On Topic Discussion 2019 Coronavirus (COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2)

[Kulindahr]

Anything less effective than an N95 (and assuming you don't have a beard or moustache) isn't going to offer a lot of protection from other people's infections.

I want an N95 that says "Caring is not sharing".

 

[belamyi]

Interesting. I don't recall the Holocaust being mentioned in U.S. History in high school, but it was in World History (a senior class I took as a sophomore).

So they do not even teach the liberation of concentration camps by US army forces, or they teach the whole of WWII as world history, not as US history?
What about all the liberation wars or operations undertaken by the US after WWII: US history or world history?

 

[KaraBulut]

Is this another vaccine I should be getting?

For the RSV vaccine, you would qualify for the over 60 years of age recommendation. If you have any exposure to children or you have any chronic lung conditions, your risk is increased.

RSV is one of the causes of what we used to call "croup". It causes a wet barking deep cough. In infants and the elderly, it can cause bronchiolitis and is one of the most common reasons for hospitalization in these groups.

RSV outbreaks in the fall and winter has been really bad the past couple of years. The children's hospitals have been full with kids who have RSV or a combination of RSV/Flu or RSV/COVID.

 

[KaraBulut]

...This tells us that while the vax has likely saved thousands of lives...we are dealing with ever evolving strains so for the love of god, be careful.

The way we feel this week and the symptoms we are experiencing......we almost certainly would have been dead if this was 3 years ago.

The brilliance of the mRNA vaccines is that they targeted the portions of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that was causing blood clotting, vasculitis and pneumonia. By introducing an immune response to the part of the virus that was causing the most severe symptoms (and in many cases, death), it changed COVID infection from being high risk for severe pneumonia to being more like a mild cold.

COVID is an RNA virus and those tend to mutate frequently. This is a new virus in humans and it is also finding animal hosts which also favors frequent mutations. It's going to be with us for a long time.

Interesting. I don't recall the Holocaust being mentioned in U.S. History in high school, but it was in World History (a senior class I took as a sophomore).

So they do not even teach the liberation of concentration camps by US army forces, or they teach the whole of WWII as world history, not as US history?
What about all the liberation wars or operations undertaken by the US after WWII: US history or world history?

There are some schools that have "Anne Frank's Diary" on the reading list. Some schools in urban areas do field trips to Holocaust museums. Neither of these were options when I was in school.

World History in high school was heavily focused on the big picture (Nazis bad. America good.). We heard a lot about battles after America joined the wars. We heard a lot about battles where the Allies won.

The scope of the Holocaust was covered in university history classes. Around the same time, I read "Sophie's Choice" and the movie came out, both of which made clear the scope of what happened in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s.

Some of this might be a matter of geography. The US is full of Revolutionary War and Civil War battle sites, so these are constant reminders. With the exception of Pearl Harbor, there are no World War reminders in the 50 States. There were a few POW camps in the US but they were quickly removed after the war and there's no historical sites there.

I'm not sure whether it's the forward-looking nature of Americans or whether it's human nature but we do have a tendency toward avoiding looking backward on tragedies, including pandemics. I often remark that Americans can barely remember what they had for breakfast, much less something that happened a few years ago. They are definitely forgetting what the pandemic was like and when they do, it's often connected to "freedoms" that they lost or the misery of not being able to get a haircut for a couple of months.

 

[cityboy-stl]

Well, and it depends on the mask.

These newer variants are so contagious that to protect yourself from being infected, you need a well-fitted, high filtration mask. Anything less effective than an N95 (and assuming you don't have a beard or moustache) isn't going to offer a lot of protection from other people's infections.


March can't come soon enough.

These N99 masks are great. They are very comfortable and easy to breathe through. The gasket on the inside facilitates a good face fit and seal, and softens the comfort. They also have adjustable headbands
to tighten the fit properly. Very sturdy and well made.

 

[Kulindahr]

So they do not even teach the liberation of concentration camps by US army forces, or they teach the whole of WWII as world history, not as US history?
What about all the liberation wars or operations undertaken by the US after WWII: US history or world history?

Nowadays I have no idea.

 

[Kulindahr]

For the RSV vaccine, you would qualify for the over 60 years of age recommendation. If you have any exposure to children or you have any chronic lung conditions, your risk is increased.

RSV is one of the causes of what we used to call "croup". It causes a wet barking deep cough. In infants and the elderly, it can cause bronchiolitis and is one of the most common reasons for hospitalization in these groups.

RSV outbreaks in the fall and winter has been really bad the past couple of years. The children's hospitals have been full with kids who have RSV or a combination of RSV/Flu or RSV/COVID.

I have chronic viral bronchitis that flares up when I get really worn out for days on end, when I get out in cold, dry weather, and/or when I get really stressed.

Fall finals and winter midterms in university were total pains.

 

[Kulindahr]

These N99 masks are great. They are very comfortable and easy to breathe through. The gasket on the inside facilitates a good face fit and seal, and softens the comfort. They also have adjustable headbands
to tighten the fit properly. Very sturdy and well made.


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Those are what I used to wear when putting fiberglass insulation under houses.

 

[Kulindahr]

These N99 masks are great. They are very comfortable and easy to breathe through. The gasket on the inside facilitates a good face fit and seal, and softens the comfort. They also have adjustable headbands
to tighten the fit properly. Very sturdy and well made.


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I looked online and found "Sold Out" for these. That seems odd to me.

 

[cityboy-stl]

I looked online and found "Sold Out" for these. That seems odd to me.

Yeah, I have purchased them several times and they have always had them. Surprising. I will need to check back in a week or so.

 

[frankfrank]

Take care Frank!

I fly out tomorrow for two weeks with family, and this afternoon I got a text from my mother saying that she and my dad both tested positive. This is going to make everyone's holiday plans complicated, to put it mildly.

Thank you for your wishes, Michael! No further symptoms returned, though remnants of the cough (which was never severe) lingered past Christmas.

Then I worked at getting up. The moment I moved to reach for a shirt my right shoulder felt like I'd been kicked by a mule, and when I managed to sit up to pull that shirt on moderate nausea struck along with more chills. It took me over twenty minutes to get dressed, putting on one piece of clothing at a time then laying back under the covers -- had to actually swing my legs out of bed to get pants on.

Breakfast (low-sugar cereal) didn't want to stay down, and every time I took a drink of juice my stomach tried to send it back. I also got feeling colder and colder to the point I got out snow gear to bundle in! Now it's almost Knox's dinner time and for the first time today I managed a good swallow of juice without my stomach trying to return to sender. So now I'm just chilled and tired.

Seems that some people get acute symptoms after having injections (COVID and otherwise). Interestingly, as far back as I can remember getting vaxxed for anything, I don't remember ever having any reaction to any injections, other than slight soreness in the arm that I barely noticed.

At any rate, I've now had six (or maybe 7?) COVID shots. Yay me.

I've had 7 of them. Spread among six different STATES where I've had them done. I have never lived in any of those six states. (How many people rightfully claim that?)

Here in New York, which was the virus epicenter for a while in 2020, I see very few people wearing masks. The trains and buses are returning to their overloaded, pre-pandemic sardine can hell, and I see only about 5% of riders masking up. Hospitals have resumed mask mandates.

It seems the general public is still so irrevocably mentally scarred by the lockdowns of 2020 that they are unwilling to even consider any degree of social distancing.

I have a good memory, so I haven't forgotten what was going on in 2020, The Year That Took Five Years To Go By. It bothers me to see so few masked people in public. I don't wear my mask at all times, but if I'm heading to any place that may be crowded (e. g. a supermarket, or the train), I WILL wear my mask.

And with all the precautions, including full vaccination, masking and distancing as much as I could while at a conference in Toronto...I knew I was almost sure to get it because probably only 1 in 100 people were masked.

And now it looks like my immuno-compromised partner and I are likely going to have long Covid with respiratory and other issues.

I am calling on Monday though to line us up for RSV shots.

Oh no, no, no. I'm so sorry to read this, man. As your infection was so recent, I HOPE like-heck that you're both mistaken and it's merely gone away slowly. You don't need this. Nobody does (except, well, some certain politicians-and-such whose names shall not be mentioned).

Please look at your Conversations (message sent well before seeing this thread).

These N99 masks are great. They are very comfortable and easy to breathe through. The gasket on the inside facilitates a good face fit and seal, and softens the comfort. They also have adjustable headbands
to tighten the fit properly. Very sturdy and well made.

AGREED! I've been using precisely that product for a while now. I don't believe the filtering is POLARIZED in any way, so I also believe the "common wisdom" that says masks don't also protect you, is false. No protection can be 100% effective short of, maybe, wearing a gas mask. However, I feel they also slash your risk of catching anything.

Both my bouts with COVID (both extremely mild, no fatigue whatsoever, and neither fever hit 101F/38.3C) can be traced to days that I wasn't masked. First time was 27 April 2022 when I went to Kennywood Park (a theme park near Pittsburgh) with temperatures nearly reaching 90 degrees and me being very close to passing out from the damned heat, second time was visiting a friend in central New Jersey who came down with it while I visited (probably got it from the casino they went to, while I visited Sausy and his brother).

That tells me that masking probably protects me. I don't have quite as much exposure as a daily train-commuter, or somebody who has multiple children in school, but I do have more exposure than the average person.

 

[Peloso]

These newer variants are so contagious that to protect yourself from being infected, you need a well-fitted, high filtration mask. Anything less effective than an N95 (and assuming you don't have a beard or moustache) isn't going to offer a lot of protection from other people's infections.

Once again I was directly exposed to the virus and never got it. I spent about three hours in my friend's apartment on a Tuesday. He came down with it that weekend. That was 20 days ago. I wonder if I'm immune.

These N99 masks are great. They are very comfortable and easy to breathe through. The gasket on the inside facilitates a good face fit and seal, and softens the comfort. They also have adjustable headbands
to tighten the fit properly. Very sturdy and well made.


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I'll have to see how expensive those are. The ones I get have no gasket, nor do they have an adjustable strap and they're tight. I have to assume they work because I've yet to catch anything even though I'm often crammed into packed train, but wearing them feels like this:

 

[ruggerladirish]

So, now we're told there could be a new Covid variant, or it could be 'just' RSV. Parents recommended to cocoon new borns, and toddlers. Only a couple of years ago it was over-70s who were coccooning

 

[rareboy]

The two may end up going hand in hand.

My sis ended up with RSV at the end of Covid and my partner and I are still crawling out from pneumonia (or RSV) after Covid.

You definitely want to protect the infants because hospitals are full of sick kids right now.

 

[KaraBulut]

The two may end up going hand in hand.

My sis ended up with RSV at the end of Covid and my partner and I are still crawling out from pneumonia (or RSV) after Covid.

You definitely want to protect the infants because hospitals are full of sick kids right now.

Because the testing has gotten so much more sophisticated with the multiplex testing, Urgent Cares, EDs and hospitals are finding that a lot of kids with severe lower respiratory bronchitis, brochiolitis or pneumonia are testing positive for combinations of COVID-19, influenza and RSV. It's filling up emergency rooms and children's hospitals.

When I'm out in public, I hear kids with croupy, wet coughs. I go in the other direction or put on my mask.

https://www.tiktok.com/video/7259887021248924974

 

[belamyi]

^ Sometimes, after all these years, I still wonder whether American people "are real"... whether they are actually like that, or it is just a façade and social habit to appear so childishly sprightly, just like saying "good morning" or "how do you do".

 

[unloadonme]

^ Sometimes, after all these years, I still wonder whether American people "are real"... whether they are actually like that, or it is just a façade and social habit to appear so childishly sprightly, just like saying "good morning" or "how do you do".

The woman in Dr Pimple Popper is at least as annoying as that with her fake niceness.

 

[belamyi]

The woman in Dr Pimple Popper is at least as annoying as that with her fake niceness.

Dr. Lee? So she only does that?
I always rush past the channel broadcasting that, but the other day I watched a poor girl terribly upset by her lipoma necklace (but I think Lee called them "teratomas?!), and wondering how she would felt about the happiest day in her life at that doctor's, when she would came to realize that the popped pimples would not just heal and become invisible... as invisible as the lumps she had.

There is even worse: when in the format of talent show that they buy, it is also included the asslicking among the jury members.

 

[KaraBulut]

^ Sometimes, after all these years, I still wonder whether American people "are real"... whether they are actually like that, or it is just a façade and social habit to appear so childishly sprightly, just like saying "good morning" or "how do you do".

They are like that. Social media amplifies it. Also, one has to be optimistic to work in pediatrics, in spite of the horrible parents.

 

[belamyi]

They are like that. Social media amplifies it. Also, one has to be optimistic to work in pediatrics, in spite of the horrible parents.

And since when "being" equals "seeming"...

Still nobody responded to that "test" someone once posted during the pandemics, qualifying any pretenders to social comment about the science of the pandemics... Something like "what is the role of t-cells in immunology" or things of the sort...