quote:

Originally posted by Piano*Dad:
With the test I used, it correctly identifies at least 84% of the true positives, and if you're truly negative, it'll nail that one around 99% of the time. If I'm really positive (and my test was a false negative) I'm not likely have much of a viral load. Sometimes a cold is just a cold! Now, if I start to faint going up the stairs ...

The test can be accurate but miss a covid case simply because of the timing. In other words, the viral load may not have been great enough to register *yet*. It would be a good idea to re-test in a few days. And certainly wear a mask in public--I'm sure you don't need me mentioning this, but I will anyway out of a sense of thoroughness: If it is a very mild case for you, it still could be a deadly case for someone else.

quote:

Wondering if you have a cold or the highly transmissible omicron variant of the coronavirus?

Well, based on the top five symptoms according to the Zoe Covid Study, it might be hard to tell.

The British symptom study utilized data uploaded to an app by residents of London, where omicron is spreading rapidly and is expected to be the dominant variant by Christmas, according to Professor Tim Spector, the study’s lead scientist.

Researchers looked at symptoms reported between Oct. 3 and 10, when the delta variant was dominant, and compared those to the most recent period, Dec. 3-10, when omicron was spreading rapidly.

The top five symptoms reported in December were:

Runny nose
Headache
Fatigue (either mild or severe)
Sneezing
Sore throat
“As our latest data shows, omicron symptoms are predominantly cold symptoms — runny nose, headache, sore throat, and sneezing — so people should stay at home as it might well be COVID,” Spector said. “We are also seeing two to three times as many mild infections in people with boosters in omicron areas as we do in delta variant areas, but they are still very protective and a vital weapon.”

The cold-like symptoms reported three days after a positive test were not vastly different from those of the delta variant, researchers found. The early data suggests that omicron arrives with symptoms distinct from earlier variants, which caused more flu-like, initial symptoms.

https://www.newsnationnow.com/...symptoms-study-says/

From the Zoe Study:

quote:

“Omicron is set to be the dominant strain in the UK by Christmas, and in the New Year cases could hit a peak higher than anything we’ve ever seen before. In London cases have been rising rapidly, but this will likely slow down soon, as people change their behaviour, such as wearing face masks again, cancelling parties and working from home more. Hopefully people now recognise the cold-like symptoms which appear to be the predominant feature of Omicron. These are the changes that will slow the spread of the virus. It’s my hope that the rest of the country is doing the same to avoid big outbreaks outside of London, especially in big cities.

Ahead of Christmas, if people want to get together and keep vulnerable family members safe, I’d recommend limiting social contact in the run up to Christmas and doing a few Lateral Flow Tests just before the big family gathering. As our latest data shows, Omicron symptoms are predominantly cold symptoms, runny nose, headache, sore throat and sneezing, so people should stay at home as it might well be COVID. We are also seeing two to three times as many mild infections in people with boosters in Omicron areas as we do in Delta variant areas, but they are still very protective and a vital weapon. The ZOE app is one of the best tools we have to rapidly understand this new variant so we want to encourage everyone to download the app and start logging. It only takes a minute to report but each contribution makes a huge difference to the fight against COVID.”

And from South Africa:

https://globalnews.ca/news/843...ferent-south-africa/

quote:

Runny nose
Headache
Fatigue (either mild or severe)
Sneezing
Sore throat

On Dec. 10th, I attended an event for students at which food was served. It was in a small space, pretty packed with people, most of whom had their masks around their necks because they were eating. Also, because it was so crowded, and the ceilings were low (not abnormally low, but IMO low for an event), it was hard to hear, so most people were speaking really loud.

I had decided before going that I would not remove my mask and would not eat or drink anything. I stuck to that, but I ended up staying longer than I intended (I was there for almost exactly an hour) and a few times noticed I was quite close to someone, in one particular instance, it was a student with a surgical mask that was so loose you could have driven a truck through the gaps in it.

Starting around mid-morning Monday, (the 13th) I started to get a headache. I had some sinus-y symptoms and a very mild sore throat. I get migraines, and a lot of times, a migraine has sinus-y symptoms, so I didn't think too much of it.

I had a persistent headache all day Mon, Tue, and Wednesday. I also noticed that I was sleeping "better" and longer than I usually do -- by better I mean, I have hot flashes so I usually have a hard time falling asleep and sometimes staying asleep, but all last week I fell asleep almost immediately and never woke once during the night. Since I started menopause, that pretty much never happens.

Wednesday evening, I started to wonder if I could possibly have gotten covid at the party. I was having a multi-day headache and the other symptoms were ignore-able, but definitely there none the less.

As it happens, my uni's testing site was closed on Thursday, and I was already signed up for a covid test on Friday (as per my uni's requirements). So Wed. night I decided to wait and see, with the intention that if I felt worse, I would get community testing on Thursday (although they strongly encourage us not to do that to avoid burdening the community testing).

(btw, our semester is over so I had no requirements to be anywhere in public and actually, I hadn't left the house since returning from the student function on the 10th).

I noticed that I was feeling chills late Wednesday evening.

Thursday, still had a horrible headache, off and on chills, but no fever (I checked a few times).

Friday morning I went to get my covid test and went right back home. Horrible headache all day (day 5 of the headache that would not go away).

Saturday, I woke up with a full-on migraine (not the same as a headache), took my migraine meds plus naproxen (which is also a fever reducer) and spent five hours in bed. When I got up, I could tell the migraine and the headache were gone.

A few hours later, I got my covid test results: negative.

No headache or other symptoms on Sunday and then on Sunday night, I was back to my normal self and did not sleep well. :P Today, also no headache.

Oh and today, our uni sent out an announcement that our testing center found that 10 people in the campus community (i.e., students, faculty or staff) tested positive with omicron.

So, did I have the world's most mild case of covid? A little cold? A bad headache that made me hypochondriac-ly thinking I had covid and turned a 3 day headache into a 6 day headache??

I double I will ever know.

-_-

Glad you are over whatever it was.

quote:

Originally posted by CHAS:
Glad you are over whatever it was.

Thank you! Me too!

For the record, Mr. SK never had any kind of symptoms, and when I suggested I should sleep in the guest room, he basically said "don't be silly."

So there's that.

Happy to hear you are feeling better.

Is there any way you can get an antibody test or something to positively rule it out? Or is there any point to that?

I too am glad you're on the mend, SK.
There are serious reasons to hope you had a mild case of COVID that slipped under the diagnostic radar.

Latest thinking seems to be that vaccinated people who survive a breakthrough infection are THE safest (by multiples - I read even by a thousand fold) vis a vis future illness.

This Omicron thing is impressively contagious.

Local news reported the first local case a week ago. Tonight they reported that 35% of positive test results from yesterday are Omicron.

Wow!

quote:

s there any way you can get an antibody test or something to positively rule it out? Or is there any point to that?

Re getting the antibody test, I don't recall if that works when you've already been vaccinated (I've had MOdernax2 plus Moderna booster).

I would also guess that it might be harder to detect a history of covid when the actual infection was so mild.

I have no idea, just purely speculative.

But as Amanda said, if I did actually have covid last week, and am now better, that would be ideal wouldn't it.

In the meantime, my uni is sending out scary emails and I'm trying not to panic at the thought of having to teach online/hybrid in spring semester. Ugh.

Omicron takes over.

quote:

The Omicron Covid-19 variant now accounts for over 73% of new coronavirus cases in the US, according to estimates posted Monday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For the week ending December 18, Omicron accounted for 73.2% of cases, with Delta making up an additional 26.6%.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/20...us-monday/index.html

Morgue trailers.

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So, did I have the world's most mild case of covid? A little cold? A bad headache that made me hypochondriac-ly thinking I had covid and turned a 3 day headache into a 6 day headache??

Sounds like many positive cases I have interviewed.

quote:

Originally posted by ShiroKuro:

quote:

Originally posted by CHAS:
Glad you are over whatever it was.

Thank you! Me too!

For the record, Mr. SK never had any kind of symptoms, and when I suggested I should sleep in the guest room, he basically said "don't be silly."

So there's that.

could you smell the whole time?

quote:

could you smell the whole time?

Yes.

So it could just have been a cold.

We do not have plans to see anyone in person, so I don't think I'll get a second test (otherwise I probably would).

I read that it still happens, but that loss of smell and taste is not nearly as common with omicron as it was with other variants.