5:01
  bothered my asthma. You can actually hear it a little bit here because I was just
• 5:04
  recently outside. So here's what you can do.
• 5:07
  Number one, bring in outdoor air when it's safe to do. So
• 5:10
  that's true for viruses, but when you have something like
• 5:12
  wildfires, you don't want to do that.
• 5:15
  So what we have is a HEPA air cleaner. They're a portable
• 5:18
  air cleaner with something called a HEPA filter and also a
• 5:21
  charcoal reserve. They're a little harder to get now because of the
• 5:24
  wildfires. A lot of Californians have bought them, but they're
• 5:27
  still there and they're worthwhile getting.
• 5:29
  I want to talk a little bit about vaccination now. Some of you are a little
• 5:32
  hesitant about this and you may not understand
• 5:35
  what vaccines do. Vaccines don't
• 5:38
  create this impenetrable shield, but they
• 5:41
  prepare your immune system with antibodies and
• 5:43
  memory to fight off the virus. Vaccination
• 5:46
  reduces your risk of severe illness and protects
• 5:49
  vulnerable population, including the
• 5:52
  elderly, those undergoing chemotherapy,
• 5:54
  young children and infants, and people with
• 5:57
  immune deficiency diseases. Now,
• 6:00
  there's some things that you can do to actually boost your immune
• 6:03
  system. Naturally. This is not something that will
• 6:06
  stop anything, but clearly if you have a
• 6:08
  deficit in vitamin C or vitamin D,
• 6:11
  your immune system will suffer. And many people, about 20%
• 6:14
  of the population, have vitamin D deficiency. You can
• 6:17
  find vitamin D in things like fatty fish like salmon,
• 6:20
  trout, mackerel, tuna,
• 6:23
  as well as fortified foods like milk and orange
• 6:25
  juice. For those who are lactose intolerant,
• 6:28
  plant based options like Costco oat milk is a great
• 6:31
  alternative because it is fortified with vitamin D. And
• 6:34
  that fortification is every bit as good as taking a supplement
• 6:37
  and maybe even a little bit better. While vitamin
• 6:40
  C has been often touted as something great
• 6:42
  for for boosting your immune system, it actually
• 6:45
  does support white cell production. And especially if you are
• 6:48
  on a strange low carb diet, you might want to consider having more
• 6:51
  citrus fruits like oranges and lemons or even broccoli,
• 6:54
  which isn't a citrus fruit, but has a high quantity of vitamin
• 6:57
  C. Back to bird flu. It continues to evolve,
• 7:00
  spreading to new populations, occasionally infecting
• 7:02
  mammals. And while the risk of human transmission
• 7:05
  remains low, these developments highlight the
• 7:08
  importance of early detection through testing and
• 7:11
  monitoring and preventive measures to reduce
• 7:13
  exposure and vaccination and prompt M treatment
• 7:16
  when needed.
• 7:18
  Finally, one comment that
• 7:21
  came in bothered me greatly.
• 7:23
  I discovered today that the current administration has
• 7:26
  overturned the ban on menthol cigarettes. Why is
• 7:29
  that egregious? Well, I look forward to the day when
• 7:32
  we can be like the United Kingdom. As
• 7:35
  14 year olds become 15 year olds, you can't sell to someone
• 7:37
  who's born in 14 years ago.
• 7:40
  What year would that be?
• 7:42
  2010. So anybody in
• 7:45
  2010 and born beyond will not be able to buy cigarettes in the United
• 7:48
  Kingdom. I would hope we would have such a ban in the United
• 7:50
  States. We're not that forward thinking. Why is
• 7:53
  menthol an issue? Because menthol
• 7:56
  reduces your interest in having a cough.
• 7:59
  If you ever have a cough, like whether it's asthma or
• 8:02
  a virus or influenza or pneumonia, having those
• 8:05
  menthol cough drops really helps. My favorite, by
• 8:08
  the way, is something called Fisherman's Friend. It's one of
• 8:11
  my favorite cough drops. Kind of hard to find, but you can find
• 8:14
  them. They really reduce your coughing if
• 8:17
  you have it. But putting Menthol in cigarettes reduces the
• 8:20
  coughing, allowing people to inhale more nicotine and
• 8:22
  it clearly gets people addicted to cigarette
• 8:25
  smoke. And there has been a large bit
• 8:27
  documented how tobacco companies went after the
• 8:30
  poor, bringing menthol cigarettes to them, prominently
• 8:33
  displaying them in the local convenience markets,
• 8:36
  having sponsored events for menthol cigarettes
• 8:39
  and it really has become a problem. Smoking is
• 8:42
  not just a personal problem, but can affect people in the house,
• 8:44
  including children, including the elderly. So I
• 8:47
  would love to see the day when we get the
• 8:50
  right combination of people in our government
• 8:53
  that will actually outlaw cigarettes. Moving forward.
• 8:57
  Thanks for listening for this rather long podcast, but I
• 8:59
  just wanted to give an update and I'll continue to give an update because
• 9:02
  they there's few little bit of information coming out of the federal
• 9:05
  government. There's some, but we have many
• 9:08
  other areas where we can find this information from
• 9:11
  Europe, from state health departments in the United States,
• 9:13
  etc. And I'll continue to bring you updates as they
• 9:16
  become available or as they become more
• 9:19
  interesting. For more information please check out my
• 9:21
  blog@yourdoctorsorder.com and stay tuned
• 9:24
  to my podcast 4Q. I also share
• 9:27
  weekly updates on my TikTok and Instagram @rt
• 9:30
  Terry Simpson where you can find practical tips and latest
• 9:33
  healthcare news. As always, I want
• 9:36
  to thank our friends at Simpler Media for distributing
• 9:39
  this and my friend, the pod God, Mr. Evotera,
• 9:42
  while I am a doctor, I am not your doctor
• 9:45
  and should you need medical attention, please don't contact me.
• 9:48
  Please contact a local board certified
• 9:51
  physician. Not a chiropractor, not
• 9:54
  some weird eastern trained medicine guy, but a
• 9:57
  really good physician. If you want to make moves on your diet, please
• 10:00
  see a good registered dietitian. All of these people have your
• 10:03
  good health in mind.
• 10:04
  All right everybody, have a good day.
• 10:10
  De Evo these wildfires out here are
• 10:13
  horrendous. I can't believe the amount of destruction that
• 10:16
  we have coming on. These wildfires and what it's
• 10:19
  done, it's also causing me a lot of cough. I hope
• 10:21
  you guys are safe out there in the
• 10:24
  beautiful state of Arizona.
• 10:29
  >> Speaker B: We have been watching with uh, much
• 10:32
  trepidation. Glad you're safe,
• 10:35
  the friends are safe. But I know a lot of people are
• 10:37
  not. This world,
• 10:40
  man, this world.