Define Mild Symptoms?

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Tmoneyag99
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12:11p, 3/28/20
AG
80% of people get this and their symptoms are mild.


I think there is an understanding gap between what the medical professionals understand as mild (doesn't require hospitalization) versus what the general public understands as mild ( a nasty cold that requires you to spend 2weeks on the couch.

What ballerstaff described, and that article from the British dude who's wife is a doctor... it sounds like utter hell.
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Fitch
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12:14p, 3/28/20
AG
Everywhere I've read describes "mild" as having severe flu and pneumonia symptoms, but not requiring hospital treatment.

Edit: Described better below by BlackGoldAg2011
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Proposition Joe
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12:17p, 3/28/20
Yeah, "mild" seems to be "it kicked my ass but I wasn't struggling to breathe".
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AvidAggie
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12:25p, 3/28/20
AG
Also, what is "shortness of breath"? Most are saying this is a serious symptom and should get medical attention immediately.

Sometimes when I get the fever/chills/sweats I can experience this but never think I require hospital treatment.
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Tom Cardy
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12:32p, 3/28/20
AG
Others are saying that you may only have fever and a cough for a few days - there really isn't a good definition for "mild" that's widely used
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Bruce Almighty
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12:35p, 3/28/20
AG
There's a wide range of what's considered mild. Anything that's treatable at home is mild, whether it's a mild cold or the worse you've ever felt.
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Pumpkinhead
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In reply to Tmoneyag99 • 12:40p, 3/28/20
AG
Tmoneyag99 said:
80% of people get this and their symptoms are mild.


I think there is an understanding gap between what the medical professionals understand as mild (doesn't require hospitalization) versus what the general public understands as mild ( a nasty cold that requires you to spend 2weeks on the couch.

What ballerstaff described, and that article from the British dude who's wife is a doctor... it sounds like utter hell.
Something that mostly puts me on the couch or in bed for 2 weeks, even if not requiring hospitalization, I honestly don't consider 'mild'. Personally, I don't think I have EVER in my 50 years of life been hit that bad - something that knocked me mostly down for a couple of weeks.

When I personally think 'mild', I think "Yeah, I could still go play some pickup basketball right now, just don't feel 100%". 2 weeks in bed? No, that ain't 'mild' in my book.
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cone
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12:42p, 3/28/20
AG
I know someone who tested positive and they had a sore throat. They wouldn't have even tested had they not been in healthcare and dealt with a patient that was later confirmed positive as well.

the spectrum of mild is very wide
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Fitch
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In reply to AvidAggie • 12:44p, 3/28/20
AG
I'm not an expert but shortness of breath is a subjective term and probably more a scale than a threshold. I had asthma growing up and was frequently short of breath, but rarely ever severely. In a mild context it always felt like an airway tightness, like my throat and lungs were contracting like a muscle spasm.

For COVID-19, breathing difficulty appears to be tied to both fluid buildup in the lungs (pneumonia) and lung cell death. Different anecdotes describe breathing with COVID like someone sitting on your chest, or getting winded by standing up or walking to the bathroom. Both of those imply reduced lung capacity or ability to exchange O2.

Not a doc, so hopefully others can do a better job describing.
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BlackGoldAg2011
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In reply to AvidAggie • 12:57p, 3/28/20
AG
AvidAggie said:
Also, what is "shortness of breath"? Most are saying this is a serious symptom and should get medical attention immediately.

Sometimes when I get the fever/chills/sweats I can experience this but never think I require hospital treatment.

Shortness of breath is like that feeling after running really hard or swimming under water for a while where you feel "winded" or like you are short on oxygen. Where you feel the need to breathe deeper and/or faster to catch up on O2. And I seem to remember one of the DRs on here ( I think either reveille or nawlins) said the point to be concerned is if you are finding yourself SOB from simply walking around the house, or to the point where it is interfering with just basic activity.
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panamamyers00
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12:58p, 3/28/20
I refuse to believe that people are meaning something that makes you lay on the couch and not have the energy to move for 2 weeks is mild. I have more faith in humans than to mislabel something in such a way.

Mild is mild.
There cannot be a difference between mild symptoms regardless of what the underlying cause is. Mild symptoms remain constant.
One step away from being hospitalized is severe.
Mild is you cough and run a low fever and can still mow the yard and hit the treadmill.

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BlackGoldAg2011
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1:04p, 3/28/20
AG
The problem with the term mild is when used to talk about percentages it is a clinical term. And for that they have 3 categories which from highest to lowest are:
Critical - ICU
Severe - requires hospitalization but not ICU
Mild - anything not requiring hospitalization.

It is a category not a descriptor but can and is used as a descriptor so there is confusion without context. A flu that knocks you on your ass for a week but you can treat from home with rest and fluids is clinically mild but subjectively severe.
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Fitch
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In reply to BlackGoldAg2011 • 1:08p, 3/28/20
AG
Well said.
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1:20p, 3/28/20
ibdm98
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1:24p, 3/28/20
AG
And then there are also people that have it that are asymptomatic.
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74OA
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1:28p, 3/28/20
AG
"Mild" in this context seems to be similar to the medical use of "minor" when it comes to being cut on.

The layman's definition of minor surgery is something happening to someone else. All surgery done on me is major.
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Infection_Ag11
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In reply to panamamyers00 • 1:31p, 3/28/20
AG
panamamyers00 said:
I refuse to believe that people are meaning something that makes you lay on the couch and not have the energy to move for 2 weeks is mild. I have more faith in humans than to mislabel something in such a way.

Mild is mild.
There cannot be a difference between mild symptoms regardless of what the underlying cause is. Mild symptoms remain constant.
One step away from being hospitalized is severe.
Mild is you cough and run a low fever and can still mow the yard and hit the treadmill.



When a doctor is describing an acute infectious illness as mild, we generally mean it doesn't require hospitalization. Most cases of the flu are mild, but they'll still kick your ass.
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
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RCR06
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In reply to BlackGoldAg2011 • 1:35p, 3/28/20
AG
Best explanation I've seen so far. I'm sure lots of people in healthcare know this, but for most of us this is all new.
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Tom Cardy
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2:30p, 3/28/20
AG
So we have no idea what percentage of cases are asymptomatic or very mild (few days, nothing major)?
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Fitch
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In reply to Tom Cardy • 2:59p, 3/28/20
AG
Correct. No one apparently does.

That's a major reason why there's such a focus on developing an antibody test and collecting data on how broad spread this may have already been or not. The answer informs assumptions for the forecast models.
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TAMUallen
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3:03p, 3/28/20
AG
Mild = I feel like I'm going to die but I'm not actually thinking that death is imminent
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Rock1982
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In reply to [removed post] • 3:18p, 3/28/20
AG
SoupNazi2001 said:
My brother has had patients that have tested positive and for them it was not as bad as the flu. It was a couple of day type virus. These are healthy 40 year olds.
And I have 2 military bros in their early 30s, superb health, who were having mild symptoms.

Now both in ICU. One in a medically induced coma.
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58-7
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In reply to Rock1982 • 3:27p, 3/28/20
AG
Rock1982 said:
SoupNazi2001 said:
My brother has had patients that have tested positive and for them it was not as bad as the flu. It was a couple of day type virus. These are healthy 40 year olds.
And I have 2 military bros in their early 30s, superb health, who were having mild symptoms.

Now both in ICU. One in a medically induced coma.
Rock, so sorry to hear this. T&P
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cone
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In reply to Rock1982 • 3:39p, 3/28/20
AG
it's the randomness that's terrifying
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BlackGoldAg2011
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In reply to Rock1982 • 4:26p, 3/28/20
AG
Rock1982 said:
SoupNazi2001 said:
My brother has had patients that have tested positive and for them it was not as bad as the flu. It was a couple of day type virus. These are healthy 40 year olds.
And I have 2 military bros in their early 30s, superb health, who were having mild symptoms.

Now both in ICU. One in a medically induced coma.

Do you mind saying how many days into symptoms they went from mild to needing to be admitted? This is the kind of stuff making me nervous as I sat on my 10th day of fever and mild shortness of breath. Thankfully it looks like my fever may finally be gone Today on day 11 but still curious when the transition from mild to serious was.
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cone
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In reply to Rock1982 • 4:40p, 3/28/20
AG
where are these guys by the way?
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In reply to Rock1982 • 4:46p, 3/28/20
Rock1982
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In reply to cone • 4:52p, 3/28/20
AG
cone said:
where are these guys by the way?


Bragg
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bay fan
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In reply to [removed post] • 6:04p, 3/28/20
S
SoupNazi2001 said:
Rock1982 said:
SoupNazi2001 said:
My brother has had patients that have tested positive and for them it was not as bad as the flu. It was a couple of day type virus. These are healthy 40 year olds.
And I have 2 military bros in their early 30s, superb health, who were having mild symptoms.

Now both in ICU. One in a medically induced coma.


I'm sorry and that sucks but more people are having mild symptoms but the serious cases/hospitalization/ICU/death get all the attention.
Of course they do. Much the same as nobody talks about the person who did not have a heart attack but we all discuss the friend that did. This is not an unusual phenomena. It is discussed so people who feel invincible and don't want to follow the social distance/shelter in places rules and act like they aren't needed will come to understand this effects everyone, including the young and healthy.
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bay fan
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In reply to Rock1982 • 6:04p, 3/28/20
S
Prayers for your friends Rock.
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MW03
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8:00p, 3/28/20
AG
I developed pneumonia a couple years ago after ignoring a respiratory virus until I finally couldn't take it. Breathing felt like having someone sitting on my chest. I remember telling my wife that I totally understand how elderly people die from it. It was horrible and lasted forever. And it was "mild" because I didn't require oxygen and could get by on room air at home. I have no desire to go through anything like that again.
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proudaggie02
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9:31p, 3/28/20
AG
The only people I've heard of having it are 3 friends of friends. Two had no symptoms other than mild fevers, and the third felt bad for one day (tired, aches).
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Tom Cardy
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In reply to proudaggie02 • 11:01p, 3/28/20
AG
Were they tested and confirmed? Or were fevers just unexplained and assumed?
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Complete Idiot
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In reply to ibdm98 • 11:07p, 3/28/20
ibdm98 said:
And then there are also people that have it that are asymptomatic.


Man, I went through a two week period back in February where I was totally asymptomatic, I wonder if I've already had this?
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kalltamu
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11:34p, 3/28/20
AG
Thanks BlackGold and Infection_Ag for answering this and thanks to the OP for answering this question. I've read a ton about this virus since January and did not understand I wasn't comprehending things correctly. Thanks.
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