Coronavirus ~ COVID-19

[Kelt]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaMa'am

Very informative opinion on the COVID-19 relationship to pneumonia. I just had pneumonia at the beginning of November, and it makes me wonder: did I actually have an early case of COVID-19 somehow? (probably not, but there are people who say it started in the U.S. Also, I was at Disney World and took two flights the week before, I could easily have shared respiratory spray with someone from China.) It progressed exactly as described in the article - by the time I knew it was serious, it was _very_ serious, my lungs filled with blood and I was straining with every muscle to breathe.

So does this mean I'm immune? Does it mean I'm a carrier? I had a pneumonia vaccine around the beginning of December, does that mean I'm safe? Should I or should I not do those exercises they show you in the hospital to keep you from getting pneumonia? Should I be monitoring my oxygen levels, because I have noticed that I am breathing deeper (I had thought that was probably an after-effect of my case of pneumonia - I'm still coughing stuff up out of my lungs. They say it can take up to a year to get it all out.)

These are questions for my doctor - maybe I can get a tele-appointment. Anyway, thank you very much for the interesting article and the tip on the the pulse oximeter.

I have wondered the same about your pneumonia for a while now. You could ask for an antibody test if they are available in your area. It could shed some light on the situation. The jury is still out on whether or not antibodies would confer any immunity, but it would be interesting to know and maybe grant some peace of mind anyway.

I will be interested to see if anything like this comes out in a medical journal. As you rightly point out it is an opinion piece.