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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It makes perfect sense to still avoid Covid. You idiots are trying to normalize the belief that Covid is like the flu.[b] It isn't.[/b] I'll wear a mask as long as I want to.[/quote]

You're right. Covid wasn't nearly as bad as the flu when I had it in December as it did not prevent me from working working or doing vigorous exercise. Last time I had the flu I was asleep for a day.[/quote]

Your anecdote is not data but you are too ignorant to understand this. [/quote]

Actually, this anecdote mirrors the data we have for omicron-- and in fact, even the original variant caused flu-like illness or less in many. (Its potential to be mild or asymptomatic is what helped it spread so easily.)

The anecdotes are actually what helped obscure sensible risk assessment when it came to covid. The stories about healthy, young, fit people hospitalized and struggling for their lives sold papers and made a huge impression on all of us. It's not that these anecdotes aren't tragic and important, but perhaps many of us are too ignorant to understand that they were stand-out stories and that covid is not an equal-opportunity killer. In some cases it is not well understood why a particular individual was vulnerable, but there are very obvious trends that tell us who is vulnerable.

There are a bunch of conspiracy theories floating around about why the CDC hasn't been transparent about the raw numbers of people in the U.S. hospitalized for covid who are vaccinated vs. unvaccinated, but the ultimate reason why is likely because the vaccines were not able to change the "vulnerable" cohort as much as we would have wanted-- and this group still weighs down the others enough to make vaccines appear substantially less effective, since these were the populations at greatest risk of hospitalization and death in the first place. If you are above 80, your risk of being hospitalized for covid is many times the risk of a 40 year old, even if you're boosted and the 40 year old is unvaccinated. The CDC likely doesn't trust us with that data, but I think they likely could have made it clearer-- it might have helped us focus our restrictions on those who need it most and even saved some lives.

So, if you look at the covid data by age it is clear that, in part, anecdotes-- not data-- have shaped our attitudes and policies when it comes to this virus. But don't just trust me, look at it and make your decisions from a place of empowered information, not fearfulness OR reactive imprudence:[url] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2918-0[/url]

[/quote]

When there is high community spread, everyone, regardless of their personal risk level, should wear a mask because asymptomatic people can spread the virus.

In addition, your "empowered information" does not take into account the long-term effects of Covid, which for a not-insignificant percentage of people of ALL AGES, are a real thing. We don't understand the mechanism behind "Long Covid" but it seems to indicate that the virus, like many other viruses, hides out somewhere in your body even after the acute symptoms have passed. What will that mean for your future health? [/quote]

I am empowered by the information that true Long Covid is much rarer than you think, especially in kids.[/quote]

College age dc was labeled a kid who "just catches every little thing", and a kid with a "weaker immune system". Sick all through school, would literally catch anything going around and if you're kid was out for a day, he was out for 5-7. Finally this fall I pushed for more info since he was in college and the days he was missing was not going to work. We were sent to a pulmonologist who after 3 minutes saw he had a severe case of H1N1 in 2009, and immediately put him on a variety of breathing meds. He hasn't been sick since (an amazingly long amount of time for them). So now he will be in a lifetime treatment for asthma and lungs that aren't 100% healthy.

Do I worry for DC? Yes. Do I want him in a mask forever? No. He will always have to be vigilant, but this is going to be forever (for him and all of us). We still mask in places with a lot of people we don't know, but no longer in other places. We're making our decisions based on what we think is reasonable and trying to not base it on fear, even having seen the effects.

That's my take. Also, I hope this helps another parent if you see a child struggling 5-10 years down the road that had it, just keep pushing. I also hope it's very rare, but if its your 1 kid, I hope you get treatment and answers sooner than we did.[/quote]

I am sorry to hear about your son's situation. I am not sure what point you are trying to make, but what this story exemplifies is that long-term effects can happen after many viruses, especially when it was a severe case like your son't flu infection. I once had a protracted bronchitis after a viral infection, and it took me a year to fully get over the shortness of breath that lingered. I was worried back then to end up with chronic asthma. It is not unique to Covid, and it is thankfully a rare thing to happen.[/quote]

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