Purely anecdotal: my daughter tested positive for covid on Sept 20. She's 35 and has mild asthma, but is otherwise healthy and fit. On Sept 28 she tested negative. She felt better. At the beginning of Nov, she started coughing again, and she was diagnosed with "post covid pneumonia" . She has been on several antibiotics and they don't seem to be working. She's coughing so hard her ribs are bruised. This is a walking pneumonia and she is still working. She went in for pain in the ribs a couple of days ago, and after x-rays and a CT scan, she still had pneumonia "unspecified", but now she also has thrush on her tongue... they gave her a different medication and sent her home. I'm wondering if she has this pneumonia, although she doesn't fit the age range. I hate that we don't know, and that clinics, public health, countries and media are not saying much. We're left to speculate and figure it all out on our own. We're living in scary times
The rapid antigen tests are a serious problem. I went to urgent care in late July with a fever of 105 F after having been sick a week and a half. The nurse at urgent care used the BinaxNow rapid antigen test to rule-out COVID. I suppose the fact that I had been sick for a week made the test a little more trustworthy, but I don't think urgent cares and ERs should be using these misleading tests. EDIT: I didn't have COVID, so the rapid test was correct, but I think they should use the PCR tests. They need to be made affordable if that is the problem.)
Somebody on reddit suggested that perhaps the 4-5 day delay is a result of our immune systems reacting sooner to the infection due to the virus no longer being novel. In other words, maybe the incubation period has been shortened by 4-5 days and the tests are performing no differently.
I have a whole pile of those rapid antigen tests, but I don't know what to do with them. They are so untrustworthy. All they do is give a false sense of confidence to people.
Sorry, if I’m repeating, I’m still trying to figure out how to use the Substack app… In any case, I am scared by what I read in your most recent a report, and at the same time or you confused at what I see as conflicting information from other sources. Following is an excerpt from Dr. Eric Toprol’s Substack recently....“The Good News
Unexpectedly, given the marked difference in mutations between XBB.1.5, the target of the monovalent “updated” booster compared with JN.1, there is very good cross-recativty as shown in 3 highly regarded labs (Yunlong Cao’s in Peking, David Ho’s at Columbia and David Veesler’s at U Washington). These labs have preprint published data showing solid levels of neutralizing antibodies for the XBB.1.5 booster against JN.1, our best surrogate marker for protection vs severe Covid (hospitalizations and deaths). From the Ho lab report, note the similarity of levels of neutralizing antibodies for XBB.1.5 boosters (Pfizer or Moderna) as seen with JN.1. We’d expect the same for the Novavax booster which was not assessed in that study.”........o another but related note, if I may, I’m very curious as to whom is the actual author of TACT is. Can you enlighten me? I enjoyed reading your Substack’s even though they scare me , I feel I need to stay informed. I am a paid subscriber, but would really like to know who is doing the writing. Thanks
Purely anecdotal: my daughter tested positive for covid on Sept 20. She's 35 and has mild asthma, but is otherwise healthy and fit. On Sept 28 she tested negative. She felt better. At the beginning of Nov, she started coughing again, and she was diagnosed with "post covid pneumonia" . She has been on several antibiotics and they don't seem to be working. She's coughing so hard her ribs are bruised. This is a walking pneumonia and she is still working. She went in for pain in the ribs a couple of days ago, and after x-rays and a CT scan, she still had pneumonia "unspecified", but now she also has thrush on her tongue... they gave her a different medication and sent her home. I'm wondering if she has this pneumonia, although she doesn't fit the age range. I hate that we don't know, and that clinics, public health, countries and media are not saying much. We're left to speculate and figure it all out on our own. We're living in scary times
The rapid antigen tests are a serious problem. I went to urgent care in late July with a fever of 105 F after having been sick a week and a half. The nurse at urgent care used the BinaxNow rapid antigen test to rule-out COVID. I suppose the fact that I had been sick for a week made the test a little more trustworthy, but I don't think urgent cares and ERs should be using these misleading tests. EDIT: I didn't have COVID, so the rapid test was correct, but I think they should use the PCR tests. They need to be made affordable if that is the problem.)
Somebody on reddit suggested that perhaps the 4-5 day delay is a result of our immune systems reacting sooner to the infection due to the virus no longer being novel. In other words, maybe the incubation period has been shortened by 4-5 days and the tests are performing no differently.
I have a whole pile of those rapid antigen tests, but I don't know what to do with them. They are so untrustworthy. All they do is give a false sense of confidence to people.
Sorry, if I’m repeating, I’m still trying to figure out how to use the Substack app… In any case, I am scared by what I read in your most recent a report, and at the same time or you confused at what I see as conflicting information from other sources. Following is an excerpt from Dr. Eric Toprol’s Substack recently....“The Good News
Unexpectedly, given the marked difference in mutations between XBB.1.5, the target of the monovalent “updated” booster compared with JN.1, there is very good cross-recativty as shown in 3 highly regarded labs (Yunlong Cao’s in Peking, David Ho’s at Columbia and David Veesler’s at U Washington). These labs have preprint published data showing solid levels of neutralizing antibodies for the XBB.1.5 booster against JN.1, our best surrogate marker for protection vs severe Covid (hospitalizations and deaths). From the Ho lab report, note the similarity of levels of neutralizing antibodies for XBB.1.5 boosters (Pfizer or Moderna) as seen with JN.1. We’d expect the same for the Novavax booster which was not assessed in that study.”........o another but related note, if I may, I’m very curious as to whom is the actual author of TACT is. Can you enlighten me? I enjoyed reading your Substack’s even though they scare me , I feel I need to stay informed. I am a paid subscriber, but would really like to know who is doing the writing. Thanks