COVID and Bart

Hey everyone,

I think my wife and I have been exposed to covid. We came into contact with a couple who had made a visit to a family who had just hosted a person who has been confirmed with covid. Now as we are quarantining and planning our next steps, I am wondering what sort of effect it will have on me as I am treating my bartonella relapse. These questions may have been addressed before so I apologize if this is repetitive but we are faced with dilemma now and some immediate clarification would be great.

1. Can Lyme/Bart patients contract COVID?
2. If so, is it more dangerous for us to contract it then a normal person?
3. If you have had COVID and recovered, how did you deal with it?
4. What’s the best way to get testing for COVID?

Apologize again if these questions have already been answered elsewhere.

Thanks and stay safe everybody.

xpeetzax said...
1. Can Lyme/Bart patients contract COVID?

Of course.

xpeetzax said...
2. If so, is it more dangerous for us to contract it then a normal person?

I don't know if it's any more dangerous, since I got over it, but one problem was that my immune system did not produce any antibodies to COVID, or I lost them quickly (tested negative). Low levels of antibodies seems to be common with Lyme/Bart, and such patients would likely get similarly few antibodies against COVID.

xpeetzax said...
3. If you have had COVID and recovered, how did you deal with it?

I tried various medications that I had handy and mepron (atovaquone) was by far the most effective. One problem with this treatment is that it caused an almost immediate herxheimer-like reaction where my immune system reacted to the inactivated virus. However this may not completely eliminate the virus. When I stopped taking the mepron, the covid symptoms returned after a few days. I ended up having to take mepron for several weeks to completely get rid of the virus.

xpeetzax said...
4. What’s the best way to get testing for COVID?

Once I started having symptoms, I got sick pretty fast, so waiting for a test may not be advisable.