Reinfection Rates & What You Need to Know

Episode #489 with Dr. John Molinari

Dentistry has a history with infection control. It has become better and safer because of it, and we can do it again for COVID-19. And to encourage keeping your practice and patients safe, Kirk Behrendt brings in Dr. John Molinari, expert on infection control and co-author of Cottone’s Practical Infection Control in Dentistry. He explains everything you need to know about reinfection rates and what you can do to keep your community healthy. Don't let your guard down against reinfection! For more advice from the expert, listen to Episode 489 of The Best Practices Show!

Episode Resources:

• Dr. Molinari’s email: johnmolinariphd@gmail.com
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Main Takeaways:

COVID-19 is here to stay.

Vaccines alone will not prevent reinfection.

Practice the proven methods of infection control.

There are many more cases than what's reported.

Stay positive. Advancements are being made quickly.

Quotes:

“[COVID-19 is] not going to go away. I hate to say that. People keep saying, ‘Well, you have a vaxxed team for influenza, and we have some of that under control.’ But still, people get the flu even after they get the vaccine. And of course, a lot of people get the flu vaccine. Well, flu vaccine research started in 1940. So, we've had like 80-some-odd years of research with flu vaccines. We only have a little more than two-and-a-half years with SARS-CoV-2. And these coronaviruses do mutate a lot. They change.” (3:52—4:30)

“The good news — the good news first — is that [COVID-19 Omicron] reinfections with this tend to be milder, especially if you're vaccinated. So, that's good, which is what these [vaccines] were designed to do, prevent severe illness, hospitalizations, death. But the not-so-good news is this thing continues to adapt and mutate where now we have BA.4, BA.5, which are predominant in the U.S. And they can escape our antibodies to a certain extent.” (4:37—5:05)

“[COVID-19] antibodies can protect, but not like a hepatitis B immunity or a measles immunity or something like that, which is more stable. And so, you have people who could get reinfected, especially if they had a mild infection the first time where they didn't produce a lot of antibodies. This virus is really — I hate to give it a human characteristic, but it’s very smart. It can adapt and change very readily. The good news is that the most recent mutations appear to present with milder infections, especially for those who are vaccinated. The unvaccinated continue to be much more severe in hospitalizations.” (5:06—5:52)

“I will tell you one exciting thing that I think is on the horizon. And I don't have a crystal ball, but there are clinical trials, including in this country, on what's called a pan-coronavirus vaccine where they actually are taking antigens from different coronavirus strains, not just SARS-CoV-2, and trying to find stabilized antigens so that they...