npr’s headline “how to think about covid now” story tonight was pretty dismal. no mention of long covid or sequelae prevention *at all* and new studies on those topics may as well not exist. we were told to fend for ourselves as individuals and if we’re “young and healthy” to act like it’s an ordinary cold and flu season where you will get sick and that’s fine
friends no wonder we feel insane
🇳🇱
@seachanger That does seem rather incomplete and not really doing the topic justice, I agree.
That said I do think acting like its an ordinary cold and flu season is pretty close to good advice. The only exception I'd state is to be extra careful around the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. If your visiting a nursing home, for example, mask up and be careful to wash your hands. But otherwise, live your life, its not healthy obsessing over what viruses or colds are out there, youll spend your whole life in fear and gain very little from it.
@freemo @seachanger You may not realize this, but it's a lot more "not healthy" to get covid and have a 1 in 10 chance of symptoms that affect your life for years than it is to get a cold or flu with a tiny chance of symptoms that affect your life for years.
I'd rather spend less than a minute a day thinking about remembering my mask as well as my keys and gain a lifetime of continued cognitive function than pretend covid=flu and lose it.
> You may not realize this, but it's a lot more "not healthy" to get covid and have a 1 in 10 chance of symptoms that affect your life for years than it is to get a cold or flu with a tiny chance of symptoms that affect your life for years.
Considering I am a research scientist who has worked on COVID for several years now I can assure you I know this. I also never said anything to the contrary.
COVID is worse than a cold or flu in terms of risk, yes.
Also few things about your statements that could use some clarification.
> you may not realize this, but it's a lot more "not healthy" to get covid and have a 1 in 10 chance of symptoms
Its important to note two things.. first off COVID hasnt been around long enough with enough studies to make conclusions like this conclusively. But even if you could its misleading.
Even if a study showed clearly a person who catches COVID has a 1 in 10 chance of perminant injury, that doesnt mean its a 1 in 10 chance every time you catch it. If you caught it and got out with relatively minimal complications chances are you will next time too. I have had covid 7 confirmed times so far without any problems.
> I'd rather spend less than a minute a day thinking about remembering my mask
This isnt the reality for most people who are bothered by masks. For many of us every minute with a mask on is extremely uncomfortable. When masks were mandatory I couldnt do any of the things I loved because I found it so uncomfortable. I wear glasses so I could never see, and breathing was very uncomfortable.
@freemo @seachanger You say "even if a study showed clearly". In addition to casting doubt, this indicates both that you are unacquainted with how research accumulates into knowledge and that you have not, in fact, looked for such a study.
As a research scientist, I assume you are capable of doing a literature survey. If you take the time to look for papers on sequelae prevalence in reinfection, you will find ample evidence supporting my statements.
> You say "even if a study showed clearly". In addition to casting doubt, this indicates both that you are unacquainted with how research accumulates into knowledge and that you have not, in fact, looked for such a study.
I am a COVID-19 research scientist who has been working on the disease for over 2 years now. Lets not go there with the personal attacks, it makes you look unprofessional and ignorant.
While there are lots of studies that show long-covid and talk about the odds, any honest scientist will tell you COVID is new and our data still very limited. No studies on long-term permanent effects are conclusive this early on in a disease.
> As a research scientist, I assume you are capable of doing a literature survey. If you take the time to look for papers on sequelae prevalence in reinfection, you will find ample evidence supporting my statements.
Have and do, and yes there are studies that both support and reject many of your assumptions. As is to be expected with such a new disease where the data is still emerging. You can find studies to support almost any invalid assumption you want, the key is understanding the entire body of knowledge and weighing it accordingly.
The funny thing is with my 7 confirmed COVID cases if 1 in 5 was every single infection the chance of me not being permanently disabled would be statistically impossible. Yet here I am perfectly fine... That alone proves the 1 in 5 chance is not compounded across each infection naively.
