Coronavirus in Massachusetts (year, prevent, visit)

[msRB311]

My work sent out an email about being careful in social gatherings because of high rates of flu, covid, RSV, etc. I'm sure with all the hospitals closing and bed shortages people should be even more careful

[BruinsGirl]

This winter is bad. I usually do not get sick.. Maybe once in several year. Had something similar to RSV for 4-5 weeks after Thanksgiving and bad Covid in January. I had 2 Covids before, and first one in Jan 2022 ended with 1 month of bronchitis. Second was in September 2022 (light cold)... This one was 1.5 weeks, but I thought I would die so bad congestion and cough 24/7 were. Trying to walk it off now.

I only had initial Covid shots, and I never get flu shots. Probably need to look into it.

[Amontillado]

We've had all the COVID updates and a flu shot, and so far this winter we haven't had either illness, but people we know have. On the other hand, we both caught the "hundred day cough" back in November, which we think we got at a children's school play we attended a few days before we got sick. Everything I saw when I looked up the symptoms said that this condition was just a regular mutation of a cold virus, and nothing radically new. It was pretty unpleasant for a while, and it did last a long time. We've just about said goodbye to it now, hopefully permanently.

[OutdoorLover]

Looking at the national data, there has been an upswing in Covid-19 incidence, hospitalizations and deaths this fall and winter. However, the peak In Jan '24 was lower than it was in Jan '23, and both '24/'23 were much lower than Jan '22 and Jan '21. I continue to take the vaccine updates as they are offered, and otherwise don't think about it a lot at this point, beyond looking at the CDC data now and then to be sure I am aware of macro trends.

Here's the hospitalizations big picture graph at the CDC.
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tra...ions_select_00

[porterhouse]

I and lots of people I know have Covid currently or recently in the new year. There really doesn't seem to be any difference in occurrence or severity between those who have been boosted and those who have not (I got the initial 2 shots and 1 subsequent booster). Even in older family members it really is just like a cold.

The schools continue to mismanage this. In some districts, kids who have Covid have to be out for 5 days and then mask in school for 5 days upon their return. This is causing people not to test when their kids are sick, so having the opposite effect of what is probably intended. Some have asked why kids who are out with the flu don't have to mask upon their return. A fair question IMO.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by porterhouse

I and lots of people I know have Covid currently or recently in the new year. There really doesn't seem to be any difference in occurrence or severity between those who have been boosted and those who have not (I got the initial 2 shots and 1 subsequent booster). Even in older family members it really is just like a cold.

The schools continue to mismanage this. In some districts, kids who have Covid have to be out for 5 days and then mask in school for 5 days upon their return. This is causing people not to test when their kids are sick, so having the opposite effect of what is probably intended. Some have asked why kids who are out with the flu don't have to mask upon their return. A fair question IMO.

I can't speak for the schools as we don't have kids, but it's been the same with the adults in my circles too. Numerous friends and coworkers have "joked" that they don't want to test because the symptoms aren't bad and they don't want to have the life interruption. Our personal stockpiles of rapid tests are gone. Anecdotally, the people I know who have caught the flu this year have had it bad. Those that have caught COVID (recently boosted or not) have had fairly mild symptoms. Maybe the big picture is different, but I also think it's a fair question re: masking post-COVID and masking post-flu.

On another note, the wastewater seems to indicate that we've past this year's peak. It was higher than last year, but still nothing compared to the winter of 21/22. Not unexpectedly, the wastewater data doesn't align with the reported cases via testing as people aren't testing (or reporting results) like they used to. Deaths are also a fraction of what they were in years past.

Frankly, COVID is an afterthought in our daily lives. Given the experience those in my circles have had, I was personally more concerned about the flu this year. I got both the flu shot and COVID booster when my Primary offered them in the fall, but I don't think I would have made a separate trip for it.

[BruinsGirl]

Maybe I’m exaggerating as I usually don’t get sick … and I didn’t get to hospital, but I literally coughed my brains out. 24/7. It started not bad, but by day 3 it was bad.
I was thinking about requesting prescription for Paxlovid, but I heard about bad rebounds… so I was not sure.

[newenglandgal123]

Originally Posted by BruinsGirl

Maybe I’m exaggerating as I usually don’t get sick … and I didn’t get to hospital, but I literally coughed my brains out. 24/7. It started not bad, but by day 3 it was bad.
I was thinking about requesting prescription for Paxlovid, but I heard about bad rebounds… so I was not sure.

I know what you mean...I had this similar experience 2 winters ago. Non stop coughing...so much that I either cracked a rib or something too!

[BruinsGirl]

Originally Posted by newenglandgal123

I know what you mean...I had this similar experience 2 winters ago. Non stop coughing...so much that I either cracked a rib or something too!

OMG, I’m so sorry.

My husband had bronchitis after Covid last year for almost 5 months. He actually went through antibiotic and used Symbacor, but nothing really helped. Full recovery was after 6 months in last July. Sun really helped.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by porterhouse

I and lots of people I know have Covid currently or recently in the new year. There really doesn't seem to be any difference in occurrence or severity between those who have been boosted and those who have not (I got the initial 2 shots and 1 subsequent booster). Even in older family members it really is just like a cold.

Eh, I'm pretty convinced that the updated boosters provide a lot of protection. Got one the last three years, in the fall going into winter and managed to avoid Covid all three major waves despite working in a fairly high risk environment and being surrounded by people getting it. I did get Covid in April of 2022, as the first OMICRON wave had died way down. But it was 4.5 month after the booster (right around when it's "supposed" to begin wearing off). I think that says a lot.



How recently were the people you are referring to boosted?


This winter I got nothing more than a sniffle here and there (knock on wood).