Does Covid Set You Back?

[TEN4]

Felt like I was making progress from this bought with depression. Then got sick last week thinking it was just a bad cold, coughing and sneezing, since I had Covid in January and figured I still had antibodies. But my husband is convinced we both got Covid. First time having it really set me back and now feeling lousy the last few days. I don’t want to do anything and I do as little as possible. Everything is an effort. Anyone else get Covid and experience this? Three steps forward, ten back. I’m so discouraged.

[fauxartist]

Yep, almost everyday now my Long Covid kicks in with the next symptom. Here's an article titled just today:

Census: 1 in 5 people who had COVID-19 report having long COVID.

So... for me, it's my immune system compromised, brain, lungs, heart, intestinal track, joint and muscle pain, and constant cycles of migraines and fatigue every single day. Yeah... it can affect you. You have to accept your changed permanently, and learn to accept any limitations you may now have. You may overcome the initial viral attack, but you're never free of post symptomatic issues for many of us. With the new variants, the old vaccines don't work on new infections, even if you had Covid before.

[Blueruth in reply to fauxartist]

"With the new variants, the old vaccines don't work on new infections, "

Not exactly. Old vaccines fade over time but they still help with severity. That is why boosters are helpful. The next booster will be modified for newer strains but that doesn't mean the first one is useless. (Hence the name booster)

[Dolphin14 in reply to fauxartist]

True. It's like the flu shot. It's changed every year to target the strain.

❤️🐬

[Isinatra]

I’ve had long covid for over two years. My symptoms are still with me and I had them all, but can get better then worse. I thought at one time I had caught the virus again, but tests said negative. My doc called it a flare up. Long covid is no joke. I stay vaxxed to the max.

[Dolphin14 in reply to Isinatra]

It is no joke. I have family and friends with long Covid. Day to day you just never know when it's going to pull you down again

❤️🐬

[fauxartist in reply to Isinatra]

I'm sorry your going through it too... I can truly empathize... some days are better than others....it's our new normal.... but we're still kicken... I got double dosed too after they told me they could monitor me for an anaphylaxis shock reaction to the vax, because I was allergic to Bee stings, they didn't want me to take the Vaccine at first. That's when I got Covid, after that came the long term stuff...I was told that it's the alterations from having Covid that they think are causing the symptoms.

[Isinatra in reply to fauxartist]

Yes. It’s the new normal and I’m a fortunate one that I only have myself to look after. Im concerned as well about the people who have been struck down with families to support. The long term repercussions of just that is something I don’t want to imagine, but it’s reality.

[fauxartist in reply to Isinatra]

Yes... I totally agree, I couldn't do it today, I can barely do the minimum I used to do in just minutes. I'm breathless and exhausted just making a salad. I couldn't imagine having to feed my kids, bathe, dress, do homework, extracurricular activities, and get them to and from school every day... we haven't even scratched the surface of the repercussions on families yet. I helped my sister with her four through her battle with breast cancer and I was fit, and that was exhausting even then... I really feel for those who's lives, families and careers were stopped by this thing . I just wish there was more emphasis on some of this quiet crisis, rather than there is on the fluff over some influencers new hair style....

[Isinatra in reply to fauxartist]

The information is still out there, but you have to take the time now to look for it. There’s only so much room in the headlines for news and the news is geared for the biggest audience. The biggest audience isn’t interested as much about the pandemic, anymore. Sad…..

[fauxartist in reply to Isinatra]

There is a lot of denial inerrant in today's society, and wanting to move on from the pandemic is understandable... and unless it affects them directly, most don't care really.

[Isinatra in reply to fauxartist]

Yes, it’s understandable. But people on down the road who haven’t initially been affected could be inadvertently affected anyway. Time will tell…

[fauxartist in reply to Isinatra]

very true...

[Blueruth]

They don't know how long antibodies last or when they fade. New strains make this even more complicated. You should know that hospitalizations are becoming rare though long covid is more common in people that are at less risk for hospitalization. I do believe by 6 months they do weaken. That is why there have been two boosters. Your best protection is a booster plus antibodies. For daily life your best protection is meeting people outside and wearing a mask. So go to mask friendly places. Get groceries at a farmers market. Being outside is really important for your mental health. As long as it isn't too hot you should try to get outside even if it just a few minutes.

[fauxartist]

Of course many cherry pick what suits their agenda as is seen by some politicians who still are against vaccines...so it's up to us to read and learn the facts.

Here's a recent article that pretty much states the science.;

This May Be the COVID Variant Scientists Are Dreading

EVASIVE ACTION

A brand new subvariant is starting to surge, and there are signs this one can dodge our immunity.

Published Jun. 20, 2022 3:20AM ET

COVID-19 cases are increasing again in the United Kingdom, potentially signaling a future surge in infections in the United States and other countries.

A pair of new subvariants of the dominant Omicron variant—BA.4 and BA.5—appear to be driving the uptick in cases in the U.K. Worryingly, these subvariants seem to partially dodge antibodies from past infection or vaccination, making them more transmissible than other forms of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

There are also some suggestions that the new subvariants have evolved to target the lungs—unlike Omicron, which usually resulted in a less dangerous infection of the upper respiratory tract.

But there’s good news amid the bad. While cases are going up in the U.K., hospitalizations and deaths are increasing more slowly or even declining so far. “This could mean higher transmissible variants, BA.4 or 5, are in play, [and] these variants are much less severe,” Edwin Michael, an epidemiologist at the Center for Global Health Infectious Disease Research at the University of South Florida, told The Daily Beast.

The trends could change, of course, but the decrease in deaths is an encouraging sign that, 31 months into the pandemic, all that immunity we’ve built up–at the cost of half a billion infections and tens of billions of dollars’ worth of vaccines—is still mostly holding.

As far as COVID goes, things were really looking up in the U.K. until recently. COVID cases steadily declined from their recent peak of 89,000 daily new infections in mid-March. Deaths from the March wave peaked a month later at around 330 a day

By early June cases and deaths were near their pandemic lows. Then came BA.4 and BA.5. The grandchildren of the basic Omicron variant that first appeared in the fall of 2021, BA.4 and BA.5 both feature a trio of major mutations to their spike protein, the part of the virus that helps it to grab onto and infect our cells.

Eric Bortz, a University of Alaska-Anchorage virologist and public-health expert, described BA.4 and BA.5 as “immunologically distinct sublineages.” In other words, they interact with our antibodies in surprising new ways.

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control—the European Union’s answer to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—labeled BA.4 and BA.5 “variants of concerns” back in mid-May. Two weeks later the two new subvariants began the gradual process of overtaking older forms of Omicron in the U.K. That’s when cases began increasing again.

It doesn’t help that the U.K. like most countries—China is a big exception—has lifted almost all restrictions on schools, businesses, crowds and travel. Those restrictions helped to keep down cases, but were broadly unpopular and came at a high economic cost.

“There’s a disconnect between the actuality of how infections are happening… and how people are deciding not to take very many precautions,” John Swartzberg, a professor emeritus of infectious diseases and vaccinology at the University of California-Berkeley's School of Public Health, told The Daily Beast. He described it as “COVID fatigue… 100 percent of the world’s population must have it by now.”

The combination of a fully reopened economy and new COVID subvariants had an immediate effect. The U.K. Health Security Agency registered 62,228 new infections in the week ending June 10, a 70 percent uptick over the previous week. COVID hospitalizations grew more slowly over the same period, spiking 30 percent to 4,421.

COVID fatalities actually dropped, however—sliding 10 percent to 283. Deaths tend to lag infections by several weeks, of course, so it should come as no surprise if the death rate flattens or bumps up later this month or early next month.

But it’s possible it won’t. Yes, BA.4 and BA.5 are more transmissible, owing to that mutated spike protein. But that doesn’t mean they’re going to kill a lot of people. Despite their unusual qualities, it could be that BA.4 and BA.5 aren’t actually more dangerous than previous subvariants.

Bortz sketched out one possibility, that BA.4 and BA.5 are “immune-evasive enough to infect, but generally not evasive enough to counteract acquired immunity from vaccines and/or prior infection.”

Of course, immunity varies from community to community, country to country. The U.K.’s 67 million people have, for their part, built up pretty serious immunity over the past two-and-a-half years.

Tens of millions of U.K. residents have natural antibodies from past infection. 87 percent of the population is fully vaccinated. 68 percent is boosted. All those antibodies might not prevent breakthrough infections, but they do tend to prevent serious breakthrough infections.

How bad the current surge in cases gets depends to a great extent on the durability of those antibodies. Immunity, whether from past infection or vaccines, tends to wane over time. But how fast it wanes, and to what effect, is unpredictable.

It’s possible widespread immunity holds and the swelling BA.4 and BA.5 wave in the U.K. crests in a few weeks without making a whole lot more people sick—or killing them. That’s the best-case scenario given the lack of political will, and public support, for a new round of restrictions. “If higher cases would not lead to significant disease or deaths, then we may be able to live with this virus,” Michael said.

The worst-case scenario is that BA.4 and BA.5 prove more capable of evading our antibodies than experts currently anticipate. Keep an eye on the hospitalization stats. If COVID hospitalizations start increasing in proportion to the growth in cases, it’s a sign the new sublineages are dodging our hard-won immunity.

In that case, a big spike in deaths is sure to follow.

That could be a big red flag for the Americas. COVID variants tend to travel from east to west, globally. New variants and subvariants tend to appear in the United States a few weeks after becoming dominant in the U.K. At present, BA.4 and BA.5 account for just a fifth of new cases in the U.S. Expect that proportion to increase.

The problem for Americans is that they’re much less protected than Britons. Yes, Americans have a lot of antibodies from past infection, but they’re also a lot less likely to be vaccinated—and even less likely to be boosted. Just 67 percent of Americans are fully vaxxed. A little over a third of the U.S. population has gotten a booster.

So if BA.4 and BA.5 end up causing a surge in deaths in the U.K., they’re likely to inflict an even greater death toll on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. “We’re sort of in this zone now, betwixt and between,” Swartzberg said. “It’s unclear which way things are going to go.”

[Dolphin14 in reply to fauxartist]

These variants are the culprit. People think they are " safe" I know people on round two. They act confused. It's hard to help people understand mutations

❤️🐬

[fauxartist in reply to Dolphin14]

Your so right, and since you are on the front line of these things, and see the reality of Covid probably more clearly than many who only have a limited view of this thing. It's not going away anytime soon, kind of like a smoking volcano... you just never know. Better to be aware of possibilities than to throw caution to the wind at this point..In todays world, people only believe what they want to... they don't care about facts.

[Dolphin14 in reply to fauxartist]

It amazes me. This stuff is all documented now and makes sense. Only time and data collection could draw attention to the problems. We know now. Why risk round two and three etc.... stay safe

[Dolphin14]

So sorry you are also suffering from this long Covid. It's been so misunderstood for so long. Now we have the data.

Rest and stay hydrated. Listen to your body.

🐬

[fauxartist in reply to Dolphin14]

Thanks pal... will do.... it's a new world and we just adjust the best we can...

[Dolphin14 in reply to fauxartist]

Yes. Lots of adjustments for sure. You have had some tough days. If anyone still believes there is no such thing as long Covid they better pull out the research

[fauxartist in reply to Dolphin14]

And hope they never do find out what it's like to live with Long Covid... it's the tip of the iceberg... time will tell the whole story...

[Dolphin14 in reply to fauxartist]

I agree. Continued data collection and time.

❤️🐬