# A (Covid) virus question



## Dave7 (19 Jan 2021)

Sat here, picking fluff out of my belly button when this popped into my mind.
When 'they' show graphics of the Covid virus it is shown as individual blobs that penetrate your system.
If it is individual nasty 'spikey blobs'..........
Are they like sperm eg just one of them will get you and do the job or does it need many of the little b*ggers ?
I am visualising a situation where you walk by a carrier that suddenly coughs/sneezes. Does it take multiple droplets or will just one do it?
BTW......its a serious question.


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## Blue Hills (19 Jan 2021)

I'm off to ask the mods why you can't select laugh and like at the same time.

Looking forward to the replies to this.

yep a fair question - all the best - stay safe.

I'm sure it can't possibly be like sperm as I assume you are totally safe from the consequences of that.


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## fossyant (19 Jan 2021)

I assume the more you are exposed to it, the worse it gets. So if you only fleetingly get exposed to it, you either may, or may not get the virus. If you are in close contact with someone, and you are exposed to lots of the virus, the more likely you'll get it, and possibly more worse symptoms - e.g.g medical staff are getting really poorly with it due to exposure to lots of the virus.

Just my thoughts on a rainy morning.


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## Ming the Merciless (19 Jan 2021)

The amount of virus you are initially exposed too directly corresponds to how severe it will be in you. The virus replicates by taking over our cells machinery, so the more cells infected the faster it can replicate. It takes the immune system a while to ramp up against it. So the less virus there is to fight, the better the chance the immune system has to overcome it. 

Reading about the vaccines, between the two doses they give you about 1 x 10 ^ 11 viral particles. So about 100 billion. Whilst one viral particle may manage to get in a cell I doubt it’d get far before the immune system blasted it. You’d likely not see any symptoms at all.

The immune system essentially has two arms. The innate and the adaptive. The innate is the one that recognises cells that are foreign or damaged and simply kills them. The adaptive is the one that recognises specific viruses and can stop them infecting cells to start with. So one virus particle will likely get tackled by innate fairly easily before it breaks out of a cell. There likely won’t be an adaptive response at all. So little to no protection against bigger loads.


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## Oldhippy (19 Jan 2021)

I think it may have something to do with something called viral load.


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## matticus (19 Jan 2021)

Oldhippy said:


> viral load


Yes, that seems to be the key word the _Scientists _use for this. Worth googling.


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## midlife (19 Jan 2021)

As Ming says it’s complicated. Outside the body it’s called a virion. The number needed to actually infect you varies. Last time I looked for Norovirus it’s as low as nine !


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## Landsurfer (19 Jan 2021)

Interesting how in so many couples only one gets it .....


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## matticus (19 Jan 2021)

Landsurfer said:


> Interesting how in so many couples only one gets it .....


Probably both infected, one doesn't get any symptoms?
...


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## vickster (19 Jan 2021)

Immune response varies from individual to individual also presumably...unless you're married to your identical twin?


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## MichaelW2 (19 Jan 2021)

Some research with some viruses shows tha infection may be possible with exposure to one virus thingy (virion).
In humans, the virus has to gain entry then evade or avoid the immune response, so, as Stalin said, "Quantity has a Quality of its own".


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## Ming the Merciless (19 Jan 2021)

vickster said:


> Immune response varies from individual to individual also presumably...unless you're married to your identical twin?



And even identical twins won’t have exactly the same response, as it also depends on the state of the immune system which is a function of lifestyle as well as genetics etc.


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## Phaeton (19 Jan 2021)

vickster said:


> Immune response varies from individual to individual also presumably...unless you're married to your identical twin?


We're in the UK, not the deep South of USofA

Wasn't track & trace setup so that it would only register if you had been in the same area as a carrier/victim for a specific length of time & not just a fleeting chance encounter as you passed in the Supermarket. Usual caveat I might be completely incorrect


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## vickster (19 Jan 2021)

It was errr a joke...


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## Phaeton (19 Jan 2021)

vickster said:


> It was errr a joke...


Errr I think we all understood that


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## Landsurfer (19 Jan 2021)

vickster said:


> Immune response varies from individual to individual also presumably...unless you're married to your identical twin?


My friend Mark is married to a twin ... well twins ... all 3 of them live together ........


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## vickster (19 Jan 2021)

Landsurfer said:


> My friend Mark is married to a twin ... well twins ... all 3 of them live together ........


But presumably not the twin he shared his mother's womb with?


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## PaulSB (19 Jan 2021)

matticus said:


> Probably both infected, one doesn't get any symptoms?
> ...


Very likely what happened in our house........


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## bikingdad90 (19 Jan 2021)

PaulSB said:


> Very likely what happened in our house........


Or in our case, my wife goes out to work risking herself and exposing herself to the virus everyday where as I sit at home behind a desk and don’t go out. When she gets in, clothes are off and she is showered and changed before we even have a kiss or two.

So yes, she could catch Covid and I might not.


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## BoldonLad (19 Jan 2021)

Landsurfer said:


> Interesting how in so many couples only one gets it .....


Yes, that happened with my grand-daughter. She caught Covid, tested positive, (Live in) partner tested but not infected.


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## Landsurfer (19 Jan 2021)

bikingdad90 said:


> Or in our case, my wife goes out to work risking herself and exposing herself to the virus everyday where as I sit at home behind a desk and don’t go out. When she gets in, clothes are off and she is showered and changed before we even have a kiss or two.
> 
> So yes, she could catch Covid and I might not.


I take it your particularly vulnerable ...


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## Beebo (19 Jan 2021)

Landsurfer said:


> Interesting how in so many couples only one gets it .....


All 4 of us got it with symptoms. But we suspect it was the new variant. 
Once it is in the house it’s almost impossible to avoid. So people without symptoms are probably carriers and should self isolate.


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## bikingdad90 (19 Jan 2021)

Landsurfer said:


> I take it your particularly vulnerable ...


Nope, work decided in March 2020 to shut its doors to 750 colleagues who used to hot desk, now there are only 14 in the office across 3 floors and no plans to ever return as we have proven we can work agile/remote and without loss of efficiency in our sector.

I’m not vulnerable either but the thought of her sitting round in an office with colleagues all day who may or may not have been Covid secure outside the workplace is a bit worrying. Interestingly, there has been an outbreak in her office and it is now shut for a minimum of 10days while everyone isolates. It is a government department so ought to have been Covid secure. Luckily she was not in work the five days leading up to the breakout and had a negative test so doesn’t need to isolate and has been given kit to carry on working from home.


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## Landsurfer (20 Jan 2021)

There’s only 18 of us in the office / workshop. We operate as a bubble, interacting very much as we did before March last year. No one has had symptoms, been ill, had family illness or peer group illness so we have decided as a group to carry on with our work method. We have review on the 1st of each month and take a random sample of 4 temperatures at the start of each day. We don’t wear masks, but we do wear safety footwear. If we have a visitor to the business, like yesterday, they are allowed access to the office or the workshop, not both, and staff in that area wear masks for the duration of the visit. But thats a rare event.
It’s a pleasant working environment, as it always has been ... otherwise whats the point.


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## Pennine-Paul (22 Jan 2021)

Landsurfer said:


> Interesting how in so many couples only one gets it .....


Not in my case,My Wife started showing symptoms on Tuesday,I started Wednesday evening,went for the test which proved positive,last night the stepdaughter had a temperature and a cough so she's probably got it too,so far it's not that bad,I had Croup about 5 years ago that was 10 times worse than this.


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## MntnMan62 (22 Jan 2021)

I'm guessing the answer is "it depends." Meaning, if you have a compromised immune system, it is possible that one "blob" can give you the virus. But if you have a robust immune system, it is possible that a small number entering your system could be fought off by the body's own natural defense mechanisms. Again, I'm no scientist so don't take my word for it.


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## mustang1 (22 Jan 2021)

Didn't 'they' talk about the 15 minute exposure - i'm not sure if that still applies especially with this new more contagious variant.


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## cougie uk (22 Jan 2021)

Landsurfer said:


> There’s only 18 of us in the office / workshop. We operate as a bubble, interacting very much as we did before March last year. No one has had symptoms, been ill, had family illness or peer group illness so we have decided as a group to carry on with our work method. We have review on the 1st of each month and take a random sample of 4 temperatures at the start of each day. We don’t wear masks, but we do wear safety footwear. If we have a visitor to the business, like yesterday, they are allowed access to the office or the workshop, not both, and staff in that area wear masks for the duration of the visit. But thats a rare event.
> It’s a pleasant working environment, as it always has been ... otherwise whats the point.



This sounds a bit reckless. 
How hard is it to take everyone's temperature when they come in ?
The health club I was teaching at insisted on all workers recording their temperature when they enter and leave. Any high temperature and you'd not be allowed in. 

What's the ventilation like ? How close are people working together ?

Infections are just about the highest they've been. We've had two Covid deaths in the family (from different areas) so your 18 workers seem to have been very lucky.


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## theclaud (22 Jan 2021)

Landsurfer said:


> We don’t wear masks, but we do wear safety footwear


Well that should do the trick then.


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## cougie uk (22 Jan 2021)

Must be stamping on the virus.


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## cougie uk (22 Jan 2021)

Oh forgot to say. All members had their temperatures taken and masks were compulsory every where unless they were exercising. And then they were spaced out we had good ventilation.


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## Ming the Merciless (22 Jan 2021)

Love this talk of work bubbles when all the people in the bubble probably have partners kids at home whom they don’t socially distance from. Then partners go work at other places in other so called bubbles. Rendering the bubble somewhat bigger than stated.


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## cougie uk (22 Jan 2021)

With an 18 person 'bubble' at work - that could easily be 50 people with families and even more if you count their support bubbles.

What's the occurrence in the population now - 1 in 100 or so ?


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## theclaud (22 Jan 2021)

Ming the Merciless said:


> Rendering the bubble somewhat bigger than stated.


Indeed. Or, to put it a different way, not a bubble at all.


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## PaulSB (23 Jan 2021)

theclaud said:


> Indeed. Or, to put it a different way, not a bubble at all.


Exactly. A supposed bubble of 18 is ludicrous.


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## Craig the cyclist (23 Jan 2021)

bikingdad90 said:


> Or in our case, my wife goes out to work risking herself and exposing herself to the virus everyday where as I sit at home behind a desk and don’t go out. When she gets in, clothes are off and she is showered and changed before we even have a kiss or two.
> 
> So yes, she could catch Covid and I might not.



It's a respiratory virus, it doesn't matter if she changes and showers, the virus will be transmitted via the upper respiratory tract, which includes your mouth. If you are going to catch it you will get it from the kiss, not from her jumper. Getting changed and showering is a pointless if you are kissing.


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## Phaeton (23 Jan 2021)

Craig the cyclist said:


> It's a respiratory virus, it doesn't matter if she changes and showers, the virus will be transmitted via the upper respiratory tract, which includes your mouth. If you are going to catch it you will get it from the kiss, not from her jumper. Getting changed and showering is a pointless if you are kissing.


Our neighbour across the road's daughter & husband self isolated for 3 weeks as she was expecting a call to go into hospital. Their daughter even moved out of the house as she was still going to work, neither of them left the house in that 3 week period, all provisions were dropped on the doorstep & nobody ever came within 3 metres of them, yet they both managed to contract it.


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## bikingdad90 (23 Jan 2021)

Phaeton said:


> Our neighbour across the road's daughter & husband self isolated for 3 weeks as she was expecting a call to go into hospital. Their daughter even moved out of the house as she was still going to work, neither of them left the house in that 3 week period, all provisions were dropped on the doorstep & nobody ever came within 3 metres of them, yet they both managed to contract it.


That’s why if you are clinically vulnerable you should anti bac all your food shopping deliveries before putting it away.


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## Craig the cyclist (24 Jan 2021)

Phaeton said:


> Our neighbour across the road's daughter & husband self isolated for 3 weeks as she was expecting a call to go into hospital. Their daughter even moved out of the house as she was still going to work, neither of them left the house in that 3 week period, all provisions were dropped on the doorstep & nobody ever came within 3 metres of them, yet they both managed to contract it.



My point is that there is no point and getting showered and changed, then snogging someone.


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## furball (25 Jan 2021)

bikingdad90 said:


> That’s why if you are clinically vulnerable you should anti bac all your food shopping deliveries before putting it away.


"anti-bac" does nothing against viruses.


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## bikingdad90 (25 Jan 2021)

Maybe anti bac is the wrong word to use, I meant the disinfectant sprays and hand gel you should use.


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## matticus (25 Jan 2021)

Craig the cyclist said:


> My point is that there is no point and getting showered and changed, then snogging someone.


I'd disagree - take each risk on its own merits.

(plus we don't know that this couple *do* kiss regularly!)


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## cougie uk (25 Jan 2021)

My son's workplace have absolutely minimal staff in their office. He has to go in maybe a half day each week to do things he can't do at home. It's an almost deserted office but they're now sending him Covid tests to take before he goes in. 

And yet some places are like the DVLA with 1 in 12 having had the virus or Landsurfer and his 18 people "bubble".


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## Craig the cyclist (26 Jan 2021)

matticus said:


> I'd disagree - take each risk on its own merits.
> 
> (plus we don't know that this couple *do* kiss regularly!)



That's ok, you can disagree. You would be wrong though, otherwise we would be wearing paper suits as well as face masks. 

There is no point in having a shower then snogging, just get on with the snogging and have a shower together would be my advice.


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## cyberknight (26 Jan 2021)

Ming the Merciless said:


> Love this talk of work bubbles when all the people in the bubble probably have partners kids at home whom they don’t socially distance from. Then partners go work at other places in other so called bubbles. Rendering the bubble somewhat bigger than stated.


indeed
we are covid secure according to their blurb,reality is you cant social distance and the time for sanitization just means they carry on building to get ahead


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## matticus (26 Jan 2021)

Craig the cyclist said:


> That's ok, you can disagree. You would be wrong though, otherwise we would be wearing paper suits as well as face masks.


I think you're still conflating two different risks (although I'm guessing at why you think paper suits are a good idea).
I can be reckless in one area, and then take a more cautious approach to a different risk; that doesn't make my _2nd _judgement wrong.

I do agree that kissing is generally the bigger risk  (but only if your invader _is _carrying virions in the kissed areas - most people are not)


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