Community Stories

Please Take All Necessary Precautions for Coronavirus... It's Highly Contagious. My Story

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Marsimaxam
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I'm a 66 year old dentist who has been practicing 2 days a week since June 2020. Everyone in the office wears an N95 mask and face shields, we have four air purifiers with HEPA filters and use an external vacuum system when doing procedures that generate aerosols... high speed drill, cavitron, slow speed drill, etc. When I'm not in the office, I stay at home except to go out for a walk with my son and we both wear masks and keep our distance from others. I don't go out for groceries, but use instacart and buy all my supplies online. I don't see others outside my immediate family bubble that I live with at home. I have followed all the guidelines advised by health authorities.... no travel, no get togethers, etc., and yet, I am Covid Positive as of today.

My dental assistant texted me this last Sunday, 1/24/21, to tell me that she was experiencing Covid symptoms and that she was going to get tested as soon as possible. I called my partner in my dental practice and we decided to cancel all appointments for the week and get ourselves tested. My partner tested negative, but both my assistant and I tested positive. Considering that we never take off our masks in the office except to eat, which I do so in my private office, and the staff isolates themselves by going into separate rooms, the only explanation is that we were exposed by an asymptomatic patient in which we did an aerosol generating procedure. I always knew this was a risk, I just I hoped that everything we were doing would be enough to prevent infection... it wasn't.

I am still asymptomatic, but I am not out of danger. I am isolating in a downstairs room with a private bathroom and hopefully, my family will not be infected. I was due for my second dose of vaccine on Monday, but, that will now have to wait. Hopefully, that first dose will provide me with some protection.

Stay safe, wear a mask, keep your distance, and don't go outside your bubble.
 
omegastar
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I hope the best for you and your family.
Did you take your watches with you ?
 
Professor
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A month ago I stopped at a BP to get heating oil. When I donned my mask and went inside to pre pay it there were half a dozen customers there without masks.
While waiting I felt a tickle in my throat (chronic sinus problem) and coughed loudly several times. The mask less ones looked like deer caught in the headlights. No doubt they had to change undies when they got home.
 
eugeneandresson
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Could you have tested positive due to already having the first Covid shot? It sounds like you had it before you got tested (correct me if I am wrong).
 
lexieb007
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eugeneandresson eugeneandresson
Could you have tested positive due to already having the first Covid shot? It sounds like you had it before you got tested (correct me if I am wrong).
No. The RNA test detects live virus not the vaccine.
Edited:
 
lexieb007
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Professor Professor
A month ago I stopped at a BP to get heating oil. When I donned my mask and went inside to pre pay it there were half a dozen customers there without masks.
While waiting I felt a tickle in my throat (chronic sinus problem) and coughed loudly several times. The mask less ones looked like deer caught in the headlights. No doubt they had to change undies when they got home.
People get the "use of masks" like this incorrect all the time. A general mask protects others not the mask wearer (unless it's an N95)..even then an N95 is not 100% protective as our dentist friend discovered... it's 95% effective.. (hence the name).... and even then people fiddle with them, remove them, eat with them off, touch their face with their infected glove etc etc etc ... one breach and yr gone...
Edited:
 
lexieb007
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OP'r....(so called) "Full" PPE is never 100% effective as it needs to be left on 100% of the time and even then you can "breach".... if you think about it in the lab they handle live viruses like this only in full hazmat suits with piped O2 showers in and out etc full biosecurity so is it any wonder virus will get thru rather crude "PPE"... what PPE does is reduce viral load during exposure. That and one vaccine already should help A LOT...
Edited:
 
JimInOz
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Well, that's shit news to hear.

Hopefully you'll be healthy enough to fight it off without any after effects.

Wishing you and your family/co-workers all the best.
 
lexieb007
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Most in the general community have zero idea of the risks that health care workers (at hi risk of virus contraction like this guy) go thru ever day of their working lives.
 
M
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I'd like to express my sympathies.

Thank you for sharing your valuable experience.
Please take a good rest.
 
Capcom
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I hope that you and your assistant make a swift and full recovery.
 
Enzo
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I wish you, your assistant and all your family the very best.

Thank you for sharing this.
 
M'Bob
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Thanks for posting, wishing you the best. To be honest, given that dentists treat patients for almost the entire time unmasked, I’m actually surprised the transmission rate amongst dentists and their staffs are not significantly higher.
 
Walrus
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Marsimaxam Marsimaxam
I'm a 66 year old dentist who has been practicing 2 days a week since June 2020. Everyone in the office wears an N95 mask and face shields, we have four air purifiers with HEPA filters and use an external vacuum system when doing procedures that generate aerosols... high speed drill, cavitron, slow speed drill, etc. When I'm not in the office, I stay at home except to go out for a walk with my son and we both wear masks and keep our distance from others. I don't go out for groceries, but use instacart and buy all my supplies online. I don't see others outside my immediate family bubble that I live with at home. I have followed all the guidelines advised by health authorities.... no travel, no get togethers, etc., and yet, I am Covid Positive as of today.

My dental assistant texted me this last Sunday, 1/24/21, to tell me that she was experiencing Covid symptoms and that she was going to get tested as soon as possible. I called my partner in my dental practice and we decided to cancel all appointments for the week and get ourselves tested. My partner tested negative, but both my assistant and I tested positive. Considering that we never take off our masks in the office except to eat, which I do so in my private office, and the staff isolates themselves by going into separate rooms, the only explanation is that we were exposed by an asymptomatic patient in which we did an aerosol generating procedure. I always knew this was a risk, I just I hoped that everything we were doing would be enough to prevent infection... it wasn't.

I am still asymptomatic, but I am not out of danger. I am isolating in a downstairs room with a private bathroom and hopefully, my family will not be infected. I was due for my second dose of vaccine on Monday, but, that will now have to wait. Hopefully, that first dose will provide me with some protection.

Stay safe, wear a mask, keep your distance, and don't go outside your bubble.
Wow scary to hear. First off I hope you recover quickly but I wanted to ask what vaccine you received. If you were set to get your second dose Monday you must be 10 days past your first which is the amount of time I’ve read it takes for antibodies to produce. You are not the first case I’ve heard of someone testing positive after a vaccine. Good luck to you.