Flattening the curve, masks etc. rant

[EmseB]

1 hour ago, square_25 said:

Well, that's depressing, because I would really rather not get sick with something with unpredictable long-term effects. Staying home for the next year, here we come... 

Wouldn't that be all viruses that can cause any type of post-viral syndrome? Viral myocarditis, cfs, etc.? Is there data about coronaviruses in particular causing post-viral issues at a higher rate?

ETA: I'm not being snarky, post-viral stuff is why I'm determined to get my flu shot every year, among other precautions. I have seen some cases of it from covid in the news, but not beyond what would normally happen with some kind of viral illness going around.

Edited July 29, 2020 by EmseB

[EmseB]

22 minutes ago, square_25 said:

I have no idea, actually. How common are heart issues after the flu?

We know like 5 people personally who still have symptoms months later, which isn’t the case for the flu. So that’s freaking me out. 

If they all recover in a month, I’ll feel better. If they all have heart damage or CFS, I’ll feel worse.

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/irt/2012/351979/

That's just the first link I found, I haven't researched extensively lately, but I got down a rabbit hole about post-viral issues a few years ago. I have seen a close loved one go into sepsis from a "mild" skin infection (bacteria). Which is why, when people start in on this about covid causing Kawasaki or cfs or whatever else I feel like, yeah, viruses are not good even if we've learned to live with them. It seems like every single outlying covid case is reported on as if this stuff doesn't happen with other illnesses, viruses in particular. I don’t know how people were living before all this. 😂 

To counter anecdote, I personally know eight people that have had it, ages vary from 1yo-68. Most had a day of symptoms, the worst case (the oldest person) had a week of symptoms. On the contrary, a relative of mine had some kind of virus in early March where she coughed for a month, which isn't uncommon for bad cases of the flu or other bronchitis/pneumonia type stuff, IME. I don't know if their experience is helpful in informing my own risk assessment. Or at least, I'm not acting as if it is.

[EmseB]

Just now, square_25 said:

Interesting. That’s definitely very different from my sample. Viral load might be the difference, unless it’s random.

Yes, but also, in general, I dont use someone's worst case experience with something to determine a lot of things, if that makes sense. It can inform me as to how I might take precautions, like anchoring a bookshelf to the wall if I know a child hurt by pulling one down, but not trying to avoid books and bookshelves ever being in my home, which would surely solve the problem but wouldn't be a tenable way to live until my kids were grown. Or using a car seat properly but not refusing to drive around all together. Things like that.

I can't imagine even being able to stay in for a year logistically (although we have to move this fall, so that's part of it), much less that being healthier than covid for a couple of my dc in particular, given the relative risk. For my kids, I'm actually more concerned that they would catch the flu, particularly the baby. For me, the hospitalization rate seems about on par with other seasonal illness, although that info is a little hard to suss out.

I will be a much happier camper this fall/winter if staying home when sick is more socially expected.

[EmseB]

33 minutes ago, square_25 said:

I’m definitely not as used to thinking about after-effects of other viruses. 

Oh, I don't think most people are! 

[SKL]

Some people are "sickly" and have lasting effects from any and all illnesses as well as vaccines.  One of my sisters has been like that since birth, and her kid is as well.

Most of those in my family tend to have a lingering cough for weeks if not months after any illness that makes us cough.  Myself included.  I don't think it's particularly unusual for some people to recover more slowly than others.

[SKL]

10 minutes ago, square_25 said:

Of course not, but the anecdotal reports I'm getting from this one aren't sounding like the anecdotal reports I get from the flu. I had the flu myself in November (no test, but a high fever for 4 days), and then I coughed for more than a month straight after -- I was buying giant bags of Halls for a long time, because otherwise I really couldn't talk. So I understand that sometimes recovery takes a while. 

But I've definitely been totally back to normal since January, and I also don't know of anyone who's not elderly who didn't wind up fully recovering from the flu in a month or two. I knew tons of people who had the same thing I did (it went through our homeschooling center), and everyone was totally fine soon enough. I've never heard of anyone having lingering brain fog or lingering heart disease. I'm sure it DOES happen, but it doesn't seem that frequent, especially outside of elderly populations.

I think part of this is just the fact that this virus is considered very newsworthy, so everything about it is being noticed more and talked about more.  Nobody in my life has ever asked me if I had lingering effects from any illness or injury, and I don't go around talking about such things.