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Excerpts:
My vaccinations, meanwhile, likely kept the worst outcomes from happening, even though my symptoms rapidly intensified after I tested positive. Aside from the rudimentary runny nose and a strong cough, it initially felt like someone was occasionally stepping on my chest just below the collarbone. I began Sunday without a fever, and then my body temperature rose to 102 degrees Fahrenheit in less than three hours. My back and spine ached.
“Think about the worst cold you’ve ever had,” said Dr. Mark Horowitz, a physician based in the Financial District, who didn’t diagnose me but who described why most people might not have a solid sense of what “mild COVID” truly means. “And, about 10% of the time, a truck hits you on your way to Duane Reade.”
These points were echoed by a virtual doctor, who spoke with me about three hours after I put in a request for a consultation with my private health care insurer. The long wait is a sign of the epic demand for COVID health care right now, and a reminder of how people lacking access must feel lost.
Based on my virtual doctor’s description, my symptoms started mild, before the effects moved toward being moderate and then circled back to mildish. Imagine feeling teeth-chattering chills, a stifling cough and slight shortness of breath — on and off every six hours. The doctor expects me to make a full recovery, a payoff of the protection from my two vaccine doses plus a booster. But I wouldn’t have known how to track my symptoms without access to health care.
No one should be surprised that I was infected even while boosted. Based on the latest findings from the United Kingdom, the omicron variant is already starting to break through a booster shot’s barrier against infection, though protection against severe disease will be retained for most people.
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Symptoms: Runny nose, fever, cough, chest congestion, some aches.
All combined, my health history and vaccination status would predict a mild or moderate case, based on federal and international guidelines. Along with the symptoms listed above, the National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization describe a mild case as potentially having routine signs such as sore throat, headache, loss of taste and smell, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Both health agencies might also classify my symptoms as moderate because I experienced some light signs of having pneumonia — slight shortness of breath and my wet, mucus-filled cough. Those symptoms possibly indicate that my lower respiratory tract — my lungs — might be struggling a bit. At the moderate stage, both standards would also call for a physical examination or a chest scan to see if the virus had harmed my lungs.
But the two agencies diverge when it comes to blood oxygen levels and the journey between a moderate to a severe state. The WHO says a severe case happens when those levels, known as oxygen saturation, drop below 90%. For the NIH, it’s 94%.
“The key is people can feel fine without realizing their oxygen levels are very low,” Dr. Abraar Karan, a Stanford University infectious disease physician, told WNYC/Gothamist.
To track my situation before it could progress to a dangerous state, my private health care provider advised that I obtain a pulse oximeter, a small device that clips to your finger to measure your blood oxygen levels. My partner is risk-averse, so we actually purchased an oximeter way back in April 2020. So far, my readings have typically been around 99% through Monday, though I did register a 96% during those early hours after testing positive.
Along with the oximeter, my remote doctor recommended fluids, fever-reducing pain relievers and a decongestant such as Mucinex. He also said that I was eligible for monoclonal antibody therapy, which prior to omicron, dramatically reduced the chances of hospitalization and death if taken within 10 days of exposure.
Read the whole article:
https://gothamist.com/news/what-a-mild-to-moderate-omicron-case-feels-like
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weehingthong 