4 ms·

As someone who hasn’t followed, and I understand I’m asking a random internet user this and not a scientist, but what is the definition of ‘prolonged exposure?’

As someone who hasn’t followed, and I understand I’m asking a random internet user this and not a scientist, but what is the definition of ‘prolonged exposure?’ Are people who contract the disease less likely to die that someone who is in close contact for a prolonged period of time? How long is that period? 15 minutes? Two hours?

bdamm 6y ago
To wit; if my wife gets sick and I care for her, does that mean I am experiencing "prolonged exposure"?
- tomrod 6y ago
  Yes.
- code_duck 6y ago
  Being around a positive person continually for several days at home would mean a lot more exposure than many people would get when encountering others in public.
- nradov 6y ago
  Maybe? No one knows for sure. We can't directly measure the dose of virions each person receives. There is a huge variations in contagiousness between patients based on factors that are still unclear. Proper use of PPE by caregivers can also have a huge impact.
- seppin 6y ago
  Yes. Separate as much as possible, don't share a bathroom at all.
  - greggman3 6y ago
    I my experience most houses and apartments in Japan, and SF only have 1 bathroom.
sjg007 6y ago
It’s dose. So you get a higher dose the longer you are exposed. A smaller dose infected less cells are initially infected and maybe you get less sick. Higher dose may mean you get more sick.
- beamatronic 6y ago
  Does it not logically follow that if the dose can be precisely controlled, it could help your body start developing antibodies sooner?
  - skybrian 6y ago
    That's the idea behind "variolation", which was used before there were vaccines. It's risky, since you might get infected anyway, or perhaps the dose isn't enough to work. Making strong guarantees that people will become immune and won't be infected is part of what makes coming up with a vaccine hard. It's apparently pretty easy and quick to come up with vaccine candidates.
    - zajio1am 6y ago
      With variolation it was not lower dose, but different (mild) strain (cowpox), which offers cross-immunity to smallpox.
      - InDemoVeritas 6y ago
        It was a controlled infection with Smallpox, by scraping the skin with pus or scab powder from an infected person. Cowpox is what makes the smallpox vaccine.
        zajio1am 6y ago
        You are right.
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
nisa 6y ago
Not a scientist, I can only attempt to retell what virologist Prof. Christian Drosten from Charité Berlin told in in his podcast[1]: It's not really clear at the moment but it could be due amount of dose (more virus particles, faster replication) and where the virus makes contact with the body (if you are unlucky you are breathing a high dose directly into your lungs i.e. coughing patients in a hospital) - your immune system does not know the virus and it takes a while until it's able to fight it off and if the virus is directly in the lungs or you've got a high dose it has less time to do so. If you have it only in the throat it takes a lot of time, like multiple days until it goes into the lungs (if at all, this is also not clear when and when not this happens) and he suspected that in this time period you already have a better immune response. Besides that (not from the podcast) I've read that the virus can induce inflammation that can can cause blood clots and other nasty things - so you may die from stroke or heart problems and not pneunomia. There was also a paper that hypothesized that the virus can either replicate in the throat and go the lungs but it's probably also possible for the virus to use the nervous system to reach the brain via the olfactory bulb. China did isolate ill patients from their families and it was hypothesized that sharing a bed/room with a sick person is a bad idea because the virus is in high doses in the air. So you can read that you should keep fresh air flowing in and possible avoid too much direct contact. 1: https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/info/podcast4684.html https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/info/podcast4684.html (only in german)

bdamm 6y ago

To wit; if my wife gets sick and I care for her, does that mean I am experiencing "prolonged exposure"?

tomrod 6y ago
Yes.
code_duck 6y ago
Being around a positive person continually for several days at home would mean a lot more exposure than many people would get when encountering others in public.
nradov 6y ago
Maybe? No one knows for sure. We can't directly measure the dose of virions each person receives. There is a huge variations in contagiousness between patients based on factors that are still unclear. Proper use of PPE by caregivers can also have a huge impact.
seppin 6y ago
Yes. Separate as much as possible, don't share a bathroom at all.
- greggman3 6y ago
  I my experience most houses and apartments in Japan, and SF only have 1 bathroom.

sjg007 6y ago

It’s dose. So you get a higher dose the longer you are exposed. A smaller dose infected less cells are initially infected and maybe you get less sick. Higher dose may mean you get more sick.

beamatronic 6y ago
Does it not logically follow that if the dose can be precisely controlled, it could help your body start developing antibodies sooner?
- skybrian 6y ago
  That's the idea behind "variolation", which was used before there were vaccines. It's risky, since you might get infected anyway, or perhaps the dose isn't enough to work. Making strong guarantees that people will become immune and won't be infected is part of what makes coming up with a vaccine hard. It's apparently pretty easy and quick to come up with vaccine candidates.
  - zajio1am 6y ago
    With variolation it was not lower dose, but different (mild) strain (cowpox), which offers cross-immunity to smallpox.
    - InDemoVeritas 6y ago
      It was a controlled infection with Smallpox, by scraping the skin with pus or scab powder from an infected person. Cowpox is what makes the smallpox vaccine.
      - zajio1am 6y ago
        You are right.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]

nisa 6y ago

Not a scientist, I can only attempt to retell what virologist Prof. Christian Drosten from Charité Berlin told in in his podcast[1]: It's not really clear at the moment but it could be due amount of dose (more virus particles, faster replication) and where the virus makes contact with the body (if you are unlucky you are breathing a high dose directly into your lungs i.e. coughing patients in a hospital) - your immune system does not know the virus and it takes a while until it's able to fight it off and if the virus is directly in the lungs or you've got a high dose it has less time to do so. If you have it only in the throat it takes a lot of time, like multiple days until it goes into the lungs (if at all, this is also not clear when and when not this happens) and he suspected that in this time period you already have a better immune response. Besides that (not from the podcast) I've read that the virus can induce inflammation that can can cause blood clots and other nasty things - so you may die from stroke or heart problems and not pneunomia. There was also a paper that hypothesized that the virus can either replicate in the throat and go the lungs but it's probably also possible for the virus to use the nervous system to reach the brain via the olfactory bulb. China did isolate ill patients from their families and it was hypothesized that sharing a bed/room with a sick person is a bad idea because the virus is in high doses in the air. So you can read that you should keep fresh air flowing in and possible avoid too much direct contact. 1: https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/info/podcast4684.html https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/info/podcast4684.html (only in german)