Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica

Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by joshvm on Tuesday June 30, 2020 @05:55PM (#23695234)

The author is incorrect, or at least misleading. People get colds in Antarctica quite often or they certainly used to:

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/epidemiology-and-inf...

Though bear in mind the obvious - people get infected when they allow in outsiders like contractors, wintering staff arriving, tourists, etc. Over winter when you're in isolation there's nowhere for viruses to come from and the infection rate drops. Remote stations would probably also proactively get people to isolate so the whole crew doesn't come down with the lurgy at once.

It's not that your immune system is better, you just have a much smaller social network. Wintering staff are generally in good health anyway (the medical is extensive) which probably helps a bit. You also get a mandatory flu jab (this is not normal in my country unless you're old).

Once you get back into the general population, you pick up all the seasonal colds that you missed.

Edit: also check those references!

An outbreak of common cold at an Antarctic Base after seventeen weeks of complete isolation.

(from the abstract they never found the culprit - perhaps it got frozen onto a surface and then thawed later?)

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by vwarner1411 on Tuesday June 30, 2020 @10:54PM (#23697280)

The colds that would crop up after a month always surprised me during my deployments. Where did it come from? We haven't had contact with anyone outside our group of like 40-50 people.

I remember always feeling suddenly overwhelmed by people. You spend a few months with only a couple dozen people. Then you end up in NZ or Chile and fly back stateside. Suddenly there are thousands of people around.

Dang, I suddenly miss all my Antarctic peeps.

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by pbhjpbhj on Wednesday July 01, 2020 @06:56AM (#23700097)

During our current isolation I've had probably 3 bouts of colds, that seems no less than normal (and one that I thought was a cold and now think might be a midlife tree pollen aversion). That surprised me - like where is it coming from!

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by flemhans on Wednesday July 01, 2020 @07:42AM (#23700364)

I’ve had nothing since February, and I’d usually get something over such a long period

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by latchkey on Tuesday June 30, 2020 @05:06PM (#23694778)

Absolutely. I moved to Vietnam from San Francisco. Spent 4 years there. Got reliably food sick off and on solid for a year and then it eventually just stopped. I could eat anything and not get sick. Hardly got any 'colds' while I was there.

Came back to the US end of January (terrible timing considering the way things are going) and ended up getting sick with flu (not covid thankfully) and lots of digestive issues again. Now, heading into July... I haven't gotten sick again (likely from the isolation) and the digestive issues went away.

Our bodies are complex beings.

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by harikb on Tuesday June 30, 2020 @05:13PM (#23694853)

Wait! Are we becoming less immune with this isolation :o

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by twic on Wednesday July 01, 2020 @03:13AM (#23698671)

I saw it speculated that one of the reasons children are more resistant to COVID-19 is that they have strong immune systems due to the constant challenge of new viruses they are exposed to at school. But now they aren't at school.

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by thaumasiotes on Sunday July 05, 2020 @03:43AM (#23737192)

Eh... children are always more physically robust. For diseases... it's very specific to the disease. Some diseases are particularly nasty to children. Some are particularly harmless to children. That's not a pattern you expect to see if the immune system is measured along a one-dimensional scale of "strength".

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by ryanianian on Tuesday June 30, 2020 @05:27PM (#23694989)

Not a doctor but my suspicion is..probably not unless your isolation resembles a bubble. We still go to the store, eat the food, etc. You have basic immunity at-large but not to the local variations that you catch them when you travel. The local variations evolve without you when you go to antarctica for a while.

The more serious infections (cold, flu, covid) aren't a "gradual" immunity thing, they're individual strains that pack a hard punch in comparison to everything else. In part because we don't see anything super close to them on a regular basis.

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by aqme28 on Tuesday June 30, 2020 @05:26PM (#23694985)

Thankfully I would expect all of this isolation to soften next year's flu season quite a bit.

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by latchkey on Tuesday June 30, 2020 @05:22PM (#23694938)

Yes. :o

Even worse, people aren't getting their flu shots (and other elective things) because they don't want to risk going to the doctors.

So when we get out of this covid jail... get ready for some interesting charts from the CDC.

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by irrational on Tuesday June 30, 2020 @07:11PM (#23695889)

Do you still trust the CDC? One unfortunate side effect of the pandemic is that my trust in the CDC went from absolute to non-existent. They’ve shown themselves willing to bend to politics instead of siding with science.

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by losteric on Tuesday June 30, 2020 @11:45PM (#23697546)

Well, I blame this administration generally seeking appointments that will bend the knee over science.

Plenty of prior administrations appointment science-bound officials that held the line.

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by thaumasiotes on Wednesday July 01, 2020 @06:31AM (#23699956)

> One unfortunate side effect of the pandemic is that my trust in the CDC went from absolute to non-existent.

Why is that effect unfortunate?

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[dead]

Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by rorykoehler on Wednesday July 01, 2020 @12:51AM (#23697847)

What do CDC have to do with the efficacy of vaccines?

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[dead]

Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by Hinrik on Wednesday July 01, 2020 @04:15AM (#23699126)

What doubt? The momentary mismanagement of one nation's disease control unit means you'll ignore the globally-realized benefits of the greatest life-saving achievement of modern medicine?

Sounds a bit like you were searching for an excuse for a conclusion you arrived at already for other reasons.

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by dredmorbius on Wednesday July 01, 2020 @08:57AM (#23700811)

All due respect to vaccines, and the comment you're responding to is absolutely idiotic, they're only accounting for a small fraction of longevity and mortality improvements over the past 200 years.

The bulk of advances predate either development of widespread vaccination (largely 1930s - 1960s), or antibiotics (1940s), to say nothing of organ transplants (1950s-), cancer treatments (roughly same), imaging (1900s-), and advanced laproscopic surgeries (1970s-).

Basic sanitation (sewerage & solid waste), water purification, food safety, vector control (mosquitos), physical safety (falls, streets/transport, machinery), environment (soot, lead, asbestos, poisons), habits (smoke, drink, drugs), childbirth & childcare, sex ed, nutrition, and simple basic access to medical care count for far more.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uTWEATUzgxk/TXQoTibILtI/AAAAAAAAAA...

Context: http://economicspsychologypolicy.blogspot.com/2011/03/conque...

I'm not disputing that vaccines are a powerful and beneficial tool, but that "the greatest life-saving achievement of modern medicine" is not in fact vaccination, but basic (and often quite pedestrian) public health measures.

This has been Laurie Garrett's thesis since at least the mid-1990s. And yes, she's also a strong vaccine advocate:

https://www.lauriegarrett.com/betrayal-of-trust

https://greatpoliticalbooks.com/betrayal-of-trust-by-laurie-...

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by 1996 on Wednesday July 01, 2020 @02:14PM (#23704618)

You are free to consider mycomment idiotic.

However, I will decide on yearly flu shots and others based on my own analysis, as clearly government sources have other things in mind that my best interest.

For example, I will wait 6 to 12 month after a covid vaccine is available to check postmarket studies.

A counter example is papillomavirus and shingles (vzw) vaccines, that I have decided to get, even if it's not recommended for me.

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by rorykoehler on Wednesday July 01, 2020 @04:08AM (#23699085)

That's a really bad over compensation in the other direction.

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by PenguinCoder on Tuesday June 30, 2020 @05:29PM (#23695017)

Supposing there's a reliable CDC left after this is all said and done. Might get dismantled from within as a scapegoat.

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by mobilefriendly on Tuesday June 30, 2020 @06:34PM (#23695565)

Its not a scapegoat -- the CDC is extremely well-funded and has a singular mission -- and is doing a quantifiably terrible job. They downplayed the North America risk the first two months of 2020, utterly botched testing but still refused to allow private lab testing until the White House intervened, and they literally lied to the public about the efficacy of masks. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/03/us/cdc-coronavirus.html

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by mnm1 on Tuesday June 30, 2020 @10:33PM (#23697128)

The CDC is part of the executive branch and ultimately has no authority to go against the president's wishes or do anything he doesn't want. Just recently, they said they're not pushing for mandatory mask regulations to not embarrass the president. An agency like this, with no power to do what is right, is completely useless. Still, while I don't trust them one bit now, they don't deserve to be blamed for something they are not in control of. Proper blame lies with the leadership of the executive branch, the white house and ultimately the president. That's where the buck stops and no amount of wishing on their part will ever change that.

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by pbhjpbhj on Wednesday July 01, 2020 @07:04AM (#23700142)

This seems to be a big problem with USA in general - political appointees in fields where objective truth is vital.

Having a legal system that can't arrest, charge, prosecute anyone because politics says not to means you don't have rule of law. If someone is recorded saying they committed sex offences then they should get a police interview regardless of their job.

Having a disease control department that can't give scientific advice because a political appointee won't like it; might as well close that department, it's no longer useful. Or, you could address the root issue.

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by latchkey on Tuesday June 30, 2020 @06:48PM (#23695704)

This video [1] made me sad at the time because I could see it coming. The downplay of the severity along with the usage of masks doesn't age well.

I was coming from Vietnam and early on the govt. wasn't taking it seriously enough and had some major outbreaks. But they immediately got it under control. Contact tracing, testing, lockdowns, spraying, masks, hand washing, propaganda... and look... it worked. Zero deaths, zero new cases in 90+ days now. The whole country is open within its borders and people are safely interacting without any worries.

So, while I think the CDC is doing an ok job... at the end of the day, they totally missed the tidal wave coming at them.

[1] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/02/17/nih-di...

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by odshoifsdhfs on Tuesday June 30, 2020 @08:17PM (#23696360)

In their defence, this happened in most countries in Europe as well. Not sure if incompetence or hubris to be honest (though the mask wearing should be criminal, and imo, is one of the reasons some people refuse to wear them now, based on those comments 3/4 months ago they weren't effective)

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by justaguyhere on Tuesday June 30, 2020 @05:53PM (#23695223)

So when we get out of this covid jail

At the current rate I am wondering if we get out, not when, lol

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by joering2 on Wednesday July 01, 2020 @05:15AM (#23699498)

We will. Thank God its not Ebola and while COVID has high rate of infection it kills small % of sick relatively speaking. Eventually we will build up hoard immunity, but left alone it could easily take until end of next year and it reminds Russia rullette. Sad that CDC and President didn’t standup to the task but I wasn’t suprised. Then there is VP who singlehandy is responsible for the largest outbreak of HIV in USA. So it could be worse. Inagine something as deadly as Ebola that spreads as easily as COVID. These folks who are proud to excercise their freedom because US Constitution doesnt force them to wear masks, wouldn’t have any Constitution left to enjoy at all.

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by majewsky on Wednesday July 01, 2020 @11:10AM (#23702262)

> wouldn’t have any Constitution left to enjoy at all.

Pun intended?

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by Swizec on Tuesday June 30, 2020 @05:53PM (#23695213)

I moved to SF a few years ago now I’m allergic to the trees back in Slovenia. Never had allergies before in my life.

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by rubidium on Tuesday June 30, 2020 @05:55PM (#23695235)

Allergies often come on with age... so it may just be that.

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by mech422 on Tuesday June 30, 2020 @11:58PM (#23697616)

This seems to have happened with me... But I didn't realize it was common!

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by rexarex on Wednesday July 01, 2020 @01:38AM (#23698108)

All the old winter-overs in McMurdo Station hated when the flights started coming in for the summer season, especially that early WinFly in September with all those “damn GERMS”. Kind of funny the population is so isolated that everyone is immune to the local viruses for a little bit.

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Re:Returning from a Year of Isolation in Antarctica by cmarschner on Wednesday July 01, 2020 @02:18AM (#23698333)

I had a tendency for allergies for most of my life, until we got our daughter who increased our overall level of dirtiness acceptance and brought in new viruses every other week when she was little.

Suddenly my allergies dropped. I made a test and I had no positive marker.

This went on for a couple of years.

This has changed since the lockdown. I am sneezing again all the time and wake up with sore throats, in the way it was typical. Even stronger than before.

The immune system needs work to do.

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