
Coronavirus: Some recovered patients may have reduced lung function - pseudolus
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3074988/coronavirus-some-recovered-patients-may-have
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Insanity
It's something I bring up when people around me from my age (late 20s) say
they're not worried.

First of all, you can carry it to others who are vulnerable. Obviously bad
idea. But second of all, the stats so far talk about "infections" and
"deaths". But there's a whole host of things between "life" and "death" that
are not stated or that we simply do not know.

A virus doesn't have to kill you to reduce your quality of life.

~~~
bilbo0s
> _there 's a whole host of things between "life" and "death" that are not
> stated or that we simply do not know._

Being a lifelong runner, I agree with you 100%. I'm not panicked or
unreasonable about it or anything, but I do protect my body. (So glad they
canceled Boston by the way.)

I would encourage people under 60 to consider the very real possibility that
certain physical activities that you enjoy may become difficult for you. Some
may even become life threatening. Who knows? Hiking or running at certain
altitudes, etc. Consider the sense of loss you might feel at not being able to
do workouts that seemed a breeze just last year? Or how would you feel if you
suddenly found that you need frequent rests to "salsa the night away"?

This virus is likely harmless if you're 15 or under. It's fairly deadly if
you're over 60. But if you're 15 to 55, there's a whole lot we don't know
right now.

~~~
LorenPechtel
Yup, I think my chances against the virus would be pretty good but my
summertime hiking is in the mountains, always above 7,000', often above
10,000'.

~~~
bilbo0s
Perfect example of an athletic lifestyle at risk.

As I'm assuming you are over 15, protect your body right now. You won't get
another one.

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hnrodey
I was diagnosed with "mild pneumonia" in late 2017 and it was quite the
handful to deal with. Pneumonia as a potential complication of COVID-19 scares
the bejesus out of me.

First, I faded within a matter of hours. Woke up feeling great and by early
afternoon I needed my wife to drive me to urgent care.

Second, it was a solid two weeks before I really felt capable of doing
anything. In reality I probably had walking pneumonia because I was able to
WFH while taking Dayquil and Ibuprofen but I was zapped at the end of every
workday.

Third, it was every bit of two months before I recovered to full capacity. I
was a very active and exceptionally fit 34 year old male who was brought to
his proverbial knees during this illness.

Fourth, I think I may have an advantage of early detection of catching this
disease. I run at high intensity multiple times per week. I will know very
quickly if my performance is falling off, I'm not recovering well, exerting
more than normal effort etc.

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s9w
These are the _truly_ frightening threats from this I think. A crippled
population from secondary effects we're just about to discover.

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sharken
While i agree that we should be careful about this, i would say that the
phrase "Some patients might have around a drop of 20 to 30% in lung function"
is not a sure sign that we should be scared. More data and more time is needed
to figure things out.

~~~
s9w
Of course. But this is only one of many such reports. I've read things about
massive increase of cystic fibrosis and damage to testicles in males. Maybe
those reports were wonky, I don't know. But the possibility of a real after-
effect like that combined with a predicted massive infection rate seems to
make the death number to be a trivial problem in comparison.

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hnrodey
Is there any published advice on re-using N95 masks? I have a handful from
purchasing years ago that I'm curious about the associated risks from re-
using.

edit: My use case is entering public space, possibly air travel, where the
presence of COVID-19 is unknown. I'm not treating or providing care to any
persons who are knowingly infected.

~~~
3JPLW
Reusability of Facemasks During an Influenza Pandemic: Facing the Flu (2006):
[https://www.nap.edu/read/11637/chapter/6#59](https://www.nap.edu/read/11637/chapter/6#59)

* _Finding 1_ : The committee could not identify or find any simple modifications to the manufacturing process that would permit disposable N95 respirators to be reused without increasing the likelihood of infection.

* _Finding 2_ : Any method of decontaminating a disposable N95 filtering facepiece respirator must remove the viral threat, be harmless to the user, and not compromise the integrity of the various elements of the respirator. The committee found no method of decontamination that met all three criteria.

* _Finding 3_ : The committee found no simple modifications to currently existing N95 filtering facepiece respirators that would obviate the need for fit-testing.

* _Finding 4_ : Many versions of reusable (elastomeric) respirators on the market have facepieces that can be cleaned and reused. Some of these are available in full-facepiece versions that also offer eye protection and may prevent conjunctival transmission. These respirators can be reused by single or multiple wearers and, although they are more expensive than the disposable N95 respirators, should be considered as an alternative to filtering facepieces.

~~~
ajross
What's frustrating with data like that is what it doesn't say: _is it OK to
keep using a mask?_.

Obviously what this is saying is that, once contaminated, a mask can't be
cleaned and made safe. But in real use, at least at the infection density we
see right now, they're not getting contaminated with use. They're just dirty.
Is it safer to keep using the same mask for a week or to use it once then go
maskless? We just don't know.

~~~
hnrodey
>Is it safer to keep using the same mask for a week or to use it once then go
maskless? We just don't know.

This is a better way to phrase my question and more precisely what I'm trying
to determine.

tbh it _sounds_ safer to re-use a mask (that may or may not be contaminated)
that not use a mask at all especially in a crowded public space.

~~~
3JPLW
To put a finer point on it — while reusing an old mask might prevent you from
getting Covid19, it might also expose you to a bacteria or fungus that could
_also_ lead to a pneumonia or other such lung diseases.

You really don't want to be needing a ventilator for any reason in the next
few weeks/months.

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majos
> But Tsang said the long-term effect on recovered patients, such as whether
> they would develop pulmonary fibrosis, a condition where lung tissue
> hardened and the organ could not function properly, had yet to be
> ascertained.

It sounds like there hasn’t been enough time yet to see if the effects last?

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Alex3917
If this is anything like SARS, a lot of these people who recover but have lung
damage are going to be dead within the next 3 years. To me the percent chance
of any given age/gender dying is a complete red herring, because what you
should care about is your chances of getting ARDS, and afaik that's around 20%
across the board.

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garmaine
> and afaik that's around 20% across the board.

Incorrect. That’s exactly the risk factor for higher ages.

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Alex3917
Do you have a source on this? That obviously would make sense, but I haven't
actually seen any data on age vs ARDS, only age vs death rates. So absent any
information otherwise, I'm not going to assume that if my risk of death (with
medical care) is only 0.2% then my risk of ARDS is no more than a couple
percent.

~~~
garmaine
I’m on mobile. If you google, there are charts of hospitalization vs. age. The
primary reason for admittance to a hospital is ARDS.

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megous
Obvious question is whether the reviewed patients were the patients with
significant complications.

~~~
rwol
Agreed, without more details surrounding the test group numbers / selection,
it's hard to determine what level of concern this raises.

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russfink
How long after "recovery" were these assessments made? Some colds, even, have
a cough that lingers for months.

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Cantbekhan
It would be quite interesting to know what treatment those persons received...
Steroids? Chloroquine? Lopinavir/Ritonavir? Something else? I suppose not
remdesivir since the article seems to imply they're going to start trials of
it.

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thomk
Does anyone have any info regarding childhood asthma and coronavirus?

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norswap
I'd be curious about the long-terms effects of pneumonia in general. Are they
similar? Can this be counteracted by training lung functions?

