As omicron swept through the nation, creating chaos at hospitals, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) made four major suggestions for how organizations and individuals can prevent infection and serious illness.
“These four pillars are our best way out of this phase of the pandemic,” said Jeanne Marrazzo, MD, MPH, FIDSA, treasurer of the IDSA board of directors and director in the division of infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Marrazzo spoke at an IDSA virtual media conference on Jan. 11.1
• Vaccination. “All you need to do is look at the statistics for each hospital,” Marrazzo said. “We have a graphic out every day with people icons, including some with COVID vaccination. Clearly, it’s impacting people without vaccination.”
There are few options to prevent people from illness, but vaccines and boosters remain the most effective approach, she added.
• Masking. “There are lots of data from the community level that masks really work,” Marrazzo noted. “Should you be wearing KN95, N95 masks? Sure — if you can get them and wear them in settings where you need them.”
The most important part of masking is a proper fit. If someone’s KN95 mask makes them uncomfortable, they might wear it around their chin. That is less protective than if they wore a more comfortable cloth mask.
“Wear what feels good, what feels protective, and, most importantly, mask when you need to,” Marrazzo advised.
• Stay home when sick. “When you’re sick, you’re more infectious,” she said. “The sicker you are, the more likely you are going to transmit it to other people.”
The latest advice is to stay in place and isolate when sick, and to not go out to a testing site. “Don’t go get tested and wait for a test. As soon as you feel sick, stay home. Ideally, tests will be available for free at home,” Marrazzo said, referring to the Biden administration’s plan to send 500 million COVID-19 test kits to people’s homes.
Should someone’s home test come back positive, they would be safest by isolating for 10 days. But few people who feel well will want to quarantine for 10 days.
“Our workforce is decimated,” Marrazzo added. “We’ve been faced with getting people out of isolation faster; just make sure you have no symptoms in five days — especially a fever or anything that prompts testing.”
• Testing. “Testing is the gateway to management and to prevention,” Marrazzo said. “If you are sick, it’s helpful to know that you need to more strongly isolate and ensure yourself that you are no longer infectious.”
Healthcare workers and the public should keep in mind infectious disease physicians, scientists, and public health officials are doing their best to impart new COVID-19 information and recommendations as quickly as possible.
“We’re still building the plane as we are flying,” said Joshua Barocas, MD, vice chair of the IDSA public health committee and an associate professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine Anschutz Medical Campus. Barocas also spoke at the IDSA conference.
“New evidence is coming on a daily basis, so it’s important to put this in context,” he said. “We have individual goals and public health goals, and part of the discourse is making sure people understand why we’re recommending one thing instead of another.”
Barocas’ overall goal as an infectious disease physician and epidemiologist is to protect older people, those who are vaccine-ineligible because they are younger than age 5 years, and to protect people who are vulnerable to severe disease, including people who are immunocompromised and those who are unvaccinated.
“My goal is to not get sick myself so I can help my workforce,” Barocas said. “I agree with the World Health Organization that vaccine equity is one of the most important things worldwide that we need to have done. I have had the booster because of the two goals of wanting to protect my community and to protect myself so I can remain in my workforce. Boosters have been shown to do that.”
REFERENCE
- Infectious Diseases Society of America. IDSA media briefing: COVID-19 and omicron — practical advice. Jan. 11, 2022.
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