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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- A 27-year-old, soon-to-be doctor, has a warning for all young adults: You are not invincible to COVID-19.<\/p>\n
Hes sharing his story in hopes that people who are not taking this seriously begin to realize they too are at risk.<\/p>\n
As a fourth-year medical student, David Vega says he prioritized his health. He thought he was invincible to COVID-19, but his outlook changed one month ago.<\/p>\n
Very, very scary and the most sick Ive ever felt in my life, Vega explained.<\/p>\n
Vega says he could have done more to protect himself. He wrote about his experience for his fellow Indiana University students and staff, to let them know this is serious.<\/p>\n
I felt that it would be good to share my story, he added, Especially after seeing there are a lot of young people who are not taking it seriously.<\/p>\n
As he detailed his experience, he stated, Sure, Ill wash my hands, Ill social distance after that party, I thought. Looking back, there were too many opportunities for me to have caught this virus. I did not take my health seriously.<\/p>\n
After returning from his two-month long global medicine elective in Africa and a week stay in Florida with friends, he knew something wasnt right.<\/p>\n
My main symptoms were fever, chills, fatigue, complete muscle and body aches. This lasted about a week, week and a half, and I think thats the scary part, said Vega.<\/p>\n
He first thought, maybe its just a bad case of the flu, but he was wrong. He tested positive for COVID-19 and the next 13 days were unimaginable.<\/p>\n
Were seeing more and more people admitted to the hospital between ages of 20-44. A lot of those are going to the ICU and being put on ventilators, explained Vega, A lot of them are dying, I was one of the lucky ones.<\/p>\n
He continued to detail day by day the symptoms and what he was feeling in his story for the university. He wrote, After waiting SEVEN ENTIRE DAYS in self-quarantine, I finally received my results: positive for COVID-19, continue self-quarantine for another seven days. Ironically, this arrived an hour before receiving my Match Day residency assignment for emergency medicine at the University of Miami. March 20th was certainly a big day of results for me.<\/p>\n
Vega wishes he would have listened, but hes not alone.<\/p>\n
This is serious business, its a serious infection and it can kill people, said Dr. John Christenson, a Clinical Pediatrics Professor at IU School of Medicine.<\/p>\n
Christenson added that hes witnessed young people believing theyre untouchable by congregating, not wearing masks, and barely social distancing.<\/p>\n
When you look at the number of cases in Indiana, there are more than 4,000 people who have been infected and a large number of people who have died from this. If you look at hospitals nationwide, youll find adolescents admitted to those hospitals, in intensive care on ventilators, said Christenson.<\/p>\n
As for Vega, he will soon begin his residency and he has plans to take his battle with COVID-19 as a learning experience as he prepares to help his own patients.<\/p>\n
Seeing the need and seeing now that I have experienced it myself, I understand a lot more about it and have developed some sort of immunity to it, I would say it confirmed my calling even more, said Vega.<\/p>\n
According to the CDC, one out of five people hospitalized from COVID-19 are young adults.<\/p>\n
Click here to read Vegas full warning to young people.<\/p>\n
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IU School of Medicine student shares COVID-19 experience to warn young people they arent invincible - Fox 59<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Please enable Javascript to watch this video INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- A 27-year-old, soon-to-be doctor, has a warning for all young adults: You are not invincible to COVID-19. Hes sharing his story in hopes that people who are not taking this seriously begin to realize they too are at risk Continue reading