It was bound to happen . . .

Living with COVID-19

It was a comment I had heard often over the last two and a half years, “You haven’t had COVID-19 yet—how is that possible?” Guess what? It wasn’t.

My turn came in mid August. After a few days of runny nose and multiple negative rapid antigen tests, wondering if this was allergies (ragweed) or hangover (Four Roses Small Batch), I finally had a strong positive test.

I am forever grateful for the vaccines from Pfizer/Moderna/Trump/Fauci (let’s spread the love), because I was pretty sick, and without those four doses of vaccine (last dose in April, 2022), I think I would have been hospitalized.

I have asthma, and I needed my rescue inhaler on top of my maintenance medication, for several days. My health and fitness tracker showed that my heart rate climbed and overnight oxygen saturations went awry BEFORE my test turned positive. My oral thermometer recorded a normal temperature, but when I went to an urgent care for evaluation the tympanic membrane (ear) probe recorded a fever of 101º. I did receive, and take, a five day course of Paxlovid. I didn’t enjoy the taste, but my symptoms improved after taking it.

I had severe cough for almost a week. Lingering cough persisted for three weeks. I lost my sense of taste and smell for about two days, but it is now back to normal.

Now, over a month later, I am back to feeling normal, exercising at normal levels, and my sleeping heart rate is back into the low 50s.

While many have survived infection without serious complications, not everyone has been so lucky. As we have seen with other infections, such as Epstein Barr Virus and Lyme Disease, post-infection symptoms can persist for weeks or months—what has been called “Long Covid”. I think I have dodged that bullet as well.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/long-term-effects/index.html

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/long-term-effects/index.html...

I still know a few people who have not yet been diagnosed with COVID-19. Almost all of them have had some symptoms, but negative rapid antigen tests, and a few negative PCR tests. But rapid antigen tests will miss some cases, and the PCR tests take a bit more effort to get, and longer to turn around. I fear some who have one or two negative tests will assume that they are not infected—and go on to infect others. I didn’t test positive until my third test and day #4 of symptoms.

So where to?

The bad news is that viral load has been higher this past summer than the summer before, as demonstrated in the chart below of viral particles in Twin Cities wastewater. Not surprising that there is more virus in the community given the general absence of mitigating strategies such as masking and social distancing.

Twin Cities Wastewater SARS-CoV-2 viral particles over time

The good news is that we have better vaccines, better treatments and more ample tests than last year. Additionally, we have been building immunity in the remaining COVID-19 survivors. So unless there is emergence of a new variant that can somehow evade immunity built up over the last two and a half years, chances remain good that COVID-19, while still heavily circulating, will no longer overwhelm hospital ICUs.

We will be living with COVID-19 at least for another year—and probably longer. I will be getting my bivalent vaccine probably in mid to late October—about two months after my infection. I would recommend the bivalent vaccination as soon as possible for everyone eligible, unless they have been recently infected.