Edit: I think I haven’t been clear.
So, uh, let me be clear:
Let’s say you’re fully vaccinated, wearing an n95 in public, and living with children that are fully vaccinated, but the children cannot wear masks and they go to schools without mask or vaccine policies.
So, are you safer if you get exposed to small amounts of Covid? My thinking was that otherwise you’re letting your vaccine wear off just hoping the kids don’t bring it home.
I’m certainly no expert on immunity, but I think there’s something about increased response to something frequently seen. And I’m wondering if the immune system will sort of build a better sketch of the suspect with repeated viewings.
Original post: We want to avoid infection, and breakthroughs happen, but concentration and duration of exposure affect likelihood and severity of infection.
So should the vaccinated avoid all exposure? Or is there any benefit to letting your immune system see some Covid occasionally?
Is my immune system like “Oh hey, these look a little like those ones I was warned about, I’ll add them to the list and keep that whole family on my radar for a while longer”
I know someone will come along and answer this in more detail. But the tldr is that covid infections weaken, not strengthen your immune system. And long covid can be the worst thing imaginable so it's not worth risking.
:this: avoid it as much as you can and put as much time as possible between infections. I have a hard time believing that people who get it once or twice a year will be with us very long. The thought of what we're allowing to happen to kids right now swings me from rage to sorrow and back as a constant mood.
Infection, yes, definitely bad. But I’m wondering about expose to viral material below the threshold for infection.
Just get the vaccine. It does the job that you're hoping exposure will give you. You can't ensure you're exposed to viral material below the threshold for infection.
I, of corse, have the vaccine. I even still use an n95 and stay clean shaven for it. I’m just wondering if there’s any positive effects from the minor exposure I still have. I imagine it sort of diversifying the immunity that the vaccine started.
Problem with that is, how to do that safely? Otherwise, just assume that you're already getting "below the threshold" doses of COVID and already have whatever benefits youre going to get.
https://news.arizona.edu/story/many-mild-covid-19-infections-experience-long-term-symptoms
Data from a University of Arizona Health Sciences longitudinal study on COVID-19 shows that 67% of people with mild or moderate COVID-19 infection develop long COVID, with symptoms that last more than 30 days after a positive test.
That's why I continue masking. Demographically I'm in great shape and would likely not get a severe case. If I did though, it'd shift my demographic hard in the other direction. If it was a mild case, it'd chip away at my demographic security and put another plague bullet in the chamber for the next round of Russian roulette. Long COVID is as much neurological as it is cardiovascular as it is pulmonary, and compromising any of those systems has compounding effects against the others.
There's just no sense in risking it. Hoping for individual longterm immunity is the same thing as hoping for herd immunity. Sacrifice enough and maybe the survivors won't suffer consequences.
This exactly. This is a vascular, not respiratory, disease. It touches everything, and a shitton of publications lately suggest that thing is bad, potentially very bad, long term. The Chinese government's response always made sense; and now may be sadly about to shift mainly due to the rest of the world not giving a single fuck.
Personally I've been religiously wearing properly-rotated N95s for like two years, and I plan on keeping doing it. Still haven't caught it (that I know of I guess) thus far.
I'm unsure how you would only get a little Covid, you're probably exposed to small amounts that aren't enough to cause you to fall ill everytime you shop for groceries.
That’s exactly what I mean. Not enough to cause infection, but enough to interact with your immune system somewhat. The grocery story example is prescient because I’m wondering if one should eliminate those situations completely. Or, maybe the little bit that slips past your mask keeps your immune system ‘up to date’. I worry about taking too thorough precautions while the world just stirs the pot until I eventually do need to go outside, at which point I find a variation that my vaccine doesn’t cover.
Your vaccine was already like 6 months outdated when they gave it to you. Wear n-95s, do your best to avoid it, and don't worry about the minutiae of variants. That recent post about being early has a lot of good studies linked.
It’s that post and the recent policy shift in China that has me wondering about this. Should I be even more strict and avoid breathing the same air as anyone else? Or, is my vaccine-provided immunity better when it is occasionally tested by a few :covid-cool: particles that get past my n95.
You should try to avoid all exposure. You will end up getting exposed anyways, but it will be in much smaller doses and will be less likely to lead to infection, but you will get a small (good) immune response from it.
If you're <50 & not sure if you've had an active infection already, just get a nucleocapsid antibody test. I shelled out ~$50 for one.
If you don't already have long COVID symptoms, and you have nucleocapsid antibodies (eg, not spike protein subunit antibodies which are the only kind conferred by medical products) then you're almost definitely fine.
I had high levels of antibodies detectable in blood in Jul 2020, never had any symptoms whatsoever but was in Shanghai visiting fiance's family and we left at the tail-end of Jan 2020 so maybe then, maybe later, who knows. Subsequent tests in May 2021 and Jan 2022 also had showed consistent high N antibody levels. In Feb 2022 my triple-vaccinated fiance got a pretty bad case at work, in a school. Lasted for ~12 days. She's >50. I took no precautions whatsoever and never felt sick.
