How the AMOUNT of the coronavirus you get infected with could decide whether you suffer mild or severe symptoms

MAILONLINE ^ | 30 March 2020 | SAM BLANCHARD SENIOR HEALTH REPORTER

[dennisw]

A study on COVID-19 patients in China links high viral load to worse symptoms

Viral load is the amount of a virus inside someone's body during infection

As well as reducing the risk of coronavirus spreading social distancing could make people's symptoms milder if they do get the illness, scientists say.

It can do this by reducing a patient's viral load - the number of particles of the virus they are first infected with.

Having a high viral load gives an infection a 'jump start' and raises the risk of a patient's immune system becoming overloaded in its battle against COVID-19.

People can slash their chances of a massive initial infection by staying away from others who might be ill and by sticking strictly to rules against close personal contact which millions of people around the world are faced with.

Someone infected indirectly by touching a door handle could ultimately end up with milder symptoms than someone who inhales an infected person's cough, experts say.

And this is because it gives the immune system more time to get a handle on the infection before it gets overwhelmed and symptoms start to show.

'In general with respiratory viruses, the outcome of infection – whether you get severely ill or only get a mild cold – can sometimes be determined by how much virus actually got into your body and started the infection off,' says Professor Wendy Barclay, an infectious diseases expert. .

'It’s all about the size of the armies on each side of the battle, a very large virus army is difficult for our immune system's army to fight off.'

The way viruses make people ill is by multiplying rapidly once inside the body and building up in such large numbers that the body takes weeks to destroy them all.

[freebird5850]

Finally have hearty appetite. Wife is heating up pot roast and steamed vegtabiles.

[21twelve]

A N95 mask only stops particles greater than 0.3 microns in size. From a single cough, about half of the Covid viruses are on particles smaller than that. So even an N95 only stops 50% of the possible particles.

But - that is like having only half a glass of water in the desert instead of no glass of water. I wear mine anytime I go into another building. And goggles and a trench coat and cap. I might have to figure something else out when the weather warms up.

[Wuli]

Good news. Good to hear.