How vulnerable are we ?

[Buckybri]

Now the experts know more about the virus and at first I remember being really worried ,I wonder how vulnerable are we , and I wonder if they will amend the at risk register.

[Buckybri]

Yea that’s why I asked I had just seen the news also I see that NRAS published another chart scoring guide which I just read but I am a bit confused ( it’s not hard to confuse me ) it looks like the guide which has been published recently says that if you are taking a biologic and a immunosuppressive med them you should be shielded maybe some one can clarify this for me plz . I only ask the questions because I would like to go back to work , I never thought I’d say that . I can’t imagine being off until October.

[AgedCrone in reply to Buckybri]

Only your doctors can tell you what category you fall in to.....two people on the same medication could be assessed differently.

[helixhelix]

Who knows? Nobody yet I reckon as not enough analysis of data. But if you have nothing other than RA it doesn’t look too gloomy so far, as we are at the bottom of the list. This is summary of a compilation of different research studies. Link to full thing below.

Analysis of 10 studies had shown that, of the ~50,000 #coronavirus patients which the studies looked at:

39% had more than one comorbidity (underlying health condition)

22% had hypertension

21% had cardiovascular disease

18% had obesity

16% had diabetes

9% had cancer

8% had cerebrovascular disease (e.g. dementia)

7% had a respiratory disease

4% had COPD

4% had kidney disease

1-2% were immunodeficient

birminghamhealthpartners.co...

[Mmrr in reply to helixhelix]

I'm trying to remain reasoned in my thoughts about the immunocompromised and coronavirus, but the evidence is looking quite favourable.

We might just be ok and only at little more risk than the general population to the worst ravages of coronavirus

[ldwilliams in reply to helixhelix]

latest reports are now saying that 25% had diabetes

[Downtime]

Last nights Facebook NRAS live with Clare Jacklin was informative. One thing she mentioned was that a recent study to come out of Italy showed that patients taking immunosuppressants did not seem to be more at risk of severe complications or hospitalisation.

She did say ‘Stay at Home ‘ as much as possible is still the advice and if patients have other conditions in addition to RA which do put them more at risk, they should be shielding for the time being.

[Brushwork]

I believe we are at higher risk if our disease is not controlled. Many of us have uncontrolled RA, the drugs are not working or not tolerated. In these cases our immune systems are already running amok a serious virus may cause further chaos.

Maybe those who are on effective treatment with controlled disease will be released early... Good luck and stay safe.

[Scottishlad]

I think it is probably too early to tell. If the shielding has been working then in Britain only small numbers in this group will have been affected. The more people in our category who are affected the better the data will become.

I think Covid-19 will be around for a long time.

If it turns out that our medication and Rheumatoid disease doesn't put us at any greater risk we will still have the same risk as the general public.

Rheumatoid disease tends to more common from middle age onwards. This means that we will still have the same risk as everyone of our age group.

[AgedCrone in reply to Scottishlad]

Unfortunately I agree with you......this virus is not going away in a hurry.....& as you say age, obesity & underlying uncontrolled health conditions seem to be involved in most cases that don’t survive.

There are apparently 28,000 + members on this site....& I have seen only a couple of posts of people who think they might have contracted the virus.

Of course there may be people who maybe too sick to write in,

But I think if we are really as vulnerable as was first thought, there might have been at least a few positive diagnosis?

[wishbone in reply to AgedCrone]

Many members are in self isolation, or at least taking more precautions than the general population, which could be the reason why there are so few cases of the virus here

[AgedCrone in reply to wishbone]

Out of 28,000.....?

I honestly don’t think that many are shielding that efficiently!

[wishbone in reply to AgedCrone]

Perhaps not, but being in the shielded group myself I would be surprised if that was the case. I would be even more surprised if members at medium risk like the majority here are, are not being far more careful than the vast majority of the general public are.

[TytoAlba in reply to AgedCrone]

My husband and I have been in isolation and haven't had any contact with the outside world since before the letter arrived. I think many others, whether considered extremely or vulnerable are behaving similarly so we haven't given ourselves any opportunity to become infected. My concern is that the extremely low reports of infection from users of this website isn't because we aren't as vulnerable as we thought we might be but because we haven't tested our vulnerability. I'm not up for putting myself at risk by meeting anyone from outside my household until someone can prove we're not more at risk than other members of the community.

[AgedCrone in reply to TytoAlba]

It’s something we all have to decide for ourselves...I don’t consider myself particularly vulnerable, altho on paper it does look as if I could be.

Self isolating is the way I feel comfortable....& my rheumatologist agrees with me.

I think a lot of people are shielding because they are very nervous...but this Virus is not going away any time soon,& I want to get back to some semblance of normality as soon as reasonably possible.

[wishbone in reply to Scottishlad]

I agree with what you say. Other than I'm not so sure there will ever be enough people in the shielded category who will put themselves at risk for enough benefical data to be collected. The very best of luck to the ones that do, but I for one won't be, at least not until an effective vaccine is available.

[ruth_p]

I contacted my rheumatology helpline as I’m a teacher (Reception) and with schools potentially re-opening on June 1st I wasn’t sure what I was meant to do as I’m on methotrexate and tocilizumab. They said that unless the school could guarantee strict social distancing then I cannot go back. I cannot get my head around social distancing with 4-5 year olds in an early years setting.

[Downtime]

Can’t see how it could work either unless you chain them to desks when they arrive and keep them there all day lol 😂.

[ruth_p in reply to Downtime]

We don’t have enough tables in our classroom 😉

[wishbone in reply to ruth_p]

No excuse!...you can easily knock a few tables together out of some 4" by 2" timber and a few sheets of chipboard. It's not rocket science! Improvisation is key at battling this virus! Best foot forward please..................................

[ruth_p in reply to wishbone]

😂😂

[wishbone in reply to Downtime]

Of course it can work! No doubt a few MPs or even better a government minister will be spending a week in the classroom with 1st year children to show how it's done.

[ruth_p]

We’ve been open for key workers but we’ve only had 4 or 5 children.

[Ferndale15]

I have had in the last 2 days a call from my local council checking if I was ok and did I need help with shopping and did I have someone getting my medication and did I want a food parcel which I declined as able to get shopping slots. I then got email from them the following day.

Yesterday I had a letter from my surgery saying they had been asked to review patients identified by the NHS as being at the very highest risk.

It said I had been identified by these searches from central data but after reviewing my notes they didn’t feel I met the criteria to be on the shielded ( very high risk) list and have removed me from the national register. They say the reason is that I have RA and are taking methotrexate and adalimumab and your are other fit and well.

So looks like you are correct.

I am happy to be down graded because hopefully very soon I will be able to cuddle my granddaughter

[ruth_p]

We have 7 classes (1 form entry) and each class has 30-32 children. We’re a smallish village school, so we have enough rooms to split the potential 90 children between but when all the classes come back we won’t have enough room to socially distance them all.

[ruth_p]

So do I!

[Smithycat]

I am trying to keep everything in perspective, then yesterday I received this text:

NHS Coronavirus Service: You have been identified as someone who may be at high risk of severe illness if you catch Coronavirus. You should have received a letter from the NHS to confirm this. The government are now advising you shield at home until 30 June unless told otherwise by a healthcare professional.

Support is available if you need help getting food and basic care. Please ensure you have completed this short form to tell us whether you need it: gov.uk/coronavirus-extremel.... You'll be asked for your NHS number which you can find on any letter the NHS has sent you or on a prescription.

If you cannot sign up on the website, call us on 0800 028 8327.

The NHS is still here for you. You will get the care you need, but it is more likely to be via phone or online.

We will send you more messages with information.

These messages are automated, to stop receiving them, reply STOP.

Grr! Trying not to be freaked out! I haven’t had any contact like this previously.

[KittyJ in reply to Smithycat]

Try not to worry about it Smithycat. My daughter got one too and she’s young with no health problems or meds 🤷🏻‍♀️ Lots of us have got them. Text them to stop if they’re worrying you 😊

[Smithycat in reply to KittyJ]

Thanks for the reply. Good idea 😀