But isn’t one reason that the immune system might overreact is because it’s become dysregulated due to a lack of appropriate “exercise?” Hence the hygiene hypothesis - I.e., that our current hypervigilance around cleanliness has led to the increasing levels of autoimmune disorders?
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Same here. Common sense to be honest. And no different than any other sickness in the past. If I feel sick I stay away from people. It’s just not this complicated. If you’re sick you stay home. I don’t need a test to tell me when I am sick. I don’t need a test to tell me to stay home. People have to do what works for them. I did everything asked I the beginning of this and then eventually I missed my friends and family. 99% of those I was close to felt the same…that life was passing by and we would rather see each other and take the risk. The stories of loved ones dying without their family with them was heartbreaking to me. Watching peoples relationships get torn apart over their differences because of this is also scary. Do what works for you. Mask…no mask…vax…no vax. If I am worried around someone, I will mask OR I have the right to choose not to be around them and it goes both ways. I know one person who hasn’t left their house yet. They aren’t even immune compromised. I’m saddened by this, but this is the life they chose to live. I have a sister who wears a mask all the time, has every single booster and yet for some reason keeps getting covid (I think shes had it 4 times) I wear a mask when it is required and thats it.
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One of the reasons COVID-19 caused so much more trouble is that it can be contagious for days before symptoms start and after symptoms end. So the “stay away from other people if you feel sick” method is less effective at stopping the spread of COVID-19 than for many other contagious infections. Hence the reason for rapid antigen testing.
She seems to be one of the unlucky ones who seemingly has poor immune response to COVID-19 (infection and vaccine), so she should consider herself to be high risk.
With all due respect this is what people have done for years regardless of the illness. If you have a stomach bug you don’t know to stay away from people until you show signs you have the stomach bug. While you may have spread it prior to knowing you had it, you at least can stop the spread by staying away from people once you know. Sorry but if we live the life of “you can spread it before you show signs of being sick” then we should never ever be around people. Not living my life like that. Rapid antigen testing isn’t going to protect you from getting covid.
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Clearly she does consider herself high risk, hence the wearing of masks all day long and every booster… sadly that has been proven ineffective for her.
The asymptomatic contagious period is significantly longer for COVID-19 than most other contagious sicknesses.
The purpose of rapid antigen testing is to check whether you are unknowingly contagious before coming into contact with high risk people like your sister. I.e. it is to protect other people you may care about rather than yourself.
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I wish we had (and used) this kind of testing for other viruses!
In some other countries, such tests are available, but not in the US.
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That makes sense… but for everyday life it isn’t going to make a difference so that was my point (not about my sister per se) and yes obviously just as I would stay home if I was sick…if I go somewhere where someone was high risk and asked me to test I probably would out of respect for them.
Sadly, my sister will continue to mask and get every booster she can, even when she has now realized she can still keep getting covid regardless
However, if she did not do any mitigation attempts, she may get COVID-19 more often and more severely than she actually does get it.
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And for whoever mentioned it above… I truly believe that one day we will find out that certain people carry a gene that makes them immune to covid. One has to be questioning why certain people no matter how “risky” their behavior is, do not get it. Maybe having it at some level? Dunno.
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Well you don’t know that. She “may” or she “may not”.
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I would probably try a different approach at this point if I were your sister.
I developed pretty nasty allergic rhinitis during the mask mandates that has all but resolved now that I don’t mask anymore. Friends that had problems with allergies before the pandemic (I didn’t) found that masking alleviated their symptoms. I assume from the reduced inhalation of environmental irritants. Anyway, I’m happy I don’t have to take allergy meds and nasal sprays anymore. The immune system is a thing of wonder.
Thats wonderful that you do not have to continue with the meds.
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Me too. As a scientist I would be remiss if I didn’t say that this could all just be a coincidence for me. Or maybe I’m just allergic to my family or house that I had to spend more time with 
. It’s curious all the same.
I mean being with family could very well be a symptom. Everything else is. Lol. In fact I remember when having no symptoms was a symptom!
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I am curious, to those saying that if the risk of covid consequences were high, everyone would know someone that was impacted, have you known anyone in the last couple of years that:
- had a stroke or heart attack at a really young age, like in there 30’s or 40’s. Or younger?
- Died all of a sudden, like didn’t wake up or just died for no obvious reason/natural causes, but with no warning? Even people that haven’t been vaxxed?
- Had multiple normal illnesses, but with way more frequency? As in the common facebook post “I just don’t know what it is, we just can’t shake this weird bug going around! Kids have been sick every 3 weeks since November.”?
- Had some “strange stomach bug/cough/cold/pink eye/tinnitus, but it’s just something going around, and it’s not covid cause I did a single rapid test that was negative”?
- Had an unusually bad/long case of strep, bronchitis, pneumonia, fungal infection, other thing that is usually no big deal but for some reason this time just hit really hard?
I see this ALL the time, on facebook, with people on instagram, and with people I know in real life. My 33 year old landscape designer had a heart attack. My cousin’s contractor died out of the blue in his 40s. I know at least 4 people who have an older parent (70’s) who died for “no reason out of the blue”. Not to mention the non stop stream of posts about how many sick days the kids have had, and how the whole family has come down with “x”… again! Not all of these people were vaccinated. I can’t be the only one seeing this ALL the time.
As long as we are making decisions base on anecdotal evidence, I think one of the issues is that people are seeing an increase in all of these things, but if it happens and you don’t have covid right then, people are just not putting 2 and 2 together. (and if you say it’s immune debt, ask yourself how long you and everyone you know really “locked down”? Was it longer than an astronaut goes to space? Was it longer than a person takes to solo hike the PCT? Are there many instances of people being away from other people for a few months, that doesn’t destroy their immune system?)
As I mentioned before, the full ramifications of covid will not be known for years, as with so many other viruses. If it turns out it’s an airborne acquired immune deficiency syndrome, I think people with come to regret their cavalier disregard for the risk.
Last thing I’ll say, is that every infection you get is an opportunity for the virus to mutate. Every infection gives it one more chance to be bigger, stronger, scarier than the version before. Every viral replication is an opportunity for things to get much, much worse.
Good luck to all, and to those still protecting themselves and others, thank you. And I appreciate that most of you seem to be willing to wear masks in medical settings, even if not other places. Medical settings are one place people with chronic illness can’t choose to avoid, so thanks for masking up at the docs.
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Liver injury starts off silent but is common following a Covid infection.
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None of the above since COVID-19, although one in category #1 in the pre-COVID-19 time frame. In terms of #3, kids going back to school do seem to be sharing their usual respiratory viruses (colds, flu) with their families, but at apparently typical levels.
I do know people with long COVID from pre-vaccine infections. One had a rather severe acute case and an apparently permanent effect that causes some limitations on activity as well as a second effect that went away after several months. Another had apparent myocarditis for several months after a pretty bad acute case. But I do not know of any long COVID from post-vaccination infections among those I know.
If lots of the people you know were unvaccinated when they got COVID-19, perhaps it is not surprising that you see a higher rate of long COVID effects. (And if they are also foregoing vaccination for other diseases for themselves or their kids, is it a surprise that they or their kids get sick more?)
Actually, the airborne version of immune suppression is measles, since it is known that a measles infection often erases B-cell / antibody immune response from prior infections and vaccinations.
No. I do not. But I have known people (maybe one or 2 in each) who fit in those categories in the decades. BEFORE 2020. I know no one in those categories since 2019. At work we’ve been keeping pretty close track for our labor clients and their rates of any employee illness are way down since the pandemic. Most are reporting long Covid problems in less than one percent of employees (these are obviously working adults so no very elderly and not very Ill with other things ).
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