Stay Safe Everyone!

Okri
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Re: Stay Safe Everyone!

Post by Okri »

Bumping this up a little. Now, I don't fully know where everyone is, so hopefully you're safe.
HarryGoldfarb
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Re: Stay Safe Everyone!

Post by HarryGoldfarb »

Big Magilla wrote:Thanks for the update, Harry.

Good to know your family is safe, despite the bouts of COVID. Could it be that your son still had enough antibodies in him to overcome the disease the second time in five months?
Absolutely BM. However, it is important to stress out that a second event can be lethal too, even if this is not the expected outcome of this scenario.

Reinfections are rare, or at least rarely reported.

As for the severity of reinfections, here is an excerpt from an article published in the British Journal of Medicine:
Since the 1960s, scientists have known that when some patients are infected with a virus for a second time, antibodies created to fend off the disease in the first instance can end up inadvertently compounding its effectiveness on reinfection—known as antibody dependent enhancement (ADE).

To date, most of the SARS-CoV-2 reinfections that have been reported have been milder than first encounters with the virus, although some have been more harmful—and two people have died as a result.

“Almost certainly, immunity from a mild infection doesn’t last as long,” said Hunter. “But on balance, most second infections are going to be a lot less severe because of a degree of immune memory and T cell mediation.”
"If you place an object in a museum, does that make this object a piece of art?" - The Square (2017)
Reza
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Re: Stay Safe Everyone!

Post by Reza »

A few days ago I took part in a Chinese Covid vaccine (Sinovac) trial at a local hospital. I got no reaction to it so it may have been the placebo shot I received. If it was the vaccine then my body strongly resisted and I felt no after effects - some people got chills and mild fever the first night.

Will find out once the results are published.
Big Magilla
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Re: Stay Safe Everyone!

Post by Big Magilla »

Thanks for the update, Harry.

Good to know your family is safe, despite the bouts of COVID. Could it be that your son still had enough antibodies in him to overcome the disease the second time in five months?
HarryGoldfarb
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Re: Stay Safe Everyone!

Post by HarryGoldfarb »

I don't write here as often as I would like, but I still come by frequently, try to read as much as I can what you all post here, and I must say that my admiration and respect for each and every one of you remains intact after all these years. It is always a pleasure to return to this site.

Since I have not told you about myself for a long time, before talking about my experience with COVID-19, I wanted to give you a small personal update, which may not matter but a lot has happened to me: in 2016 I emigrated from Venezuela to Colombia and since then I have lived in Bogotá with my family. When we arrived here, it was just me and my wife, but in 2018 our first child was born, and now we are expecting our second, so we are very happy. I wanted to tell you this because good news tastes best when shared with loved ones, and this board has been a place of much companionship for everyone in difficult and happy times alike. My process has been quite a journey and a difficult adaptation process, but we are not complaining.

Colombia is currently the tenth country with the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the world, with almost 2 million reported cases, being surpassed only by the USA, India, Brazil, Russia, the UK, France, Italy, Spain and Germany. The situation in Bogotá is particularly critical: the population density does not help (Bogotá has almost 8 million inhabitants), and in the less favored areas, the measures to avoid contagion are not taken into account.

The rebound of the disease in January has been enormous, which has led to an almost total collapse of the hospital network, and as of today COVID-19 patients who require ICUs are being transferred to other cities in the country. In this context, measures such as curfews (starting at 8:00 p.m.) have been implemented , and strict monitored by the government quarantine has been resumed: there is no permission to leave your home except to stock up on food or if you are a worker in the Health sector. We actually only go out to market, as I have been teleworking since March of last year; my wife, who is also doctor, has had to go to work in person.

Well, at the beginning of January I started to feel bad: general malaise, weakness, muscle aches, and suddenly, one afternoon, I started having chills. Of course I thought the worst, but with a small child at home I couldn't afford to disconnect myself from my surroundings. I continued working and caring for the baby, but the discomfort was getting worse every day. Nasal congestion, coughing, and sneezing quickly added, and then the dreaded loss of taste and smell. At that point it was impossible to have doubts. I tell you that the body pain was excruciating, as well as the headache episodes (the worst I have ever had in my life). Within a few days my 2 year old son started complaining of a headache and fever (that was heartbreaking), and a couple of days later my wife started with all the symptoms. We did the PCR test, and it was obviously positive. We have been at home totally isolated, taking paracetamol when the discomfort is very intense, but we are already better. Twelve days after everything started, I began to regain my sense of smell and then the taste. My wife persists with more symptoms (she was the last one to start) and I think she got worse than everyone else, while our son recovered in about 3 days. I must tell you that my son had already had COVID-19 in August 2020, so it must be remembered that the immunity left by the disease is temporary, and lasts between 3 and 6 months.

How we got the virus is still a mystery: at home we are obsessed with prevention measures: we wear masks, we wash our hands frequently, we take off our clothes at the entrance of the apartment as soon as we arrive, we maintain social distance when we are necessarily unaffected, etc. The only thing I can think of is that we attended one of our son's medical appointment at the end of December, but I have doubts that it was there that we acquired the virus.

This is just a personal experience, and we know that the variety of case resentations is immense, from patients without symptoms to very complicated cases that require life support measures, including some cases that unfortunately, despite all the measures implemented, can result in death. So take care of yourselves dear friends, take good care of yourselves. Remember that by implementing prevention measures, we only reduce the risk and we do not actually take it to zero.
"If you place an object in a museum, does that make this object a piece of art?" - The Square (2017)
Big Magilla
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Re: Stay Safe Everyone!

Post by Big Magilla »

The vaccine rollout continues to be a logistical nightmare.

As of this morning, in my state of New Jersey, police, teachers, many other categories of workers, people with underlying conditions, and anyone 65 or over, can receive the Moderna vaccine. The problem is that in Ocean County, where I live, there is only one site offering it, a high school in Toms River that plans to vaccinate 2,000 people a day. In an 8-hour day that breaks down to 250 people and as many cars per hour. The State has designated five pharmacies in the County, none of them in my town, to provide the vaccine, but none of them have gotten their supply.

To receive the vaccine, you have to first register on-line with the State, then make an appointment on-line. This is a problem for anyone who does not have a computer, a smart phone, or an e-mail address. They will, at some point, be allowed to register in person at their chosen site, but not yet.

It's apparently not any better anywhere else.
Sabin
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Re: Stay Safe Everyone!

Post by Sabin »

Just found out that the owner of the retirement home was on Parler. She takes COVID seriously. I didn’t see anything that seemed racist. She is a Romanian immigrant who loves Trump.

... we live in a very confusing world.
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Re: Stay Safe Everyone!

Post by danfrank »

I’m glad to hear that your grandparents are improving, Sabin. My brother-in-law (age 52) went into the ICU the day after I posted about his pneumonia and was put on a ventilator. The attending doctor told my sister that, because of his preexisting conditions he had about a 30% chance of surviving. His treatment has been primarily steroids. A few days later his numbers were improving and he demonstrated an ability to breathe pretty well on his own. He was taken off the ventilator, and moved off the ICU to a close observation unit. The doctor says he is not out of the woods, but things are looking exceedingly more hopeful than a few days ago. It’s been quite the emotional roller coaster for our and his family.
Sabin
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Re: Stay Safe Everyone!

Post by Sabin »

Thanks for everyone’s prayers.

So... they’re fine. They both contracted it, got fevers, had antibody transfusions, and now they’re recovering. Don’t want to jinx anything but it looks like they might be out of the woods. My Grandmother has early Alzheimer’s so she doesn’t remember any of it.
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Reza
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Re: Stay Safe Everyone!

Post by Reza »

Praying for your grandparents to recover quickly, Sabin.
Greg
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Re: Stay Safe Everyone!

Post by Greg »

Sabin, wishing the best for your grandparents.
mlrg
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Re: Stay Safe Everyone!

Post by mlrg »

This really is a Russian roulette.

My former father in law, 70 years old, a heavy smoker (two packs a day) with a history of heart disease and someone that already had two pneumonias tested positive a week before Christmas. Only symptom was loss of appetite and smell. No fever, no other symptom. Two weeks later tested negative and is now fully recovered. His wife tested negative.

Hoping for the best Sabin.
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Re: Stay Safe Everyone!

Post by OscarGuy »

I'm sorry, Sabin. That's rough and I hope for their recovery. I still cannot believe that vaccinations are progressing so slowly. Hopefully in a few weeks, we'll see a drastic sea change in how the roll-out is handled.
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Big Magilla
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Re: Stay Safe Everyone!

Post by Big Magilla »

Sabin wrote:My Grandfather has COVID. My Grandmother will follow. They are both isolated in a nursing home in Arizona which just suffered an outbreak. They're all doing their best. He just celebrated his 101 birthday over Zoom last week. My Grandmother will turn 92 in 12 days (we share the same birthday). He is served in inactive duty during WW2. She is a Holocaust survivor who is suffering from dementia.

We are crossing our fingers. They are both do not resuscitate.
Hoping for the best.

Thankfully, still no blood relatives in my family have died from it, but Carol, my brother John's 72-year-old widow in the Scranton, PA area, moved in with her 79-year-old sister on 12/14 when the sister's 83-year-old husband was hospitalized with a 103-degreee fever and the inability to walk. He recovered and was moved to rehab. about a week later. Carol had moved in with her sister "because someone had to take care of their six cats and three dogs", but by Christmas both Carol and her sister, who still hadn't been tested, began showing mild symptoms such as lethargy and loss of appetite. The sister's daughter-in-law then had to take care of both of them, as well as the cats and dogs. On New Year's Day, the sister was hospitalized with pneumonia. She was given Remsdesevir and was well enough to be sent home on Monday, 1/4. Yesterday morning, 1/6, she collapsed and died in Carol's arms. Carol, who finally got tested on Monday, got her results yesterday. She is negative.
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Sonic Youth
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Re: Stay Safe Everyone!

Post by Sonic Youth »

Shit, man. Wishing you and everyone all the best.
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