As someone who is a “well read amateur” about many things medical: I actually don’t know what pneumonia really ls like. I’m a lifelong asthmatic, but somehow have managed to escape actually developing pneumonia.
Also, are there any statistics about whether COVID-19-induced pneumonia is that much worse in general than garden-variety pneumonia? I mean, aside from the scale: the coronavirus is so contagious that a LOT of people are getting it, while regular pneumonia (presumably triggered by regular respiratory infections) is a lot more sporadic. How long is it, usually, before you’re feeling remotely human again? Is there typically long-term lung damage as a result?
We know someone who has been fighting it out at home (she did test positive) and she has been feeling sick as hell; it’s been nearly 2 weeks. I suspect that she won’t be able to return to work for a few weeks yet. Would a regular case of it have knocked her back so hard?
Are there any statistics on COVID-cases that go bad, as to how often there is a secondary bacterial infection at play? Do they just assume there is, if you have to be hospitalized, and dose you with some broad-spectrum abx? (note: I’m familiar with the discussion of using azythromycin as part of the regimen since there’s the possible anti-inflammatory effect there).
Any idea whether the pneumonia vaccine (protects against a number of common p-causing bacteria) has any effect on the outcome of a COVID case? i.e. whether someone who has been vaccinated is less likely to go downhill, or won’t get as sick? I know it won’t affect the virus itself, but if it prevents the secondary infections, it might have some benefit. I only saw one article online that suggested thisbut the article didn’t say much more than “in xx country, most elderly are vaccinated against pneumonia”, and I don’t think there are any statistics out there mapping COVID severity to vaccine prevalence.