Im not sure where those numbers come from, unfortunately.
This small study from Germany found post-Covid cardiovascular effects in 78 out of 100 people infected (not all hospitalized and small variances between hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients. 60 patients had ongoing sign of cardiac inflammation at the time of the study.
Thatâs horrifying enough. Then thereâs the numbers of people who will die or suffer lasting effects from lack of medical care because the pandemic caseload has broken the healthcare system.
People are going to die of entirely treatable things because the staff and equipment they could normally access will be consumed by COVID patients. It will be heartbreaking when it happens. I am angry that weâre on track to reach that point.
Oh, and someone tell the COVID-minimizers that when we reach that point the mortality rate for COVID wonât be 1% anymore. We will be nostalgic for when it was only 1%.
Totally not concise ramblings based on Covid conversations Iâve had this week:
My mom is relatively sure she wonât see me again face to face in her lifetime. Itâs such a weird thing, being far enough into a life to accept likely outcomes without fear. I havenât accepted this yet even though logically I know itâs likely true.
I was talking with a friend about how part of the cultural/social response to COVID is informed by the majority of people alive in the US never having been through something that affects their autonomy. My mom was born in 1933 so she definitely remembers WWII and all the restrictions and terror that went with it, especially living in a city identified as a Japanese target.
This time around she is rather blaseâ about how hard vs not hard life is - they have internet so other than not seeing people in person their day to day life hasnât changed.
This came up again tonight at work talking with parents of early elementary kiddos that are worried about their academic progress.
The kiddos whose parents are worrying are going to be totally fine, because their world as young adults launching on their own will definitively not be the world we have now.
Itâs also been a weird thing among my greater friend group that the people I would have thought would most easily accept that The World Is Different Now, the people familiar with a huge range of sci fi and thousands of stories of one small thing being the Thing that changes humanity, have turned out to be the people most resistant to losing ânormalâ comfort.
Which back to my mom - she remembers reading Rocket Ship Galileo and knowing it would happen, where all her friends poked fun and said there was no way humans would ever figure out space travel, that it was just a fantasy escape from how shitty the world turned out to be.
My mom also anticipates the US as a government entity to fall within my kidsâ lifetime. Five years ago I wouldnât have seen how because I would have pictured war. Yet weâre already selling piece by piece to other powers that are not really allies if you have a historical attention span longer than the US.
Add in climate change and the world is absolutely going to look different in a decade than it does now. Noticeably.
Iâve become wickedly pragmatic about mortality and human occupation of earth since the first lockdown, when I went on a morning walk with my Person and the birds were going CRAZY at the first signs of spring. They were carrying on as normal. Avian flu wiping out household chickens? Carry on until you die.
/end random rantish thoughts
Working in a hospital right now ainât great, yâall. Even one that is not a designated Covid unit.
It may take long time before we know. My mom had a valve replacement in her 70s due to the damage childhood rheumatic fever did to the valve. She died 15 years later from congestive heart failure when the replacement valve failed. One of her sisters died in her 50s due to heart problems-- I am guessing that might also have been from rheumatic fever, but not 100% sure.
Thatâs a good point - it takes decades to collect meaningful data about outcomes vs incidentals. Which is just another point in the âwhy the heck would you not take this seriouslyâ book.
We should start calling COVID âlung AIDSâ and all the ignorant or bigoted people would mask up pronto.
In June my best aunt died of lung cancer. It was found a week or so before she died because she couldnât go to the hospital during covid. All of us wanted more time with her, even if it was just more warning before she died so we could say goodbye. Fuck covid.
@Smacky, I am so sorry.
My brother died alone because of covid. They might have let my mom in⌠But he was on the respiratory floor, and she was justifiably afraid. In normal times, there would have been plenty of time for me to get on a plane and be at his bedside.
Yes, this is already very much happening across the world and has been since the start of the year.
And how do we even start to quantify that effect on people? We canât really. Not for at least a full generation, Iâd think.
One of the few âgoodâ things I see coming with Covid is that long-covid (not yet a chronic disease) is getting the kind of attention that a lot of chronic fatigue and ME patients need, and hopefully we can learn more and diagnose and treat better. And hopefully come up with workplace modifications that can let people work in healthy ways. But not at all good the amount of people suffering and struggling and losing. Nor are the mental health aspects okay. Iâm ashamed of Canada, the UK and EU for f-ing this up. I wish so hard weâd done the harsh lockdowns and ongoing vigilance instead of laissez faire forever lockdowns
And then we look at the research on intergenerational trauma and itâs like a giant covid party and lost relative and stolen grief party that lasts for 3 generations. Yaaaay
Honestly I have had to come to terms with the fact that the US will need to choose who to save as the healthcare system becomes overwhelmed. It wonât be me at 66 with asthma and it shouldnât be. It didnât have to be like this. Other countries have done much better.
Asthma should not be a disqualifying condition for care.
Triaging care is just so terrifying.
Otter, what I am saying is that if they cannot treat everyone due to being overwhelmed it will be the younger people that get care. They will have to prioritize. Italy faced this horrible choice. I feel so bad for our HC workers.
Yes, I know that they have to choose somehow. Itâs just horrific that asthma is a condition that would leave a hospital to say you are unhealthy and not a priority for care.
My husband and I talked about this early on when Italy was having so much trouble; that having young children could be a qualifier to make it more likely for me to get care. Itâs unclear how hospitals would decide.
I think itâs my age mainly. I also have high blood pressure. I did quit drinking and lost weight because I am sure that will increase my chances of surviving. I am no longer overweight which is a big risk. Hopefully I just wonât get it and will get the vaccine. My friend that died was overweight, had HBP, sleep apnea and the doctor said all those factors didnât help. I also have sleep apnea greatly improved with the weight loss.
Yes, unfortunately it has already started happening in the US, with many states warning itâs coming soon:
My husband told me his coworker was saying our hospital is in horrible condition, even though officially they are not full. Sheâs basically said their staff is so short that the people who are running codes in the ICU have no business doing it. So basically, itâs incompetent care.
And we have access to basically the best care in the state. The hospital other ones transfer to.
Itâs really scary, because unlike the spring, they are still doing elective procedures. I wouldnât sign up for a âthis could be done laterâ surgery if I KNEW the people working in recovery werenât usually trained for that.
(Theyâve also talked about moving non-covid adult patients to the childrenâs hospital. They havenât yet, but Iâd take my chance with say, a pediatric neurosurgeon over having a podiatrist running a code.)
Please keep mentions of weight loss in spoilers, especially if you include numbers. Iâve brought this up before. This a forum-wide decorum principle.
Also, thereâs very real reason to see that the link between obesity and covid-19 is just another manifestation of fatphobia. To whit:
You did bring this up and I honestly forgot. I had a very bad concussion 5 years ago from a accident which has negatively affected my memory.