2/17/21
Febuary, 17, 2021
Fauci fields Montana questions at Mansfield Center lecture
By Maritsa Georgiou
MISSOULA, Mont. — More than 6,000 people tuned in to the annual Mansfield Center lecture held virtually Wednesday afternoon, which featured Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert.
Dr. Marshall Bloom, the associate director for science management at Rocky Mountain Laboratories spoke directly after Fauci.
Fauci covered topics from the unprecedented speed in developing the COVID-19 vaccine to vaccine hesitancy and the spread of variants.
When it came time for Q and A, two familiar faces popped up on screen -- 13-year-old Missoula boy Hudson Beard and his mom, Lisa.
We’ve been following Hudson’s journey since December, at which time doctors had just diagnosed him with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, a disorder that causes his heart rate to jump when he stands. He gets a vertigo-like dizziness every time he stands up or does basic tasks like reading or watching television.
It’s been nearly 18 weeks of agony for Hudson, who contracted COVID-19 in November. He hasn’t been to school since.
“Hi, Dr. Fauci,” Hudson said, after his mom described their medical struggles, including recent problems with his heart. “Every day when I wake up, I have constant migraines, severe headaches and I’m super dizzy. My stomach hurts, I vomit, my heart races, and I can’t read or write. No other doctors can help me. Can you help me?”
“Hudson, I don't know if I can help you right now, but I can tell you that your mother is absolutely correct. There is a misinterpretation about this, that children are completely immune to any serious effects. Some children get infected, and a couple of weeks later, they get a very severe syndrome called multisystem inflammatory syndrome of children that is very, very difficult, very devastating, could lead to very severe consequences,” Fauci responded. “In adults, we see something that we see less often in children, but you are a manifestation of that -- of people who get a classic COVID-19 illness, but instead of recovering, they get multi-system, chronic signs and symptoms that can be mild or it can be debilitating. We don't know enough about it, Hudson, for me to honestly tell you what's going to happen over the next couple of months to a year. But what we hope that there is spontaneous recovery from this, so that whatever aberrant mechanisms are going on in your body -- clearly the virus triggered something in your system. So even though you don't have the virus in you anymore, it triggered something that has gotten out of control. And we hope that the body’s own mechanisms will recalibrate and over a period of time get you back to normal. I can’t promise you that. But I’m hoping that for you, and for other children like you, that that’s the case.”
Fauci went on to say that the medical profession is working hard to figure out what post-acute COVID-19 syndrome is, telling Hudson he’s not alone.
Other notable Montanans also asked questions, including state medical officer Dr. Greg Holzman, who announced his resignation last week.
CSKT Tribal Chairwoman Shelly Fyant asked why tribal members should trust a vaccine from the federal government, and Fauci said he understands the skepticism because of the government’s track record with how they’ve treated Native Americans. He said there are now ethical guidelines in place to ensure anything unethical is impossible because of review and safety monitoring boards.
“It would be doubly tragic for Native Americans, one, to have suffered in the beginning with the reasons that you mentioned to disproportionately suffer from COVID-19, and yet to deprive yourself of a vaccine that's highly efficacious. I would find that very troubling,” Fauci said.
More than 400 questions were submitted to be asked.
Article originally published at https://mtstandard.com/opinion/columnists/guest-view-why-montanans-should-care-about-whats-happening-in-myanmar/article_61676709-63a5-58e0-93ee-f5967a665f1c.html