Infected by the Corona Virus

[suresh]

Suresh, what was the treatment (medicines, etc.) given to your wife and daughter while they were infected? Or is the advice simply to self-quarantine until other symptoms show up (which seems rather cavalier...)?

Both my wife and son needed nothing. They took Vitamin C as a supplement.

[prasen9]

That is the best news. No pain, all gain. Now they are immune - at least for 3-4 months.

Update: Okay, quarantine must have been pain. And, mentally, you are a bit anxious. But, mostly low pain, let us say.

[PKBasu]

Suresh, what was the treatment (medicines, etc.) given to your wife and daughter while they were infected? Or is the advice simply to self-quarantine until other symptoms show up (which seems rather cavalier...)?

Both my wife and son needed nothing. They took Vitamin C as a supplement.

Amazing! Did you consult a doctor about what you needed to do, or was this self-medication? I presume doctors are saying you need to treat the symptoms, and if you counter Covid19 early on, all will be well. Is that it?

[suresh]

We were in consultation with our campus doctors. They kept calling us every day for the first few days to see if any symptoms showed up. No symptoms means no treatment is needed. At the moment, doctors all over the world are treating symptoms and nothing else.

[suresh]

That is the best news. No pain, all gain. Now they are immune - at least for 3-4 months.

Update: Okay, quarantine must have been pain. And, mentally, you are a bit anxious. But, mostly low pain, let us say.

Yes, quarantine was a pain. There was some stress at the start as I was worried that symptoms might show up. After that, I was okay. However, I started feeling claustrophobic during the last 3-4 days.

[arjun2761]

Suresh -thanks for sharing your personal story. Glad that you all have recovered.

Increasingly, it appears that if you are fit (i.e., not have the commorbidities) the chances of fighting it off (or avoiding it altogether) is quite high. One persistent consequence that some are having is losing the sense of smell (for an unknown amount of time). I know of a family member who is quite fit and had symptoms, recovered relatively soon but still hasn't regained his sense of smell after several months.

[Varma]

Glad everything turned out to be good in the end, Suresh. Take care!

- Varma

[suresh]

Interestingly, no one in my family lost their sense of smell. Oxygen saturation levels were normal all days.

[suresh]

An update: Three weeks after the positive tests and after coming out of quarantine, all three of us (my son, wife and I) got tested for antibodies. In fact, we carried out two separate tests -- one for IGG (expected to show up to 3 months after infection) as well as total. The surprise: ALL of us tested negative. The serological tests are not great but the worst case scenario is that they are wrong 1/4 of the time. The probability of all 4 tests be simultaneously wrong is (1/4)^4 =0.4%. The first guess is that the RT-PCR tests gave a false positive -- this could happen if the cycling times are too high. The second possibility is that RT-PCR tests can give positives up to 63 days after infection. The IGG test being negative still doesn't fit with the infection being much earlier. This is extremely confusing.

[jayakris]

Oh, that is indeed pretty confusing. None of you really had it, I guess?

[jaydeep]

Yes, same thought ... In layman language, you guys never infected, right?

[prasen9]

Thank God Suresh and family are well.

The question is: Did Suresh thank God too? What type of God is it? He, she, it, they? Einsteinian god? I am delighted that Suresh and family are doing great. I am delighted that his wife and son at least have immunity now and hopefully, that will last at least four months. Oh, wait! What is the false positive rate for the test? Anyway, happy that everyone is doing well and is healthy.

Well, as the debugger of the forum, I was trying to find a bug. Now, it seems a false positive is the most likely answer. Nobody answered my question and I am too lazy to answer mine. So, it was a false positive? Maybe this time God only knows.

[suresh]

Yes, same thought ... In layman language, you guys never infected, right?

That is where my money is.

[jayakris]

Suresh, is everything okay? You haven't said anything in 3 days, so I wondered.

[suresh]

Suresh, is everything okay? You haven't said anything in 3 days, so I wondered.

I am busy at work! Teaching (online) has begun and I am trying to figure out how to optimally teach. It is taking 10 times more time than the old chalk and talk method.