Is coronavirus actually as bad as this claims? Surely we'd of heard more about that?

[YellowEllis]

I was finally becoming relatively relaxed, but I find this very alarming?

A symptomatic
Mild (81%)
Moderate
Severe
Critical

@Moondust001 I very much doubt she was clapping the nhs seeing as she is an American from Atlanta....

DH grandfather is 92 and tested positive for Covid whilst in hospital for something else. He had a cough, nothing more and was released back home once negative.
It's luck of the draw - you may be under 45 and have a really bad reaction to it or you could be 92 and have very mild symptoms.

This is scaremongering. She will see the worst cases in ICU, and she doesn't understand basic biology if she thinks a 'virus is designed to kill'. Viruses don't intend to kill their host, they want to spread.
It is starting to be seen as more of a circulatory disease than purely a respiratory disease.

I don't see any point in freaking out, the trouble is that many people seem to fall into one extreme or the other. So completely panicked or totally laid-back. Personally I'm continuing to be cautious and doing what I can not to catch this, it may be that I can't avoid it, but it seems to me that the longer I can put it off, the more the medical profession know about what the disease is, what it can do to the body and how best to treat it.

I had it - confirmed by test. Didn’t really bother me at all and I am technically “high risk”. I know I was lucky.

I am also lucky that I live on the Isle of Man and we have completely eradicated it here (admittedly with borders closed)

Everything opening again (pubs , restaurants etc) no restrictions on gatherings or visiting people. Social distancing completely scrapped.

Schools due to open in a couple of weeks (once they have taken away the social distancing restrictions that had put in place)

Sports, clubs, cinemas etc all opening again.

@ArcheryAnnie

You equated covid to flu, Moondust, which really does make me doubt your medical credentials.

(For the record, I don't think covid is "designed" to do anything. It's not sentient, it's a virus. And I have said that there's a wide range of outcomes.)

No I didn't. I said that flu also has bad outcomes for some people. That is true. Check the facts. In 2017/18 flu was responsible for an estimated additional 50,000 UK deaths after a vaccine failure. Every single year, even with a vaccine, flu kills or contributes to the deaths of many thousands of people. That mostly involves older and more vulnerable people, but every now and then it kills a younger , fit and healthy person. I could have pointed out that sepsis kills around 37,000 people a year in the UK, with roughly 123,000 cases per year. Now that is a real killer - around 1/3rd of confirmed cases die. And it is increasing. It kills anyone and doesn't distinguish whether you are weak and vulnerable or fit and healthy. Comparing two things does not mean the same thing as equating them. I assumed wrongly that you might realise that.

Archery, I don't think Moondust equated COVID to 'flu, just recognised that 'Some people will have a bad outcome. Some people have bad outcomes from flu too.'

COVID seems to have a much higher death rate, arguably 1% with 'flu mortality c0.1%.

That said, as the OPs original post flagged a message about lung transplants, lung transplants are rare but not unknown for patients with complications from 'flu. If you're based in the US, you may have seen www.today.com/health/man-needs-life-saving-double-lung-transplant-after-getting-flu-t169952

She will see the worst cases in ICU, and she doesn't understand basic biology if she thinks a 'virus is designed to kill'.

Think she's speaking metaphorically not literally here.

She's an ICU nurse, which means she sees the sickest COVID patients who are really suffering from the disease and maybe might be more likely to have after affects? That might play into it. I would imagine the vast majority who recover have no ongoing issues. (caveat: not a medical professional or scientist and of course it's too soon to know for sure anyway).

Viruses are not designed to kill. They are designed to survive, so if they kill their host too fast, they die out quickly.

I see Moondust replied themself. I shall have to type faster or let others' debate progress.

A virus is not intelligent nor is it designed to killed. Indeed virus that kill too quickly are not ‘good’ viruses. There is no intelligence, purpose or design involved. If It had any purpose then that would simply be to survive and reproduce. Viruses often become less lethal over time as they can reproduce more effectively if they do less harm to their host.

Not being funny but I wouldn't expect anyone who has ever been in ICU come out unscathed?.

My husband's colleague does a lot of triathlons and mountain climbing. and is a complete bloody "sponsor me" pest. Late 30s. Had Covid in April. Didn't go to hospital. Still isn't well enough to work.

My neighbour is a soldier, early 30s. Had it in March. I haven't seen him since the ambulance came for him, although I know he came home in May. When I saw his wife when he'd been in hospital a month she was preparing herself to become a widow and thinking about how to explain it to their small children. It was horrible not being able to hug her. (I dropped off wine later) He used to be fit as fuck. In all senses.

Many people who are especially vulnerable to this virus don't know they are. The pollyannas can get to fuck.

My sister had it mildly, hardly knew she was ill. My adult son had it moderately, he was ill for a week and went to bed - unheard of for him.

I had it really badly, wasn't hospitalised but it was AWFUL, I wouldn't like to go through that again. Quite scary. I have also had past colleagues and a family friend who have died.

I am worried about the virus and a second wave, and whether I could catch it again because I suffered with the virus; my sister doesn't think it's anything to worry about because she had it so mildly. It just depends on your experience....

Well nothing could be verified on MumsNet, as you very well know, but actually I am a medical doctor.

Oh not an HR professional or employment law expert?

@Zilla1
COVID seems to have a much higher death rate, arguably 1% with 'flu mortality c0.1%.

Yes that is correct as things stand. Comparisons are never that easy because there are so many factors at play, but remember that the flu mortality rate are averages over a period of time (there therefore isn't an equivalent comparison for coronaviruses). And that that mortality rate is with a vaccine (usually, except when we get the vaccine cocktail wrong). Also, we have, as a species, some herd immunity for flu - our bodies recognise it and deal with it on a regular basis, so even if we have never had it ourselves, we have probably come across it and fought it off. Any new virus has an advantage over us on that basis - out bodies have never encountered it and stand less chance of fighting it off. Research coming out of Italy at the moment is extremely interesting because it is indicating that the virus is "weakening" in new infections. That could very easily be a combination of the fact that viruses tend to adapt to survive (which generally means not killing people); combined with the fact that the more people who have had the disease or have had contact with the disease, the better they become at fighting infection off.

I thought it was common knowledge that some people don't just bounce back with no lingering health issues after having the virus.

I am worried about the virus and a second wave, and whether I could catch it again because I suffered with the virus; my sister doesn't think it's anything to worry about because she had it so mildly. It just depends on your experience.

You've hit the nail on the head WanderingMilly. If you are badly affected, it's impossible to be blithe and breezy about the risks. If you aren't it's easy to convince yourself everyone else is making a fuss about very little.

A "highly intelligent" virus "designed to kill"? For an ICU nurse, she's not very bright, is she?

Is that a 'real' ICU post though? Everyone is front line or ICU on twitter when they want to be....

Strange that an ICU nurse should suggest that recovering from Covid-19 might mean you need a lung transplant or a stroke or heart attack.... ummm Statistics for that actually happening ...

@NaturalBornWoman

Well nothing could be verified on MumsNet, as you very well know, but actually I am a medical doctor.

Oh not an HR professional or employment law expert?

No, and I never claimed to be either of those things, although I know a fair bit about employment. I assumed that lots of people have multiple areas of expertise that do not always accord with each other. But perhaps that's just smart people. I also know a lot about refugees and asylum seekers, deprivation and disadvantage, and managing in country relief efforts. Anything else you'd like to know?

So some people get the worst symptoms, ICU, death or long-term side effects.
Some people get the illness, can be at home, recover.
Some people don't recover well and we don't know how long it will take.
There's kidney problems, lung problems, heart attacks, clotting and a whole host of other symptoms.
Some people get a bit of a cough and that's it.
And some people get nothing, asymptomatic lucky bastards. We don't know what proportion of cases that is but if we look at the percentage of those with antibodies in a population, it's still pretty low, so presumably not actually that many.

Yes flu can be bad and it can be fatal but there is also a vaccine that's given to several groups automatically and others choose to pay for it. I just don't see how it compares, really, apart from that both are viruses. Even if the argument is that most people with flu manage just fine, it isn't causing kidney failure or clotting disorders (by and large) and many people are going to be protected to some extent from the worst of it by the vaccine.

Chicken pox can also be bad and fatal and it's a mystery to me why the UK doesn't vaccinate, when there is a vaccine.

Even if that one tweet isn't by a nurse, there are articles everywhere about this, from doctors and epidemiologists who have had it badly and continue to suffer.

I thought it was common knowledge that some people don't just bounce back with no lingering health issues after having the virus.

It is @SunshineCake but it all gets a bit drowned out by the "it's no worse than THE FLU!" brigade.

There are regular threads on here about it. Some people seem to lack the imagination or empathy to take this information on board. Presumably because it doesn't fit in with the rest of their worldview? Who knows?

We are still learning about the long term repercussions of SARS. The overwhelming probability is that some people will have lifelong disabilities as a result of covid-19 and some of these people could have been asymptotic. Right now we just don’t know what will happen and we are constantly learning new things all the time. The virus certainly affects the human body in ways we had not initially realised or anticipated, and in ways that are not typical of an assumed-to-be-respiratory illness.