Eight days into her illness, my sister-in-law's COVID test results came back.

[NNadir]

Last edited Wed Apr 1, 2020, 03:53 PM - Edit history (1)

She's got it.

She's getting better though, after self isolating in a bedroom in her home, with her children and her boyfriend (who's recovering himself from major surgery) bringing things to the door.

We figured she had it, and we're very grateful that she is recovering.

Edit: I do want to thank all of the wonderful people at DU for their kind words and good wishes.

You people are just the best.

I wish everyone a safe and healthy outcome in these tragic times.

[TEB]

1. Very happy for your family

[NNadir]

5. Thank you. She works in a hospital setting, and when she's fully healed, she'll be able...

...to help others, having immunity.

I did share with her a paper that I discussed over in the Science forum stating that people can remain infectious for a while after recovering, but if she's clean for a week or so, she'll be back in business.

She did all of her doctor visits by video, which is a great thing.

[amuse bouche]

21. Are you sure once recovered,you can't get it again?

[NNadir]

22. If you recover, you have antibodies to the virus, at least the strain that infected you.

If you don't develop antibodies - and people who suffer fatality probably all fit in this class - you stay sick.

I haven't seen anything in the literature about relapses. I have seen, and discussed over in the Science forum the fact that people can remain infectious to others after treatment. This is a different case though.

That thread is here: Covid patients can remain infectious following recovery.

I have advised my sister-in-law of this, but the truth is that she may or may not listen to me. She is a social worker, and her knowledge of virology is very superficial.

I caution that the statistical power of that study I cited in that thread is small. The validity therefore needs to be confirmed. I'm sure people are looking at it. There is some very fast moving science on this, and I'm trying to open five or six papers a day on the subject. (The world scientific publishing community has made all Covid related literature open sourced.) Much of what I read is not really clinical in nature, but is rather focused on the molecular biology.

I am in no way claiming that I have better insight than anyone else who has worked in the pharmaceutical industry. There are many, many, many, people smarter than I am who are better equipped to answer these questions, and all of them I'm sure, are working diligently to support our medical community and our world community.

However, I'm pretty confident that recovery implies immunity. That is how most epidemics die out.

[kurtcagle]

26. Perhaps not on this one

There's been some disquieting evidence that Covid-19 does not confer full immunity - it might make future cases milder, but the disease appears to compromise the immune system in fairly insidious ways.

[NNadir]

27. Again, I haven't seen that anywhere in the literature, but it is not possible to be comprehensive.

If you have a reference for that, I would appreciate it.

We would expect this kind of effect with a disease like HIV, which acts on the immune system, but not with a virus attacking at ACE2.

[NNadir]

30. This Lancet preprint paper, if confirmed, would seem to suggest you may be on to something.

Dysregulation of Immune Response in Patients with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China

It seems somewhat surprising to me, but it's interesting.

[amuse bouche]

32. Thanks for the input. I asked because I watched a surgeon,

Dr Vuong talk about the virus and how, I think he believed you could become infected multiple times.

He also said there would be 1.5 million confirmed cases by Easter and he believed there are already more than 1 million now.

[spooky3]

2. Good vibes to her and you.++++++++++

[eppur_se_muova]

3. EIGHT days for test results ?? WTF ?? I know it's a problem finding tests, but really ?

Was it another one of those can't-prove-she-had-been-in-contact-with-someone-who-had-it situations ?

If there were enough test kits, doctors wouldn't have to ration tests like this. It's ridiculous that they're forced to restrict them so much.

[NNadir]

8. Yeah, it took a long time. Her nephew, my son, as part of his senior research project...

...has been working with a team to develop point of care HIV tests in Africa. Today their adviser told them that they should drop it and develop rapid Covid tests. They have to turn in ideas by this evening.

Of course, they have all left the university and are working remotely - with no access to labs - but the good side of it is that, as I am also working from home, we were able to brainstorm together and I gave him some ideas that he is now upstairs researching in the literature up in his room. Happily for me, I have been looking into this sort of equipment for professional reasons.

I told him that I don't think given the viral loads we've seen in easily accessible tissues, that he's going to get a point of care device readily, but I do think they can design one with a very inexpensive detection system with pretty good sensitivity and most importantly fast.

For my sister-in-law's case, she lives in a semi-rural area with a few small cities. The hospital at which she works - she's a social worker - has tested over 1,000 people and several hundred have come back positive.

I'm very thankful she didn't need hospitalization. She told us when we spoke to her (briefly as she was unable to talk long) that she has never felt so sick in her life.

We are very, very, very, very lucky. If there is a God, she was with us.

[kag]

12. So glad your sister is doing better.

And thank you for the work you and your son are doing. We need everyone's brain on this, especially the smart ones like you.

Stay well.

[mostlyalurker]

16. mine took 14 days.

which is now typical. so when you see the numbers on the news—be aware that they are at least a week and probably two weeks old.

[cwydro]

25. A 70 something friend of mine in SC is on day 14 of waiting for test results.

Makes no sense at all to me.

[Lisa0825]

4. So glad she is recovering!!! nt

[rustysgurl]

6. Glad she is recovering n/t

[Scarsdale]

7. So glad for the entire family.

What an ordeal, eh?

[FirstLight]

9. yikes...glad she is recovering

but eight days? damn...i get blood work back faster than that!

[denbot]

10. Good to hear.

My adult son is quarantined to his room, with my wife placing food at his door, then he places the dirty dish back outside, which she collects to wash.

Since his room has it’s own entrance it keeps him out of the main area of the house, except to use the bathroom, and my mini fridge in the room next door where he now stores his beer.

Neither one is ill, but he works outside the home (The company he works for makes insulin pumps), so he has contact with multiple people throughout his day. I also shelter in place as a long haul truck driver, and won’t return home till this is reasonably over because we all agree that I have the highest chance of being exposed to the COVAD-19 virus.

[calimary]

11. SHEESH - eight days!?!?!

Glad she's on the mend now.

[gademocrat7]

13. Glad she is recovering.

Take care.

[democrank]

14. Good news that your sister-in-law is getting better

[jayschool2013]

15. My niece is apparently out of the woods, but

now her mother, my sister-in-law, has tested positive and is working through slightly worse symptoms.

Niece was teaching English in Spain and came home to her family in Florida two weeks ago.

Best wishes to you and yours, NNadir.

[NNadir]

18. And certainly I wish all the best to your family. May the course of their infections...

...turn out even better than they have for my sister-in-law.

[flying_wahini]

17. My nephew STILL waiting on results and it's been 2 weeks

Texas- got it on the 17th.

[NNadir]

19. Yeah, it's bad. After some research, my son told me an hour or so ago...

...that over 200 different kinds of tests are under development.

His university has diverted his senior project to consider these and we consider these option.

We expected my sister-in-law's test to come back in three days. She works in a hospital, and still nothing.

[defacto7]

20. Glad to hear she is recovering.

Hibernate and stay well!

[DFW]

23. Best wishes for her to make it the rest of the way out of the woods! n/t

[generalbetrayus]

24. Thanks for the positive news post - they are so hard to find these days.

I'm glad she dodged the bullet. Best wishes on a complete recovery.

[Peregrine Took]

28. My 96 yr old SIL in a nursing home DIDN'T have it!

They sure were relieved.

She had the low grade fever, sniffles, cough, but the test said nope.

She is ferocious - has had 2 types of cancer, she's blind, had extensive spine surgery at age 80 and a heart attack, had one of hose super bug diseases 10 years ago and was in a coma for a week.

Plus she is wheelchair bound and a powerful will to live.

[DenverJared]

29. Excellent news

I'm sure she is going to make it through

[NNadir]

31. Edited to thank everyone for their kind words. n/t.