PlagueWatch 2020-23 - Coronavirus

[CameronBornAndBred]

Looks like the Covid is going to eventually catch me. I just got a new job and the new employer requires quarterly in-person 3-day meetings (3 1/2 hr plane ride).

*sigh*

Nice pay raise, but still...

Congrats on the job, though! Air travel would make me nervous, but at least you can take precautions.
We've been very happy that concerts are happening again, but neither of us has any interest in seeing one in an enclosed arena. True, I survived the confines of Cameron this year, but it's a bit different when EVERYONE is strictly required to mask up. I probably would have been ok with plane travel prior to the mask mandates being lifted, but now I'd only go if it was an absolute necessity. (Like enjoying the job that just gave me a nice pay raise.)

[Bluedog]

Congrats on the job, though! Air travel would make me nervous, but at least you can take precautions.
We've been very happy that concerts are happening again, but neither of us has any interest in seeing one in an enclosed arena. True, I survived the confines of Cameron this year, but it's a bit different when EVERYONE is strictly required to mask up. I probably would have been ok with plane travel prior to the mask mandates being lifted, but now I'd only go if it was an absolute necessity. (Like enjoying the job that just gave me a nice pay raise.)

Are you planning to go to Cameron this upcoming year?

[CameronBornAndBred]

Are you planning to go to Cameron this upcoming year?

I hope to. If I do, I'll be masking for sure.

On another note, a few pages back we talked about staffing issues in hospitals. Here in Eastern NC, it's so bad in one county that they've had to shut down the ICU!

https://www.witn.com/2022/08/01/mart...closed-monday/

[Bluedog]

I hope to. If I do, I'll be masking for sure.

Got it, fair enough. I saw that this thread finally slipped to page 2 yesterday, but no more!

[TruBlu]

The wife and I dodged the bullet for longer than expected, since we both work in medical facilities (she in an outpatient surgery center, me in various hospitals/clinics/urgent cares). She came down with Covid two weeks ago Wednesday. No fever, but still with a horrible cough and extreme fatigue. So far I’m clear with no symptoms and negative tests. Even Covid doesn’t like me.

[Skydog]

The wife and I dodged the bullet for longer than expected, since we both work in medical facilities (she in an outpatient surgery center, me in various hospitals/clinics/urgent cares). She came down with Covid two weeks ago Wednesday. No fever, but still with a horrible cough and extreme fatigue. So far I’m clear with no symptoms and negative tests. Even Covid doesn’t like me.

How long since her last vaccine or booster? Just curious if anecdotally it seems people are getting sicker (not talking about hospitalization, just how crummy they feel) if it’s been several months since their last vaccine/booster.

I guess I’m also trying to figure out why I - an out of shape old fart with a heart condition- had a super mild case. Never felt bad at all, just a couple days of barely noticeable phlegm. My (2nd) booster was 2.5-3 months before infection.

I know each case/person is different and it could just be due to me getting a tiny viral load to start, But I assume recency of vaccine likely plays a role as well?

[TruBlu]

How long since her last vaccine or booster? Just curious if anecdotally it seems people are getting sicker (not talking about hospitalization, just how crummy they feel) if it’s been several months since their last vaccine/booster.

I guess I’m also trying to figure out why I - an out of shape old fart with a heart condition- had a super mild case. Never felt bad at all, just a couple days of barely noticeable phlegm. My (2nd) booster was 2.5-3 months before infection.

I know each case/person is different and it could just be due to me getting a tiny viral load to start, But I assume recency of vaccine likely plays a role as well?

She had her first booster in December, then procrastinated on her second booster until it was too late. I had my first booster in September, and also am guilty of procrastinating on my second. Getting it tomorrow.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

My turn to test fate. Flying from Greensboro to NJ today for a business meeting, home on Friday. Also going to the Yankee game tonight! I will be wearing my Personal Air Purifier the entire time, like we did in Italy in June. I'll have a mask with me in case the situation compels me to wear it.

[rsvman]

...this article is worth it.

Nice interview with Dr. Paul Offitt, one of the world's experts in vaccination and vaccinology, about where we are right now and where we are going in the future. Well worth the read, if you are interested in this kind of thing.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion...un=g1154419d0r

[Rich]

...this article is worth it.

Nice interview with Dr. Paul Offitt, one of the world's experts in vaccination and vaccinology, about where we are right now and where we are going in the future. Well worth the read, if you are interested in this kind of thing.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion...un=g1154419d0r

I'll contribute this article about Paxlovid, which I think does a good job at summarizing the confusing current state of affairs linked to its use.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/a...ctions/671009/

Before we walk into that fog, let’s get some things settled: Paxlovid is effective at keeping unvaccinated, high-risk people—those who are most likely to require hospitalization if they come down with COVID—alive and out of the hospital. The drug has some side effects, such as a strange and unpleasant taste, but its safety profile is stellar. (It does have some known, dangerous interactions with other common medications.) No one died while taking it in Pfizer’s clinical trials. Got it? Good. Now on to the mysteries.

[PSurprise]

Welp, just tested positive after having a bit of tickle in the throat for about a week, which led to a major cough, and then last night a fever of 102 and awful headaches. Thankfully feeling better today except for a headache. Tested three times at home before one came back positive. Glad I've gotten all the shots I'm supposed to have. Twas not a fun evening!

[aimo]

Just had a two man crew come to my mom's house to haul off an old sofa. No masks. They waited outside until I brought them masks to put on. they did not complain, but I can't believe they did not at least have them on hand just in case.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Welp, just tested positive after having a bit of tickle in the throat for about a week, which led to a major cough, and then last night a fever of 102 and awful headaches. Thankfully feeling better today except for a headache. Tested three times at home before one came back positive. Glad I've gotten all the shots I'm supposed to have. Twas not a fun evening!

That sounds like my experience. Sick, tested neg, still sick, neg, on 4th day of symptoms, finally positive. Good to hear you are on the upswing!

[Channing]

I was browsing the second page and look what I found ...

I figured it must be a mistake.

[MChambers]

I was browsing the second page and look what I found ...

I figured it must be a mistake.

Didn't you hear? The CDC recommends that this thread be on the second page.

[Skydog]

As much as I want this to be over last night I was talking with a friend who revealed that she hasn’t been able to taste food at all for almost two months. She says it’s pretty distressing, everything she consumes - even ice cream - has as much taste as eating cardboard.

[Stray Gator]

As much as I want this to be over last night I was talking with a friend who revealed that she hasn’t been able to taste food at all for almost two months. She says it’s pretty distressing, everything she consumes - even ice cream - has as much taste as eating cardboard.

That seems uncharacteristic of the BA.5 strain that has recently been circulating. Five members of our family, including my wife and I, along with a handful of friends have had bouts with COVID in the past two months, and to my knowledge no one experienced any effect on their senses of taste or smell. Could this be the lingering long-term effect of an earlier strain that your friend caught?

[Skydog]

That seems uncharacteristic of the BA.5 strain that has recently been circulating. Five members of our family, including my wife and I, along with a handful of friends have had bouts with COVID in the past two months, and to my knowledge no one experienced any effect on their senses of taste or smell. Could this be the lingering long-term effect of an earlier strain that your friend caught?

It could be. This was her second bout with covid. But she didn’t have the loss of taste in between, so its confusing. Also weird was that in her last bout her home testing for covid was always negative. She wasn’t sure she had covid but the doc tested her and said she did. So weird case all around. I’m seeing her this afternoon- I’ll ask her more about it.

[rsvman]

I saw a patient in my clinic this week for something else. He mentioned that he hasn't been able to taste or smell for about the past eight months. The family swore up and down that he had never had Covid. He had been tested several times.
They actually were blaming his loss of taste and smell on the Covid vaccine.

I ordered a nucleocapsid antibody titer on him and of course it was positive, proving he had past infection.

Although loss of taste and/or smell is not as common with Omicron as it was with Delta, it is still occurring. The timing of this patient's loss coincides with the first wave of Omicron.

[TruBlu]

The wife is now on week 4 of Covid. She still has a terrible cough and lack of energy, but no loss of taste or smell. But something weird is that she sometimes imagines smells that aren’t there. For example, smelling bacon cooking when no one is cooking, and smelling the ocean when we’re hundreds of miles inland. Fortunately, she hasn’t imagined anything dangerous yet, such as smelling someone else’s perfume on my shirts.