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The scientist who discovered Ebola and worked actively on HIV and is an EU advisor on Covid, apparently got Covid-19.
His account is in the news section of this week's Science: Finally, a virus got me. Scientist who fought Ebola and HIV reflects on facing death from COVID-19
Piot, who grew up in Belgium, was one of the discoverers of the Ebola virus in 1976 and spent his career fighting infectious diseases. He headed the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS between 1995 and 2008 and is currently a coronavirus adviser to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. But his personal confrontation with the new coronavirus was a life-changing experience, Piot says.
This interview took place on 2 May. Piots answers have been edited and translated from Dutch:
ON 19 MARCH, I SUDDENLY HAD A HIGH FEVER and a stabbing headache. My skull and hair felt very painful, which was bizarre. I didnt have a cough at the time, but still, my first reflex was: I have it. I kept workingIm a workaholicbut from home. We put a lot of effort into teleworking at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine last year, so that we didnt have to travel as much. That investment, made in the context of the fight against global warming, is now very useful, of course.
I tested positive for COVID-19, as I suspected. I put myself in isolation in the guest room at home. But the fever didnt go away. I had never been seriously ill and have not taken a day of sick leave the past 10 years. I live a pretty healthy life and walk regularly. The only risk factor for corona is my ageIm 71. Im an optimist, so I thought it would pass. But on 1 April, a doctor friend advised me to get a thorough examination because the fever and especially the exhaustion were getting worse and worse.
It turned out I had severe oxygen deficiency, although I still wasnt short of breath. Lung images showed I had severe pneumonia, typical of COVID-19, as well as bacterial pneumonia...
captain queeg
(10,274 posts)Many people who are already oxygen deficient have no other symptoms. Some already have pneumonia. I started reading this about 2 weeks ago. I looked around for an oxygen sensor locally and on the net but they were all back ordered. I finally decided to just order one, the virus is here to stay. I seemed to be feeling short of breath and a little weak so I was relieved when the oxygen sensor showed up today. My blood oxygen saturation runs between 96 and 99 so far. Its just another tool for self monitoring.
NNadir
(33,580 posts)2naSalit
(86,872 posts)captain queeg
(10,274 posts)Every where I looked. But I decided to just order one. I looked online and found one pretty quickly. There was nothing on the site saying they were back ordered but I expected to have to wait. Id ordered a thermometer awhile ago and that took a couple weeks and I wasnt notified about the delay till I placed the order. The sensor came pretty quick, I think it was less than a week. The place was called pulse oximeter.org.
2naSalit
(86,872 posts)I am getting ready to make a purchase or two online and have been debating with myself over getting one one of those.