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Comment by lurquer | Hacker News Reader

Wouldn't it be prudent to try and get the virus as soon as possible?

Apparently, it's not that dangerous of a disease assuming you have medical care available.

So, now is the time to get it... when you have the entire intensive care unit st your disposal. If you hide out in your bunker, wear your mask, and follow the CDC's advice, you'll probably not get it for a few months. But when you do, instead of having a nice empty intensive care unit at your disposal, you'll be laying in a hospital corridor, unattended, surrounded by body bags and moaning patients.

So, my preparation is to book a trip to Wuhan with a layover in Italy. Tickets are super cheap.

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Apparently even though it's unlikely to kill you, it's still likely to leave you with long lasting damage, so no, I think I'd rather try as hard as possible to avoid catching it in the first place.

Yeah heart damage. No thanks.

Do you have anything to back that up? According to a study published last week:

>There were a few interstitial mononuclear inflammatory infiltrates, but no other substantial damage in the heart tissue

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2...

On the other hand, if you delay contracting the virus for as long as possible, you leave more time for more effective treatments to be made available.

You also leave more time for ICUs to be overrun and not being able to take you.

You need to delay the infection beyond the peak.

I had to go to the ER for my son and it was already full of sick people for flu season. So no, you don't probably wouldn't get the care all to yourself. There were also way more masks in use than the last time I had to go.

You sure about that?

I bet if you showed up and tested positive for COVID-19 you'd be given an entire floor to yourself. Definitely your own room.

At least for now...

Yes you are right about that. I'm just saying the resources aren't necessarily going to drop everything they are doing because of corona virus. They still have to triage the ER. Flu is very serious for youth and elderly and ERs are quite full.

No one is certain you can't get it twice.

If your immune system was able to beat it once, it is primed to quickly take it out the second time (probably before you even have symptoms.)

This is the entire premise behind vaccinations.

Regrettably, some viruses-- such as flu -- come in several different strains during a season; an immunity to one may not result in an immunity to another (but, an immunity to any strain of influenza seems to limit the severity of infection with other strains.) And some illnesses -- such a the common-cold -- are caused by several totally different viruses; an immunity to one doesn't make you immune to the 200+ other types of viruses that give you "the cold."

But, I've seen nothing to date indicating there are numerous COVID-19 strain floating around. That would be unusual.

> If your immune system was able to beat it once, it is primed to quickly take it out the second time (probably before you even have symptoms.)

This isn't always the case, chickenpox can lie dormant for most of your life and reactivate as a far worse shingles. There are some sources claiming reinfection is possible and that it's worse than the initial infection for coronavirus, I'd take that with a large dose of salt for now, but it's not safe to assume you'll be immune once you beat it, even if it doesn't cause long term damage.

Ah, makes sense.

You won't build up immunity and could easily be re-infected. Might even be a bigger chance because your immune system will still be weak.

Who knows. Viruses that become widespread tend to mutate. Most often they mutate to become less deadly - a virus that doesn't kill the host has a better chance of spreading. However the 1918 Spanish flu that was so deadly mutated from a less deadly version in spring to the more deadly version in fall so nothing is guaranteed.

Make your bets... If you think this will get worse get it now and live with lifelong heart problems. If you think this will get better wait as long as you can in hopes you get the less deadly version.

I'm personally holding out for a breakthrough in vaccines that mean I don't get it at all. Time will tell if I'm right. Time will also kill me - the only question is when.

>If you think this will get worse get it now and live with lifelong heart problems.

Do you have any proof that coronavirus causes lifelong heart problems? TMK this has not been established.

No, only rumors of it.

Not necessarily. There is going to be some education involving how to optimally treat it, and/or vaccines (in the longer run).

wow dude...I had exactly the same line of thought

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