Stanford infectious disease specialist Dr. Abraar Karan discusses COVID and why some people are not getting infected. #covid #coronavirus #covid19
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>> SOS MEALS ON WHEELS PARTNERS WITH MANY GROUPS TO HELP GIVE BACK TO THE COMMUNITY. THERE ARE MANY OPPORTUNITIES ON THE WEBSITE IF YOU ARE INTERESTED. >>> COVID CONTINUES TO BE PART OF OUR LIVES AS WE ENDURE
ANOTHER STANDARD JANUARY SURGE FOUR YEARS AFTER HEARING ABOUT THE VIRUS. A NEW REPORT BIT REVEALS WHY SOME PEOPLE MIGHT NOT GET INFECTED OVER. JOINING US IS AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST AT STANFORD. I JUST READ YOUR ARTICLE.
WHY ARE SOME PEOPLE NOT GETTING INFECTED? I KNOW SOMETIMES EVEN IN THE HOUSEHOLD AND EVEN SHARING THE SAME BED BUT THEY DON’T GET THE VIRUS. >> THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME. I THINK THIS IS A REASONABLE QUESTION FOR PEOPLE IN THE
PUBLIC TO ASK, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY ARE TOLD THAT IT IS A CONTAGIOUS VIRUS. THIS GETS INTO THE FACT THAT THE TRANSMISSION OF DISEASES IS VERY COMPLICATED. MANY PEOPLE GET EXPOSED TO ALL TIME. WE GET EXPOSED TO BACTERIA AND
DIFFERENT VIRUSES AND DIFFERENT FUNGI. BUT TO GET INFECTED IS A MORE INVOLVED PROCESS THAT HAS TO DO WITH THE PERSON WHO IS ACTUALLY SICK AND HOW MUCH VIRUS IS BEING PUT OUT INTO THE AIR. THE PEOPLE AROUND THEM AS WELL
AND HOW WELL THE IMMUNE SYSTEM IS WORKING AND HOW MUCH OF THE VIRUS THEY INHALE AND FOR HOW LONG. SO THERE ARE MULTIPLE DIFFERENT FACTORS. YOU CAN IMAGINE THAT IN A VERY CROWDED SETTING WHERE YOU HAVE SOMEONE REALLY CONTAGIOUS AND
THEY ARE PUTTING OUT A TON OF VIRUS, YOU ARE MORE LIKELY TO GET SICK VERSUS IF YOU HAVE SOMEONE THAT WAS NOT SHEDDING A LOT OF VIRUS WHICH MOST PEOPLE DON’T SHED A TON OF VIRUS, YOU MAY NOT INFECT THOSE AROUND YOU.
>> MY HUSBAND FOR EXAMPLE, IF HE HAS COVID AND I DIDN’T GET IT, MAYBE HE WASN’T SHEDDING A LOT OF THE BARS AT THE TIME SO THAT IS WHY I WASN’T INFECTED? >> EXACTLY. THAT COULD BE FOR A FEW REASONS.
ONE REASON COULD BE THAT HE HAS IMMUNITY FROM PRIOR INFECTION WHICH PRETTY MUCH MOST OF US IF NOT ALL OF US HAVE BEEN INFECTED AT SOME POINT WHETHER WE KNOW IT OR NOT. ALTHOUGH THERE ARE SOME INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVEN’T.
OR FROM VACCINATIONS. SO GETTING VACCINATED SORT OF PRIMES YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM AND THE ANTIBODIES PRODUCED HELP TO WARD OFF THE INFECTIONS. AND THEN THERE ARE OTHER COMPONENTS OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM, THE CELLULAR IMMUNE SYSTEM THEN THAT GETS BOOSTED FROM PRIOR INFECTIONS.
THAT COULD HAPPEN. YOU MIGHT GET EXPOSED TO A LITTLE BIT OF VIRUS BUT IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO CAUSE YOU TO GET SICK AND INFECTED. >> BECAUSE MAYBE I’M MORE IMMUNE AND THOSE THINGS YOU LISTED. AND I READ THERE IS A
DIFFERENCE AND THAT COVID IS NOT CONTAGIOUS ALL THE TIME. THEY ARE MORE CONTAGIOUS AT CERTAIN TIMES AND OTHERS. >> THAT IS EXACTLY RIGHT. WHAT WE KNOW IS THAT EARLY ON DURING THE PANDEMIC, WHEN WE WERE FIRST EXPOSED TO THE
VIRUS, PEOPLE WERE ACTUALLY CONTAGIOUS AND CHATTING BEFORE THEY SHOWED SYMPTOMS. IT IS ALMOST LIKE OUR IMMUNE SYSTEM HAD NEVER SEEN THIS BEFORE AND IT PRETTY MUCH SNUCK UP ON US. NOW IT IS MORE LIKELY THAT WHEN PEOPLE START TO SHOW SYMPTOMS,
THAT IS THEIR IMMUNE SYSTEM, IMMUNE RESPONSE COMING INTO PLAY AND THE VIRUS HAS NOT NECESSARILY GAINED A FOOTHOLD AND GOTTEN TO ITS PEAK LEVELS. THERE ARE SOME STUDIES SHOWING THAT A FEW DAYS AFTER SYMPTOMS IS WHEN YOUR VIRAL LOAD MAY BE
HIGHER WHICH IS DIFFERENT THAN BEFORE. AT DIFFERENT POINTS, YOUR LEVEL OF CONTAGIOUSNESS IS DIFFERENT. IT IS NOT THE SAME THROUGHOUT
