What A 'Mild-To-Moderate' Omicron Case Feels Like

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:

Nsikan Akpan, PhD
@MoNscience
Omicron got me, fam...

...and I can testify that "mild-to-moderate" symptoms probably feel worse than you think.

My journey through testing, NYC's health care landscape and those symptoms, which I experienced despite being boosted* for @WNYC/@Gothamist

What A ‘Mild-To-Moderate’ Omicron Case Feels Like
Imagine the worst cold you’ve ever had, where someone is occasionally stepping on your chest just below your collarbone.
gothamist.com
4:21 AM · Dec 28, 2021

https://gothamist.com/news/what-a-mild-to-moderate-omicron-case-feels-like

*snip*

But no amount of precautions can guarantee staying COVID-free – a lesson I’ve learned countless times as a health news editor who has covered the pandemic from its earliest stages. My partner, coworkers and family would undoubtedly describe my adherence to protocols as above average. My exposure potentially happened while I was wearing a mask indoors – but sharing space with someone who wasn’t wearing one. My standards lapsed one time, and omicron got me.

I'm disappointed but also grateful because I have access to both testing and COVID-19 vaccines. Without the at-home tests, which we were lucky enough to order before the omicron wave exploded and drained supplies, I would have walked by hundreds of fellow travelers on Sunday, potentially exposing the people sitting next to me on the plane and imperiling my senior citizen in-laws upon arrival.

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.”

*snip*

[Ocelot II]

1. I wonder if the author had delta or omicron?

The covid tests, even the PCR tests, are not individually sequenced to identify which variant you have unless you're part of a study. Researchers are sampling examples of collected tests, which are sequenced to determine how prevalent a variant might be in a community, but your particular test won't be sequenced. So even though omicron is becoming prevalent in most places, delta is still out there.

[leftstreet]

2. I wondered about that

...if individual tests indicate strains

Thanks for the explanation

[BGBD]

6. Nope

The author is basing variant diagnosis on it being the prevalent strain in the area. Sure, if 90% of new cases are a particular strain it's likely to be it...but 1 in 10 cases would still be delta so that's certainly not out of the question here.

[Sympthsical]

3. I'm this close to making my partner get tested

He made the holiday rounds this year. I did not. He has a big Filipino family all in the area, so there was a lot of pressure to do Christmas functions. I stayed home, because being around 12+ people for any reason during Omicron is a nonstarter with me.

The past few days, he's had a slight, persistent cough. Nothing major, but something I've taken note of. But more than that, the man has been sleeping constantly. Yesterday morning, he fell asleep for three hours on the couch while watching me play Metroid. Then fell asleep for five hours in the evening when I was watching a movie. Then woke up and went to bed.

He's a pretty consistent 11p-7a sleeper, so it's a little strange.

We're both on psuedo vacation this week because of the holidays. Could just be wrecked schedules. I know I've been doing weird things like up til 3AM. Sleep for a few hours. Gym. Come home. Sleep from 11-1. Things like that.

So, who knows. Still, the persistent cough.

Blehhhh.

[robbob]

5. Fever?

I know some Covid cases can be totally asymptomatic but I ran out and bought a digital thermometer right at the beginning of all this, and at least 5-6 times it has at least given me the comfort of knowing I’m not running a fever.

[orleans]

7. please have him get tested

and then maybe you should get tested too

[Shrike47]

4. Being an Oregonian, I had to look up Duane Reade.

[orleans]

8. what does it mean? nt

[Tree Lady]

10. It's a pharmacy chain in New York nt

[orleans]

11. thanks nt

[Tree Lady]

9. Lol also in Oregon had to look up nt

[greatauntoftriplets]

12. That's more or less my niece's description of it.

She's fine now.

[Skittles]

13. 100 people is "mid-sized"?

I can see how he got it.

[wellst0nev0ter]

14. Good thing he didn't actually go