What I Tell Friends About COVID in December 2022
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What I Tell Friends About COVID in December 2022
By Peter Kaminski <kaminski@istori.com>. Special thanks to my wife Johanne, who has done a ton of sensemaking out of all the good and bad information available about COVID. Version 2022-12-10-001.
A. I am NOT a doctor or scientist. THIS NOTE IS NOT MEDICAL OR SCIENTIFIC ADVICE.
B. Be aware that even doctors and public health services may or may not have or share correct, up-to-date information about COVID. Some of them have shared information that is poorly supported or even information that has been disproven or harmful. It is possible to learn who to trust, but you have to do a lot of the work yourself and with your communities.
C. This note is written to be reasonably short, and reasonably understandable. To that end, it skims and compresses information. The real situation is more complex, and our understanding is always imperfect and improving.
D. This note does not include references or citations. It is intended as a starting point for you to work from, rather than a comprehensive document. I plan to start lightly curating and lightly organizing resource links at <http://peterkaminski.com/covid-19-resources>, but I may discontinue that at any time.
E. I am able to work from home, and my kids have grown up and moved out. I realize this is a privileged position, and that everything is harder—much harder—for people who have to go to workplaces and schools. We all need to work together more effectively. We need to wear N95 or equivalent masks more, and to filter, clean, and ventilate indoor air more.
F. My baseline: DON'T get infected by COVID. Do whatever it takes. If you've already had COVID, DON'T get infected again. There are many experts who feel the same way.
G. Vaccines greatly improve the chance that you won't get hospitalized or die (right away) from COVID. However, they do NOT keep someone from getting or transmitting COVID. They do NOT give "sterilizing immunity".
H. COVID can be transmitted before someone has symptoms (pre-symptomatically) or even if someone never has symptoms (asymptomatically).
I. Assume that anyone can have COVID, and may not know or care that they do. Avoid breathing air from other people who may have COVID, because COVID virus particles float and stay in the air they've exhaled, like smoke particles.
J. Air can travel through air ducts or stay in a poorly-ventilated empty room long after other people leave. Where there are other people breathing and where other people have breathed, always wear an N95 or equivalent mask that covers your nose and mouth and that doesn't leak air around the sides.
K. The mask I wear: <https://envomask.com/>. It's comfortable and doesn't fog glasses. It is not fashionable-looking, and it is expensive (although they have a big sale 3-4 times a year). There are other good options. Find options that work for you and your family. Johanne and I will try to help you find good masks for kids, if you have trouble.
L. Live COVID virus can be excreted in human waste. Public toilets aerosolize human waste when flushed, creating a cloud of virus particles in the room. The virus particles linger in the room air, or they may be blown through ducts in the building to other rooms.
M. Work on air filtration and ventilation in buildings where you and your family spend time. Look up "Corsi–Rosenthal box" and "HEPA air purifier". Talk to building management about HVAC upgrades.
N. COVID directly and indirectly causes damage to the protective cells (the endothelium) that line all the large and tiny blood vessels throughout your body. That causes a cascade of damage that can affect any system of your body, including your immune system, brain, lungs, heart, liver, kidneys, capillaries, arteries and veins, reproductive system, bones, teeth, eyes, and more. Sometimes you can sense the damage, in the form of pain or other obvious symptoms. Other symptoms, such as new diabetes or high blood pressure, may be causing further damage silently, without you being aware of it directly, and you might not find out about them until your doctor runs tests (which they may or may not do).
O. To summarize, even in mild cases of COVID, even in kids, there is often damage to any one or several systems of your body. The damage can compound every time you get another COVID infection.
P. A COVID-damaged immune system makes you more vulnerable to another more serious COVID infection, influenza, RSV, staph aureus, and more. Double down on all the advice above.
Q. (this item withdrawn in version 2022-12-12-001, needs additional context)
R. A significant percentage (1 in 10 to 1 in 5) of people who get COVID get long COVID, which can last for months or years. Long COVID can make you disabled and unable to participate in normal life activities. Doctors, public health services, employers, or insurance companies may be unable or unwilling to help you cope with long COVID, possibly for years to come.
S. COVID virus lingers in your body’s organs for months, perhaps years. Viruses can lay dormant for years and then reactivate. The initial HIV infection that caused AIDS was like a mild flu, but turned into AIDS years later. Chickenpox can come out later as shingles. HPV can come out later as cancer. Some experts think something similar may happen with the COVID virus.
T. The world changed in 2020, when SARS-CoV-2 started spreading and created the COVID pandemic. The pandemic is not over. Pretending we can go about our lives the way we did before 2020 is dangerous, and prolongs the pandemic. Public health systems have been overwhelmed and are failing to protect us as much as we need them to. We need to help each other more. We need to wear N95 or equivalent masks more, and to filter, clean, and ventilate indoor air more.