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1 in 5 ages 18-34 with no underlying health conditions had not returned to usual health 2-3 weeks after testing positive for Covid-19. CDC random sample of mainly young adults who had tested positive across 14 US academic health care systems. 1/https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6930e1.htm
Of relevance to risk assessment of re-opening uni halls of residence & resuming in-person teaching: "convalescence can be prolonged even in young adults without chronic medical conditions, potentially leading to prolonged absence from work, studies, or other activities." 2/
Odds of not returning to normal health within 2-3 weeks are higher if older
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But the difference in odds between young & old of non-swift recovery
is not nearly as great as the difference in odds of death from Covid. Couldn't be as great, given how *high* the odds for the young are *in absolute terms* of non-swift recovery. 4/ https://medium.com/@mikeotsuka/healthy-workers-as-young-as-45-at-greater-risk-from-covid-19-than-clinically-vulnerable-workers-a1f610062af2
is not nearly as great as the difference in odds of death from Covid. Couldn't be as great, given how *high* the odds for the young are *in absolute terms* of non-swift recovery. 4/ https://medium.com/@mikeotsuka/healthy-workers-as-young-as-45-at-greater-risk-from-covid-19-than-clinically-vulnerable-workers-a1f610062af2
In the overall sample, whose median age was 42.5 years, 35% had not returned to their usual state of health when interviewed 2–3 weeks after testing. This includes those with & without pre-existing health conditions. 5/
Breakdown by age, including those with as well as without pre-existing health conditions: 26% 18–34 yrs, 32% 35–49 yrs, & 47% aged ≥50 "reported not having returned to their usual state of health (p = 0.010) within 14–21 days after receiving a positive test result". 6/
Much worse than the flu, where, among working adults (mean age 44), less than 10% of "outpatients with influenza [fail to] recover within approximately 2 weeks of having a positive test result". CDC cites thisre influenza. 7/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26565004/
re influenza. 7/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26565004/
This study is significant insofar as it's one of only a few, thus far, to quantify risks of serious illness short of death among a random sample of those confirmed to have Covid-19. 8/
The study is especially valuable insofar as it breaks risks down by age groups, while also adjusting for other factors such as pre-existing health conditions. See the full list of adjusted odds ratios which the study calculates (including for gender & ethnicity). 9/
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NB: In this study, 94% were experiencing at least one symptom at time of testing. Given the high proportion, especially among the young, of those with Covid-19 who remain asymptomatic, the study therefore doesn't provide odds of prolonged illness if infected. 10/
The following remains the case: even if you're young & healthy, you want to take precautions to ensure that you don't wake up one morning with symptoms that tests confirm to be caused by Covid-19. 11/
This is because your odds, in this case, of prolonged illness beyond 2-3 weeks are nearly one in five. Moreover, such illness develops in a number of cases into months of debility & suffering. 12/ https://twitter.com/MikeOtsuka/status/1287835804509904897
. 12/ https://twitter.com/MikeOtsuka/status/1287835804509904897
Yale Immunobiology Prof Akiko "Iwasaki is especially struck by the number of young, healthy, active people…who fall into the long-hauler category" of those afflicted with "dozens of symptoms" for months, "such as fatigue, joint pain, and fever". /13 https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/brain-fog-heart-damage-covid-19-s-lingering-problems-alarm-scientists
The risks, of course, are greater for those older & in less good health. But they remain real for young & healthy adults, ages 18-34. University leaders will need to update their plans for re-opening in the light of the information of risks short of death which is emerging. 14/14
A pieceon #LongCovid by @GYamey, a physician & professor of global health and public policy at @DukeU & Sharon Taylor, a Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist at @imperialcollege. 1/ https://time.com/5878448/longterm-covid19-recognition-research/
on #LongCovid by @GYamey, a physician & professor of global health and public policy at @DukeU & Sharon Taylor, a Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist at @imperialcollege. 1/ https://time.com/5878448/longterm-covid19-recognition-research/
@GYamey & Sharon Taylor note that #LongCovid challenges the assumption, on which re-opening many universities is based, that "it's safe to let young adults get infected". 2/
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Those universities, for example, which aren't providing for the frequent testing of all students , & which aren't eliminating widespread sharing of bedrooms & bathrooms in their halls of residence, must be assuming such safety of infection. 3/3 https://twitter.com/MikeOtsuka/status/1289243511414558721
, & which aren't eliminating widespread sharing of bedrooms & bathrooms in their halls of residence, must be assuming such safety of infection. 3/3 https://twitter.com/MikeOtsuka/status/1289243511414558721
Study involving cardiac MRI scans reveals heart damage among "relatively young, healthy patients" with Covid-19, many who "had just returned from ski vacations". 1/
https://www.statnews.com/2020/07/27/covid19-concerns-about-lasting-heart-damage/
https://www.statnews.com/2020/07/27/covid19-concerns-about-lasting-heart-damage/
Concerns raised"about relatively young people losing their cardiac health reserves, which typically decrease with age and can set the stage for heart failure". 2/
"about relatively young people losing their cardiac health reserves, which typically decrease with age and can set the stage for heart failure". 2/
This tweet, which I quoted above, also comments on the MRI study. 3/3 https://twitter.com/CT_Bergstrom/status/1287994291902545920
, which I quoted above, also comments on the MRI study. 3/3 https://twitter.com/CT_Bergstrom/status/1287994291902545920
