> we know that there are a much greater percentage of people who will experience significant health problems, potentially with life-long impacts
This seems to be an alarmist statement. Any disease with a fever component will leave a small percentage with long term damage, same for diseases affecting the lungs.
>COVID-19: Lasting damage to the lungs, heart, kidneys, brain and other organs is possible after a severe case of COVID-19.
>Flu: Influenza complications can include inflammation of the heart (myocarditis), brain (encephalitis) or muscles (myositis, rhabdomyolysis) tissues, and multi-organ failure.
Scary headlines sell papers. I read recently on the BBC about brain damaged covid patients. There were less than 50 in a country of 50+ million. That is not a "much greater percentage".
It does everyone a disservice to spread exaggerated fear.
> It does everyone a disservice to spread exaggerated fear.
And so does poo-pooing risk when you have no actual numbers.
Every infectious disease expert I've heard from is puzzled by this disease. The variance of individual outcomes from expected norms is simply impossible to predict. Taking unnecessary risk is the act of a fool.
If you or your close ones invite even a small chance of a dire outcome, then you play it safe. And you hope your good neighbors will be likewise considerate.
There are lots of numbers on the flu and other infection diseases that cause the same problems. Here's a paper I just looked up for another comment talking about heart inflammation from influenza, http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.685...
> During the Sheffield, England influenza epi-demic from 1972 to 1973, the cases of 50 consecutive patients who were initially diagnosed as mild cases and were treated on an outpatient basis were followed. Transient electrocardiogram (ECG) changes were seen in 18 patients, and long-lasting changes were seen in 5 patients.
Granted I learned more than I wanted to know about the complications around influenza, and that the numbers are more significant thanI though, but my opinion is reinforced that covid is nothing out of the ordinary for these types of viruses.
>If you or your close ones invite even a small chance of a dire outcome, then you play it safe. And you hope your good neighbors will be likewise considerate.
You asked me about numbers, and now I would like to ask you the same question. What do you mean by even a small chance? Does that small chance include the risk every year from the flu, with all the related complications and possible long term effects? We don't shut the world down every year for that.
I'm not meaning to "poo-poo" risk. I want to quantify it. I'd like an intellectually rigorous response to the situation. I feel like the danger from covid relative to other similar diseases has been exaggerated, so many alarming headlines, for the clicks, not put into context, etc.
This seems to be an alarmist statement. Any disease with a fever component will leave a small percentage with long term damage, same for diseases affecting the lungs.
From https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseas...
>COVID-19: Lasting damage to the lungs, heart, kidneys, brain and other organs is possible after a severe case of COVID-19.
>Flu: Influenza complications can include inflammation of the heart (myocarditis), brain (encephalitis) or muscles (myositis, rhabdomyolysis) tissues, and multi-organ failure.
Scary headlines sell papers. I read recently on the BBC about brain damaged covid patients. There were less than 50 in a country of 50+ million. That is not a "much greater percentage".
It does everyone a disservice to spread exaggerated fear.