3 ms·

> In my case, it was worse than expected, but, in the parlance of public health, it was "mild," meaning I didn't end up in the hospital or require oxygen. > ..

by aazaa 5y ago

> In my case, it was worse than expected, but, in the parlance of public health, it was "mild," meaning I didn't end up in the hospital or require oxygen. > ... > It was a miserable five days. My legs and arms ached, my fever crept up to 103 and every few hours of sleep would leave my sheets drenched in sweat. I'd drop into bed exhausted after a quick trip down to the kitchen. To sum it up, I'd put my breakthrough case of COVID-19 right up there with my worst bouts of flu. Even after my fever cleared up, I spent the next few weeks feeling low. "Mild" can mean different things to different people. I doubt this description of "mild" fits most people's concept of the word, as it sounds like a severe case of the flu. The fact that these infections are happening against a backdrop of normalization efforts should give anyone who thinks we're out of the woods pause. As the rate of infection increases, so does the risk to the vaccinated. It's another demonstration, once again, of how our public health system (and the CDC in particular) has failed us: > ... "quantifying that [chance of symptomatic case in an unvaccinated person] in the U.S. is very challenging" because our "data is so shoddy." Some time ago, the CDC stopped counting/sequencing "mild" breakthrough cases, so we're flying blind mostly. Maybe it's delta the reporter caught. Maybe something else. Who knows? https://www.newsweek.com/why-did-cdc-stop-counting-mild-asymptomatic-breakthrough-covid-cases-1616802 https://www.newsweek.com/why-did-cdc-stop-counting-mild-asym... What's clear is that COVID-19 isn't going away any time soon. What's also clear is that it shares the tendency that all RNA viruses have to mutate at an extremely rapid rate. It has shown that it can change much faster than we can adapt.

spookthesunset 5y ago
> What's clear is that COVID-19 isn't going away any time soon. This isn’t new information. It was obvious all the way back in March of 2020 that covid was here forever. Life must go on. We cannot live with this myopic fixation on exactly one specific form of illnesses. These “experts” have already asked enough out if people. We’ve been asked to put our lives on hold for more than 1.7 years now. Dragging any of this on after the first vaccines came out was unethical as hell. Vaccines were it. There is nothing else we can do besides attempt to build some myopic hellscape where our entire existence is centered around stopping the spread of covid.
- pixl97 5y ago
  Well we can get everyone vaccinated so we quit filling the hospitals with unvaxxed patients.
  - spookthesunset 5y ago
    Hospitals have had more than enough time to prepare for this. If they fill up, that’s on them and the government. Society shouldn’t be punished for that.
    - pixl97 5y ago
      I hate being blunt on HN, but this is a stupid take. If everyone that could take the vaccine did take the vaccine then the hospitals wouldn't have filled up. Instead the vaccine has become a political IQ test that is ravaging particular demographics based on the amount of disinformation they consume. "Society" isn't being punished, anti-vaxxers are, mostly. Hospitals aren't going to double/triple the size of their ICUs and number of vents/ecmo machines, they are going to triage. Even if did double the beds, you don't double the number of people trained well for these complex procedures in a year.
    - draebek 5y ago
      If they fill up—I mean, when they fill up, that's on my mom, who has to wait for a follow-up surgery because the hospital doesn't have the capacity to take care of her. I agree that there are better ways to run our healthcare system, but we also have to contend with the facts right now as they are. Perhaps the people being punished most right now are the ones who are in pain, at home, and who can't get medical care because the hospitals don't have capacity to deal with it because they're filled up with COVID-19 cases.
rkk3 5y ago
> I doubt this description of "mild" fits most people's concept of the word Hence the ' around mild in the title. But honestly sure they were sick but they did not seriously fear for their lives or require medical attention. Obviously being asymptomatic would have been more mild but in general this seems like a win. People need to accept some level unpleasantness and risk in their lives.

by aazaa 5y ago

spookthesunset 5y ago

> What's clear is that COVID-19 isn't going away any time soon. This isn’t new information. It was obvious all the way back in March of 2020 that covid was here forever. Life must go on. We cannot live with this myopic fixation on exactly one specific form of illnesses. These “experts” have already asked enough out if people. We’ve been asked to put our lives on hold for more than 1.7 years now. Dragging any of this on after the first vaccines came out was unethical as hell. Vaccines were it. There is nothing else we can do besides attempt to build some myopic hellscape where our entire existence is centered around stopping the spread of covid.

pixl97 5y ago
Well we can get everyone vaccinated so we quit filling the hospitals with unvaxxed patients.
- spookthesunset 5y ago
  Hospitals have had more than enough time to prepare for this. If they fill up, that’s on them and the government. Society shouldn’t be punished for that.
  - pixl97 5y ago
    I hate being blunt on HN, but this is a stupid take. If everyone that could take the vaccine did take the vaccine then the hospitals wouldn't have filled up. Instead the vaccine has become a political IQ test that is ravaging particular demographics based on the amount of disinformation they consume. "Society" isn't being punished, anti-vaxxers are, mostly. Hospitals aren't going to double/triple the size of their ICUs and number of vents/ecmo machines, they are going to triage. Even if did double the beds, you don't double the number of people trained well for these complex procedures in a year.
  - draebek 5y ago
    If they fill up—I mean, when they fill up, that's on my mom, who has to wait for a follow-up surgery because the hospital doesn't have the capacity to take care of her. I agree that there are better ways to run our healthcare system, but we also have to contend with the facts right now as they are. Perhaps the people being punished most right now are the ones who are in pain, at home, and who can't get medical care because the hospitals don't have capacity to deal with it because they're filled up with COVID-19 cases.

rkk3 5y ago

> I doubt this description of "mild" fits most people's concept of the word Hence the ' around mild in the title. But honestly sure they were sick but they did not seriously fear for their lives or require medical attention. Obviously being asymptomatic would have been more mild but in general this seems like a win. People need to accept some level unpleasantness and risk in their lives.