{"id":378,"date":"2025-07-09T18:19:44","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T18:19:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hkerstyn.net\/?p=378"},"modified":"2025-07-10T15:40:29","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T15:40:29","slug":"two-summer-covid-strains-nimbus-and-stratus-less-severe-than-earlier-strains-doctor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hkerstyn.net\/index.php\/2025\/07\/09\/two-summer-covid-strains-nimbus-and-stratus-less-severe-than-earlier-strains-doctor\/","title":{"rendered":"Two summer COVID strains &#8211; Nimbus and Stratus &#8211; less severe than earlier strains: doctor"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>CONWAY, S.C. (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wbtw.com\/news\/grand-strand\/conway\/2-new-summer-covid-strains-are-less-severe-than-earlier-strains-doctors-say\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">WBTW<\/a>) \u2014 While you are soaking up the summer sun, doctors say you can still get sick, including from two new COVID strains that are going around.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Paul Richardson at Conway Medical Center in Conway, South Carolina, told Nexstar&#8217;s WBTW that even though the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wbtw.com\/news\/national\/what-to-know-about-the-new-nimbus-covid-variant\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">nimbus<\/a> and stratus strains are now out there, he has not seen a major increase in COVID cases or hospitalizations so far this summer.<\/p>\n<p>He also said the two new strains are less severe than earlier strains.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you look at the way a lot of viruses evolve, that\u2019s not uncommon,&#8221; he said. &#8220;A lot of viruses evolve to be less virulent. They may be more contagious, but they\u2019re less virulent.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"nlp-ignore-block article-content rich-text\">\n<aside class=\"promo-link\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wbtw.com\/news\/first-barbie-with-type-1-diabetes-unveiled\/\" class=\"promo-link__link\" target=\"&quot;_blank&quot;\"><br \/>\n\t\tFirst Barbie with Type 1 diabetes unveiled\t<\/a><br \/>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<p>The nimbus strain, which has been detected in several countries, had not been found to increase sickness or hospitalization rates, the World Health Organization <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wbtw.com\/news\/national\/what-to-know-about-the-new-nimbus-covid-variant\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said last month<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The symptoms, however, may still be bothersome. Dr. Richardson told WBTW that most recent COVID patients come in with symptoms very similar to an upper respiratory tract infection.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI read about, \u2018Oh, you\u2019ve been having a lot of sore throats,'&#8221; he said. &#8220;I think one of them has even had the nickname <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wbtw.com\/news\/national\/what-to-know-about-the-new-nimbus-covid-variant\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u2018razor blade throat,\u2019<\/a> or something of that nature. But if you think about that, a lot of upper respiratory infections do that same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"nlp-ignore-block article-content rich-text\">\n<aside class=\"promo-link\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wbtw.com\/news\/national\/what-to-know-about-the-new-nimbus-covid-variant\/\" class=\"promo-link__link\" target=\"&quot;_blank&quot;\"><br \/>\n\t\tWhat to know about the new \u2018Nimbus\u2019 COVID variant\t<\/a><br \/>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<p>Dr. Richardson said most people will not need another COVID booster because of these strains. However, he recommends talking to your doctor, especially if you are immunocompromised.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith any infection, I worry about patients who are susceptible to worsening,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You think about the elderly. You think about people with chronic lung disease, any type of immune issues, and cancers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even with summer holidays and mass gatherings, Dr. Richardson said he is not concerned about the spread of the two new strains. He does not believe wearing a mask will stop the spread, but many events being outdoors should help with that. <\/p>\n<p>Healthcare facilities like doctors&#8217; offices and hospitals cannot test for specific COVID strains; labs are typically tasked with that work. However, that will not affect treatment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe would just know positive or negative for COVID,&#8221; Richardson explained. &#8220;We will treat absolutely the same, regardless of what type, whether it be nimbus or stratus or whatever the next one is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Richardson told us the best protection against viruses is washing your hands frequently.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CONWAY, S.C. (WBTW) \u2014 While you are soaking up the summer sun, doctors say you can still get sick, including from two new COVID strains that are going around. Dr. Paul Richardson at Conway Medical Center in Conway, South Carolina, told Nexstar&#8217;s WBTW that even though the nimbus and stratus strains are now out there, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hkerstyn.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hkerstyn.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hkerstyn.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hkerstyn.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hkerstyn.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hkerstyn.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":379,"href":"https:\/\/hkerstyn.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378\/revisions\/379"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hkerstyn.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hkerstyn.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hkerstyn.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hkerstyn.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}