This report comes from my brain, adapted from the report of Dr. Lawrence I. Golbe, eminent clinician, head of the science department at CurePSP, USA.
Grade is a non plus ultra topic and vaccinating or not vaccinating is dividing the nation. I know I am not making friends with my views now, many are simply contra because they want to be against something, but the days of acceptance are over for me, and I am expressing my opinion simply because I feel the need to do so, and because I have the platform to do so.
Since I have latently always in the back of my mind “not to come to the hospital now”, because there the beds are filled with non-vaccinated patients, patients in some states are flown out because they have no more free space, since triage and the so-called “soft triage” is applied, yes, since then I feel affected, since then my understanding towards non-vaccinated people has definitely decreased. Such a choice is definitely not personal. In addition, I have a hard time with the hair-raising and really abstruse stories that are spread. In order to do this, I find it difficult to understand an MSA patient who does not want to be protected. Because I assume, in case of a complication, with a rare disease, we would lose, admitted to a hospital.
I have lost a close family member and acquaintances to this disease, I know people who are struggling with long-term effects, so the question is unnecessary for me, whether this disease exists or not.
What I also often hear is that many do not want to be vaccinated for medical reasons. The only contraindication is a severe allergy to one of the substances received in the vaccine. A severe allergy sufferer (who always has to carry antihistamines) had herself vaccinated in the hospital, prophilactically incl. with hospitalization for observation. Nothing happened.
Of course, something can always go wrong. If I go on the street, there is also the possibility that I will be run over by a bus.
Another thing to consider is that in case of bedriddenness (ventilation, intensive care…) we would lose a large amount of muscle mass and we would not be able to build it up again. The lost muscle mass would be important in case of balance problems or any other muscle effort, like secretion management or change of position in bed.
As someone from a medical point of view puts it: people with Atypical Parkinson’s Syndromes are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus and should take protective measures sooner rather than later.
COVID-19, the type of coronavirus causing the current pandemic, infects the entire respiratory system – in mild cases only the nasal passages (rhinitis or “sniffles”), in moderate cases the bronchi (bronchitis), and in severe cases the lungs (viral pneumonia). In either case, a lot of secretions need to be cleared, and people with Atypical Parkinson’s Syndromes have difficulty doing so.
Atypical Parkinson’s Syndromes affects the ability to swallow or cough up secretions, allowing them to drip into the trachea. This can turn even a cold into pneumonia. A second and probably more important problem is that when pneumonia occurs, forceful coughing up of lung secretions, which is essential for recovery, is impaired in Atypical Parkinson’s Syndromes. This allows the secretions to fill the spaces in the lungs where air should be flowing, reducing the oxygen supply to the tissues. An even more dangerous consequence is that the inflamed lung tissue is a good place for bacteria in the inhaled air to create a second pneumonia in addition to the first, called a “superinfection.”
Caregivers of people with Atypical Parkinson’s Syndrome should also exercise more caution than others their age. This is because the disease can also be transmitted by people who are infected but do not yet have symptoms.
Bottom line: people with Atypical Parkinson’s Syndromes are more susceptible to pneumonia caused by coronavirus than the average population and less able to cough up the secretions needed to clear pneumonia. Therefore, patients and those close to them should be much more cautious than others, avoid crowded places, avoid potentially contaminated surfaces, wash their hands, and follow precautions recommended by health authorities.
This advice applies to all neurological conditions to the extent that they affect the ability to control one’s own respiratory secretions.
(As of March 2020)
So take care and protect yourself!