Dr. Jerome Adams on President Biden’s positive COVID-19 test
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Dr. Jerome Adams, WISH-TV’s medical expert and a former U.S. surgeon general, talked Thursday about President Biden’s positive COVID test, and what people need to know about monkeypox.
The White House made an announcement Thursday that President Biden tested positive for COVID-19. Dr. Jerome Adams was working for the White House when former President Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19. Adams gave his insight on President Biden’s announcement.
White House confirms President Biden test positive for COVID-19
Adams said, “Well as you mentioned, President Trump was diagnosed. We’ve had two presidents in a row diagnosed with COVID. This is a completely different situation because back when President Trump was diagnosed, we didn’t have vaccines and we didn’t have oral antivirals, and so, President Biden is in a much better situation this time around, but it’s still jarring when the leader of your country, when the leader of the free world comes down with a virus that could put him in the hospital or worse. Folks aren’t surprised because we’re seeing it spread across the nation. Were seeing hospitalizations start to go up with this new BA.4 and BA.5 variants. It’s not a matter of if, it’s when, which is why we want people to be as protected as possible when they do get exposed.”
News 8 asked Adams if there are extra concerns due to President Biden’s age and baseline health.
Adams said, “Well absolutely. This is one of the keys here. We want people who are older people, who have risk factors for progression to severe disease such as obesity, such as high blood pressure, such as a history of smoking or heart disease or diabetes, to know that getting a booster significantly increases your chances that you’ll be able to stay out of the hospital, and that you’ll have a mild case of COVID if and when you do get COVID. Only about a third of people across the country, even lower rates than that in Indiana, have gotten their booster shot or are up to date by the CDC’s definition. But the President Biden’s point like you said, age and heart conditions, he is at higher risk and that’s why he’s double vaccinated and double boosted.”
Dr. Adams discussed Paxlovid, the drug President Biden is taking for COVID.
How Paxlovid can help treat COVID-19 and prevent long-term symptoms
“Paxlovid is an oral antiviral. It’s been shown in studies to lower your chances of being hospitalized or dying by 88.9%. I say drug combination, that you take it twice a day for five days, and I’ve said frequently that it’s not being prescribed enough. Number one, because people aren’t getting tested when they do have symptoms and they aren’t being prescribed this medication, but with an almost 90% decrease in your chance of being hospitalized or dying. What people should take from this is that if you get diagnosed with COVID, you should talk to your doctor, you should ask about Paxlovid. It can also lower your chances in many people’s minds of developing long COVID symptoms. We don’t have great evidence for that right now, but it lowers viral load and so, with one in five people even with mild cases of COVID, developing long COVID symptoms such as brain fog and higher chance of diabetes or cardiac issues, it’s certainly a drug that more people should know about.”
Adams discussed the significance of New York reporting their first U.S. case of polio in a decade.
“Well, it shows you that vaccine hesitancy was an issue prior to COVID. It got worse during COVID, and we’re going to continue to see a struggle. This is a strain of polio that actually only arises in communities where you have low levels of vaccination rates against COVID. I’ll point out the community in New York where this polio case occurred is in the same community where we had measles outbreaks back in 2019, so unfortunately, not surprised, but it shows you that we’ve got some work to do. Not just with COVID vaccinations, with measles vaccinations, polio vaccinations, and beyond. If we don’t, we’re going to continue to see a resurgence and a worsening of these vaccine preventable diseases.”
Who is at risk for monkeypox? What people need to know
The CDC has confirmed 26 cases of monkeypox in the state of Indiana. Adams discussed what people need to know about who is at risk.
“Well right now, over 99% of the cases that have been diagnosed have been diagnosed in men, primarily in men who are having sex with men. That’s different than the epidemiology previously of monkeypox which is spread by close personal contact and has mostly been spread by household contact. We need to direct education, testing resources, and vaccinations to those communities of men who have sex with men, but we also need to be aware that this is just the tip of the iceberg. We’re going to see more cases. We’re seeing more cases than women. We’re seeing cases in children now, and so people need to be aware of what’s going on. If they have a suspicious lesion, they should talk to their doctor and determine whether or not they need to get vaccinated because you can be vaccinated after exposure to prevent progression of disease. For men who have sex with men, that’s where we need to focus the majority of our attention right now while not turning a blind eye to what is sure to be future spread in other communities.”