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In case anyone is thinking similarly, remember that vulnerable people (old people)'s social networks are mostly other vulnerable people. Even if herd immunity w
by klmadfejno 6y ago
In case anyone is thinking similarly, remember that vulnerable people (old people)'s social networks are mostly other vulnerable people. Even if herd immunity was "achieved" in the younger cohort, the old would be at basically the same level of risk because if one old person gets infected, it'll spread through the unprotected social network quite easily. You need it to be well mixed to be effective.
That all being said, if theories of initial viral loads making a difference are true, it's not that crazy to imagine individuals choosing to self infect with a very small initial viral load so they can just stop needing to tip toe around life with the concern that they infect others, while continuing to isolate on their own. If I lived alone I'd be tempted.
- ashtonkem 6y agoYou need to balance not jut your chance of death, which is low if you’re very young, but your chances of getting very very sick. Spending a few weeks in the ICU is a good way to bankrupt yourself on the path towards returning to regular work, let alone how hard a ventilator is on even survivors. Plus, we have no idea what happens to the infected a few years or a decade from now. If given the choice, not getting sick at all is the best possible outcome.
- notRobot 6y ago> Spending a few weeks in the ICU is a good way to bankrupt yourself Only in the US :|
- lucioperca 6y agoLOL yes, only in the US your worst fear about spending a few weeks in a ICU are the bankrupting costs.
- steveeq1 6y ago> Spending a few weeks in the ICU is a good way to bankrupt yourself on the path towards returning to regular work, let alone how hard a ventilator is on even survivors. Ok, I'm willing to consider devil's argument, but this is just plain ridiculuous. The great bulk of infected people classsify this as "mild". If you're young, strong, and healthy, your chances of dying from this are basically zero in any common sense way. And far more people are going to "get bankrupt on the way to work" as you say using the current method. We're not trying to find a perfect solution, we are trying to find the better one.
- mullingitover 6y ago> If you're young, strong, and healthy, your chances of dying from this are basically zero in any common sense way There are zero longitudinal studies about the long-term effects of infection. For all we know, young healthy people could appear to beat the virus, only for it to hide out and plague you with severe health problems down the road. We could have an massive epidemic of a neurodegenerative disease caused by Covid-19 twenty years from now. I have no desire to roll the dice on that even if the odds look good for me at the moment.
- steveeq1 6y agoOh come on, you can say that for any flu epidemic.
- mullingitover 6y agoYes you can[1], which is exactly why you don't really want to roll the dice even if you appear okay after the initial infection. [1] https://epmonthly.com/article/neuropsych-complications-flu-virus/ https://epmonthly.com/article/neuropsych-complications-flu-v...
- steveeq1 6y agoBut you "roll the dice" with every flu epidemic.
- throwphoton 6y agoThe flu doesn't generally involve rolling the dice so quickly that morgues run out of space.
- steveeq1 6y ago"Man shot 9 times die of corona virus." I question how these numbers are calculated sometimes.
- klmadfejno 6y agoI don't know why you would think the risk of death is dependent on age but the risk of severe illness is not. Age affects both. You're highly unlikely to get put in an ICU if you're young. It would be pretty improbable for a disease like this to have long term consequences unless you start going hypoxic and have organ damage. not impossible, but probably a low concern.
- steveeq1 6y agoYeah, let herd immunity kick in so it's harder for the virus to spread and then STRICTLY quarantine the old. As in much stricter than what they have now. I realize that's not great for grandma, but at some point, society has to make a reasonable tradeoff. If you're young, strong and healthy, your probability of dying from it is basically a rounding error.
- pohl 6y agoWe don’t even know if individuals can acquire immunity from infection, yet. (That’s a prerequisite to herd immunity.)
- standardUser 6y agoWe have no reason whatsoever to think infection doesn't confer immunity. All other human-infecting coronaviruses do. And with no confirmed cases of reinfection yet, there is no evidence showing that this virus breaks the norm.
- steveeq1 6y agoStop spreading misinformation. There are studies in South Korea that reinfection does not occur.
- standardUser 6y agoYou may have misread my comment.