COVID 19 Inexpensive testing

COVID 19  Inexpensive testing

In developed countries, testing for the corona virus is a big deal.  Many testing systems have been hurried into service and have proved to not be completely reliable.  But the goal of knowing who has the virus, who they have been in contact with, and what kind of symptoms they have are all important issues for public health reasons so the hospitals can plan for any upsurges as well as what to do with the patient who tests positive.  Some municipalities are testing the virus content of their sewage to watch for rises in their amount.  There has been enough reliability among the tests that such public health work has been pretty successful.

There are several tests that can be made with individuals without the high tech equipment.  They can give important clue as to who may be infected.  As with all my other medical advice, this is more like a reporter's observation than anything medically definitive.  

Asking questions – How are you feeling?  Any extra coughing or sneezing, feeling weak, and difficulty breathing?  Have you been with someone who has the virus?  Have you traveled to where a lot have been sick with the virus?  Have you experienced any of the following symptoms of the COVID 19 (followed by the list of usual symptoms)?  These are typical questions about the person’s own awareness of any symptoms they may have and if they may have been somewhere with known patients.

With a new awareness of some of the riskier activities people may have that could expose them, here are some additional questions:  In the past two weeks, have you attended a gathering with people who do not live with you for a funeral, wedding, birthday party, or other celebration?  In the past two weeks, have you taken part in a choir practice, participated in any team sports, attended a dance, or been involved in physical activities that brought you close to others who do not live with you?  Have you been in a room or vehicle during the last two weeks with people who were not living with you for more than a coupe minutes?  In the last two weeks, have you been in any kind of crowd including people not living with you?  In the past two weeks, has someone other than those who live with you given you a haircut, worked on your hair or nails, or otherwise helped you directly?

The “yes” answers to any of these questions would indicate the person was in a risky situation recently and may mean they are carrying the virus even if they have no symptoms.  Fourteen days since such events means the person is probably safe from infection. 

Temperature - Most airports in the world now have ways to spot someone with a high temperature.  Using apps on cell phones sensitive to heat or hand held thermometers that can be close to or touch someone's forehead, airport workers can determine who has a high temperature.  Similar technology is being used at work sites, hospitals, nursing homes, and even stores and markets that are open to determine if the work force and customers are less or more likely to have the virus.  

COVID 19 causes people to have temperatures higher than flu patients by about two degrees.  So newly infected people may already have a temperature as high or higher than a flu patient.

So where there is no such technology, looking for someone's rise in body temperature can be noted by the usual means, touching the forehead, feeling the radiation off the person's body, and sometimes the look in their eyes.  During the pandemic, determining another's temperature should be done from six feet and may require asking the person.  For example, you see a friend on the street.  Her eyes look tired and not quite right.  If she has less head cover than usual, or a light shirt rather than a usual heavy shirt, you might ask her how she feels and if she has a fever.  Just being observant might help you notice someone isn't well and should be home until she or he is better or even should isolate for a while, maybe even up to two weeks.

Temperatures are a key feature of COVID 19.  Checking each other for a fever could mean saving more lives in the long run.

Coughing - Everybody coughs.  All the time.  For a hundred different reasons.  Face coverings should probably be a permanent part of our lives.  Most are from allergies or other simple reasons that cause no harm.  But right now, coughs generate a lot of the kinds of droplets that carry the virus up to twenty feet.  So coughs take on a greater importance.

The COVID cough is a dry cough.  Almost all other coughs such as for flu, colds, and allergies are "wet" coughs, usually seeking to move phlegm out of our throats and lungs.  So when you or someone else coughs, listen for the gurgle common to the usual coughs.  The COVID 19 cough is "dry" because the phlegm it causes in people is gooier and does not bubble up like normal phlegm when a person coughs.  The reflex to cough is the body's proper reaction but with COVID 19, the cough is almost useless.  

Someone is actually developing an app which distinguishes between several kinds of coughs and can report which disease the cougher has.

 One doctor adds that COVID 19 tends to cause shorter breath so he suggests that a person can try to hold his breath for ten seconds.  The infected person is very likely to have to cough after holding his breath for ten seconds.

Coughing is a key feature of COVID 19.  Spotting a dry cough may be an important test directing the person to self isolate.

Being pale - This disease attacks our lungs and causes a drop in oxygen in our blood.  That leads to three specific symptoms: feeling weak, being short of breath, and turning pale.  Everyone feels weak sometime in the day and sometimes for days at a time for reasons having nothing to do with COVID 19.  Similarly, being short of breath can also be a symptom of very many other health issues.  

Turning pale, among caucasian ethnicities, means the face skin becomes off color, less pink, and includes blue color around the edges of the lips and sometimes under the finger nails.  Among other ethnicities, the visible signs could be a little different, such as black skinned people looking grey and yellow skinned people looking almost white.  Everyone has a good idea when someone from their group does not look right because they have low oxygen in their systems.

Being pale, along with dry coughing, and a fever would be a serious sign of the virus.  They are relatively observable without touching the person showing these signs.

Update: There are finger tip oximeters that measure the percentage of oxygen your blood contains and also takes your pulse.  These little gimos are not very expensive and may be available in most places in the world.   When the oxygen count drops below a person’s normal level (usually above 90%), it may be a sign of the presence of COVID 19.  Devices like Fitbits and I-watches may have the ability to test for oxygen levels but there is a question about their reliability.  

Walking funny -  The COVID 19 virus attacks the joints of some people and even after they have recovered, their joints have become arthritic and may or may not ever recover their previously painless condition.  But as a person's infection sets in, it may cause some people to walk differently.  Those without other noticeable symptoms may "present" because they no longer walk the same.

One of the best physical exams a doctor ever gave me included him asking me to walk toward him as he crouched across the room and then turning and walking away from him.  Over his career, he had learned to distinguish between different kinds of walk and movement based on where in the joints the pain and damage were the worst in the patient.

If someone's movements are just off normal. they may be infected.

Smells different - One typical symptom for most COVID 19 patients is their own loss of the ability to smell and taste things.  It comes on without warning and may come before or after other symptoms show themselves.

The point of this observation is that every disease has its own smell.  The old doctor who mentored my first doctor taught him to look for certain smells associated with common diseases.  My doctor did it discretely.  I was unaware he was doing it until he mentioned it to me as he examined me for my illness at the time.  I have not heard any other doctor mention it over the decades of my having many different doctors taking care of me.

But I know that many wine drinkers tend to have sensitive noses that can distinguish many different features of their wines.  Years ago, there was a company that hired and trained people to use their noses to analyze odors for the purpose of helping businesses that had unusual smells in their buildings identify the smell and be able to help deal with it.

Therefore another possible test might be developed where people with a capability to distinguish among smells can identify those with the disease.

These various tests are dependent on the wisdom and experience of those who are in a position to check out friends, neighbors, co-workers, and church members using natural means.  They do not depend on technology and may not be as reliable as the various medical tests are.  But they are possible clues to help spot where the virus has struck and they are very inexpensive!

(Disclaimer: I am not a trained medical person, just an observer and reporter.  Doctors and other scientists will give more accurate information as they have a chance.)