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What Ms. Burkett and Ms. Miller went through was not the norm. Many of the conditions that can increase a person’s risk of developing severe Covid – overweight, heart disease, diabetes, smoking – are heavily influenced by environment and behavior, not just genetics. A person’s history in battling other coronaviruses, such as those that lead to the common cold, may also affect their likelihood of developing a severe case of Covid.
Some researchers have also suggested that the amount of coronavirus a person absorbs can impact the severity of the disease, a trend that has been documented with other infections.
“It’s the difference between having your immune system able to crush the infection or having a much harder time fighting it if all your cells are infected at the same time,” said Juliet Morrison, virologist at the University of California. in Riverside. .
Michael Russell, 29, says he’s wondering if he sniffed more virus than his twin brother Steven did this summer, in the days after their July 4 reunion with their family.
The two brothers began to experience symptoms soon after the celebrations ended, around the time Steven returned home to Arlington, Virginia. The virus bewitched Steven with a sore throat and a headache – a “mild and cold” illness, he said.
A few days later, Michael, who was living at home with his parents, experienced much more severe symptoms – a sore throat, chills, shortness of breath and fatigue that left him in bed for an entire day. About two weeks passed before he could smell or taste the cinnamon-dusted popcorn that he regularly nibbles on.
The twins’ parents also exhibited bad symptoms of Covid, so Michael had to isolate himself with two other infected adults. Getting together in the same house may have exposed him to a larger dose of the virus, the brothers said. But, they added, this is only a guess.
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