Coronavirus in the United States - news and thoughts

For young people there is a risk of developing Guillain-Barre Syndrome, with that and the fact that Tamiflu for one is an excellent medication to treat it I can understand why some don't get it.

 

Since the risk is 1-2 extra per million flu vaccines and the risk of death is higher I'll still get the vaccine and still don't understand not getting it.

 

children and teens have a higher incidence, remove the over 25 group and the rate goes up.
But we do have choices.. for now.

 

Do you have the data on this i.e. risk of GBS vs risk of influenza death (or serious complications) for those under 25?

 

I don't think it's very useful info. They had to have gotten it from somewhere and unless we start tracking movement via cell phone we won't know exactly where people went, how often they left the house, and who they interacted with. We aren't going to do that so I'm not sure that survey was helpful. Someone please jump in and correct me if you think I'm wrong.

 

It would be impossible to get the virus while totally isolating. They must not have all truly been "staying at home". They obviously interacted with the virus somehow, whether by having some friend or family visit, by going out for groceries, or possibly even just food delivery...perhaps combined with failure to wash hands after handling all this stuff.

People are misinterpreting what Cuomo was saying, he was not saying they caught the virus "inside their home". Just that they weren't people who were working essential jobs or riding the subways and many were retired (he did point out specifically they weren't riding subways, and that the high percentage surprised him). I too would have thought even with the stay in place greatly reducing traffic, more people would still pick it up in subways or hospitals than just about anywhere else. But I think grocery stores are high on that list (and grocery stores were slow to even add any precautions such as masks for workers), so if these people did grocery shopping, even without stepping on a subway, that could be considered a high risk activity for acquiring the virus even if they were otherwise "at home".

 

how many people do we really believe never left their place of residence since the stay at homes began? maybe. 005%, i know of none, so they got it outside of the home

 

I've never gotten a flu shot. I've also never had the flu so my guess is my fear of the flu isn't what it should be. I also have a kick ass immune system from micro-dosing germs in the garbage industry for 15 years.

 

That was funny, Good one Oak

 

How do we know? Testing is increasing so naturally cases would increase.

 

Same boat here. In my 40's never had the Flu shot...and never had the Flu to my knowledge. Outside of a rare stomach bug and a sinus infection every blue moon, I dont get sick. Wife and kids are the same.

I mean...why fix what ain't broke.

 

Im in my 40s and got the flu shot once, when our kid was born during flu season. I’ve had the flu twice, and I’d say that @RIP is right. I should get the shot more often. It was awful both times.

 

With those numbers, his new slogan should be... Live your life! Stop the spread!

 

The only time I've had the flu was the year I got vaccinated. My granddaughter was undergoing chemotherapy, and it was mandatory for anyone around her. No problem, I'm not against vaccinations, my husband gets one every year, I've just never seen the need. Perhaps as I get older I'll change my views.

 

20-30 Years? Most do not realize it, they are alread there. The only thing 20-30 years of technology will change is knowing you are within a 20 foot radius to knowing you are in a 20nm radium and how many people you touched, saw and spoke to along the way.

 

I think that's reasonable. As a physician I'd still recommend you to get it, but I agree that the risk reduction is probably minimal at this point. There are two things I'd like to note however.

1) Age is age, I can't tell you how many healthy elderly patients I've had who did not do well with conditions that younger patients, even unhealthy ones, do well with. A surgeon once told me that everyone is their age on the inside.

2) You obviously have an immune system that handles the flu well. However, that may very well change as you age. Maybe you'll start getting the flu shot as you get older, but typically patients won't change their behavior until something bad happens. A lot of patients who've been healthy and get the flu for the first time in ages or ever, and end up with permanent morbidities.

A healthy immune system reacts appropriately to diseases. A weaker immune system, even if it errs on the side of underreaction, would not do well as thr virus would ultimately reproduce more, resulting in a higher viral load and more morbidity/mortality. How to modulate the immune system so that the response is just right is under study right now.

IL-6 is a nonspecific cytokine that elicits a very, very strong immune response. Uncontrolled it can kill the patients. We used to give IL-6 inhibitors during CAR-T cell therapy trials (big success BTW!) where we essentially train your own body's immune cells to kill cancer cells. Many patients had cytokine storm as their immune system all of a sudden starts a rapidly escalating attack on cancer cells. So this isn't specific to COVID. BTW, there are trials ongoing to study if IL-6 inhibitors help in COVID as well.

 

Yes, that's exactly what those numbers mean.

 

We will only have to make that choice because our leadership failed to provide us with a better choice. Earlier intervention, more testing, contact tracing, isolation housing is successful alternative that has worked elsewhere. We said poof...and we got poof...or we would have a better choice.