ST. LOUIS — In Monday morning's Ask Allie, I'm answering a question I received from so many people over the last few weeks: Where have you been? Are you OK?
Yes, I am OK, and I thank you for your concern.
I took time off to enjoy the holidays and shortly after Christmas, I tested positive for COVID-19. Then my husband tested positive, followed by our 8-month-old son.
We’ve been in quarantine recovering. I felt it important to share my experience on social media and nearly everyone said that they themselves contracted COVID or knew someone who had.
Cases are surging right now across the country and COVID hospitalizations skyrocketing in our area.
In our case, my husband and I are both vaccinated and boosted. We both experienced body aches, chills, congestion and cough. To me, it felt like a bad flu.
Our baby had congestion, a cough and was put on antibiotics for a double ear infection. Our 2-year-old fared the best and never tested positive. He just had a slight cough.
After our experience, I reached out to Dr. Steven Brown. He’s a physician with Mercy's virtual care center and treats ICU patients in Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma.
“Although omicron is more 'mild' than delta, it's still a serious infection, especially for those who are unvaccinated,” Dr. Brown said.
He went on to stress the importance of vaccines.
"No, they will not prevent you from getting sick. This is not like the polio or smallpox vaccines. But they vastly reduce the likelihood that you will wind up on life support in an ICU."
If you have a question you’d like Allie to answer, you can email her at acorey@ksdk.com or reach out to her on social media.