Pardee chief medical officer offers insight into updated CDC guidelines

Pardee UNC Health Care Chief Medical Officer Dr. Greg McCarty has provided some explanation regarding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated COVID-19 guidelines.

On Aug. 11, the nation’s top public health agency dropped the recommendation that individuals quarantine themselves if they come into close contact with an infected person. The CDC also said people no longer need to stay at least 6 feet away from others.

The changes, which come more than 2 1/2 years after the start of the pandemic, are driven by a recognition that an estimated 95% of Americans 16 and older have acquired some level of immunity, either from being vaccinated or infected, according to the Associated Press.

The updated guidance has also sparked some confusion. McCarty provided some insight into the changes and information on rebound cases.

Quarantining  

“There are a few hot topics of late related to COVID: new guidelines from the CDC on quarantining after exposure and COVID rebound. I’ll address CDC guidelines first, namely the elimination of quarantining for COVID exposure,” McCarty said. “As a society, we’ve learned to live with the virus and take appropriate precautions depending on our individual risk. Masking remains an effective tool across the board, particularly after exposure to a COVID-positive person – regardless of vaccination status.

“Additionally, the most effective tool for preventing serious illness is vaccinations. I continue to encourage vaccinations for those individuals in our community who remain unvaccinated, and boosters for eligible individuals, particularly those who are immunocompromised,” he said. “If you are over age 50 (and especially over age 65) and have either not been vaccinated or have significant medical conditions, please consider wearing a mask in more crowded public spaces.”

COVID rebound cases

McCarty said that in general terms, a COVID rebound case is when an individual who originally tested positive for COVID and had symptoms and detectable virus vanish, sees a return of the virus days later.

“A more clinical definition includes the resurgence of symptoms and antigen positivity following an initial positive antigen test and a subsequent negative antigen test,” he said. “The prevalence of true rebound is not well known for several reasons, namely that rarely are sequential antigen tests performed for the average patient.

“While some reports indicate rebound accompanying the use of Paxlovid, symptomatic rebound may occur in patients who received Paxlovid and those who did not receive treatment. In the initial trials for Paxlovid, the estimate of COVID rebound occurring was less than two percent,” McCarty said. “However, real-world experience puts those estimates as high as five to six percent. The cases typically occur two to nine days after completion of Paxlovid, are generally mild and self-limiting, lasting about three days on average, and re-treatment with Paxlovid is generally not recommended.”

Henderson County considered ‘medium’ risk by CDC  

McCarty expected cases to peak locally around the third week of August. He emphasized that even with cases circulating in the community, the severity of illnesses remains low. At the beginning of the week, Pardee cared for seven patients hospitalized for COVID.

Henderson County is currently classified as medium risk for COVID-19 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Transylvania and Buncombe counties are also considered medium risk, and Polk County is labeled as high risk in the COVID-19 Community Levels map.  The three classification levels are low, medium and high.

For medium-risk counties, those who are at high risk for severe illness are instructed to talk to their healthcare provider about wearing a mask and other precautions. The CDC still recommends staying up to date with vaccines and getting tested if you have symptoms. If you are at high risk for severe illness, consider taking additional precautions.

The CDC looks at the combination of three metrics — new COVID-19 admissions per 100,000 population in the past seven days, the percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients and total new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past seven days — to determine the COVID-19 community level.

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Pardee chief medical officer offers insight for updated CDC guidelines