3 ms·

> I haven’t hugged my family in over two months — anything to keep them from contracting a virus that could kill them. It could but they look fairly young and

> I haven’t hugged my family in over two months — anything to keep them from contracting a virus that could kill them. It could but they look fairly young and as long as they’ve no comorbidities they’ll be fine.

dannyw 6y ago
It’s incredibly true. We know coronavirus is only really dangerous to the elderly and those with weakened immunity systems. So why aren’t we focusing all the attention and effort on protecting the most vulnerable, instead of spreading misinformation like “COVID doesn’t discriminate” (it does) and panicking over schools while sending confirmed positive patients back to nursing homes?
- J-dawg 6y ago
  I agree - this kind of misinformation is so widespread now. It seems completely counter productive. The other bit of widespread misinformation is the 2m/6ft distancing thing. It's just an arbitrary number. Weirdly the fearmongering makes me feel like being less careful, not more. The way I see it, if COVID is really so contagious that I'm likely to catch it from a stranger's exhaled breath as I pass them in the street, then I'm guaranteed to catch it eventually, so what's the point? I'm sure it can technically be transmitted in this way, but what's the actual probability? Tiny enough to not be worth worrying about, I expect.
  - gizmo 6y ago
    Tiny exposure to covid (by passing somebody on the street) is exceptionally unlikely to make you sick, but it will help your immune system recognize the enemy. This builds partial immunity and if you get exposed for real at some later point your immune system will be able to kick into gear right away.
    - pas 6y ago
      Has this been demonstrated? Is this true? Is this really how the immune system works?
      - gizmo 6y ago
        Yes, for instance in this 2015 study on influenza: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4342672/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4342672/ Higher initial dose results in worse outcomes. Low dose still helps build immunity. Covid19 should be assumed to work like other RTIs. (This is also why obsessively washing your hands and cleaning your house with bleach isn't a good idea, because being in too sterile an environment harms your immune system.)
        pas 6y ago
        Wow, conducting this study (and the IRB review) must have been great. Hm, okay, at first I just saw the very linear response and wasn't sure how that translates low dose still helps build immunity, but then went back and read your comment up thread, which captures it better: the partial sickness gives partial immunity, thus "priming" the body for the full-blown thing. Though getting the active transmission rate down could be more important in some places.
- pedrocr 6y ago
  Coronavirus has a mortality curve by age that looks like the average curve for the population of all other causes. So you're basically saying we shouldn't protect young people of a risk that doubles their chances of dying this year. Should we also get rid of seat belt and helmet laws while we're at it? The total risk there is lower than this.
gizmo 6y ago
Yes, the sad reality is that this doctor is completely delusional about the actual risks of covid because of his first-hand experiences. The news amplifies this kind of hysteria so badly that doctors start believing they and their coworkers might die if they leave their wrists exposed. It would be comical, if it didn't have such a large societal impact.
pedrocr 6y ago
There's some evidence that exposure to higher concentrations of the virus can make things much worse. That matches with lots of reports of deaths of otherwise healthy health workers.

dannyw 6y ago

It’s incredibly true. We know coronavirus is only really dangerous to the elderly and those with weakened immunity systems. So why aren’t we focusing all the attention and effort on protecting the most vulnerable, instead of spreading misinformation like “COVID doesn’t discriminate” (it does) and panicking over schools while sending confirmed positive patients back to nursing homes?

J-dawg 6y ago
I agree - this kind of misinformation is so widespread now. It seems completely counter productive. The other bit of widespread misinformation is the 2m/6ft distancing thing. It's just an arbitrary number. Weirdly the fearmongering makes me feel like being less careful, not more. The way I see it, if COVID is really so contagious that I'm likely to catch it from a stranger's exhaled breath as I pass them in the street, then I'm guaranteed to catch it eventually, so what's the point? I'm sure it can technically be transmitted in this way, but what's the actual probability? Tiny enough to not be worth worrying about, I expect.
- gizmo 6y ago
  Tiny exposure to covid (by passing somebody on the street) is exceptionally unlikely to make you sick, but it will help your immune system recognize the enemy. This builds partial immunity and if you get exposed for real at some later point your immune system will be able to kick into gear right away.
  - pas 6y ago
    Has this been demonstrated? Is this true? Is this really how the immune system works?
    - gizmo 6y ago
      Yes, for instance in this 2015 study on influenza: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4342672/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4342672/ Higher initial dose results in worse outcomes. Low dose still helps build immunity. Covid19 should be assumed to work like other RTIs. (This is also why obsessively washing your hands and cleaning your house with bleach isn't a good idea, because being in too sterile an environment harms your immune system.)
      - pas 6y ago
        Wow, conducting this study (and the IRB review) must have been great. Hm, okay, at first I just saw the very linear response and wasn't sure how that translates low dose still helps build immunity, but then went back and read your comment up thread, which captures it better: the partial sickness gives partial immunity, thus "priming" the body for the full-blown thing. Though getting the active transmission rate down could be more important in some places.
pedrocr 6y ago
Coronavirus has a mortality curve by age that looks like the average curve for the population of all other causes. So you're basically saying we shouldn't protect young people of a risk that doubles their chances of dying this year. Should we also get rid of seat belt and helmet laws while we're at it? The total risk there is lower than this.

gizmo 6y ago

Yes, the sad reality is that this doctor is completely delusional about the actual risks of covid because of his first-hand experiences. The news amplifies this kind of hysteria so badly that doctors start believing they and their coworkers might die if they leave their wrists exposed. It would be comical, if it didn't have such a large societal impact.

pedrocr 6y ago

There's some evidence that exposure to higher concentrations of the virus can make things much worse. That matches with lots of reports of deaths of otherwise healthy health workers.