All the posts from our Those Nerdy Girls Facebook page dating back to May 1st, 2020, are currently archived here and can be searched for by category, key words, etc. Be sure to check back often as additional posts are being added each day.
Those Nerdy Girls remain committed to providing you with practical, factual, no-nonsense answers to all your everyday health questions, and today, we’re excited to introduce the Reproductive Health Squad. This team of women scientists and health care providers has the expertise to answer your real, embarrassing or even scary questions about all aspects of sexual Read more…
A: Evusheld helps prevent COVID infections for up to 6 months. Despite the ~7 million Americans who are significantly immunocompromised, only 400,000 doses have been administered so far, suggesting a lack of awareness among patients and doctors. Evusheld is a combination of two monoclonal antibodies authorized as a PREVENTATIVE treatment for people with compromised immune Read more…
A: Confirmation bias happens when we accept information that confirms our pre-existing ideas or beliefs, but ignore or question information that does not. Motivated reasoning happens when we only seek out information that confirms what we already think is true. Both ways of distorted thinking can lead us to share information without critically assessing it Read more…
Tl;dr: mutations can make vaccines less effective, but that doesn’t mean they render them useless. Immunity isn’t all or nothing, and the current vaccines still provide protection, especially against severe disease and death. Many have been concerned that because (so far) our COVID vaccines have used the spike protein from the original SARS-CoV-2 virus (also Read more…
A: Sort of…. Remember that even if cases come down as quickly as they rise, there will be as many cases *after* the peak as before (think area under the curve!). In the U.S. there is some indication that hospitalizations during this BA.5 wave have peaked. Since hospitalizations are a lagging indicator of infections, this Read more…
Dear Readers: Who has made some awesome (or not-so-awesome) purchases during the pandemic? We’ve (thankfully) passed the days of hoarding toilet paper, but Those Nerdy Girls know that stressful times may still call for retail therapy, whether small impulse buys (celebrity gossip rags, anyone?) or big splurges (hello, inflatable hot tubs). Some purchases have worked Read more…
TL; DR: There are a few published case reports and LOTS of stories from long COVID support groups about how antihistamines [(“histamine receptor antagonists” (HRAs)] can decrease long COVID symptoms. While they may help, we need more information to know who they help, when they should be taken, and how they should be taken. ❓What Read more…
An interview with Nerdy Guest Dr. Terra Ziporyn Snider Q: Tell us a little about yourself and how you became interested in school start times. A: As both a mother of 3 and a medical historian and writer (former associate editor at JAMA and co-author of The New Harvard Guide to Women’s Health), I’ve been Read more…
Vaccines are one of the greatest public health achievements of all time and August is the month to celebrate! Vaccines do more than just protecting us from diseases (although that is pretty freaking great!). They also support a functional economy, keep kids in school and adults at work, reduce poverty, prevent disease outbreaks, improve health Read more…
GOOD NEWS: Omicron-updated boosters are coming to the U.S. soon (September). LESS GOOD NEWS: Americans under age 50 will have to wait for these new shots to get their 2nd boosters. While there had been chatter about offering 2nd boosters to Americans under age 50 soon to stave off the rising BA.5 wave, the FDA Read more…
Thanks to guest author Dr. Katie Schenk (who recently picked up her kids at camp) for offering to write this post. It’s a great American summer tradition: sleepaway camp! Campfires, singing, sports, smores, and now… COVID-19? Despite best intentions and precautions, the BA.5 surge has already contributed to many COVID-19 outbreaks at summer camp. Camps Read more…
BA.1, BA.2, BA.3, BA.4, BA.5… while we’re all getting lost in an alphanumeric soup, it’s important to understand why we continue to see new variants. Some have speculated vaccines are to blame, arguing that vaccination itself drives the development of variants. Is this true? Vaccinations do not produce new variants. Thankfully, no. Variants are not Read more…
TL; DR: Brain fog is a general term used to describe many issues including poor attention, memory, and planning abilities. This can happen after an infection or injury. We are learning more about what causes it, but there do seem to be changes in the immune system and the way the cells work as a Read more…
