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Covid update thread: 2 1/2 weeks ago my brother developed early symptoms of Covid and tested positive after an outbreak at his work place. On my advice, per my training as a microbiologist, and because he has more than one risk factor, he asked his GP for antiviral meds.
He was told you could only get treated with antivirals like Remdesevir if you were hospitalized, and you had to be severely ill to be hospitalized. I told him that’s ridiculous because antiviral meds only work at the beginning of a viral infection.
A week and a half later, after developing such a severe cough that he hadn’t slept and had hardly eaten for 3 days, he went to the ER. They gave him an inhaler but told him he was too late in the infection for antiviral meds to work, and so they wouldn’t prescribe any.
So at the beginning of the illness he wasn’t sick enough to warrant antiviral meds, and when he was really sick it was too late to administer those meds.
As of today another week has gone by and he is finally beginning to improve. After about 15 straight days with a fever over 100, he’s had a couple of fever–free days. Meanwhile, earlier this week, I was exposed to an immediate family member who tested positive for covid.
I have at least 4 maybe 5 underlying health risk factors, so yesterday when I started having symptoms I went to an urgent care. I was told exactly what my brother (who’s not in my state) had been told: no antiviral meds unless I’m hospitalized, regardless of my medical history.
The doctor said they only have the Remdesevir in hospitals, and I could go to the ER if I wanted to try and get prophylactic treatment. So last night I went to the ER. Same story. No antiviral meds unless or until I’m hypoxic, non-ambulatory, and in the ICU.
I told him the details of my history which includes 2 autoimmune disorders, 2 chronic pain conditions and asthma, and I said, “Do you realize how much it’s going to cost if I’m back here in a week and need intubation in the ICU? Not to mention I likely won’t survive?” He nodded.
I also asked what would stop him from prescribing me the meds, because he is, after all, the doctor. He said the hospital system and pharmacy wouldn’t release the drugs because I don’t meet the current criteria. I said, “That defies common sense.” He said “It’s a systems issue.”
The ER doc also said that they just don’t know enough about this illness yet, and CDC guidelines are changing daily. I asked why he thought President Trump got well so quickly. He said the course of this illness is very different person to person, unlike flu or SARS.
I think Trump recovered so quickly for two reasons: 1. He has a solid constitution that keeps him healthy despite little sleep, massive stress, and years of McDonalds fries; 2. He got treated with antivirals and other meds AT THE ONSET OF ILLNESS.
So I’m at home on day 2 of illness- headache, fever, sore throat, body aches; my covid test result isn’t expected back for a few days; my covid positive family member has gone to a hotel; and I have a couple of observations...
First, people who say things like “Believe Science” are woefully uninformed sloganeers. Science & medicine are just as much art and intuition and process as anything else. Doctors are treating Covid with one hand tied behind their back by institutional and government bureaucracy.
Second, when government bodies (in this case the CDC) are in charge there’s ultimately no accountability. If I have a bad outcome despite trying to get early treatment, the doctors will be able to say, “We followed CDC guidelines,“
and the CDC will of course never be accountable because they can’t be fired or go out of business for poor customer service. Big picture: The larger the government the smaller the citizen.
Finally: Trump is not responsible for the 200,000+ Covid deaths in the US. What’s killing people is:
- A nasty, novel virus that’s mutating rapidly and that runs a very different course in different people
- A nasty, novel virus that’s mutating rapidly and that runs a very different course in different people
- A flawed and inflexible medical system that is honoring nonsensical protocol over clinical reasoning
- The politicization of an illness that has caused hysteria on one extreme and cavalier minimization on the other extreme.
- The politicization of an illness that has caused hysteria on one extreme and cavalier minimization on the other extreme.
The truth is Covid is a unique pathogen that’s making 1000s of people sick, some catastrophically, and no one wants to be one of the casualties. In response, Trump mobilized a vast number of people, businesses, government bodies, supplies & resources in a very short time period.
So where does that leave the individual? My experience is showing me there’s not a shortage of supplies or medicines now, but there is a cumbersome bureaucracy preventing doctors from exercising their own professional judgement.
So now I have to play the waiting game, take lots of Tylenol and the recommended supplements (zinc, vits D and C), and be
prepared to go back to the ER if I get worse, but not so late that they tell me I’ve passed the window where antiviral meds will be effective. Stay tuned...
prepared to go back to the ER if I get worse, but not so late that they tell me I’ve passed the window where antiviral meds will be effective. Stay tuned...
