5 ms·

We should also consider the effects of repeat infections and how they might contribute to long Covid. The hope is that ongoing repeat infections are 'mostly har

We should also consider the effects of repeat infections and how they might contribute to long Covid. The hope is that ongoing repeat infections are 'mostly harmless' as our bodies are primed to deal with the virus. However it will be a while before we can be sure. One analogy I heard was that effectively we've brought back indoor smoking. Of course you can avoid indoor smoking by not using public transport, not going to the office, not socialising indoors, wearing a mask when shopping. However many can't/won't, and so will suffer the as yet not fully understood effects.

georgeg23 4y ago
Smoking is a great analogy, it's distributed exactly like secondhand smoke, causes chronic inflammation in the lungs, systemic health issues, and for now most people don't believe in it! Problem is covid may be dangerous in even smaller doses than smoke.
- ianai 4y ago
  I heard a quip that the east way to tell whether omicron is in a room was “is there air in the room?” (When omicron was new.) Basically the new variants are so transmissible that if they’re in an area it’s like avoiding a tsunami. Which isn’t to say individual avoidance should be given up. Do as much as you want (and I still wear N95 and gloves in certain situations). But society writ large can’t abate this level of spread. We could see growing numbers of long covid sufferers for quite some time. Or, the virus might give us a break as sometimes happens in outbreaks. We should all hope it doesn’t mutate into something far worse, but it can’t be ruled out.
seydor 4y ago
They are not harmless. Studies so far show that damage is cumulative https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/repeat-covid-is-riskier-than-first-infection-study-finds-2022-11-10/ https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/...
- anonuser123456 4y ago
  “Experts not involved with the study said the VA population does not reflect the general population.”
  - somewhereoutth 4y ago
    Indeed, but this can be seen as a signal for the wider population for further investigation - certainly we'd now like to prove the negative.
  - ianai 4y ago
    That isn’t going to change the core basic facts of how the immune system responds or slowly wears away upon repeat infections.
    - anonuser123456 4y ago
      I’m not sure what basic facts you are talking about. The VA population is a lot older and sicker than the general population and will contain a large number of immunodeficient individuals. Further, the population of multiply-reinfected and symptomatic people is biased towards the immunodeficient since immunocompetent people tend not to get symptomatically reinfected. Extrapolating the general case from these populations makes zero sense.

georgeg23 4y ago

Smoking is a great analogy, it's distributed exactly like secondhand smoke, causes chronic inflammation in the lungs, systemic health issues, and for now most people don't believe in it! Problem is covid may be dangerous in even smaller doses than smoke.

ianai 4y ago
I heard a quip that the east way to tell whether omicron is in a room was “is there air in the room?” (When omicron was new.) Basically the new variants are so transmissible that if they’re in an area it’s like avoiding a tsunami. Which isn’t to say individual avoidance should be given up. Do as much as you want (and I still wear N95 and gloves in certain situations). But society writ large can’t abate this level of spread. We could see growing numbers of long covid sufferers for quite some time. Or, the virus might give us a break as sometimes happens in outbreaks. We should all hope it doesn’t mutate into something far worse, but it can’t be ruled out.

seydor 4y ago

They are not harmless. Studies so far show that damage is cumulative https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/repeat-covid-is-riskier-than-first-infection-study-finds-2022-11-10/ https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/...

anonuser123456 4y ago
“Experts not involved with the study said the VA population does not reflect the general population.”
- somewhereoutth 4y ago
  Indeed, but this can be seen as a signal for the wider population for further investigation - certainly we'd now like to prove the negative.
- ianai 4y ago
  That isn’t going to change the core basic facts of how the immune system responds or slowly wears away upon repeat infections.
  - anonuser123456 4y ago
    I’m not sure what basic facts you are talking about. The VA population is a lot older and sicker than the general population and will contain a large number of immunodeficient individuals. Further, the population of multiply-reinfected and symptomatic people is biased towards the immunodeficient since immunocompetent people tend not to get symptomatically reinfected. Extrapolating the general case from these populations makes zero sense.