4 ms·

> “Because I'm not a complete idiot.” yah, it’s the partial idiots who are hard to discern. complete idiots are the easiest to dismiss out of hand. many infec

> “Because I'm not a complete idiot.” yah, it’s the partial idiots who are hard to discern. complete idiots are the easiest to dismiss out of hand. many infections have long lasting effects. you’d need to systematically rule them out/in via testing to be as certain as you claim to be.

jacquesm 5y ago
Right, well let's just say that coincidentally I had a viral infection that has the exact same symptoms as COVID, has the same long term effects as are reported in many cases of COVID and which coincidentally happened to be timed to match the first wave of that particular pandemic, but according to you it wasn't COVID when it wasn't confirmed as such with a test. Consider the alternative: you would have to come up with some kind of viral agent that did the same thing but wasn't COVID. Which to me seems to be a far more outrageous claim than the one that I was simply one of many. The test does not make the disease, it is merely positive confirmation, but I've yet to hear of some surprise viral disease that ran in parallel to this, isn't COVID but matches the symptoms so well.
- saalweachter 5y ago
  I mean, I'm not even sure I would bother with a T-cell test in your case. The only meaningful difference in your future life would be to have the results to give people on the internet, which doesn't seem worth getting two tubes of blood drawn.
  - jacquesm 5y ago
    Precisely. If there is a benefit to me I'll get tested. Even the medic I talked to was pretty clear: don't bother, save the test for someone who really needs it. Which at that time could have saved a life for someone that needed to have an operation and required a COVID test prior to admission.
- clairity 5y ago
  that’s being overly invested in the idea that it’s covid rather than realizing that infections of all kinds have long-lasting effects. individually and societally, that leads to a distortion of attention and resources to the wrong things. i.e., partial idiocy, the worst kind, and unfortunately rampant. there is a real opportunity now for medical science to look comparatively at infectious diseases and attack them systematically and cohesively rather than myopically. hopefully we don’t squander that.
  - jacquesm 5y ago
    Hopefully we don't squander basic respect for our fellow human beings either. Not everything is a science experiment or a thesis. Given that the number of people that died from COVID based on excess mortality where I live is approximately 50% higher than the official figures the chances of a bunch of people having unconfirmed COVID are rather high. So unless you are going to go out on a limb to suggest a better alternative I suggest you leave well alone.
- Dylan16807 5y ago
  > let's just say that coincidentally I had a viral infection that has the exact same symptoms as COVID, has the same long term effects as are reported in many cases of COVID and which coincidentally happened to be timed to match the first wave of that particular pandemic That happened to a lot of people. The first wave in March wasn't very big compared to later months. You mentioned the flu season didn't happen in a different post, but that was much later, as was most masking. > Which to me seems to be a far more outrageous claim than the one that I was simply one of many. That's a terrible way to analyze this. You were "one of many" either way. > but I've yet to hear of some surprise viral disease that ran in parallel to this, isn't COVID but matches the symptoms so well. The symptoms aren't all that unique for a severe illness that messes up your lungs. There's no 'surprise' involved in other possible causes.
  - fragmede 5y ago
    Extreme fatigue for months after is not neatly explainable. Myalgic Encehalomyelitis/CFS is similar, but when other symptoms are included (weird skin rash, heart palpations, smell issues, GI trouble), the simpler explanation is Covid. A deeper reading on long Covid symptoms may prove informational as the cluster of symptoms is fairly unique and unexplainable.

jacquesm 5y ago

Right, well let's just say that coincidentally I had a viral infection that has the exact same symptoms as COVID, has the same long term effects as are reported in many cases of COVID and which coincidentally happened to be timed to match the first wave of that particular pandemic, but according to you it wasn't COVID when it wasn't confirmed as such with a test. Consider the alternative: you would have to come up with some kind of viral agent that did the same thing but wasn't COVID. Which to me seems to be a far more outrageous claim than the one that I was simply one of many. The test does not make the disease, it is merely positive confirmation, but I've yet to hear of some surprise viral disease that ran in parallel to this, isn't COVID but matches the symptoms so well.

saalweachter 5y ago
I mean, I'm not even sure I would bother with a T-cell test in your case. The only meaningful difference in your future life would be to have the results to give people on the internet, which doesn't seem worth getting two tubes of blood drawn.
- jacquesm 5y ago
  Precisely. If there is a benefit to me I'll get tested. Even the medic I talked to was pretty clear: don't bother, save the test for someone who really needs it. Which at that time could have saved a life for someone that needed to have an operation and required a COVID test prior to admission.
clairity 5y ago
that’s being overly invested in the idea that it’s covid rather than realizing that infections of all kinds have long-lasting effects. individually and societally, that leads to a distortion of attention and resources to the wrong things. i.e., partial idiocy, the worst kind, and unfortunately rampant. there is a real opportunity now for medical science to look comparatively at infectious diseases and attack them systematically and cohesively rather than myopically. hopefully we don’t squander that.
- jacquesm 5y ago
  Hopefully we don't squander basic respect for our fellow human beings either. Not everything is a science experiment or a thesis. Given that the number of people that died from COVID based on excess mortality where I live is approximately 50% higher than the official figures the chances of a bunch of people having unconfirmed COVID are rather high. So unless you are going to go out on a limb to suggest a better alternative I suggest you leave well alone.
Dylan16807 5y ago
> let's just say that coincidentally I had a viral infection that has the exact same symptoms as COVID, has the same long term effects as are reported in many cases of COVID and which coincidentally happened to be timed to match the first wave of that particular pandemic That happened to a lot of people. The first wave in March wasn't very big compared to later months. You mentioned the flu season didn't happen in a different post, but that was much later, as was most masking. > Which to me seems to be a far more outrageous claim than the one that I was simply one of many. That's a terrible way to analyze this. You were "one of many" either way. > but I've yet to hear of some surprise viral disease that ran in parallel to this, isn't COVID but matches the symptoms so well. The symptoms aren't all that unique for a severe illness that messes up your lungs. There's no 'surprise' involved in other possible causes.
- fragmede 5y ago
  Extreme fatigue for months after is not neatly explainable. Myalgic Encehalomyelitis/CFS is similar, but when other symptoms are included (weird skin rash, heart palpations, smell issues, GI trouble), the simpler explanation is Covid. A deeper reading on long Covid symptoms may prove informational as the cluster of symptoms is fairly unique and unexplainable.