#Immunocompromised

[gentlemanbutch]

the way that no one wears a mask at my local LGBTQ clinic, and in fact comments on my mask like it's just this hilarious little idiosyncrasy that I still wear one and not because I'm immunocompromised and we're in the middle of a pandemic ... as if there isn't an airborne virus that literally fucks up your immune system ... as if we didn't lose a generation of queer people to another virus that fucks up your immune system ...

[vaguegrant]

The sardonic, reductionist headline here could be "Scientists finally figured out why you get more colds in winter: bEcAuSe iT's CoLd!"—but the actual science involved here is both interesting, and potentially very relevant to everyday life and especially the immunocompromised:

It turns out the cold air itself damages the immune response occurring in the nose. [...] In fact, reducing the temperature inside the nose by as little as 9 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius) kills nearly 50% of the billions of virus and bacteria-fighting cells in the nostrils, according to the study published Tuesday in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. “Cold air is associated with increased viral infection because you’ve essentially lost half of your immunity just by that small drop in temperature,” said rhinologist Dr. Benjamin Bleier, director of otolaryngology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Want to avoid catching or spreading respiratory viruses like CoVid-19, RSV, influenza, or a common cold? Mask up, please, but also bundle up! Wrap up in a scarf, wear a balaclava, and just generally keep your face warm. There's no single magic solution, but that's not a reason to do nothing. Rather, it's a reason to take several simple precautions that help avoid the spread of disease and protect those around you. (I can't tell you how much "this isn't 100% effective so I shouldn't do it at all" frustrates me.)

Oh, and #knitblr? This is your time to shine.

[thedisablednaturalist]

Disabled people pointing out ableism by the wider queer community is not "ruining the vibes" of pride month

[wheelie-sick]

I'm moderately immunocompromised due to the medications I'm on that suppress my immune system

I'm also...

a university student. I'm in your classes

a community member. I'm in your public spaces

someone who does my own groceries. I'm in your grocery stores

someone who takes medications. I'm in your pharmacies

someone who likes to eat out with friends. I'm in your restaurants

someone who shops. I'm in your malls and shopping centers

someone who appreciates local artists. I'm at your markets

I am not elderly. you cannot look at me and see that I am high risk. You can't know to avoid me if you leave the house with covid or the flu but covid or the flu could kill me

new covid guidelines are suggesting that you can leave isolation while you're sick but that you should avoid high risk people. you cannot do this, we are everywhere. we look like elderly people on ventilators but we also look like fit young adults and energetic children. you cannot spot someone high risk. you cannot avoid us. if you're sick stay home

[phoenixonwheels]

If you have a medical condition that makes you at high risk for Covid (which is a long fucking list) or you live with or care for someone who does, under the ADA you can require that every person you will come in contact with in a medical facility be masked and that they properly filter the air.

[king-sappho]

The pandemic is not over. I’m immunocompromised and so is my girlfriend. We are in our 20s. We wear masks every time we go out, which is usually to a doctor. I’ve noticed that so many people in the US want to act like the pandemic never happened and the visual of a person wearing a mask makes them recoil. There are people who go so far to discriminate against us because we try to keep safe and that makes them uncomfortable (in a blue state even).

Yesterday at the dentist an old man coughed at us. When I was retrieving my stolen car at a compound the person who had my car told me to not wear my mask. The first day I moved here someone drove up to me in my apartment parking and coughed on me as well.

Before my girlfriend and I moved we were living at her parents in a red state. It was a bad situation and her parents lied to us when they had Covid. We both got it right before we had to leave. We’re still feeling the long term affects in our chronic illnesses.

What we face as disabled people is an onslaught of aggression for our existence because able bodied people are scared to be like us. They tell us we are crazy so they can go about their lives like we don’t exist or the dangers that threaten our well-being don’t exist.

What I’m saying is that I won’t compromise my safety for other’s comfort. I don’t wear masks to shame other people or to make a political statement, I just don’t want to get sick. That’s my business and my right. The world would be safer for disabled people if everyone wore KN95 masks too, and if you decide to wear it I’m grateful. But at the very least I just want people to stop stifling us and the truth. We are still in a pandemic and thousands of people are still dying from Covid. I’m still wearing a mask even if it isolates me socially from others. I have to.

[azztiph]

Sometimes u just need to sob and scream and cry and bitch about ur disability

I think a lot of people feel like they need to be at completely at peace with their disability

And you don’t!

Be mad be sad be pissed off!

[thatchronicfeeling]

July is Disability Pride Month

Let’s celebrate by keeping disabled people ALIVE and SAFE.

Want to know how you can help?

WEAR A MASK. 

(FFP2/3 or N95 give best protection, especially the ones that fasten behind your head)

[crippleprophet]

forcemasc? no i said forcemask. put the n95 on.

[cosmiccripple]

i'm so fucking glad that ableds find it hilarious when they pass their colds around to others. SO GLAD. /s

bet you didn't know your fucking cold can land me permanently worse or taking a long time to recover or even spending time in the hospital.

your cold is only inconsequential to you.

be fucking considerate and wear a goddamn mask around people when you're sick. (or even better, wear one all the time!!!)

[spooniestrong]

[thedisablednaturalist]

God the saddest thing about all the unmasking stuff is that people are probably secretly (and some openly) happy to not see any of us cripples in public now. Lots of us have to stay at home bc we can't risk getting covid (again). And the ones that go out get harassed for wearing a mask. Like I've had people come up to me and ask why I'm wearing that or say loudly that they don't think masks work. It's scary.

And even probably people at pride think this too. That they are happy not to have any cripples in wheelchairs or canes/crutches slowing them down or getting grossed out by people with feeding tubes, diapers, or colostomy bags. We "ruin the fun" by just existing apparently.

If you are abled and read this, check your biases. You probably feel this way too deep down. Wear your mask.

[chrissy-kaos]

No filters, no makeup first shower in like 5 days. Eww, I know. I have you know the hospital doesn't give you showers lol I just started to feel a little better. I'm still sick as fuck. But my fever has broken, and it's sitting around 98-99ish. It seems the antibiotics are doing something right, I guess. It just took them a while. Hopefully, I can return to being my sassy self here in a day or two. Thank you for all the get well messages. They very much helped me get through this. Tho it's not over, I feel like I have some relief.

[phoenixonwheels]

[ID: Tweet by @PlaguePoems dated 2/17/23

“I know an old punk

whose pierced nose

remains hidden

behind the N95 mask

he dutifully wears

and when I ask him

if he still wears it

because his aesthetic

has never cared for norms

he replies that he wears it

because nothing is more punk

than giving a shit

about other people.”]

[wheelie-sick]

What is immunocompromisation?

Being immunocompromised means you have a weaker immune system than most people. There are two main ways people become immunocompromised

1. Medical Conditions

Certain medical conditions cause your immune system to be weaker. Some examples include:

Immunodeficiencies- A category of conditions causing a lower number of or lower efficacy of immune cells. This category is divided into two subcategories: primary immunodeficiency and secondary immunodeficiency. Primary immunodeficiency is a subcategory consisting of hundreds of different conditions all causing a lower number of immune cells. Secondary immunodeficiency is a smaller category consisting of conditions where a person lacks immune cells due to other causes such as malnutrition.

HIV/AIDS

Some cancers

2. Medications

There are two main types of medications that result in being immunocompromised: Immunosuppressants and chemotherapy

Immunosuppressive medications- Immunosuppressive medications are medications designed to suppress your immune response. These can work in many different ways with some targeting a broad range of immune cells and others being highly specific. These medications are often used for organ transplant recipients and people with moderate-severe autoimmune diseases. Some medications in this category include: organ transplant medications, biologics, and high dose corticosteroids

Chemotherapy- Chemotherapy often comes with the effect of preventing new fast-dividing cells from being produced. This is why hair loss is such a common side effect of chemotherapy. Immune cells are fast dividing and therefore frequently are unable to be produced while on chemotherapy

The effects of immunocompromisation

Immunocompromisation has a large range of effects depending on the reason someone is immunocompromised. The most common effects are an increased susceptibility to illness and cancers. Increased susceptibility to illness can look like:

Frequent illnesses

Illnesses that are more severe than they would be for other people

Recurrent infections

Infections that don't respond to medication

Delayed response to infection

Infections that last longer than usual

Some people are more susceptible to certain types of infections. For example anifrolumab, a biologic used for lupus, makes people more susceptible to herpes zoster and respiratory tract infections while prednisone, a corticosteroid, increases risk of infection across the board. This occurs due to different causes of immunocompromisation affecting different immune cells with different roles in preventing and responding to infection.

Grades of severity

Recently the term "moderately and severely immunocompromised" has been used in covid-19 resources. Certain factors are considered to make someone moderately or severely immunocompromised, these include:

Advanced or untreated HIV infection

Moderate or severe primary immunodeficiencies

Hematologic malignancies

Active treatment for solid tumors or hematologic malignancies

Immunosuppressant medications used for solid organ or islet transplants

CAR-T cell therapy or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Treatment with alkylating agents, antimetabolites, high-dose corticosteroids, chemotherapeutic agents, TNF blockers, and other biologic agents that are immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory

What immunocompromisation is not

It's worth noting that getting sick frequently or getting seriously sick from illnesses that are usually mild is a warning sign for being immunocompromised but does not inherently make you immunocompromised. Some people are just more susceptible to illness without being immunocompromised.

Having minimal response to an infection that is usually more serious is a sign of a strong immune system, not a weak one.

Being immunocompromised is also not the same as being high risk for serious infection. All immunocompromised people are high risk but not all high risk people are immunocompromised. Immunocompromisation is specifically when someone is high risk because their immune system is weak. Particularly in regards to covid, there are many conditions that make you higher risk that do not involve a weak immune system.

Autoimmune diseases do not automatically make you immunocompromised. Something being a disorder of the immune system does not mean that you are immunocompromised because immunocompromised means a weaker immune system not a malfunctioning immune system.