To think people have forgotten it’s possible to be ill and it not be covid?

[MarcelineMissouri]

Everywhere you look at the moment - Posters who seem to be utterly bemused by the fact that it’s entirely possible for them or their children to have coughs/colds/viruses etc that aren’t covid, just like we did 2 years ago and indeed ever other year we’ve ever been alive. People who have a cough/temp and can’t believe they’ve tested negative for covid (yes I realise the odd positive will slip through the net)

Illnesses, many with very similar symptoms to covid have been around for as long as people have. They haven’t gone anywhere. We will continue to catch them and we will continue to be unwell, possibly very unwell from them. Being ill is not something that just started in March 2020!! Take some paracetamol and a chill pill please!

Aibu?

I've seen it suggested so many times now that a toddler/baby with a runny nose should be tested for covid. Yanbu.

YANBU. I’ve seen people insisting they have covid even after having numerous negative lfts and negative pcr. They describe the exact same symptoms of a cold or sinus infection but act as if these illnesses are now extinct or something.

There is a huge problem with people not testing with runny noses/headaches until after they've been to school/work/shops/public transport for several days, then getting a positive test.

Our Govt needs to update the symptoms list, like other countries!!

& people need to keep being cautious. It's only October & it has already been rife in schools.

@Theluggage15

YANBU. I’ve seen people insisting they have covid even after having numerous negative lfts and negative pcr. They describe the exact same symptoms of a cold or sinus infection but act as if these illnesses are now extinct or something.

And have you read about how many of them are getting a positive test a few days later?

There is a problem... sticking your head in the sand isn't going to make it go away.

I can see your point op. I have a cold. It's awful and it's hit me in a way colds didn't used to. Largely because I've not had low level colds on and off as I usually Do. I've also had 2 negative pcrs, kept my dc off school and made them have pcr and generally isolated. NOT because I think it's covid but because I don't want anyone else to have two weeks of tests and pain and discomfort. In olden days we'd have cracked on- but that's not an option any more and it's unfair to keep spreading this bog standard cold that will leave the socially conscious in a horrible testing isolation loop as I have been

I agree. I am a childminder. Most of the babies I mind have snotty noses, all have tested negative for covid. I came down with cold symptoms last Wednesday night/Thursday morning. Sore throat, cough, runny nose. No temp. I knew it was a cold but got a test more to reassure the parents I work for. It was negative. Cold was so bad on Saturday that if I hadn’t had the test I’d be sure it was covid. Tested again & still negative. I’m awake now cos the cough is keeping me awake. I haven’t been sick like this in many years. I’m usually so used to snotty babies that I have the immune system of the terminator but I’m convinced that with us all being on lock down for so long & also being soooo careful of spreading anything, now the country is opening up (I’m in ireland), colds & flus are spreading like wildfire & our immune systems are not able for it.

Yanbu

That and the belief a temperature = covid. A temperature = an infection, which maybe child or maybe a completely different infection.

You are definitely not wrong! I get a chesty cough in October, every year without fail, because I get hay fever, every year. It’s not new, I’ve had it since I was 15, I’m now 51. Even family members were panicking that it was covid, despite lateral flow and PCR test results to the contrary. Other illnesses are available people!

The key though is that it could be COVID, because the symptoms are very much the same, especially this latest bug doing the rounds.

So while obviously for many it will be a cold, sneering at people who think it could be COVID isn’t exactly helpful is it?

Besides which there are an awful lot of people testing negative for COVId who test positive a few days later.

I currently have this cold bug. I had the persistent cough last week, to the point that I had convinced myself it was COVID, I’m not just talking about a bit of a cough, but one which went on for hours overnight. Nobody on here is qualified to tell me I didn’t have COVID.

I’ve done a LFT and a PCR and both have come back negative so I’m as sure as I can be that it isn’t. But the bug is still rough. I have literally no energy, I am still coughing, and although it’s getting better I am likely going to have to have antibiotics because fluid on my lungs could kill me as I have a serious heart condition.

I’ve almost died of the flu once before, quite literally. We’re talking days on life support and a ventilator etc. I won’t be sneered at for thinking that this bug could have been COVID just because members of the public think they know it all.

I agree @AlternativePerspective

There are loads of threads on the coronavirus board with people convinced they have covid despite multiple negative tests. Coughs, colds and flu still exist and we are now mixing after a period of staying away from each other so people are catching them.

I think the problem is with the testing issues and a lot of people having "the worst cold ever" it's hard to not worry that your horrendous 10 day old cough isn't covid and it's been missed.

At the moment , the main circulating infection is COVID, with about 1/70 people currently infected (according to the ONS).

It is, thus, sensible to assume that a temperature might be COVID and test for it.

@TheReluctantPhoenix that's loads! I wonder how many people are left who haven't had it.

@AlternativePerspective

The key though is that it could be COVID, because the symptoms are very much the same, especially this latest bug doing the rounds.

So while obviously for many it will be a cold, sneering at people who think it could be COVID isn’t exactly helpful is it?

Besides which there are an awful lot of people testing negative for COVId who test positive a few days later.

I currently have this cold bug. I had the persistent cough last week, to the point that I had convinced myself it was COVID, I’m not just talking about a bit of a cough, but one which went on for hours overnight. Nobody on here is qualified to tell me I didn’t have COVID.

I’ve done a LFT and a PCR and both have come back negative so I’m as sure as I can be that it isn’t. But the bug is still rough. I have literally no energy, I am still coughing, and although it’s getting better I am likely going to have to have antibiotics because fluid on my lungs could kill me as I have a serious heart condition.

I’ve almost died of the flu once before, quite literally. We’re talking days on life support and a ventilator etc. I won’t be sneered at for thinking that this bug could have been COVID just because members of the public think they know it all.

Exactly. DS 14 is off school right now because he's had what is probably flu, but as the symptoms are so similar and he's now developed a cough, we're waiting for PCR test results. He won't be allowed back into school without them anyway.

YANBU. Of course it’s sensible to get a PCR (and do LFTs) if you have covid symptoms. But the people who have had multiple negative tests and are still completely convinced it’s covid baffle me.

I had proper flu a few years ago. Cough, temperature, nose so blocked that it affected my taste and smell. I don’t understand how people seem to have forgotten every illness they had pre-2020.

I had proper flu a few years ago. Cough, temperature, nose so blocked that it affected my taste and smell. I don’t understand how people seem to have forgotten every illness they had pre-2020. if you've never had flu that badly and are not hit with what seems like the worst cold you've ever had I can see why you'd doubt it. That combined with the stories of odd test results.

I am constantly testing because I work in a secondary school where a significant percentage of the students have Covid and it’s currently circulating within the school community. Of course I’m going to be expecting that every cold symptom is a sign of Covid, because I’m wading around up to my neck in multiple cases, in a crowded environment, all day. I haven’t forgotten about other viruses, because, like most people, I am not stupid, however those of us in schools and those with children in schools are naturally going to anticipate the worst, given our high potential for exposure and infection.

YANBU, but people still need to do PCRs to know whether it is Covid. But even if your test in negative, if you have a bad cough it probably isn't a great idea to drag yourself into the office if you can work from home.

I've gone the other way if anything.
After weeks of this other horrible virus and associated chest infections, tonsillitis and sinus problems running through the family, covid has become a bit of an afterthought.
Wrong maybe, but, hell, I'm not a doctor.

It's not that people have forgotten, some of us are all too aware of pre-covid illnesses, the problem is more that you have to rule covid out first now which, with the ever expanding list of symptoms, is becoming frustrating when you need help.

DC2 gets a cough every year from about October to March. It's frightening and results in vomiting and laboured breathing several times a week at its worst. Pre-pandemic we had to get urgent medical attention a few times. Since the pandemic started there's a constant worry that (1) it's hard to get anyone to see them urgently - you have to have a PCR to get to help and (2) they can't just attend their setting as normal, when the cough eases then worsens again that's another PCR (which they find very distressing as they're still young - they've had double figures of PCR tests since they became available).

I had a chest infection earlier this year that took two lots of antibiotics to shift. Again, getting the initial help was hard and proving it wasn't covid was key.

I do understand why this is necessary but it does worry me that it's harder to get help for acute deterioration in respiratory illnesses you know aren't covid.

On the flip side, if certain folk could be a little less blasé about covid/the pandemic that also would help.

YABU on the one hand: it’s not a surprise. We’ve avoided colds etc because of lockdown so people do forget. And actually some people want to rule out covid because you never know.

As vaccines wear off and boosters are needed and we roll into autumn/winter, it’s important to be sure.

But YANBU for those who think it can only be covid and forget the rest.

Although I quite like not having so many coughs and colds! I had a cold last week (yes I tested because of the coughing) but while it wiped me out, colds have done that before so it was nothing new.

I don't think people have forgotten. I'm sure many are aware that they are going to pick things up much easier as they have been masked for so long and everyone was washing hands etc.

While I personally am aware of cold and flu signs in my children and wouldn't think twice about it normally, it's just unfortunate that covid is presenting like cold symptoms. Plus where I live you can't go to school with cold or flu symptoms, you must have a pcr test. The schools don't want it to get out of control again. My dd who is in a sn school has had 3 pcr since returning in September. The school will not let them back without a negative pcr. While I know she has a bad head cold or an infection I have to follow the gov guidelines in my country.

There is also the worry/wonder if it is covid. We never worried before and that's because we never had a covid 19.

This thread has been an eye opener, because I haven't come across anyone who has 'forgotten' about other illnesses, though they have appreciated lower levels of circulation (because of hand washing and being less crowded)

Then again, one person in the household is chronically ill and every single infection means we have to contact the hospital for advice (been that way for years) so perhaps the way we converse about illnesses makes it easy for people not to forget.

Are there double rates of Freshers Flu going on at the moment? And presumably it's going to be a bumper year for RSV as that'll be 2 years worth in one as well

YABU. My son had a temperature and a cough. My thoughts were. Is it a cold or covid? So we tested both LFT and PCR. Fortunately it wasn't covid. I hadn't forgotten about colds and flu. It was the sensible thing to do to have a test