Covid permanently harms immune system, repeat infections increase damage

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want to know why everyone is getting so sick so often these past few months, this is why. Even mild cases of Covid cause immune system damage that shares some similarities to HIV (in that it destroys T cells) and may be permanent. Repeat infections increase the damage. People think because they feel fine after they recover, that Covid is nothing. But people felt fine after they were infected with HIV too, often for a couple of years. The damage is cumulative and takes some time to emerge. https://nationalpost.com/health/is-covid-prematurely-aging-our-immune-systems

Study is interesting. But conclusion could be dead wrong. It will take years to know this.

Meanwhile most of the people on this board are treating covid like it's just a cold, so it will be an unpleasant surprise down the road for them if it's later confirmed to be farily debilitating to your immune system after you get it for the 6th time.

I am not bothered by being nearly the only person in my office still masking indoors and avoiding large indoor gatherings involving food, or having people on this board treat me like a flat earther for still taking precautions. But you guys who are saying stuff now like you couldn't possibly go to Disney in a mask or you wouldn't enjoy your life if you had to wear a mask for it are not allowed to claim surprise that covid actually has these effects such as those from the study listed here. You have access to the same info I do and have just chosen to ignore it. But you're not allowed to say you're surprised in two years when more studies of vaccinated people with mild covid have come out. Good luck to you and everything. But let's be clear: you saw these warnings and just decided to ignore them. That's on you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want to know why everyone is getting so sick so often these past few months, this is why. Even mild cases of Covid cause immune system damage that shares some similarities to HIV (in that it destroys T cells) and may be permanent. Repeat infections increase the damage. People think because they feel fine after they recover, that Covid is nothing. But people felt fine after they were infected with HIV too, often for a couple of years. The damage is cumulative and takes some time to emerge. https://nationalpost.com/health/is-covid-prematurely-aging-our-immune-systems

Study is interesting. But conclusion could be dead wrong. It will take years to know this.

Meanwhile most of the people on this board are treating covid like it's just a cold, so it will be an unpleasant surprise down the road for them if it's later confirmed to be farily debilitating to your immune system after you get it for the 6th time.

I am not bothered by being nearly the only person in my office still masking indoors and avoiding large indoor gatherings involving food, or having people on this board treat me like a flat earther for still taking precautions. But you guys who are saying stuff now like you couldn't possibly go to Disney in a mask or you wouldn't enjoy your life if you had to wear a mask for it are not allowed to claim surprise that covid actually has these effects such as those from the study listed here. You have access to the same info I do and have just chosen to ignore it. But you're not allowed to say you're surprised in two years when more studies of vaccinated people with mild covid have come out. Good luck to you and everything. But let's be clear: you saw these warnings and just decided to ignore them. That's on you.

You sound lovely. You may want to consider finding other hobbies besides ruminating on how you can say "I told you so!!" when everyone around you supposedly becomes permanently disabled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What surprises me is how quickly people have turned against masks. I went to the Kennedy center recently and very few people were wearing masks. Sitting for 3 hours in a crowded poorly ventilated space during a surge, not speaking, not exercising — there’s almost no reason NOT to wear a mask. We were shocked so few people were wearing them. At this point, I’m not obsessive about the masks but I still wear them on crowds when it’s no real hardship to do so.

Um because wearing a mask is not normal and should’ve never been mandated in the first place. They’re uncomfortable and the majority of people have moved on from Pandemic Cosplay. If you’re so concerned about masks, stay home and save lives.

Reactions like the above are literally the most childish and idiotic responses I’ve seen. Typical Republican BS.

“Wearing a mask is not normal”? That’s your argument?! Living past 30 wasn’t normal for all of human history you f**king idiot. I truly can’t believe you are this dumb. It can’t be real.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is probably going to sound harsher than intended, but Covid may represent a course correction in human life expectancy. With modern medicine, we are living to unnaturally old ages (not always with a great quality of life either). It can't go on forever.

Population control?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want to know why everyone is getting so sick so often these past few months, this is why. Even mild cases of Covid cause immune system damage that shares some similarities to HIV (in that it destroys T cells) and may be permanent. Repeat infections increase the damage. People think because they feel fine after they recover, that Covid is nothing. But people felt fine after they were infected with HIV too, often for a couple of years. The damage is cumulative and takes some time to emerge. https://nationalpost.com/health/is-covid-prematurely-aging-our-immune-systems

Study is interesting. But conclusion could be dead wrong. It will take years to know this.

Meanwhile most of the people on this board are treating covid like it's just a cold, so it will be an unpleasant surprise down the road for them if it's later confirmed to be farily debilitating to your immune system after you get it for the 6th time.

I am not bothered by being nearly the only person in my office still masking indoors and avoiding large indoor gatherings involving food, or having people on this board treat me like a flat earther for still taking precautions. But you guys who are saying stuff now like you couldn't possibly go to Disney in a mask or you wouldn't enjoy your life if you had to wear a mask for it are not allowed to claim surprise that covid actually has these effects such as those from the study listed here. You have access to the same info I do and have just chosen to ignore it. But you're not allowed to say you're surprised in two years when more studies of vaccinated people with mild covid have come out. Good luck to you and everything. But let's be clear: you saw these warnings and just decided to ignore them. That's on you.

You sound lovely. You may want to consider finding other hobbies besides ruminating on how you can say "I told you so!!" when everyone around you supposedly becomes permanently disabled.

This made me lol. Well done PP.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Like, you would rather get it repeatedly even if it's going to take 20 years off your life? Because you don't want to mask? Even if it takes 40 years off your life? Even if it makes you have a heart attack in 2 years? Because you don't like masking THAT much?

It's a strange hill to die on, but okay.

If I thought masks would do what you seem to think they do, I’d mask too. But since they don’t…

DCUM is such a strange world. People here are in complete denial that a lot of transmission is inevitable. Not all of it, but most of it.

And yet, we mask with N95s and are the healthiest weve been in years.

And if/when you remove your mask, you will be China - just delaying the inevitable.

Why would we need to remove them if they help keep us healthy? If it's NBD after close to 3 years of wearing, what is the downside to wear them in perpetuity? Like are there actually any documented risks to oral health, etc. from long-term mask usage? My dentist told me there have been studies showing that the bacterial "biome" in our mouths shifted slightly due to masking, but nothing necessarily negative. He still wears masks when seeing patients.

Asking this seriously, are you on the spectrum? How do you not notice the difference in social interactions when masked vs unmasked?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like, you would rather get it repeatedly even if it's going to take 20 years off your life? Because you don't want to mask? Even if it takes 40 years off your life? Even if it makes you have a heart attack in 2 years? Because you don't like masking THAT much?

It's a strange hill to die on, but okay.

If I thought masks would do what you seem to think they do, I’d mask too. But since they don’t…

DCUM is such a strange world. People here are in complete denial that a lot of transmission is inevitable. Not all of it, but most of it.

And yet, we mask with N95s and are the healthiest weve been in years.

And if/when you remove your mask, you will be China - just delaying the inevitable.

Why would we need to remove them if they help keep us healthy? If it's NBD after close to 3 years of wearing, what is the downside to wear them in perpetuity? Like are there actually any documented risks to oral health, etc. from long-term mask usage? My dentist told me there have been studies showing that the bacterial "biome" in our mouths shifted slightly due to masking, but nothing necessarily negative. He still wears masks when seeing patients.

Asking this seriously, are you on the spectrum? How do you not notice the difference in social interactions when masked vs unmasked?

DP, but do you have a mental health disorder? I wear a mask at work and have no problem interacting with people. Occasionally I need to talk louder for an older person because they can't hear me as well and can't watch my mouth while I speak, but that and avoiding eating engagements with people has been the main effect I've noticed. That and still getting to work from home a lot. If you have this much difficulty with a piece of cloth I wonder if there might be some deeper issue you need to deal with. "Asking this seriously."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like, you would rather get it repeatedly even if it's going to take 20 years off your life? Because you don't want to mask? Even if it takes 40 years off your life? Even if it makes you have a heart attack in 2 years? Because you don't like masking THAT much?

It's a strange hill to die on, but okay.

If I thought masks would do what you seem to think they do, I’d mask too. But since they don’t…

DCUM is such a strange world. People here are in complete denial that a lot of transmission is inevitable. Not all of it, but most of it.

And yet, we mask with N95s and are the healthiest weve been in years.

And if/when you remove your mask, you will be China - just delaying the inevitable.

Why would we need to remove them if they help keep us healthy? If it's NBD after close to 3 years of wearing, what is the downside to wear them in perpetuity? Like are there actually any documented risks to oral health, etc. from long-term mask usage? My dentist told me there have been studies showing that the bacterial "biome" in our mouths shifted slightly due to masking, but nothing necessarily negative. He still wears masks when seeing patients.

Asking this seriously, are you on the spectrum? How do you not notice the difference in social interactions when masked vs unmasked?

DP, but do you have a mental health disorder? I wear a mask at work and have no problem interacting with people. Occasionally I need to talk louder for an older person because they can't hear me as well and can't watch my mouth while I speak, but that and avoiding eating engagements with people has been the main effect I've noticed. That and still getting to work from home a lot. If you have this much difficulty with a piece of cloth I wonder if there might be some deeper issue you need to deal with. "Asking this seriously."

I’m with the pp on this one. Wearing a mask does change things. Maybe not a night-and-day difference, but the muffled voices, obstructed visual cues from facial expressions, and decreased comfort (among other things) likely all contribute.

But these posts illustrate my problem with mask mandates— particularly those that persist beyond vaccine availability. Many of the people pushing for mandates could never articulate an end game, and some people quite clearly wanted "perpetual masking," as the earlier pp was advocating for here. That's a wildly fringe view.

[Anonymous]

"permanently" doesn't sound medical/scientific.

However, shortly after COVID, then rebound Covid, I got a UTI infection, then a double BV/AV infection. I initially attributed it to the antibiotics + steroid use. But after my daughter recently got Covid, she got a UTI too, and she never took antibiotics or steroids. So, maybe it was the Covid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am still masking in supermarkets, concerts and so are many here in fla. I like not getting sick with anything, and I will continue to do so.

I just spent 10 days in FL and I don’t recall seeing anyone wear a mask anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like, you would rather get it repeatedly even if it's going to take 20 years off your life? Because you don't want to mask? Even if it takes 40 years off your life? Even if it makes you have a heart attack in 2 years? Because you don't like masking THAT much?

It's a strange hill to die on, but okay.

If I thought masks would do what you seem to think they do, I’d mask too. But since they don’t…

How could you seriously be this stupid? Do you realize that doctors have worn masks forever and have worked w/ people w/ COVID, Ebola, any numbers of infectious diseases and the doctors don’t get it. WTF kind of magic do you think that is? Yes of course masks work. But they have to be worn properly and worn all the time (when you are being exposed). So i agree, like condoms, they don’t ‘work’ bc people don’t F**king wear them 100% of the time they needed to. But masks work EXTREMELY well when used properly. You can admit you don’t want to wear a mask properly at all the relevant times, but that is NOT THE SAME THING as the mask not working. That’s you and your stupid decision.

Have you and your family been got tested for masks? Otherwise you don’t really know how effective they are for you. I hope you are also practicing social distancing if you’re looking to avoid Covid completely.

But yes, depending on kids to always wear masks properly all the time in places like school and daycares was always wishful thinking and never should have been mandated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like, you would rather get it repeatedly even if it's going to take 20 years off your life? Because you don't want to mask? Even if it takes 40 years off your life? Even if it makes you have a heart attack in 2 years? Because you don't like masking THAT much?

It's a strange hill to die on, but okay.

If I thought masks would do what you seem to think they do, I’d mask too. But since they don’t…

DCUM is such a strange world. People here are in complete denial that a lot of transmission is inevitable. Not all of it, but most of it.

And yet, we mask with N95s and are the healthiest weve been in years.

And if/when you remove your mask, you will be China - just delaying the inevitable.

Why would we need to remove them if they help keep us healthy? If it's NBD after close to 3 years of wearing, what is the downside to wear them in perpetuity? Like are there actually any documented risks to oral health, etc. from long-term mask usage? My dentist told me there have been studies showing that the bacterial "biome" in our mouths shifted slightly due to masking, but nothing necessarily negative. He still wears masks when seeing patients.

Asking this seriously, are you on the spectrum? How do you not notice the difference in social interactions when masked vs unmasked?

DP, but do you have a mental health disorder? I wear a mask at work and have no problem interacting with people. Occasionally I need to talk louder for an older person because they can't hear me as well and can't watch my mouth while I speak, but that and avoiding eating engagements with people has been the main effect I've noticed. That and still getting to work from home a lot. If you have this much difficulty with a piece of cloth I wonder if there might be some deeper issue you need to deal with. "Asking this seriously."

Having “no problem” interacting isn’t the same as “interactions are the same.” I’m talking about nonverbal aspects of communication that are obscured or blunted when half the face is covered. Interactions are qualitatively different when masked vs unmasked, so yes there is a downside to masks which was the question posed. If you haven’t noticed any differences in interactions, you probably aren’t very sensitive to all aspects of social communication, and I can’t help you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like, you would rather get it repeatedly even if it's going to take 20 years off your life? Because you don't want to mask? Even if it takes 40 years off your life? Even if it makes you have a heart attack in 2 years? Because you don't like masking THAT much?

It's a strange hill to die on, but okay.

If I thought masks would do what you seem to think they do, I’d mask too. But since they don’t…

DCUM is such a strange world. People here are in complete denial that a lot of transmission is inevitable. Not all of it, but most of it.

And yet, we mask with N95s and are the healthiest weve been in years.

And if/when you remove your mask, you will be China - just delaying the inevitable.

Why would we need to remove them if they help keep us healthy? If it's NBD after close to 3 years of wearing, what is the downside to wear them in perpetuity? Like are there actually any documented risks to oral health, etc. from long-term mask usage? My dentist told me there have been studies showing that the bacterial "biome" in our mouths shifted slightly due to masking, but nothing necessarily negative. He still wears masks when seeing patients.

Asking this seriously, are you on the spectrum? How do you not notice the difference in social interactions when masked vs unmasked?

DP, but do you have a mental health disorder? I wear a mask at work and have no problem interacting with people. Occasionally I need to talk louder for an older person because they can't hear me as well and can't watch my mouth while I speak, but that and avoiding eating engagements with people has been the main effect I've noticed. That and still getting to work from home a lot. If you have this much difficulty with a piece of cloth I wonder if there might be some deeper issue you need to deal with. "Asking this seriously."

Having “no problem” interacting isn’t the same as “interactions are the same.” I’m talking about nonverbal aspects of communication that are obscured or blunted when half the face is covered. Interactions are qualitatively different when masked vs unmasked, so yes there is a downside to masks which was the question posed. If you haven’t noticed any differences in interactions, you probably aren’t very sensitive to all aspects of social communication, and I can’t help you.

Dp. That PP is just not a very nice person, tbh. “Masks are no problem! Except of course for hearing impaired people, or people who need more facial cues to engage. But who cares about them or how hard mask mandates were for them, because I am morally superior to them!”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like, you would rather get it repeatedly even if it's going to take 20 years off your life? Because you don't want to mask? Even if it takes 40 years off your life? Even if it makes you have a heart attack in 2 years? Because you don't like masking THAT much?

It's a strange hill to die on, but okay.

If I thought masks would do what you seem to think they do, I’d mask too. But since they don’t…

DCUM is such a strange world. People here are in complete denial that a lot of transmission is inevitable. Not all of it, but most of it.

And yet, we mask with N95s and are the healthiest weve been in years.

And if/when you remove your mask, you will be China - just delaying the inevitable.

Why would we need to remove them if they help keep us healthy? If it's NBD after close to 3 years of wearing, what is the downside to wear them in perpetuity? Like are there actually any documented risks to oral health, etc. from long-term mask usage? My dentist told me there have been studies showing that the bacterial "biome" in our mouths shifted slightly due to masking, but nothing necessarily negative. He still wears masks when seeing patients.

Asking this seriously, are you on the spectrum? How do you not notice the difference in social interactions when masked vs unmasked?

DP, but do you have a mental health disorder? I wear a mask at work and have no problem interacting with people. Occasionally I need to talk louder for an older person because they can't hear me as well and can't watch my mouth while I speak, but that and avoiding eating engagements with people has been the main effect I've noticed. That and still getting to work from home a lot. If you have this much difficulty with a piece of cloth I wonder if there might be some deeper issue you need to deal with. "Asking this seriously."

I’m one of those “older people” who struggles to understand people in masks. I also struggle to be understood. I am 42. I do have a minor hearing impairment, but I think I also just rely a lot on nonverbal communication from reading people’s faces.

I masked close to 100% until I was vaccinated, and then returned to heavy masking throughout the omicron surge. I live in an area where outdoor masking was common so we all did it, even though based on what I knew about the virus, outdoor masking was pointless unless you were in a crowd of people. But since vaccination, I’ve masked less and less. The change in quality of life is dramatic. My mental health has improved greatly. I had developed social anxiety and it’s almost totally gone now.

I did finally get Covid for the first time this fall. It was worse than a cold and I don’t want it again. But I do weigh this against the burden of masking/isolating because having done it for extended periods of time, I understand the cost. I’m not cavalier about Covid but I refuse to pretend permanent masking is no big deal. I know it is. I don’t judge people for masking and I don’t judge them for not. I rarely mask now unless I am sick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like, you would rather get it repeatedly even if it's going to take 20 years off your life? Because you don't want to mask? Even if it takes 40 years off your life? Even if it makes you have a heart attack in 2 years? Because you don't like masking THAT much?

It's a strange hill to die on, but okay.

If I thought masks would do what you seem to think they do, I’d mask too. But since they don’t…

DCUM is such a strange world. People here are in complete denial that a lot of transmission is inevitable. Not all of it, but most of it.

And yet, we mask with N95s and are the healthiest weve been in years.

And if/when you remove your mask, you will be China - just delaying the inevitable.

Why would we need to remove them if they help keep us healthy? If it's NBD after close to 3 years of wearing, what is the downside to wear them in perpetuity? Like are there actually any documented risks to oral health, etc. from long-term mask usage? My dentist told me there have been studies showing that the bacterial "biome" in our mouths shifted slightly due to masking, but nothing necessarily negative. He still wears masks when seeing patients.

Asking this seriously, are you on the spectrum? How do you not notice the difference in social interactions when masked vs unmasked?

DP, but do you have a mental health disorder? I wear a mask at work and have no problem interacting with people. Occasionally I need to talk louder for an older person because they can't hear me as well and can't watch my mouth while I speak, but that and avoiding eating engagements with people has been the main effect I've noticed. That and still getting to work from home a lot. If you have this much difficulty with a piece of cloth I wonder if there might be some deeper issue you need to deal with. "Asking this seriously."

I’m one of those “older people” who struggles to understand people in masks. I also struggle to be understood. I am 42. I do have a minor hearing impairment, but I think I also just rely a lot on nonverbal communication from reading people’s faces.

I masked close to 100% until I was vaccinated, and then returned to heavy masking throughout the omicron surge. I live in an area where outdoor masking was common so we all did it, even though based on what I knew about the virus, outdoor masking was pointless unless you were in a crowd of people. But since vaccination, I’ve masked less and less. The change in quality of life is dramatic. My mental health has improved greatly. I had developed social anxiety and it’s almost totally gone now.

I did finally get Covid for the first time this fall. It was worse than a cold and I don’t want it again. But I do weigh this against the burden of masking/isolating because having done it for extended periods of time, I understand the cost. I’m not cavalier about Covid but I refuse to pretend permanent masking is no big deal. I know it is. I don’t judge people for masking and I don’t judge them for not. I rarely mask now unless I am sick.

If you were having mental health issues because of your mask wearing, then it does seem like you needed to do something differently.

Many people can wear masks without it turning into a mental health issue. My family and I are not having any problems, and I guess we've been lucky given the many comments here that seem to see wearing masks to protect one another as such a burden.

FWIW, I'm not advocating for permanent masking. I'm hopeful that science will find a vaccine that actually stops transmission, or finds a cure that stops the deleterious effects of the disease -- or something else happens so that masks aren't needed. Until then it's not really hard for our family to wear masks, so we will. I'm sorry you had difficulty with it and hope you continue to be well without it. Good luck.