Everybody loves a party, and everybody loves party games. Sometimes these are in-person games and other times the games might include websites like an online casino South Africa. But there is a certain type of party and party game that the government is not too happy about right now. It is called a coronavirus party.
What is a coronavirus party?
Do you remember the chickenpox parties from long ago? If you were born past 1990, you might not remember them, because the chickenpox vaccine was already being used. But before that, when a child got the chickenpox, the parents of that child invited over to their house other children and they had a really big party. The goal was to infect other children naturally to the chickenpox at a young age, so they would not get the chickenpox when they were older.
As with most viruses, including the coronavirus, when a child younger than 12 gets the chickenpox, the virus is annoying, but it is not serious. As the child gets to college-age and is a male, it can cause sterility. If a pregnant woman gets chickenpox, it can cause issues with both the mother and the unborn child. If a senior was to get the chickenpox, they can experience complications including pneumonia, dehydration, bacterial infections, infections of the soft tissues and joints, and even sepsis.
Does Coronavirus follow the same pattern? Is it generally “annoying” for a young child to get, but not life-threatening? That is what parents and young adults are thinking when they decide to host coronavirus parties.
How Serious is Coronavirus For Children?
- Children 0 – 9: zero fatality rate
- Children 10- 19: 0.2% – 0.4% fataility rate
- Young adults 20 – 29: 0.2% – 0.31%
- Adults 30 – 39: 0.11% – 0.3%
- Adults 40 – 49: 0.08% – 0.4%
- Adults 50 – 59: 0.4% – 1%
Above the age of 60, the numbers start to increase +3% at the next age group, then +10%, and finally as high as 20% for the 80 and above age group.
Those statistics are for the general population, which would include people who have pre-existing conditions that can cause complications with the coronavirus. So if we take out everybody with preexisting conditions, the percentage of people between the ages of 2 and 45 who go to a controlled coronavirus party is probably going to be zero.
What is a controlled coronavirus party?
A controlled coronavirus party is when a registered family practician registers with the FDA that he is going to run a coronavirus party as a clinical trial.
- Age Group: 2 – 45 years old
- Health: No known preexisting conditions. Tests negative for coronavirus at the start of the clinical trial.
- Size: 20 – 30 person party, host a bunch of these
- Size: 50 – 150 person party (simulate a wedding celebration, large church service, etc.)
The following items can be evaluated:
- During regular interactions in a party, how much does the disease spread?
- During more physical contact (handshaking, hugs, and kisses from friends and family, normal social dancing), how much does the virus spread?
- What about in a location like a museum, how much does the virus spread?
Since it is controlled, everybody who attends the party understands that they are required to isolate. 4 – 8 days later, when symptoms should start to appear, the people are tested for COVID-19.
Now a controlled clinical trial can be done for early intervention solutions. One of those solutions is a combination of hydroxychloroquine, the antibiotic azithromycin, and zinc sulfate. So half of the group you give this cure, and the other half you either give a different cure or placebo. Then you look at the results.
Since the doctor knows the exact date and time, it makes it really easy to see exactly when symptoms began, and exactly how different cures work, at different points in the infection.
What would be the point of doing a controlled coronavirus party?
If a vaccine is never invented (or it is a long way off), children are going to need to become immune the same way that children have always become immune to viruses in the past. Parents wanted the children to get the viruses at an early age, so they would be immune when they were older and it would be more serious.
But what about if the virus mutates and people can become reinfected?
Then things will be exactly the same as they were if a person was to get the flu. Most children get an influenza vaccination. This gives their body a base to fight the influenza infection. Even if it is a different strand of influenza, the person still has some immunity.
Think about it this way. If a person has never had an influenza virus in their whole life, and then they get the flu, their body would need to go from 0% – 100%. It would be very taxing on their body. But if a person had already been exposed to a “relative” of the influenza virus they are exposed to, then their body would only need to go from, say 50% – 100% to fight the virus. It gives the body more of a fighting chance.
Eventually, the coronavirus is probably going to be the same way. Most people will have some level of immunity, but their bodies may need to adapt to the specific version of the coronavirus.
Summary
Coronavirus parties might not be the wrong approach, but they should be done under the guidance of a physician and in a clinical trial, so others can benefit from the people who are willing to take this risk. That is what “informed consent” is all about. The patients are being informed of the risks, and they are giving their consent.
