COVID 19 - What it's like to be sick

COVID 19 - What it's like to be sick

This is not your everyday cold or flu.  If you are infected, you are at least four times more likely to die than if you get the flu.  

An excellent resource for medical information on COVID 19 is from Mayo Clinic:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/symptoms-causes/syc-20479963

More simply, let's look at the disease progressively.

First, YOU HAVE NO SYMPTOMS.  The virus takes from two to six days to build up to where it may cause you to have symptoms like coughing or a bad headache.  Or lose your senses of taste and/or smell.  Or you may be one of the folks who never gets symptoms but feels fine the whole time.  There has not been enough worldwide testing to say what percentage or which kinds of folks do not get sick at all.  I've heard that people with Type B blood do not get sick. I've heard women are less likely to get sick than men.  But so far, no studies have shown a clear pattern.  We know that a large number do not get sick because testing has gone on long enough to show that many people have had the virus but they never had the symptoms.  It is hard to conclude anything because so far, testing has not been nearly complete enough, but it appears that even these folks may have spread the virus without knowing it.  Based on experience with cold and flu viruses, people can pass the infection before they start sneezing.  COVID 19 is spread by the person days before for the first fever or other sign of illness.

Second, YOU MAY HAVE ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING: FEVER, COUGHING, SNEEZING, HEADACHE, BODY MUSCLES ACHING, WEAKNESS, AND OTHER FLU-LIKE SYMPTOMS.  These can be mild or they can be bad enough to keep you in bed.   It is the most likely form of the disease, except that the temperature of the fever is two or so degrees higher than usual for the flu.  

(Note:  What is noted here is subject to change: The fever is a serious matter and should be brought down as much as possible.  Some say that acetaminophen [Tylenol] is the best medicine for that.  The body knows the virus hates heat but the body is unfamiliar with this virus and may overheat.)   

Third, YOU MAY GET PNEUMONIA.  Tightness around the chest and shortness of breath along with high fever are signs of serious illness.  The body fights the virus in different ways in different parts of the body and the virus affects different parts of the body in different ways.  When it hits the lungs, the lungs react by flooding the virus out with hot body fluid.  That begins to fill the lungs.  That usually means the lung are less able to take in oxygen.  Pneumonia patients are urged to get up and move around, force the lungs to function which usually means that the fluid comes out in coughing or the lung lining takes it back into the body, freeing up lung space for absorbing oxygen.  In some patients, that fluid gets stickier than usual.  If a patient stays too long on their back, the stickier fluid becomes embedded and does not respond as well to walking.  So doctors in some places are having the patients lie on their stomachs as much as they lie on their backs or rotate the patient's body so it does not lie in one position for very long.  The hope is to prevent the sticky fluid from settling and clogging the lungs.  There may be some merit in using a technique parents of children with cystic fibrosis use, pounding gently but firmly on the back to loosen accumulated gunk in the lungs.  Another promising area being explored are the techniques used with prematurely born infants.  Avoiding or defeating pneumonia is crucial for survival.  (See update below.)

Fourth, YOU MAY DIE.  Early estimates from scientists studying China's experience are that about four percent of COVID 19 patients may die.  That is high for a virus that in other forms makes people annoyingly sick.  Most flu patients' risk is around 1% or less.  With COVID 19, the lungs fill to where the oxygen level in the patient's blood is fifty percent, about the same percent as standing on the top of the Mount Everest.  Breathing is terrible gasping.  Organs like the liver do not get enough oxygen to function. And the body surrenders, finally.

Fifth, YOU MAY SURVIVE.  In New York City, some patients have been on ventilators for three weeks and survived.  Others without such crisis resources have also survived.  Those with the lighter symptoms that do not descend into pneumonia usually get back to normal within a few weeks.  Those who have been sicker may not feel right until months later.  Those who went through a bad pneumonia may have weakened body organs like kidneys or at worst, their brains, and will have longer term difficulties.  

Update: Research is showing that COVID 19 does not just attack mucous membranes as most other flu and cold viruses do.  It goes into the walls of your arteries and causes your body to try to defend itself with an overload of a certain body fluid (“Cytocine storm”) but in many patients the defense does not work but instead causes problems.  The virus also goes into the blood itself in a way that causes blood clots which damage the lungs, liver, and other organs, and can cause strokes.  See
https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200424/blood-clots-are-another-dangerous-covid-19-mystery?fbclid=IwAR3A_5P1g6MGh-lluR8jW18TF2U8zWK7KgJJ6_L9o3yqofP7JnXB_640hf4

New research is being reported almost daily so please watch for it.

COVID19 is a very serious illness.  It is to be profoundly respected and not ignored.  Great care must be taken to avoid getting sick and spreading the illness.  Survival chances are only slightly better for those under 65 and without underlying medical conditions.  Perfectly healthy young adults, those of healthy middle age, five year olds, and infants have all died of COVID 19.  But a 107 year old woman, some pregnant mothers, and most others have survived.  Why some and not others, why some have no symptoms and others do, and many more questions are yet to be answered.  There is still much to learn from this experience with a virus our bodies have never seen before.

(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.)