Is covid getting weaker?

[anniemae]

I was chatting with a neighbor the other day and she feels the virus is weakening. She personally knew someone with it back in March who was very very ill and almost died. she recently knew of two people who had it and both said it was just a couple weeks of being mildly ill and tired.

Could it be a milder version now? Or is it simply because we have more of an understanding of the virus and how to treat it?

 

[Allison]

Or a sample of 3 tells you nothing.

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

There are numerous SARS-CoV-2 strains. The latest science says it is probably evolving to be more contagious and evade precautionary techniques, but causes less serious illness. Other new science says the severity of disease relies strongly on the level of neanderthal DNA a person has.

 

[isabellea]

Many things can explain milder symptoms. The virus strain (there are multiple sub-strains circulating right now) but also the person immunity. It was recently published that close to 15% of the hospitalized patients with severe symptoms have a mutation in the type I interferon pathway. Type I interferons are well known to be important in our resistance to viruses. Dr Casanova is a world-renowned scientist in the field of human genetics so I'm not surprised he was the first to publish such studies.

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/new...ogic-underpinnings-some-cases-severe-covid-19

 

[DisneyDebbie]

There are numerous SARS-CoV-2 strains. The latest science says it is probably evolving to be more contagious and evade precautionary techniques, but causes less serious illness. Other new science says the severity of disease relies strongly on the level of neanderthal DNA a person has.

I have a lot of Neanderthal DNA!! I’m off to Google

 

[Kitty 34]

From what I've read and observed.....I don't think it's getting weaker; we're just realizing that thousands of people respond to it differently. In fact at the beginning of all this I had more telling me about their horrible "flu symptoms" than anyone has recently experienced lately.

eta.......but I'm not a doctor or scientist.

 

[JimMIA]

I'd be very suspicious of any information indicating Covid is getting weaker. Every disease affects different people differently. There are just too many differences between people for any generalizations to be very believable.

What I do think is happening is that we are much better at treating Covid today than we were 6 months ago. Remember all the panic about not enough respirators? They are rarely used today, and that's just one example. So many different techniques, new medications, old medications that have been found to help -- just so many improvements now that reduce the severity and mortality.

 

[AustinTink]

It's not getting weaker. Just wishful thinking, unfortunately.

 

[Onceler]

In March, some people became seriously ill while others had mild or no symptoms.
Today, some people become seriously ill while others have mild or no symptoms.

 

[anniemae]

I'd be very suspicious of any information indicating Covid is getting weaker. Every disease affects different people differently. There are just too many differences between people for any generalizations to be very believable.

What I do think is happening is that we are much better at treating Covid today than we were 6 months ago. Remember all the panic about not enough respirators? They are rarely used today, and that's just one example. So many different techniques, new medications, old medications that have been found to help -- just so many improvements now that reduce the severity and mortality.

That was exactly my thought. It seems more and more cases we are hearing about today do not involve ICU stays with ventilators, like in March.

 

[DisneyDebbie]

In my area, it appears that the vast majority of positive cases don't even need medical treatment, the better treatment protocols aren't necessary at this time. Is it because of more testing? Is it because of our mask mandate and social distancing?

 

[MamaLema]

My completely non professional opinion is no.

 

[anniemae]

In March, some people became seriously ill while others had mild or no symptoms.
Today, some people become seriously ill while others have mild or no symptoms.

Yes, but it's not the same as March. In March ICU's were full, people were sharing ventilators and/or people died because there were not enough ventilators, there were makeshift hospitals in tents to handle the overflow of patients. It's just not the same now. People are still getting infected, but it's not as severe it seems. I think we just have better treatments now.

 

[Colleen27]

I'd be very suspicious of any information indicating Covid is getting weaker. Every disease affects different people differently. There are just too many differences between people for any generalizations to be very believable.

What I do think is happening is that we are much better at treating Covid today than we were 6 months ago. Remember all the panic about not enough respirators? They are rarely used today, and that's just one example. So many different techniques, new medications, old medications that have been found to help -- just so many improvements now that reduce the severity and mortality.

And a higher percentage of cases now are among lower-risk groups, particularly kids and young adults. They were among some of the most effectively isolated early on, with the schools and nearly all public places closing, so they accounted for a disproportionately low percentage of cases. Now the schools are open, young people have hit their limit for social isolation, and these lower-risk groups are making up a disproportionately high percentage of cases at the same time that better prevention protocols are ensuring the highest-risk elderly are making up a smaller percentage. That causes a lower death rate, overall, without any change in the virus itself.

 

[disykat]

I sincerely hope so. That said, I think a lot of people in high risk groups (obviously not all) are trying to protect themselves and are being protected by others. I think Washington state is a great example of this. We had a very high initial rate because it hit a very high risk group. Now that we are following stringent protocol, those groups AND the people who contact people in that group are much more protected and all are numbers are going downwards.

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

Wanted to add, another science article I read recently also said that the usage of non-medical masks also lowers but not totally eliminates our exposure to the virus, so that over time we are exposed to low levels thus building immunity https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2026913\
And the others I referred to earlier: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2818-3 and the D614G mutation (there are numerous articles on this and what it could mean for viral spread).

 

[JimMIA]

I'm not an epidemiologist, and I have no clue. But I do think Honest Abe makes a lot of sense...

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

I'm not an epidemiologist, and I have no clue. But I do think Honest Abe makes a lot of sense...

View attachment 529933

These are scientific journal articles. They aren't random tidbits from the internet.

 

[amcnj]

Just a couple of weeks ago I heard it said again that 40-50% have no symptoms. I later read something saying it is probably lower than that (25-45%), but still a substantial number. With more testing now than way back when, more know they have it, even those without symptoms. Early on many would not have even known they had it, since they had no symptoms and couldn’t be/wouldn’t have bothered to be tested.

 

[JimMIA]

These are scientific journal articles. They aren't random tidbits from the internet.

Not a criticism, just a little historical perspective.