7 ms·

Some People Get Covid-19 and Never Feel a Thing: Why?

21 points by elorant 6y ago

peter_d_sherman 6y ago
>"According to various estimates, between 20 and 45 percent of the people who get Covid-19 — and possibly more, according to a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — sail through a coronavirus infection without realizing they ever had it. No fever or chills. No loss of smell or taste. No breathing difficulties. They don’t feel a thing." PDS: Which leads to the inevitable philosophical question -- is a virus really a virus if it doesn't do anything? And by extension, is a pandemic really a pandemic? If most people aren't suffering from the effects usually associated with pandemics? You know, what's interesting is that up until this point in world history -- we've never called Cancer, AIDS, Heart Disease, Diabetes, Drunk Driving, World Hunger, Massive Unemployment/Job Loss, Poverty, Inequality, Racism, Alcohol Addiction, Crime, Terrorism, Social Unrest, Opioid Addiction, Illegal Immigration, Global Warming, World Wars, and the threat of (possibly immediate!) Nuclear Annihilation, or just plain Old Age -- "pandemics". Perhaps what something is, or isn't -- is all in the languaging... You know, there are whole industries (employing huge numbers of people!) that have sprang up around just creating problems for other people... As in, they make money, actual money(!), and lots of it, when other people have problems... Including (but not limited to!) News Media, Polticians, Lawyers, Medical Cartels, some factions of some Governments, and some Corporations/Big Businesses... Prove to me that you don't have a vested interest in the outcome of anything you report -- and I'll consider what you have to say. Otherwise, you're a shill for one complex or another, adding to the cacophony of crap (AKA fake news/false information/disinformation/lies/propaganda/fraud/misrepresentation/sophistry) out there... https://www.amazon.com/Virus-Mind-New-Science-Meme/dp/1401924697 https://www.amazon.com/Virus-Mind-New-Science-Meme/dp/140192...
- coldtea 6y ago
  >PDS: Which leads to the inevitable philosophical question -- is a virus really a virus if it doesn't do anything? Yes. A virus is a specific RNA/DNA structure, not the outward symptoms of an illness or ailment. >And by extension, is a pandemic really a pandemic? If most people aren't suffering from the effects usually associated with pandemics? Imagina a virus with similar spread, where 70% of the population are to get it (if left unsupervised, no lockdown, etc). Now say it's even better than this one, in that 90% of them will feel nothing, 9% will have some minor/medium symptoms, but 1% will get serious life-long issues or die. That gives 2,5 million people in the US with serious issues / death. It very qualifies as a pandemic - considering flu kills about 60-70K every year... I'm not saying that Covid will reach those numbers (though it might). I'm saying that, never mind, 40-50%, even a virus where 90% people have no symptoms can kill tons of people...
  - peter_d_sherman 6y ago
    Greetings Coldtea! In preparation for responding to your response, I spent a good amount of time reading many of your other comments/responses on HN. As best I can ascertain from that reading, you are highly, highly intelligent. That is a compliment, by the way! Now, in preparation for my response, I believe what you should know is that what I'm going to say is not personal, it's only how I feel, only how I feel at this point in time -- and it could very well be wrong on one or more levels. OK, with that disclaimer out of the way, here we go: >"That gives 2,5 million people in the US with serious issues / death." 328.2 million in the US have serious issues / death or eventual death -- DUE TO OLD AGE. That is, we are not biologically immortal. Which brings up another philosophical issue: If the average life expectancy for someone living in the U.S. is 78.93 years (in 2020) -- does this mean that other nations whose life expectancies are less than 78.93 years -- are guilty of killing their citizens early, because they don't follow the "best practices" of the U.S., that is, they don't do exactly what the U.S. does in its governance? Also, would it be justified then, for those nations to control and micromanage, basically take away all of their citizens' freedoms -- in the name of increasing the average life expectancy of their citizens? How does the old saying go? "Those who are willing to trade a little bit of their freedom for security -- deserve neither" ? Every person who lives on God's green earth (or merely "this green earth", if that suits your religious or non-religious predilections better) has a "serious life-long issue", which is called Old Age -- and eventual (guaranteed!) death, due to that condition. If you're going to give me a number like 2,5 million people in the US with serious issues / death, then please first understand how a statistic like that might be generated (what's the old saying, "there are lies, damned lies, and statistics"?). Take that number, that statistic -- and please subtract all of the people who had a serious underlying health condition (Cancer, Heart Disease, Obesity, AIDS, Diabetes, or any other serious incurable disease). Take that number -- and subtract people whose immune systems are compromised due to Old Age. And take that number, and subtract smokers, drinkers, drug users, and people that don't exercise or eat right. That number, once you finally refine it, through those filters, is going to be small, very small, much less than what the flu kills (again, remember that covid and flu kills via co-factors, "comorbidities" in medical parlance). But, that exceedingly small number of people -- represents the exceedingly small number of people who didn't have a choice. You see, the rest of the people have a choice. That is, if someone has a known risk factor, a known comorbidity, then they can (and probably should) opt to self-quarantine. But, not to prevent giving a disease they don't have to others -- but to prevent them from getting a disease which could be fatal to them and them only -- from others. In other words, government orders and mandates to everyone -- invert the true social responsibility -- from those with the health conditions that require special care, those with comorbid conditions -- to the general population, when the general population is in no way responsible for those individuals' compromised health conditions in the first place. Now with that out of the way, let's return to your comment: >"That gives 2,5 million people in the US with serious issues / death." OK, here's my question: Why do you care? And here's the thing: You used a comma "," in your figure of 2,5 million. Why is that important? It's important because see, people here in the U.S. would have used "2.5 million" with a period: "." . That tells me that you are not from the U.S. I wanted to be sure that this was the case; that's why I read most of your comments until I was certain; if you want proof, I can show you multiple examples of where your past HN comments, in one way or another, show this to be true. So I reiterate: If you don't live in the U.S. -- then why do you care so much about what happens in the U.S.? It's not like I go around writing messages to people that post messages about CoronaVirus in other countries and say stuff like, "Oh no, you're wrong, 20 trillion Elbonians will die!". Why do you care so much? Also, how do I know that you aren't paid by some person/corporation/entity for making your comments? I post with my real name on HN; I'm quite sure there is no living person with the first name "Cold" and the last name "Tea", although, I have been surprised in the past with names that I thought were real that weren't, and vice-versa. Now, I did mean what I said, that is, after having read your comments, I said that you are highly, highly intelligent. Your intelligence is not in question; but if you want me to accept your statistics (and the implications of them) then the burden of proof is solely on you. OK, we're done. Hopefully I have not offended you in any way; if I have, you have my sincere apologies.
qwerty1234599 6y ago
Low dose
- coldtea 6y ago
  The "dose" multiplies by itself when inside you, so that's not it...
  - s1artibartfast 6y ago
    Many viruses (like the flu) can have exposure/dose dependent response. It is not known if this is the case for Covid-19, but it is possible.
thehappypm 6y ago
The virus evolved this way, it’s all natural selection. Silent and contagious is ideal for reproduction and survival. Covid-19’s problem for its long-term survival is that it does kill.
- schoolornot 6y ago
  Evolved or was engineered?
  - bsder 6y ago
    Evolved, because if it was engineered, they did a really shitty job of it. 1) The virus spreads to everybody, not a selected target group 2) The virus doesn't propagate that well for a virus--you have to get a pretty solid bolus directly via droplets. So, it mostly spreads by people being stupid--not wearing masks and attending large groups. Admittedly, that's a much larger group than I would have ever predicted, but I always underestimate human stupidity. 3) The virus isn't particularly fatal but also doesn't have an easy treatment. If it were engineered, you would want some easy way of treating it for your own important populace. 4) Coronavirii mutate quickly enough that you would eventually lose control of it in the wild. If you really want to go down the conspiracy theory route, a much better theory would be that it was a virus that was being researched that escaped by an "Oops."
    - pandamaniac 6y ago
      I think that the term 'engineered' could still fit with it being researched and then escaping by mistake. Could it not?
      - zillolo 6y ago
        I don't think so. Suppose you capture an elephant. It escapes from its enclosure and causes havoc. Was the elephant designed by you to cause havoc? No. Especially, because you didn't release it on purpose.
      - Delk 6y ago
jakobmartz3 6y ago
Some people just have a stronger immune system i guess

21 points by elorant 6y ago

>"According to various estimates, between 20 and 45 percent of the people who get Covid-19 — and possibly more, according to a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — sail through a coronavirus infection without realizing they ever had it. No fever or chills. No loss of smell or taste. No breathing difficulties. They don’t feel a thing." PDS: Which leads to the inevitable philosophical question -- is a virus really a virus if it doesn't do anything? And by extension, is a pandemic really a pandemic? If most people aren't suffering from the effects usually associated with pandemics? You know, what's interesting is that up until this point in world history -- we've never called Cancer, AIDS, Heart Disease, Diabetes, Drunk Driving, World Hunger, Massive Unemployment/Job Loss, Poverty, Inequality, Racism, Alcohol Addiction, Crime, Terrorism, Social Unrest, Opioid Addiction, Illegal Immigration, Global Warming, World Wars, and the threat of (possibly immediate!) Nuclear Annihilation, or just plain Old Age -- "pandemics". Perhaps what something is, or isn't -- is all in the languaging... You know, there are whole industries (employing huge numbers of people!) that have sprang up around just creating problems for other people... As in, they make money, actual money(!), and lots of it, when other people have problems... Including (but not limited to!) News Media, Polticians, Lawyers, Medical Cartels, some factions of some Governments, and some Corporations/Big Businesses... Prove to me that you don't have a vested interest in the outcome of anything you report -- and I'll consider what you have to say. Otherwise, you're a shill for one complex or another, adding to the cacophony of crap (AKA fake news/false information/disinformation/lies/propaganda/fraud/misrepresentation/sophistry) out there... https://www.amazon.com/Virus-Mind-New-Science-Meme/dp/1401924697 https://www.amazon.com/Virus-Mind-New-Science-Meme/dp/140192...

coldtea 6y ago
>PDS: Which leads to the inevitable philosophical question -- is a virus really a virus if it doesn't do anything? Yes. A virus is a specific RNA/DNA structure, not the outward symptoms of an illness or ailment. >And by extension, is a pandemic really a pandemic? If most people aren't suffering from the effects usually associated with pandemics? Imagina a virus with similar spread, where 70% of the population are to get it (if left unsupervised, no lockdown, etc). Now say it's even better than this one, in that 90% of them will feel nothing, 9% will have some minor/medium symptoms, but 1% will get serious life-long issues or die. That gives 2,5 million people in the US with serious issues / death. It very qualifies as a pandemic - considering flu kills about 60-70K every year... I'm not saying that Covid will reach those numbers (though it might). I'm saying that, never mind, 40-50%, even a virus where 90% people have no symptoms can kill tons of people...
- peter_d_sherman 6y ago
  Greetings Coldtea! In preparation for responding to your response, I spent a good amount of time reading many of your other comments/responses on HN. As best I can ascertain from that reading, you are highly, highly intelligent. That is a compliment, by the way! Now, in preparation for my response, I believe what you should know is that what I'm going to say is not personal, it's only how I feel, only how I feel at this point in time -- and it could very well be wrong on one or more levels. OK, with that disclaimer out of the way, here we go: >"That gives 2,5 million people in the US with serious issues / death." 328.2 million in the US have serious issues / death or eventual death -- DUE TO OLD AGE. That is, we are not biologically immortal. Which brings up another philosophical issue: If the average life expectancy for someone living in the U.S. is 78.93 years (in 2020) -- does this mean that other nations whose life expectancies are less than 78.93 years -- are guilty of killing their citizens early, because they don't follow the "best practices" of the U.S., that is, they don't do exactly what the U.S. does in its governance? Also, would it be justified then, for those nations to control and micromanage, basically take away all of their citizens' freedoms -- in the name of increasing the average life expectancy of their citizens? How does the old saying go? "Those who are willing to trade a little bit of their freedom for security -- deserve neither" ? Every person who lives on God's green earth (or merely "this green earth", if that suits your religious or non-religious predilections better) has a "serious life-long issue", which is called Old Age -- and eventual (guaranteed!) death, due to that condition. If you're going to give me a number like 2,5 million people in the US with serious issues / death, then please first understand how a statistic like that might be generated (what's the old saying, "there are lies, damned lies, and statistics"?). Take that number, that statistic -- and please subtract all of the people who had a serious underlying health condition (Cancer, Heart Disease, Obesity, AIDS, Diabetes, or any other serious incurable disease). Take that number -- and subtract people whose immune systems are compromised due to Old Age. And take that number, and subtract smokers, drinkers, drug users, and people that don't exercise or eat right. That number, once you finally refine it, through those filters, is going to be small, very small, much less than what the flu kills (again, remember that covid and flu kills via co-factors, "comorbidities" in medical parlance). But, that exceedingly small number of people -- represents the exceedingly small number of people who didn't have a choice. You see, the rest of the people have a choice. That is, if someone has a known risk factor, a known comorbidity, then they can (and probably should) opt to self-quarantine. But, not to prevent giving a disease they don't have to others -- but to prevent them from getting a disease which could be fatal to them and them only -- from others. In other words, government orders and mandates to everyone -- invert the true social responsibility -- from those with the health conditions that require special care, those with comorbid conditions -- to the general population, when the general population is in no way responsible for those individuals' compromised health conditions in the first place. Now with that out of the way, let's return to your comment: >"That gives 2,5 million people in the US with serious issues / death." OK, here's my question: Why do you care? And here's the thing: You used a comma "," in your figure of 2,5 million. Why is that important? It's important because see, people here in the U.S. would have used "2.5 million" with a period: "." . That tells me that you are not from the U.S. I wanted to be sure that this was the case; that's why I read most of your comments until I was certain; if you want proof, I can show you multiple examples of where your past HN comments, in one way or another, show this to be true. So I reiterate: If you don't live in the U.S. -- then why do you care so much about what happens in the U.S.? It's not like I go around writing messages to people that post messages about CoronaVirus in other countries and say stuff like, "Oh no, you're wrong, 20 trillion Elbonians will die!". Why do you care so much? Also, how do I know that you aren't paid by some person/corporation/entity for making your comments? I post with my real name on HN; I'm quite sure there is no living person with the first name "Cold" and the last name "Tea", although, I have been surprised in the past with names that I thought were real that weren't, and vice-versa. Now, I did mean what I said, that is, after having read your comments, I said that you are highly, highly intelligent. Your intelligence is not in question; but if you want me to accept your statistics (and the implications of them) then the burden of proof is solely on you. OK, we're done. Hopefully I have not offended you in any way; if I have, you have my sincere apologies.

qwerty1234599 6y ago

Low dose

coldtea 6y ago
The "dose" multiplies by itself when inside you, so that's not it...
- s1artibartfast 6y ago
  Many viruses (like the flu) can have exposure/dose dependent response. It is not known if this is the case for Covid-19, but it is possible.

thehappypm 6y ago

The virus evolved this way, it’s all natural selection. Silent and contagious is ideal for reproduction and survival. Covid-19’s problem for its long-term survival is that it does kill.

schoolornot 6y ago
Evolved or was engineered?
- bsder 6y ago
  Evolved, because if it was engineered, they did a really shitty job of it. 1) The virus spreads to everybody, not a selected target group 2) The virus doesn't propagate that well for a virus--you have to get a pretty solid bolus directly via droplets. So, it mostly spreads by people being stupid--not wearing masks and attending large groups. Admittedly, that's a much larger group than I would have ever predicted, but I always underestimate human stupidity. 3) The virus isn't particularly fatal but also doesn't have an easy treatment. If it were engineered, you would want some easy way of treating it for your own important populace. 4) Coronavirii mutate quickly enough that you would eventually lose control of it in the wild. If you really want to go down the conspiracy theory route, a much better theory would be that it was a virus that was being researched that escaped by an "Oops."
  - pandamaniac 6y ago
    I think that the term 'engineered' could still fit with it being researched and then escaping by mistake. Could it not?
    - zillolo 6y ago
      I don't think so. Suppose you capture an elephant. It escapes from its enclosure and causes havoc. Was the elephant designed by you to cause havoc? No. Especially, because you didn't release it on purpose.
    - Delk 6y ago

jakobmartz3 6y ago

Some people just have a stronger immune system i guess