New virtual reality images show what happened when the coronavirus attacked an otherwise healthy 59-year-old man. The images can help you understand your symptoms if you get sick. https://www.nytimes.com/video/health/100000007056651/covid-ards-acute-respiratory-distress-syndrome.html

A few weeks ago I got sick with Covid-19 lik- symptoms after having been in close contact with someone who tested positive. I couldn't get tested, but I wondered how I could tell if I was on the serious path or the mild path? I tried to find out. And this is what I learned.

I learned that many patients on the serious path were getting acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). In one study https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32171076/  191 patients were confirmed positive for Covid-19. Of those, 54 died. Out of the 54 who died, 50 had ARDS.

@smlungpathguy told me what was happening at the microscopic level. He told me about diffuse alveolar damage (DAD). This helped me understand why so many patients were getting ARDS.

A quote from @NYGovCuomo from a presser from last week really sat with me: “The longer you're on a ventilator, the less likely you come off the ventilator.” Another study the radiology community shared with me ( https://pubs.rsna.org/doi/10.1148/radiol.2020200463) echoed that thought.

While there’s still a lot we don’t know about the virus, understanding some of this basic science helped instill some power in knowledge in me. I hope it can do the same for you. Check out our full video here: https://www.nytimes.com/video/health/100000007056651/covid-ards-acute-respiratory-distress-syndrome.html

VR images courtesy of @GWHospital and @SurgicalTheater. Graphics from The @nytimes Aaron Byrd.