Six distinct 'types' of COVID-19 identified

[ivinsfan]

I read that those with diarrhea could have been infected via water and wastewater systems.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41545-020-0079-1

So maybe different symptoms are presented depending on how one contracts the virus.

It sounds more like a sanitation issue to me and they say might or maybe a lot.

 

[Moemg]

My SO & I had it a month ago . We both had #2 except I had severe stomach pain. We both are 73 with preexisting conditions . I would have thought it was just a sinus infection but the stomach pains were intense .

 

[audreyh1]

Some folks actually do have underlying health issues, but may just not know about it. For example, it's pretty well accepted that about 88% of Americans are metabolically unhealthy, to some degree. These are people that are overweight/obese, possibly pre-diabetic, have high blood pressure, high triglycerides, etc.. My guess is that a fair percentage of these people have never actually been diagnosed with these conditions (for a variety of reasons - not everyone makes regular doctor visits, for one thing), so nothing is documented. Yes, it is probably still true that this virus can cause serious problems for some younger folks that are truly in good health, but my guess is that a lot of these folks are not as healthy as they may think. See link to short article below re. metabolic health.

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/what-does-it-mean-to-be-metabolically-healthy

But we can’t assert that because someone had a bad outcome they must have been metabolically unhealthy. And the nasty immune system over-reaction is not linked to metabolic disease AFAIK, so anyone could have their immune system go haywire.

 

[audreyh1]

This discussion has me thinking again about the futility of temperature checks.

I was on a volunteer work crew earlier this week and we had 2x per day temperature checks. I really wondered if they were worth it. I'm more and more thinking they are dangerously giving false security.

Yes, almost useless. Too late because 1) someone is contagious before developing any symptoms, and pretty strongly so, 2) not everyone develops fever and 3) lots of non-Covid conditions can cause a fever. It’s an incredibly crude tool.

 

[eytonxav]

I understand the variations of symptoms a result of the individual response to the same virus. I've not read anything about mutations of Covid. An asymptomatic person has the same virus that can devastate someone else. People react differently to all sorts of illnesses.

No, this is simply classifying different typical responses/illness.

The linked layman article used the word 'type'. The abstract of the research paper doesn't use that word and just uses "symptom cluster." To me, that clearly is about symptoms and not mutations.

DW's niece clearly got it from her husband who had known exposure to a traveler. (This was March.) Same bug, manifested slightly differently based on their biology.

Right! I think the article title was perhaps purposely misleading.

 

[tmm99]

Yeah, they might have made it purposely misleading to try to get more people to read the article by the provocative headline. It's just talking about 6 categories of symptoms. As far as I know, only two strains of COVID-19 have been identified so far.

The severity of the illness I think depends on combinations of things like the viral load level, the level of your immune system, and how your unique physiological system (You may have pre-existing conditions, maybe you've already fought and won against a similar virus in the past, etc) reacts to this particular virus.

The only thing I have control over is to keep the viral load around me as low as possible (by social-distancing, wearing a mask, making sure people I have close contact with (ie. family members) do the same...

 

[audreyh1]

Yeah, they might have made it purposely misleading to try to get more people to read the article by the provocative headline. It's just talking about 6 categories of symptoms. As far as I know, only two strains of COVID-19 have been identified so far.

The severity of the illness I think depends on combinations of things like the viral load level, the level of your immune system, and how your unique physiological system (You may have pre-existing conditions, maybe you've already fought and won against a similar virus in the past, etc) reacts to this particular virus.

The only thing I have control over is to keep the viral load around me as low as possible (by social-distancing, wearing a mask, making sure people I have close contact with (ie. family members) do the same...

Yes, absolutely, IMO viral load matters. A young healthy person can be exposed to a large viral load and end up with nasty illness like that poor young doctor in Wuhan who I think ended up succumbing to a cytokine storm/immune system overreaction.

Our approach with hygiene/PPE, besides protecting others, is to try to keep the infection dose very low if we do get exposed.

 

[Dtail]

DW and I both were sick the month of April, right before the addition of lost taste and smell were added as symptoms.

We were trying to say we had a cold but without a stuffy nose and all the goes with it. I knew my smell was compromised but didn't realize how bad it was until everything went back to normal. Did we have Covid-19? I don't know but it changes nothing!

I hear ya.
Can't think of any other run of the mill sicknesses in which one loses their sense of smell/taste, besides what was mentioned.

 

[SecondCor521]

I hear ya.
Can't think of any other run of the mill sicknesses in which one loses their sense of smell/taste, besides what was mentioned.

It's a common symptom of allergies, sinusitis, and rhinitis.

https://health.uconn.edu/tasteandsmell/patient-care/viral-damage-and-nasal-sinus-disease/

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

DFIL didn't fit any of this. Covid positive with 2 positive roommates to validate. Runny nose, extreme fatigue, loss of appetite. No cough or anything else we recall. Transported bc oxygen dropped and dehydrated from sleeping and not eating.

 

[Amethyst]

I've posted before that I sustained permanent smell/taste (olfactory nerve) loss after what I thought was a heavy cold, at age 25. Those senses have been about 30% normal ever since - it's like listening to a song on the radio with the sound turned way down. You can tell there's a song playing, and whether it's classical or rock, but you can't enjoy it like you used to.

I went to a neurologist, who ruled out a brain tumor and told me I was "lucky." He said respiratory viruses can and do attack sensory and motor nerves. It could have been sight, hearing, or motor control.

I hear ya.
Can't think of any other run of the mill sicknesses in which one loses their sense of smell/taste, besides what was mentioned.

 

[ivinsfan]

I've posted before that I sustained permanent smell/taste (olfactory nerve) loss after what I thought was a heavy cold, at age 25. Those senses have been about 30% normal ever since - it's like listening to a song on the radio with the sound turned way down. You can tell there's a song playing, and whether it's classical or rock, but you can't enjoy it like you used to.

I went to a neurologist, who ruled out a brain tumor and told me I was "lucky." He said respiratory viruses can and do attack sensory and motor nerves. It could have been sight, hearing, or motor control.

Well I guess that neurologist must tell everyone that doesn't have a brain tumor that they are "lucky"...

 

[Amethyst]

For a fact, that was my exact thought at the time! But it truly would have been worse to lose, say, my hearing than my sense of smell.

Well I guess that neurologist must tell everyone that doesn't have a brain tumor that they are "lucky"...

 

[Navigator]

But we can’t assert that because someone had a bad outcome they must have been metabolically unhealthy. And the nasty immune system over-reaction is not linked to metabolic disease AFAIK, so anyone could have their immune system go haywire.

I believe there is a degree of luck involved in who has a bad outcome and who does not. For example, several studies showed that people with type A blood had a worse outcome than those with type O. It seems people with type O blood inherited an immune system that is better able to fight this particular virus. That is just a matter of luck of the draw. I don’t believe that even those of us who consider ourselves healthy can count on having a mild or even moderately severe case.

 

[braumeister]

several studies showed that people with type A blood had a worse outcome than those with type O.

Those were very preliminary conclusions and further experience has not confirmed that blood type makes any appreciable difference.

 

[Chuckanut]

I think of loss of smell or taste as being an oddball symptom that would definitely get my attention!

One 'expert' spritzes a small burst of cheap perfume into the air and sniffs every morning as a test to see if he might have caught CV.

 

[Navigator]

Those were very preliminary conclusions and further experience has not confirmed that blood type makes any appreciable difference.

You are correct that there have been recent conflicting reports, with studies from the UK and China claiming an association (even one paper from 4 days ago) and ones in the US saying there is no association between blood type and severity of COVID-19 infections. I guess statistics are hard.

 

[audreyh1]

I believe there is a degree of luck involved in who has a bad outcome and who does not. For example, several studies showed that people with type A blood had a worse outcome than those with type O. It seems people with type O blood inherited an immune system that is better able to fight this particular virus. That is just a matter of luck of the draw. I don’t believe that even those of us who consider ourselves healthy can count on having a mild or even moderately severe case.

Yes, exactly. And who knows if their immune system is going to go auto haywire? Although I do believe in general the smaller the exposure dose the milder the disease.

 

[audreyh1]

One 'expert' spritzes a small burst of cheap perfume into the air and sniffs every morning as a test to see if he might have caught CV.

Bacon cooking is good enough for me!

 

[MichaelB]

Bacon cooking is good enough for me!

 

[Another Reader]

They had fatigue, but they got over it at about 2 weeks. The niece considers herself a near vegan (occasional dairy and fish, so really a pescatarian). She always has GI issues, so it wasn't a surprise it manifested that way. Her husband is an omnivore with no issues.

Key here is both are healthy with none of the risk factors.

Others we know from church (40s, and one child late teens) also recovered within a week or so. No risk factors. Also, our friend's daughter and baby recovered fast. She's 20s, baby under 1yr. She's a running nut with no risk factors.

See a trend? No risk factors, all under 50. All recovered without known lingering issues.

Mostly healthy people in their 20's and 30's in the Long Haul COVID groups... Some with sick kids, including babies and toddlers.

 

[GravitySucks]

6c

 

[sengsational]

This discussion has me thinking again about the futility of temperature checks.

I think SpO2 would be more effective.

For example, several studies showed that people with type A blood had a worse outcome than those with type O. It seems people with type O blood inherited an immune system that is better able to fight this particular virus.

I'm not sure this has been proven one way or the other, but there are some high quality studies underway. One thing was known before the pandemic is that type O people have 25% less von Willebrand factor. That, combined with the observation that von Willebrand factor is smack in the middle Covid's nasty clotting mechanism, and you've got to wonder. But the difference would probably not manifest except for the more severe cases, where there are severe downstream effects of clotting.

One 'expert' spritzes a small burst of cheap perfume into the air and sniffs every morning as a test to see if he might have caught CV.

Me and DW got a jar of cumin out of the pantry back in March and held it at different distances until we smelled it. Pretty crude measure, but if I know I was smelling it from 3 feet, and now can't smell it from a foot, something's wrong! Took a total of 2 minutes...I'd say a good investment in time.

 

[harllee]

DH lost his sense of smell/taste/hearing 2 winters ago from influenza. It was an awful experience for him--if it happens you will know it. He lost weight, no sense of taste. He got terribly depressed. It took a couple of months but his sense of small and taste came back. His hearing is still impaired (tinnitus). It was and is a terrible experience for him.
I am doing everything I can to make sure he does not get Covid-19, I don't think he could survive it.

 

[JoeWras]

I think SpO2 would be more effective.

I thought this was a later stage symptom? I mean, like a few days after getting it?

No?