Here in New York, the Omicron Variant Is Getting Weird

[George K]

https://donaldgmcneiljr1954.medium.com/here-in-new-york-the-omicron-variant-is-getting-weird-db6d39058b18

Here in New York, case counts are setting records. Testing centers have block-long lines, pharmacies are out of home-testing kits, hospitals are banning visitors. An extraordinary number of people I know are either sick or quarantining themselves because they were just exposed to someone sick. None that I know are seriously ill, but all are terrified about Christmas — especially for elderly relatives.

As the surge progresses here, we are seeing some unexpected developments. They include:

1. Lots of people have symptoms — but they’re atypical ones. And some repeatedly test negative.
2. Yes, Omicron may be less lethal, but let’s not celebrate yet.
3. Either way, it might bring the pandemic to a quick end.
4. A cleavage site mutation has turned up in New York Omicron sequences. Whether it’s dangerous remains to be seen.

[LuFins Dad]

That is surprising because a hallmark of this virus has been “pre-symptomatic transmission.” That is, people have high viral loads in their nasopharynx and infect others before they themselves fall ill. Now we’re seeing the opposite: people feel sick, but have no detectable virus in their nose..

Makes me think of @Aqua-Letifer and @kluurs

[Aqua Letifer]

@lufins-dad said in Here in New York, the Omicron Variant Is Getting Weird:

That is surprising because a hallmark of this virus has been “pre-symptomatic transmission.” That is, people have high viral loads in their nasopharynx and infect others before they themselves fall ill. Now we’re seeing the opposite: people feel sick, but have no detectable virus in their nose..

Makes me think of @Aqua-Letifer and @kluurs

Yeah, me too. But why or how could my symptoms have been so different from my wife and daughter?

[Jolly]

Different variant.

[Jolly]

That's why I asked klurs about the sensory stuff. Some of this new crap is so close to cold and flu, the docs are having a tough time with diagnosis, especially since it seems the rapid tests are having a higher false neg than usual.

[Aqua Letifer]

@jolly said in Here in New York, the Omicron Variant Is Getting Weird:

Different variant.

Right, but we all got sick at the same time. Is it not more likely that I picked up something more common?

Any blood work I could do to confirm?

[Jolly]

Antibody levels, I'm guessing. If you had an idea what they were before illness, a bump would indicate recent infection.

That's a WAG. I've given up on absolutes with the Wuhan Virus.

[Aqua Letifer]

@jolly said in Here in New York, the Omicron Variant Is Getting Weird:

Antibody levels, I'm guessing. If you had an idea what they were before illness, a bump would indicate recent infection.

All I can think of as well, but I don't know what you know about lab testing.

That's a WAG. I've given up on absolutes with the Wuhan Virus.

[LuFins Dad]

@aqua-letifer said in Here in New York, the Omicron Variant Is Getting Weird:

@lufins-dad said in Here in New York, the Omicron Variant Is Getting Weird:

That is surprising because a hallmark of this virus has been “pre-symptomatic transmission.” That is, people have high viral loads in their nasopharynx and infect others before they themselves fall ill. Now we’re seeing the opposite: people feel sick, but have no detectable virus in their nose..

Makes me think of @Aqua-Letifer and @kluurs

Yeah, me too. But why or how could my symptoms have been so different from my wife and daughter?

Different level of infection. Your symptoms could have been primarily immune response. You were feeling like crap because your body was keeping you from getting it. They felt like crap because they had it. Different causes, different symptoms, same crap.

[LuFins Dad]

Or to put it another way, in their case all the noise and racket were coming from the uninvited and unruly guests. In your case, the noise and racket were created by your bouncer keeping the unruly guests from coming in…