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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, aka "SARS-CoV-2", aka "Corona Virus Disease 19", aka "Covid-19", aka "the Corona virus", aka "the rona" is a novel virus that rapidly spread across the globe through early 2020. An interesting feature of the virus is the ability to infect a wide range of cell types, that in turn may underlie the wide variety of symptoms and experiences of the millions that have interacted with Covid-19. Based on the number of random coughs, morning "allergy like" sore throats, and times feeling of having a fever that a lying thermometer said was a 97.6F body temp, it is believed Scientific AmeriKen has already beaten the rona 43 times. Yet, to date Scientific AmeriKen has not been "Officially" diagnosed with Covid-19. However, in April of 2020, Scientific AmeriKen had an text message exchange with an individual with a self-confirmed positive diagnosis. The following interview details the progression of the disease across 14 days.
The subject of the interview is a ~40 year old caucasian male. Subject takes approximately 4000 IU vitamin D daily, Vitamin C up to but not during the Covid infection and consumed tea during infection. The individual claims a positive result using PCR testing (CDC based primers) of nasal swab acquired samples. It was further indicated that testing was performed weekly and the subject claims to have been negative the first two weeks prior to this positive result. An official test was no performed. The interview was performed daily starting on a Friday:
Day 1: April 3, 2020
Covid laden subject: Hey! Test looks like it works!
Scientific AmeriKen: Oh dang - does that mean you found somebody who is positive
C: Yeah. I did.
S: It's not you right??
C: Yeah. Did my weekly last night
S: Any symptoms?
C: Sore throat
S: What's it feel like
C: Feels like a mild allergy sore throat
Day 2: April 4th, 2020
S: Day 2 - how ya doing man?
C: I have a headache now
S: So are you up and about walking around?
C: Yeah. Zero sick
S: What does the headache feel like specifically?
C: Too much / Not enough caffeine headache, I've had a mild one for the last month too
S: OK, so maybe unrelated and also, are you drinking enough coffee now? Maybe it is withdrawal?
C: That's probably it. Not first think in morning now
Day 3: April 5th, 2020
S: Day 3 update! Do you still have your sense of smell and taste?
C: I still have all senses!
S: Excellent! How is everything else? Sore throat still? Cough? Fever?
C: Nothing Really.
Day 4: April 6th, 2020
S: Day 4 - you still beating this thing?
C: Small cough now
S: Is the cough constant? Or just comes and goes?
C: Fairly constant. Sort of tickle in lungs
Day 5: April 7th, 2020
S: Good day sir! Day 5 going well?
C: No fever (had slight yesterday) minor cough. Still aiming for Sunday Comeback! Its nothing really
S: What was considered slight? Like 99F? Good news so far!
C: 99.8 at one point.
S: Do you have anything else like chills, hot flashes? Taste buds and smelling still work? Runny nose?
C: Chills for sure. I always have a runny nose. Not taste/smell issues.
S: Cool! Are you doing anything above and beyond for care like slamming gatorades/water, or taking lots of vitamin D or C?
C: Tea. And my normal 4K vit D. Left my Vit C at work.
S: Sleep good? Body weight change much?
C: Sleep fine I guess. I am exercising extreme willpower not gorging all day. Might bake some bread today.
Day 6: April 8th, 2020
S: Day 6 my friend! Still going strong??
C: Yup. Nothing exciting here.
S: Symptoms check - none??
C: Just minor cough. Probably gone by tomorrow
S: Great news! What's your plan for Quarantine? How much longer before you head to lab for retest?
C: Maybe Sunday. If all good tomorrow
Day 7: April 9th 2020
S: Day 7 check - that cough still there?
C: Yeah
S: So cough still there... but no other symptoms? Is cough less frequent in any way?
C: Yeah. Just lingering.
Day 8: April 10th (Friday)
S: Day 8 check... Still a need for checks?
C: Probably not. Think its over.
S: Well done sir! You deserve a certificate of completion!!
Day 14: April 16th (Thursday)
C: So day 14. Finally back to the living. I had a horrible weekend I never told you about.
S: So what happened?? Lets rebuild the file
C: Saturday night CRASH!!
S: We are 6 days later... so Saturday chest tightness?
C: Just tanked. "Burning" more than tight
C: Don't know what happened, Didn't get out of bed until 6PM Sunday
S: Shortness of breath? Lethargic?
S: Did it feel like excessive coughing caused it? Or something more than that?
C: Don't know. I actually thought I OD'd on Nyquil pills. But I looked through the trash and only saw the right number
C: Would only be 10 for me (didn't kick in till Monday)
S: Did you sleep most of the day sat and Sunday or would it not let you sleep?
C: Haven't slept decent since last Saturday
S: Did you have any other symptoms besides this? Temperature? Sore throat? Runny nose?
C: I had a temp up to 100 Monday. Then gone, then 99.6 last night (Wednesday 15th), now completely gone. Back to my normal 97.6
C: I had a weird Tuesday night. Might have been that "tightness" chest thing, might have been a really weird heartburn
S: Today are you finally feeling human again?
C: Yes. I took a shower even. Made coffee. Feel "good"
S: Ok - keep getting rest... from what I've been reading covid keeps lulling people into a false sense of healthy.
C: Nope. I'm good! I can tell.
S: How about breathing right now? Can you take a deep breath without issue? Yeah I am curious what the tightness is exactly - some describe as if somebody put a heavy weight on your chest.
C: Yup. Like full health. Everything good.
END INTERVIEW
The preceding interview captures the progression of COVID-19 in a subject starting at a fairly early time point in the progression of the sickness. Although this observation is based upon a single individual it is clear this virus is a stealthy sneaky jerky entity, and as should also be added quite ill-tempered. Total time under observation was 14 days, and for a majority of these the subject was barely affected with symptoms that could easily be confused with common allergies. It is unknown how infectious the covid infected individual was during this fairly asymptomatic period. However, it was only when ScientificAmeriKen looked away that COVID struck its hardest. Only evil does that. Of interest was the lack of significant fever, an early hallmark of COVID infection and the reason the population is temperature checked everywhere one goes. These data would suggest, however, that such efforts to root out covid are about as effective as checking other classic symptoms like beady eyes and/or nervous dispositions. All in all, this study does inform regarding the difficult nature of preventing the spread of this virus, particularly given the long timeframe of illness. Scientific AmeriKen will remain hopeful that a follow-up experiment involving Scientic AmeriKen will not be undertaken.
Special thanks to the covid infected subject for their participation in this study.
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