Has the Delta variant gone? Dr. Mallika Marshall answers your COVID-19 questions – CBS Boston

BOSTON (CBS) – Dr. Mallika Marshall is answering your coronavirus vaccine-related medical questions. If you have a question, email her or text her Facebook or Twitter.

Dr Mallika is giving her best advice, but as always, consult your personal physician before making any decisions about your personal health.

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“I bought a pack of 50 KN95 masks on Amazon. It has GB 2626-2019 on it but not on the mask. Are they fake? ” – Plan

My understanding is that if the numbers “GB 2626-2019” or “GB2626-2006” are engraved on the actual mask, not just the packaging, they should be legit. You can access the following two websites: USA Today and Project N95.

“If four people in my household have COVID at the same time and two become negative before the other two, is it possible that the two people who now test negative will be reinfected?” -Robin

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If four people in the household test positive and two of them end up negative on the home rapid antigen test earlier than the other two, they will not be reinfected with the virus while waiting two The rest are tested. negative. They have probably all been infected with the Omicron variant and have developed some immunity and inability to catch Omicron again, at least for a few months.

“It seems like all we hear about is Omicron. Delta is gone? Does personal testing differentiate between the two variants? ” -Cynthia from Ipswich

Routine PCR or antigen testing won’t tell you which variant you have. That can only be done in specialized laboratories. However, virtually all new infections in the United States today are from the Omicron variant.

Mary has a question about flu vaccines: “When the flu hits and it turns out the current flu vaccine doesn’t provide as much protection as expected, why don’t they create a booster? flu vaccine like they’re doing. COVID?”

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Influenza viruses mutate frequently, and during the summer, scientists look at flu strains circulating in other parts of the world and do their best to design a vaccine that can attack these strains. there. Some years are very suitable, some years not so much. But it takes time to determine how well the flu vaccine works, and it could take six months to produce and mass-produce another flu vaccine, which would be too late to bring any benefit. beneficial during a given flu season.