r/COVID19_Pandemic

Despite all the buzz about the ongoing hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship, why isn't everyone rushing to buy N95 masks and build DIY air purifiers?

Because the old pandemic (COVID-19) hasn't gone away, I switched to N95 masks (like the 3M Aura) and now run several air purifiers at home, including box fan air purifiers and a Brisk Box from Clean Air Kits. Even if ear loop masks were as effective as N95 masks, I'm NEVER EVER going back. Every ear loop mask I ever wore hurt my ears and/or was prone to falling off. Uncomfortable + less effective = EPIC FAIL!

There are people out there complaining that the people on that cruise ship aren't all being quarantined properly. People in the Canary Islands are angry about the release of the cruise ship passengers in their port.

So why isn't all this prompting people to actually address their risk of inhaling airborne viruses? Why haven't Corsi Rosenthal boxes gone mainstream? We do NOT have to accept the risk of being infected and do nothing to stop it.

Even if COVID-19 really were as mild as everyone wants to believe, and even if you don't hate any of the symptoms, the current hantavirus outbreak is one more reason to double down on N95 masks and Corsi Rosenthal boxes (or other air purifiers).

The early symptoms of hantavirus mimic the symptoms of many other airborne diseases. If the hantavirus outbreak expands to people who were never on that cruise ship, that would be bad news because it be a surefire sign of a new pandemic.

Under such circumstances, you'd probably freak out if you were sick. You'd be wondering if you were infected with hantavirus. Who wants that?

But for some reason, nobody has thought about this. Most people still aren't wearing any mask at all (much less an N95) in the risky places.

I don't know what to do at this point.

I'm from the UK. I am 25 years old, autistic and pretty tired of living, to be honest. I am suck with a family that doesn't take precautions anymore and I am not able to get away from them. I do have masks but these are reusable ones and I fear that they are not enough to protect me. I know that I should buy a KN mask but money is limited and my parents won't get them for me since they claim that masks don't work. I have only had covid once back in 2022 because my mum passed it on to all of us. I live with my mum and my dad. My other siblings have moved out and have lives of their own (which they don't take precautions either).

I got to spend a little bit of time with some family members today and I was enjoying it until the topic hantana virus came up. Which then lead to talking about covid. My family members don't care about it anymore. I am the only one in my family who still masks. They all talked about how there is no reason to mask anymore. They said that I can do whatever I want if it makes me comfortable.

The topic of covid has been talked about for a long time and my fear developed back when I first had it in 2022 because it affected my ears. When I entered into new environments, I would get dizzy and then panic. The dizziness has stopped now and I do need my ears cleaned out since they are full. However, when I tell them that I suffered from long covid with that, they don't believe me. In fact, everytime I talk about covid to my parents, I always get yelled at/have an argument with them. They tell me there is nothing to worry about. That it is all fear mongering. They tell me that I believe this but they can point out that other people believe that the vaccine is bad for you to have and that I choose to believe the dangers of it.

I have been told this 100 times but I just can't believe them.

I am thinking about ending my life. I don't want to live in a world where covid is around forever. I don't want to live in a world where I can become disabled due to covid. And there are reasons why I want to do this:

- I have lived a pretty sheltered life (thanks to being autistic) so I didn't have the average childhood

- I have spent years trying to bulid up my confidence and live my life only to have covid/my covid anxiety destroy it.

- I nearly lost my acting degree/one of my good acting friends at uni because of the meltdowns I would have when thinking about covid (we had to perform without masks) I'm lucky that I didn't lose these but it could have happened.

- can't buy effective masks or tests because of money and because my parents will not let me

- I can't keep safe with my parents. They will catch it again at one point yet I want to avoid it and never catch it again. This will not be possible.

- my parents claim that I have so much to live for but I just don't think I do. My dreams and hopes in life have been destroyed about of covid being around forever.

- I have an online friend who has LC and has been stuck in his bed sleeping for 2 years because of ME. I do not wish to have a life like that.

- I have gotten help for my "covid anxiety" but they all tell me the same thing and deny the whole LC ear situation.

I am currently laying in bed right now and I do not wish to wake up when I drift off to sleep tonight. There is no hope for me. There is no hope for us all. I have no one to talk to about my issues. I do not want to live on this planet anymore. I would like to end it all but I know that this would deeply upset my parents and I am scared of doing it. My dreams of becoming a great actor isn't worth it.

I wish the pandemic never happened. I want to die.

I wonder if anyone else feels the same way.

I know that this post will probably go against the rules but I don't care. I have no outlet for these feelings anymore.

This article: https://news.feinberg.northwestern.edu/2026/05/08/reinfection-raises-long-covid-risk-in-children-and-adolescents/

Study: Long COVID associated with SARS-CoV-2 reinfection among children and adolescents in the omicron era (RECOVER-EHR): a retrospective cohort study https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(25)00476-1/fulltext

From study:

>Summary

>Background

>Post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) remain a major public health challenge. Although previous studies have focused on characterising PASC in children and adolescents after an initial infection, the risks of PASC after reinfection with the omicron variant remain unclear. We aimed to assess the risk of PASC diagnosis (U09.9) and symptoms and conditions potentially related to PASC in children and adolescents after a SARS-CoV-2 reinfection during the omicron period.

>Methods

>This retrospective cohort study used data from 40 children's hospitals and health institutions in the USA participating in the Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative. We included patients younger than 21 years at the time of cohort entry; with documented SARS-CoV-2 infection after Jan 1, 2022; and who had at least one health-care visit within 24 months to 7 days before the first infection. The second SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed by positive PCR, antigen tests, or a diagnosis of COVID-19 that occurred at least 60 days after the first infection. The primary endpoint was a clinician-documented diagnosis of PASC (U09.9). Secondary endpoints were 24 symptoms and conditions previously identified as being potentially related to PASC. We used the modified Poisson regression model to estimate the relative risk (RR) between the second and first infection episodes, adjusted for demographic, clinical, and health-care utilisation factors using exact and propensity-score matching.

>Findings

>We identified 407 300 (87·5%) of 465 717 eligible children and adolescents with a first infection episode and 58 417 (12·5%) with a second infection episode from Jan 1, 2022, to Oct 13, 2023, in the RECOVER database. 233 842 (50·2%) patients were male and 231 875 (49·8%) were female. The mean age was 8·17 years (SD 6·58). The incident rate of PASC diagnosis (U09.9) per million people per 6 months was 903·7 (95% CI 780·9–1026·5) in the first infection group and 1883·7 (1565·1–2202·3) in the second infection group. Reinfection was associated with a significantly increased risk of an overall PASC diagnosis (U09.9) (RR 2·08 [1·68–2·59]) and a range of symptoms and conditions potentially related to PASC (RR range 1·15–3·60), including myocarditis, changes in taste and smell, thrombophlebitis and thromboembolism, heart disease, acute kidney injury, fluid and electrolyte disturbance, generalised pain, arrhythmias, abnormal liver enzymes, chest pain, fatigue and malaise, headache, musculoskeletal pain, abdominal pain, mental ill health, POTS or dysautonomia, cognitive impairment, skin conditions, fever and chills, respiratory signs and symptoms, and cardiovascular signs and symptoms.

>Interpretation

>Children and adolescents face a significantly higher risk of various PASC outcomes after reinfection with SARS-CoV-2. These findings add to previous evidence linking paediatric long COVID to multisystem effects and highlight the need to promote vaccination in younger populations and support ongoing research to better understand PASC, identify high-risk subgroups, and improve prevention and care strategies.