There were so many little questions buried in last night's comments that I decided to tackle them in a post.
Can genetics be the key to never getting the coronavirus? I didn't ask the question that coherently; I didn't even ask the question. But I know I have been exposed many times to the virus, and avoided it. I wondered if a thing about my make up that I noticed years ago might be at play.
I say I am immune to smallpox because that's what my father said. Both of us suffered several vaccination, never had the well known scab and didn't have the characteristic little scar. The last time I was "vaccinated" was to go to college, whereupon they gave up on me as immune.
Another thing my dad and I had in common was O- blood. My youngest brother also had O- blood. Neither of us suffered seriously from mosquito bites, and we jokingly attributed it to our O- blood. Sadly, he's no longer around to continue the investigation into covid. I don't know if he couldn't produce a vaccination scar, either. And attributing O- blood and other genetic characteristics to covid avoidance has not basis in reality; it's just family joke kind of talk.
Liz at Field and Fen said she'd begun an article about genetics and covid, but it was basically not interesting, and she could no longer remember its source. I looked at the article's first paragraph some time ago, but The Atlantic's paywall shut me down. The article is linked if you care to look at it. I don't know if the paywall will apply.
Taking one for the team (not really) I splashed my $55 tonight to read it. It was a lot of techno speak about studies that helped break HIV and other not relevant information. Science and technology are listed dead last of the topics it covers. Politics is first. I will cancel while my "subscription" is free.
There was once more question thrown out. Kathy G wondered if there was much lint thrown out when I washed and dried my toweling fabric. It depends on how the dryer deals with lint. With outdoor vented dryers, the process produces a small pile of pure cotton lint, beloved by amateur paper makers. With indoor vented dryers, the lint residue is compacted and rolls up in a ball smaller than a ping pong ball. I wish I could think of a common ball smaller.
And finally, the Larsson print. I find him fascinating. I ran that print one time before and we had a lovely time with it. I'll do some research on him and the print will be the subject of my next post.
Your post reminded me of an article I read somewhere about Freecycling and what people would come and get. Dryer lint (for paper making) was one item, and water from a fish tank was another. Apparently that water is good for the plants.
ReplyDeleteDryer lint, if the articles of clothing or whatever is all the same color can make gorgeous paper, the icky white/grey lint not so much. I got red blanket lint once- it was like finding gold!
ReplyDeleteYou are a scientific marvel- the researchers should know about you.
Mine was cotton lint through and through, and the color of the towel of the moment. A group of papermakers always appeared to collect the new color of lint for their paper making. My current dryer is vented indoors and its technology compacts the lint, though I imagine it's still completely useable.
DeleteHari OM
ReplyDeleteI maybe have to go back and read everyone's comments to fathom some of your responses - but great idea to deal with them and find a post from it! YAM xx
With Covid being relatively new, I suspect nobody knows if some people are naturally immune to Covid. This would be interesting to know. I wonder if research is being done to find an answer. My father was blood type O.
ReplyDeleteThe study i referred to was not about genetics. It was a a lab study strictly on covid studying blood groups of people who had covid and survived. Early pandemic observations.when. many people were dying ofncovid. Nothing to do with the Atlantic that I know of. Nothing to do with immunity. It was not uninteresting, just not useful unless you knew your blood group. I don't think it went anywhere in the onrush of producing vaccines.
ReplyDeleteA common item just smaller than a ping pong ball? How about a large marble, the kind I think they call a shooter? We are told to put our lint in the compost bin here, but I think that's a bad idea because most people's lint is not natural fibre and so the artificial fibres get into the compost which gets into the gardens of everyone who gets compost from the environmental place (i.e. the dump).
ReplyDeleteIntriguing about your reaction, or lack of it, to the smallpox vaccine (and your dad's also). Susan's comment is interesting to consider. I'm sure there's all kinds of research out there that doesn't make the news, at least until there is a breakthrough.
I hope you are indeed immune to covid!
ReplyDeleteDon't know about Covid immunity... doubt that anyone is really immune to it - if directly exposed. But... I do have O+ ... and mosquitoes don't like me either. And when DH had Covid, I didn't catch it even though we still slept in the same bed. But I still wear my mask when out and about. Our doctor recommends it and we don't mind.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that I find myself wondering the same thing about myself. I've never gotten it. My sister is a nurse. She's also an antivaxxer who believes that it changes your DNA. (That's another thing that I've never gotten.) But despite all her exposures, despite her unvaxxed state, she's never gotten it either, which does make me wonder about immunity. My husband is rarely sick. Ever. He's never got covid either. We've both been double vaxxed. We have never been boosted, but are watching the variants carefully. Our numbers are low.
ReplyDeleteI truly wish that O - kept the mosquitos away. I am that blood type, and I am a veritable mosquito magnet! "They say" some people get Covid and just don't have any symptoms. I do remember the smallpox vaccination and the resulting mark on the arm. I'm not sure I can even still see mine! -Jenn
ReplyDeleteI have had the same experience being O- and a mosquitos magnet also had a smallpox vac scar.
DeleteI also wonder if blood type has anything to do with immunity. But without scientific testing we'll never know I guess. I rarely catch whatever is going around, but I put that down to staying home a lot. I have the smallpox scar, but it is very faint now.
ReplyDeleteInteresting... As a child, I had to be vaccinated twice in order to get my 'scar'. I remember it well. I was even given a clear plastic bubble to cover the injection area. (I imagine to keep me from scratching it because it itched like crazy!)
ReplyDeleteI hope you are indeed vaccinated. I haven't gotten sick yet either, but the whole future is ahead of me.
ReplyDeleteA sixty year-old man has just been cured of HIV by getting a bone marrow transplant from someone who turned out to be naturally immune through some sort of genetic inheritance.
ReplyDeleteWhatever the reason, Joanne, thank goodness you seem to have some kind of acquired or inherited immunity, and I hope it remains that way. As for dryer lint, people may come and get ours any time they want. I did notice a couple of birds tugging at it earlier this year; no doubt it makes a soft nest lining.
ReplyDeleteThe Dr. for whom I worked for many years is a proponent of "Eat Right for Your Blood Type." Basically it's about eating to maintain a non-inflammatory body state. Blood Type O is purported to be the "original" type from which all other types came as humans migrated from South Africa, and has one of the best immune responses, and can withstand inflammation states better and longer than other blood types. His joke was, that when the apocalypse happens, what will be left are cockroaches and us blood type O'S! I am O positive, and have been exposed multiple times to Covid and have yet to succumb. I am vaccinated. Until there have been peer-reviewed studies on Covid and immunity, it's all a guess.
ReplyDeleteI have never known about this O- immunity. It’s very interesting and seems to work for you in this matter.
ReplyDeletelol - I can assure you that O+ does not deter mosquitoes from having a feast - at least on my body. They hover around waiting for the right time to attack - I can hear them approaching from a mile away😊
ReplyDeleteAs far as O+ providing immunity, I can’t vouch for that. I’m trying not to put myself in harms way and have been vaccinated to lessen the effect if all my precautions fail.
I hope you do have immunity to Covid, Joanne. It can be nasty!
ReplyDeleteI have a natural immunity to measles though in my early 20s I did go ahead and get the vaccine just to make sure I didn't get it if/when I was pregnant. Back when, mothers would take their kids to get exposed to other children who had chicken pox and measles just to get it over with. My mother exposed me more than once to measles and I never got it. But I wonder too about those who have never had covid like you, myself as well and Marc (but he rarely goes out at all), my neighbor Gary. Marc and I are vaxxed and boosted, wear masks but neighbor Gary is not and he was exposed by our other neighbor Edith who had a bad case of coved even though she was vaxxed. I think I was exposed at my daughter's house.
ReplyDeleteAnother possible cause of immunity is that someone may have had one of the coronoviruses that cause the Common Cold (some are rhinoviruses which are different)
ReplyDeleteMy niece has brought this topic up with me as she now believes she had SARS way back when, that has rendered her immune in a household full of Covid.
ReplyDeleteI still escape though I am risk resistant as I feel it would kill me,
XO
WWW
It is a puzzlement why some get a certain disease and others don't. My blood type is O+ and I get the occasional mosquito bite. Not nearly as often as others around me. I itch for a moment and then it goes away. My smallpox vaccination scar is not visible because I have it in an unseeable place.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. My granddaughter hasn't caught COVID yet despite the fact that she has been exposed several times. My daughter did contract it on the way home from Hawaii.
ReplyDeleteMy son and wife both have O blood types as do both their sons. I wonder if they get mosquito bites. I can't remember if my son got bitten much. Hmmm... They did ALL get COVID though.
My younger daughter has been exposed to covid several times and has made no effort to not get it, although she did get vaccinated but so far she's not had covid. She thinks it's because she's a smoker and they say that lessons her chances of catching it. I hope you are immune to it.
ReplyDeleteScientists have researched Covid immunity & blood types ( & everything else under the sun, of course).
ReplyDeleteHere's a review of the conclusions, "Relationship between blood type and outcomes following COVID-19 infection" from the NIH:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8286549
"Four studies found a correlation between blood type and severity of COVID-related illness, and 5 studies did not."
In those who did, "the authors concluded that type O blood group may be protective against SARS-CoV-2 infection and mortality."
P.S. That review is a year old already-- from July 2021. I didn't continue to search --it called for more research, and there's surely been more studies since.
DeleteWhoops--I posted too soon--the full conclusion includes Rh-neg too. It reads:
Delete"Although these reports might be inconsistent in their findings, certain trends are evident.
Many studies report that blood type A might predispose one to increased susceptibility of infection with SARS-CoV-2,
and type O and Rh-negative blood groups might be protective."
Could have sworn I commented here.
ReplyDeleteMine is A+.
I haven't seen anything about a possible link between genetics and covid. I know so many people who've caught it that I doubt if genetics plays any significant role. But who knows?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure we'll eventually find out; right now, it's still too new, I think. The speculation and studies are fascinating though. I'm A+, double vaxxed and double boosted and a masker. I will undoubtedly end up with Covid (I would bet from a family member) and dread that day since I absolutely hate being sick and rarely am.
ReplyDeleteI'm A neg and haven't caught Covid yet but I have no idea why.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who learned to make paper from dryer lint and I'll never forget what she said about it- that it was "butt easy."
I have heard about the O-type blood making a difference in Covid. I've only heard it from non-medical people. Maybe there are studies about this?
ReplyDelete