Z FAMILY NEWSLETTER

Patriot's Corner

Z-Family,

There have been a lot of different discussions about viral shedding since the start of the COVID pandemic, and we thought it would be useful to explain the concept of shedding. For the next few newsletters, we will explore some basic concepts that you may hear used frequently by experts to help provide a clearer understanding so you can make the right decisions about your health.

Remember to take your Z-Stack®, Z-DTox™, Z-Shield™, Z-Flu™, or Kids Z-Stack® every day to protect yourself and your family. 

Finally, don’t forget to look for our new logo honoring Dr. Zelenko’s development of the lifesaving Zelenko Protocol and a 10% discount on Z-Stack®, Kids Z-Stack®, Z-DTox™, and Z-Flu™ with code: WINTER10.

What is Viral Shedding?

If you or a loved is infected by a respiratory virus like COVID-19, the virus particles will bind to the various types of viral receptors that line the respiratory tract. While this process occurs, you may feel perfectly fine and have no symptoms at all. However, you are shedding viral particles while you talk, exhale, eat, and perform other normal daily activities. During this period of shedding, you are contagious and can infect others.

Typically, viral shedding does not happen for more than a few weeks. But unfortunately, when it comes to COVID, some people will shed the virus for much longer periods of time. In fact, a growing amount of evidence indicates that the viral shedding of COVID begins before a patient is symptomatic, peaks at the point of, or shortly after they get sick, and continues to be released even after the individual’s symptoms have been resolved. While this time span is typically 12 to 20 days, it can be as long as two months before shedding stops completely.

The good news is that about 90% of mild COVID cases have been found to clear the virus within an average of 10 days. More severe versions of the disease have been found to have prolonged viral RNA shedding with a median duration of 31 days. So the risks are relatively low of someone shedding for an extended period.

A number of other factors affect how likely shedding is to be effective, and that includes the strain of COVID and its viral load, the health of those around you, and other factors we will discuss in the next newsletter.

What is Vaccine Shedding?

Vaccine shedding is when your body releases the components of a live vaccine after you were given the shot or oral dose. In theory, this could make a person who was vaccinated able to infect others. This is a concern for the oral polio vaccine that was discontinued in the United States, but it’s not believed to be a problem for most other vaccines.

How Does This Happen?

Some vaccines contain a weakened, mild form of a virus or bacteria. These are known as live attenuated vaccines. This type of vaccine is meant to stimulate an immune response in the form of antibodies, a type of protein that fights off infection. Live vaccines are meant to simulate a natural infection. Your body then has antibodies to protect you for your entire life, typically with one or two doses. Certain vaccines do have a period where there is shedding, the most notable vaccine with shedding is the oral polio vaccine, which is no longer used in the U.S.