To think you don't need a bloody PCR test for everything?!

[JuneDr]

I went for a meal on Saturday night and last night/yesterday afternoon started with the tell tale food poisoning signs.

I was up last night vomitting and could feel how green I looked! Still feel off this morning but a little better. I have told work I won't be in today because of this.

They have said I should get a PCR before returning to the office.

WHY?! I have absolutely no cough, no fever, no change in taste or smell, no cold symptoms of any kind. I have been sick after eating a meal out and already feel a little better.

Is this ridiculous or just me? Do we just have to have a test now every time we feel slightly unwell no matter what it is?

My friend's main symptoms were vomiting and a generally dodgy stomach, although she also had the telltale very high fever, which I assume you don't have.

But I have to agree, it is getting ridiculous. It's as if all other illnesses have disappeared. I suppose your workplace is just being cautious, but it's a pain in the arse. If you can do a test, I'd just get it done. We're in an unusual situation and people are on high alert. You might even get another day off waiting for the result

@PinkSparklyPussyCat

I presume OP wouldn't need to isolate until the test results came back as they aren't any of the main symptoms?

Imagine, if everyone had to isolate the minute they didn't feel in peak health waiting for test results which would probably take longer to come back too because every Tom Dick and Harry is getting tested for everything you can think of.

Oh, missed the update where you said you'd booked one!

No, I don't have a fever and feel much better if not completely normal now.

I don't really understand why you wouldn't do one? Yes its probably not covid, but it might be, and unless there is some drip feed about how tests are traumatic for you I don't really see the harm.

@SoupDragon

Agree. It’s actually not easy for everyone

Sorry realise OP has now booked one, but all the people on here outraged about taking one full stop- why?

Imagine, if everyone had to isolate the minute they didn't feel in peak health waiting for test results which would probably take longer to come back too because every Tom Dick and Harry is getting tested for everything you can think of.

Do most adults get ill that often? I’ve had one cold and one stomach bug in about 5 years. My partner and other adults i know maybe get a cold a year, the odd chest infection or sore throat. Kids obviously seem to get more bugs but I don’t know many adults who get ill very often so therefore they wouldn’t need to test often at all.

Even when my kids were younger, I didn’t catch most of the stuff they had.

I completely agree with you JuneDr. You don't want to go to work - quite rightly - because you have something that might be transmissible but is unlikely to be Covid. I must admit I thought that vomiting and diarrhoea symptoms with Covid were more common in children not adults so I don't think your symptoms warrant a PCR.

All these tests - PCRs and LFTs - cost something. That is money that could be spent on other NHS services for conditions other than Covid. It's like the £60 billion on Track and Trace. There were other cheaper options but the government was determined to outsource it. By insisting on a PCR, the OP's employer is wasting money when the OP is 99% likely to have food poisoning.

I do think it is good that the government is supplying LFTs and PCRs for those that need them. I agree with people taking LFTs to go to nightclubs etc. However, over testing is not the best use of NHS resources.

But my only symptom was vomiting! I also never had any positive lateral flows, 2 positive pcrs to confirm the first one

I'd order a home test (there should be an option for "have been asked to test" or something like that) and enjoy a few more days off assuming you are being paid whilst you await your test results

@TisTheSeasonToBeVegan

Imagine, if everyone had to isolate the minute they didn't feel in peak health waiting for test results which would probably take longer to come back too because every Tom Dick and Harry is getting tested for everything you can think of.

Do most adults get ill that often? I’ve had one cold and one stomach bug in about 5 years. My partner and other adults i know maybe get a cold a year, the odd chest infection or sore throat. Kids obviously seem to get more bugs but I don’t know many adults who get ill very often so therefore they wouldn’t need to test often at all.

It just depends on the person surely? I don't get ill often but my husband is very prone to colds and coughs, gets them regularly throughout winter. My mother has IBS and has gastrointestinal problems regularly.

I think having one cold and bug in 5 years is more uncommon than having them more frequently in that time.

@JuneDr - not sure what is your work policy around D&V - but ours is 48 hrs clear of vomiting before resuming work.
Hope you feel better soon x

Track and trace advised me that vomiting was becoming a more common symptom.

I agree, bloody ridiculous, people have lost their minds due to COVID.

It’s tricky. Technically you don’t meet the criteria, but then I know of loads of positive cases where the classic symptoms never came up.

DD vomited once. She took a lateral flow- negative. School expected a PCR, we got one, she was positive.

No other symptoms whatsoever at any point.

[quote MumInBrussels]@camaleon Belgium does, for one.

www.info-coronavirus.be/en/testing/#sick

It says, if you have any of the following symptoms, you should do an online questionnaire and see if you need a PCR test. (The questionnaire says yes, if you have one major or 2 minor symptoms. Minor symptoms also include sore throat, headache, runny nose, sneezing, etc )

Cough

Respiratory problems

Fever

Aches and pains

Fatigue

Loss of sense of smell or taste

Diarrhoea[/quote]
Thank you. The OP says vomiting. No diarrhoea. Despite its size and the huge death rate, Belgium does not test as much as the UK according to available data either.

It does not seem to me we need a longer list and more tests, unless we ask everybody to systematically take PCR test whatever the circumstances (I do two LTF a week as do my kids by the way, as recommended by school and my employer)

You don’t have to test at all....or divulge your confidential medical information to your workplace.
In June 2021, the FDA published a paper that confirmed the PCR test (as we already knew) failed its full review....explaining it wasn’t fit for purpose.
What did the UK do? Carried on anyway.

Also in June 2021, the FDA announced a Class 1 (most serious) recall of almost 78,000 Innova testing kits. What did the UK do seeing as they were using the Innova tests too.... Ignored it, said their brief review was fine and didn’t do anything other than encourage more people to use them.

[quote Amisillyornot]@JuneDr - not sure what is your work policy around D&V - but ours is 48 hrs clear of vomiting before resuming work.
Hope you feel better soon x[/quote]
This seems a totally reasonable policy. No going to work or school because D&V tends to be an infectious virus. No PCR needed.

Posters saying my dog's vet's Auntie was sick/had a sore toe/had buzzing in her ears/an itchy head/woke up suddenly knowing how to speak Spanish ect, ect .... and took a test and it was POSITIVE! [shock ...

it doesn't mean the thing that triggered them to go and get a test is A New Undiscovered Covid Symptom.

It just means they had covid when they went for a test. That's all.

My friend had COVID last week. Her only symptoms were vomiting, nausea and dizziness. Her LFTs were negative. The only reason she had a PCR was because her dh and dd had COVID (with classic symptoms). It is totally possible. My dd started primarily with GI symptoms to start.

Or Laiste, they didn’t have covid and the ‘not fit for purpose’ tests simply showed up old cell debris, that doesn’t distinguish anything.

It just depends on the person surely? I don't get ill often but my husband is very prone to colds and coughs, gets them regularly throughout winter. My mother has IBS and has gastrointestinal problems regularly.

I think having one cold and bug in 5 years is more uncommon than having them more frequently in that time.

Yes. I understand some people will get ill more often than others. But most adults would not be getting ill every few weeks, so even if they did test after being sick or having cold, for most adults this wouldn’t be more than a few times a year. The pp was saying, we can’t test after every little thing, but surely most people don’t get that many things.

It can’t be common to get lots of illnesses. My friend had 2 chest infections and 2 lots of tonsillitis in about 12 months and she was sent for blood tests to see if there was anything underlying. So the doctor obviously thought it’s not normal for a healthy adult to get ill so often.

My elderly DMs friend's rumour mill is buzzing with new covid symptoms which they have discovered.

The logic of the fact that you can have covid with no symptoms and therefore it's pointless for the average non medic to play detective seems to have passed them by.

I know this isn't quite the point of the thread but i needed to get it off my chest