Are There Members Besides Me That Have Covid ?

Discussion in 'Viruses' started by Lon Tanner, Oct 16, 2021.

  1. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    Vicks would stir up some weird latent olfactory memories, Doc ;). There was passing discussion of vaporizers in this brief measles thread that also took me back.

    I've read a couple of things about body temp:
    1-It tends to get lower as we age.
    2-The standard of 98.6°F was established over 150 years ago. Today's "new normal" may be as low as 97.5°F
    2a-I've not seen anything regarding a new standard for "fever" except in comments by people with lifelong low baseline temps who have been deathly ill at 100°F yet got classified as "a mild case."

    Hypotheses for lower average body temperature are:
    -Lower average metabolic rates.
    --Since our metabolic rate lowers as we age, I assume that causes our lower body temps.
    -Lower rates of chronic infection and inflammation due to modern hygiene and medicine.
    --Even better dental hygiene is a factor.

    I first researched this when they started taking our temperature before we were allowed to sit in the pews at church, and I looked at the sheet they wrote them down on. I became curious about all the low numbers I saw (some of which were attributable to the ±0.4°F accuracy of even the highest quality IR thermometers.)

    And as you said, temps vary during the day, with lowest being in the AM. I took mine when I first woke up before I started drinking hot coffee.
     
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  2. Don Alaska

    Don Alaska Supreme Member
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    Mercury thermometers are the "Gold" standard, but it is difficult to obtain these now for the non-professional. Last time I looked, the Bureau of Standards still use mercury thermometers for the range in which they are useful. Consumer-grade IR and electronic thermometers vary from brand to brand and instrument to instrument. The scientific and medical instruments are held to much higher standards and are MUCH more expensive.

    Here is a link to a professional IR thermometer
     
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    Last edited: Oct 25, 2021
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  3. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    Yup, nothing beats mercury. I read the same thing regarding what professional labs use when I went looking for a better thermometer some time ago and decided to stick with what I've got.

    I've not found a consumer non-contact IR thermometer that has an accuracy better than ±0.4°F, and they (ThermoWorks) brag about it (I wonder if individual emissivity is a factor?) The $40 "medical grade" ones on Amazon are ±0.5°F. My old under-the-tongue electronic Vicks thermometer cites an accuracy range of ±0.2°F, but it has its own issues. I use it in tandem with a liquid one (+0.1 °C/-0.15 °C) if I feel the need to verify.
     
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  4. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    Any news from Lon??
     
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  5. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    Apparently not, and I am very concerned about how he is doing. It is @Lois Winters and @Faye Fox who would get the first news, since they both have Lon’s email address. It does not do any good to contact Oakmont, because she told me that they can’t give out any information.
    I do not know which hospital Lon is at, but maybe Lois or Faye might know that and can call the hospital and ask how Lon is doing.
     
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  6. Marie Mallery

    Marie Mallery Veteran Member
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    I don't know LOn but I feel bad for him too and hoping he is ok and will be back soon to tell us so.
     
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  7. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    @Don Alaska Thanks for that link. Over $600, huh? I bought one of those on closeout from ThermoWorks (without the ability to take contact temps) but it ain't that quality. That one has a 50:1 Distance to target size ratio, while my ThermoWorks is 12:1. I'm surprised it does not specifically exclude medical use...most of the industrial ones I've seen do.

    It is fun to play with. My home inspector found two hvac vents that had not been tied into the duct work using one of them. She was great.
     
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  8. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    Lois earlier said he's in St. Agnes Hospital.

    I did a quick search on some sites and saw he is related to 2 female Tanners around his generation and a male and a female Tanner that would be his children's ages (or maybe son and DIL) all living in Fresno. There was no contact info, but there's likely more info than that on his Facebook page than what I just posted.

    This sucks.
     
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  9. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    I messaged one from his facebook page that had Tanner in her name, asking how Lon is doing. However, since I am not on the friend list for any of them, she might not see my message, or might even be one of those people who do not look at facebook very much. Anyway, I tried, and I am hoping for an answer.
    Maybe calling the hospital would work ?

    Okay, I called the hospital. The nurse said that they can only give information to family members, but she said that she could tell me that Lon is doing okay, so that is good news !
     
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    Last edited: Oct 25, 2021
  10. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    Great!!

    Thank you.

    Tough old bird...
     
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  11. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    Once again, please consider the topic of this thread before posting stuff that has nothing to do with it. Inquiries about Lon are on-topic because he started the thread about his diagnosis with COVID, but gerbils (or hamsters, or whatever they were) up the butt are off-topic, as well as some of the stuff that preceded it.
     
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  12. Lois Winters

    Lois Winters Veteran Member
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    Just read this, and am happy to hear he's doing ok. I was about to call St. Agnes myself to see what I could find out.
     
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  13. Lois Winters

    Lois Winters Veteran Member
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    Also, it just dawned on me that he may be out of a charge for his phone. His lap top is back at his facility and he's been sending emails from his phone. Perhaps one of the staff could charge it for him.
     
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  14. Marie Mallery

    Marie Mallery Veteran Member
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    First off real glad Lon is ok but do you mean I put that post on this thread?:eek:I sure hope not.I do get lost but that is just crazy lost.
     
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  15. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    I'm not pointing anyone out. No one is in trouble. I just want to get the thread back on track.
     
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