I've never been optimistic for a vaccine.
My hopes have been for optimized treatment and I think we've made progress.
Convalescent plasma is our new Frontline treatment but its no magic bullet and it requires donations by recovered patients which is not a reliable supply stream.
I think, from what ive seen, is generally healthy people don't have serious complications. They can get sick AF but they don't die... usually. They'll be facing long term issues from lung damage, but can survive.
If you're diabetic, obese, on dialysis, or any other long term high inflammatory condition, you're gonna have a bad time. From what ive seen, these are the groups that die, or come close. Not saying if youre not in there that you're free to go, weve had a few early 20's with no history end up in the refrigerated trailers. But the majority that die are the ones who's bodies have no fight left in them. We discharged several 90+ year olds as rcovered. We had a 103 year old positive who made it back to the nursing home at baseline function.
No recovered patient has said that was nothing.
Even after recovery and ok to return to work, the doctors and nurses and cnas and rad techs and respiratory therapists and pt/ot etc that were sidelined for infection have said its absolute hell. They're struggling to get through a shift, exhausted by the walk into work. And thats likely gonna last forever. The physical damage the virus causes doesn't go away.
danmdevries wrote:
