Do you think you are sick with covid, but haven’t tested yourself? Then you might be wrong. – I think there are quite a few people who are lying at home with other things, and think they have covid, says vaccine researcher at the University of Oslo, Gunnveig Grødeland, to news. Without a test As sick people are no longer encouraged to test themselves, it is currently completely impossible to know how many have been attacked by the coronavirus, and how many just think they have. – Before, we used to call what we got from respiratory disease the flu. Now I notice that many people do the same with covid, says Grødeland. She therefore does not have enough data to carry out research on this, but constantly experiences that people are almost certain that they have had covid, without it being confirmed. – So I ask yes, which test did you use? It turns out that no test had been taken. So there are probably quite a few more of those who actually get sick who have viruses other than covid, says the senior researcher. Many people think they have covid, without knowing it Senior researcher at UIO, Gunnveig Grødeland, Photo: UIO Cause of death Although there is no basis to say anything for certain about what most people get sick from now, admissions and deaths in hospitals can provide a good pointer. – Half of hospital admissions are the pure cold viruses. The other half is SARS-Covid2 and a very small proportion of influenza, says Grødeland. The researcher refers to page 19 of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health’s (FHI) latest weekly report, which shows deaths. There is a salmon pink column towering high above the columns for both influenza and covid-19. It has been given the collective name respiratory infection. In the column are flu, covid-19, and a bunch of cold viruses. Maybe you’ve heard of Rhino? It is just one of many relatively anonymous cold viruses ravaging our country now. – So, these viruses that we don’t really think about, and which we have always called influenza and now call covid, they are in themselves a threat to quite a few people, says Grødeland. If you are lying flat, it could be due to something completely different from covid. Hard-hitting Grødeland believes that the Norwegian population now has a relatively high level of immunity against covid. Many have been vaccinated several times, and most of us have been exposed to the virus via infection from others. If you still take a test and it turns out that you have covid-19, how sick you can get is completely individual. – Everything depends on what you have been exposed to, not only the vaccines, but also what you have been infected with, and of course what kind of health status you have, and what genetic predispositions you have for protection or not, says Grødeland. However, Covid-19 can still be fierce. – We have received a new virus variant, which is different from previous omicron variants, says Assistant Director of the Norwegian Directorate of Health, Espen Rostrup Nakstad. This is because the infection goes down in the lungs, as does the flu, but it also affects the whole body, and many organ systems in the body, explains Assistant Director of the Directorate of Health, Espen Rostrup Nakstad. – In addition, we have now received a new virus variant this autumn, BA-286, which is quite different from previous omicron variants. It can also contribute to more people noticing it a little extra this autumn, says Nakstad to news. He adds that the proportion who become seriously ill is much lower than before, and that the disease has probably become kinder.
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