Ten Questions About Covid-19 for Edward Frederickson, M.D.
GML - What do you feel is our first line of defense against the Covid-19 virus? Does mask wearing make a difference and are cloth masks effective? Dr. Frederickson - The first line of defense against any virus that spreads by respiratory droplets is to avoid breathing in the droplets from a person who is infected with the virus. Common sense is to isolate those who have the virus, but the Covid-19 virus begins to be shed in respiratory droplets 3-5 days before the infected person starts to show symptoms of the disease. In this asymptomatic stage of viral spread, it is impossible to know who to avoid, thus the best strategy is to avoid all interchange of respiratory droplets. With normal breathing a sixfoot distance will be effective, however a cough, sneeze, shouting, and/or singing can spread the droplets/virus much farther.
E
dward D. Frederickson, M.D. is a specialist in Internal Medicine and Nephrology. He grew up in Atlanta and was educated at Emory University for undergraduate and medical school. He received post-graduate education in Internal Medicine at Northwestern University, Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Chicago, and Nephrology at the University of Florida. After several years in academic medicine at The University of Florida and Emory University, he went into private practice at Piedmont Hospital where he remained for 22 years. Dr. Frederickson moved to Rabun County in 2013 and opened Highlands Internal Medicine on Main Street in Clayton. He and his wife Suzanne reside on Lake Burton and in Highlands, North Carolina. They enjoy spending time with their six sons and eight grandchildren.
Highlands Internal Medicine 156 N. Main Street Clayton, Georgia 30525 706-212-0390
54 GML - March 2021
A good quality face mask will markedly decrease the spread of your own respiratory droplets. Others wearing good quality face masks will keep you from breathing in their respiratory droplets. That’s where we get the saying, “My mask protects you and your mask protects me.” Well fitting cloth masks are effective, but they should be several layers thick. If you feel your own breath coming through, the cloth is too thin. Thin gators and bandanas are much too thin to be effective. Now scientists are saying we need to double mask. N95 masks are used in health care and industry to protect the wearer. If worn properly they are effective, however they frequently have an exhalation valve which makes them ineffective to protect others. Many have observed and I agree, that because we have worn masks, practiced social distancing, and observed good hand washing practices this year, cases of colds and flu have decreased. Who knows how many more Covid-19 cases we would currently have if we had not practiced these well tested and documented good community health measures? GML - Are you confident in the vaccines that have been made available? Do you feel they are safe and do you recommend them? Are there any patients who should not receive the vaccine? Dr. Frederickson - The vaccines currently available have been well studied and are highly effective against the current strain of Covid-19. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are MRNA (messenger RNA) vaccines which represent new technology. This type of vaccine has been studied for over a decade in animals, but these are the first vaccines using synthetic messenger RNA to be approved for use in humans. The vaccines contain copies of MRNA which code for the protein contained on the spike processes of the Covid-19 particles. Once injected the particles are gobbled up by macrophages and dendritic cells in our own tissues and blood stream. These cells read the MRNA and produce the exact peptides. These cells are the first steps in our immune response and are known as antigen presenting cells. They deliver the exact copies of the viral protein to our T and B lymphocytes which produce antibodies and cellular immunity. In short, the vaccines steer our immune process to protect us from the virus. The MRNA contained in the vaccine never enters the nucleus of our cells and does not in any way change our DNA. This new technology offers tremendous promise down the road toward treating auto immune diseases such as Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Rheumatoid arthritis. These vaccines are well tolerated by most patients with only minor reactions, however patients who have had severe allergic reactions to any of the ingredients of the vaccine, specifically people who
