ICYMI ?* 4 Steps Toward Reclaiming Your Health* It’s Okay to Not Be Okay* How to Care For Your Body with Kindness & RespectA note to paid subscribers: Join me for our next Zoom hangout on Tuesday, Feb 6 at 8:30 pm ET. The topic: Reclaiming Your Health in 2024. Bring your questions! Click here to register. ?In a special video episode of today’s newsletter, my friend Shira Doron, MD, and I discuss the state of COVID—new variants, testing, treatment, boosters, and long COVID.Shira is the Hospital Epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center, an infectious diseases doctor, and Professor of Medicine at Tufts School of Medicine. She is a nationally recognized expert in antimicrobial stewardship and infection control. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she played a key role in helping the general public separate fact from fiction. I hope you take a listen above! In addition, here is Dr. Doron’s take on the current state of COVID & respiratory viruses in the U.S.:Respiratory viral season is upon us. It’s likely that you know several people who are sick right now. These days, it can be hard to figure out how worried to be. Is this a “normal” flu season? Is COVID-19 “surging”? The media is paying more attention to respiratory infections than they did before the pandemic, and the headlines are often designed to garner clicks, which is to say they are sensationalist. Let’s cut through the hype. Here are a few things to know:Current stateThere are many respiratory viruses circulating right now, most of which are always more prevalent in the winter. You cannot tell the difference between them without a test. Health authorities track a metric called “ILI” which stands for “influenza-like illness.” This metric encompasses all of the respiratory viruses including but not limited to COVID-19, influenza (“flu”) and COVID-19. Right now, where you live determines how much ILI you are seeing. source: CDC.govTrends show that ILI peaked in the last week of 2023 and is coming down. The peak this season was lower than the year before, and comparable to the year before the pandemic, despite the fact that we have a new virus in the mix. In other words, this is a “normal” respiratory virus season in terms of severity.This is an ad-free, reader-supported newsletter. Consider supporting this work with a paid subscription!Testing and treatmentHealth authorities still recommend that everyone test themselves for COVID-19 even if they have mild symptoms. That’s because everyone is still advised to stay home for 5 days if they have COVID-19 infection (plus another 5 days of mask wearing). Testing is especially important for people with risk factors for progression to severe disease (such as those over 65 years of age, who have multiple medical problems, are immunosuppressed, or are pregnant), because there are highly effective antivirals like Paxlovid for those who qualify. You should be aware that, while the accuracy of home tests hasn’t changed, widespread population immunity means that the levels of virus in your nose might not reach the detectable threshold until later in your illness, as late as day 4, so keep testing.If you haven’t gotten the latest round of free tests from the government (announced November 20, 2023), they can be obtained at https://special.usps.com/testkits.Testing for influenza is indicated if you are within 48 hours of symptom onset and have risk factors for severe disease. Antivirals for influenza can shorten the duration of symptoms. Talk to your doctor if you think you have the flu, which is characterized by sudden onset fever, body aches, fatigue and cough.It is rarely necessary to test for other respiratory viruses, including RSV, because there are no available treatments for them.PreventionUpdated annual vaccines are available for COVID-19 and influenza. For the first time, we now have immunizations for RSV too.COVID-19 vaccinesNo longer to be referred to as a “booster,” the 2023-2024 a