Something strange is going on… winter bugs

[Hazless]

Is it just me or is something strange going on? Nearly everyone I know is sick. Levels are off the chart. My son had 10 in his class last Friday.

I’ve just had a really awful respiratory thing. It started with an awful sudden sore throat (not the usual place, lower down) then progressed to fevers for 3 days (I never get a fever, I’m an adult and can’t recall the last time), pain all over, chills, body tingles, the worst headache of my life that two types of painkiller didn’t touch.

Day 5, Now I’m left with a lingering cough and snotty nose and everything smells and tastes disgusting. Even air from outside stinks like the inside of my rotting nose! It’s gross. I’ve lost weight because everything tastes so disgusting. I look awful… grey skin and dark Circles. All my kids are poorly too but seem not as bad as me.

i also felt extremely delirious and depressed during this bug. I’ve never felt so down. It was like something switched in my brain. It was very sudden and hit me like a train. I’ve not had that before.

not covid as both tests I took negative.

im not one for conspiracy theories but is something going on? Is there a new strain of covid? I’ve never had a bug like this before. And I’ve never known so many people sick at one time. What on earth is going on? It can’t just be from lock downs many months ago.

I’ve been wondering if it’s a new strain of covid which the lateral flow tests aren’t picking up.

People seem to have forgotten that bad colds and viruses existed prior to covid

People cant seem to think outside 'covid' and that anything really really bad can only be covid

Ive had a friend tell me that her partner who has an ongoing chest infection which he cant get rid of, must have covid even though he has tested negative for it several times.

The best cure is to get a roll of tin foil and fashion yourself a nice hat with it.

Yes, it's winter. There a lot of bugs going round. Two years of lockdowns means that some of them are a bit of a mega hit as people haven't been as exposed to virus' as they normally would. But as a rule, it's just people being more aware and posts like this.

I remember when my son was in year 3 or 4 (he is year 8 now) a day when they had about 6 kids out of 30 in when a particularly virilunt bug was doing the rounds. Some colleagues have a cold, a few members of extended family too. But not unusual in December!!

For two years people stayed away from one another. Their immune system didn’t get the same challenges.
Now life is back to normal so people are getting sick.
Its similar to when your little child started at nursery and everyone would get I’ll all the time. Until immunity built up and you all got less sick.

It wouldn't be unusual for covid to have mutated. The flu virus is slightly different each year that is why they slightly alter the flu vaccine each hear to hopefully match the type of flu going round at the time.

Our immune systems are lower after 2 winters of being extra careful. Ordinary germs are knocking us out more and spreading more easily.

It’s just normal winter cold/flu stuff. When my dh were at school- every few years there was a horrible illness which wiped out half the school. It’s really not unusual.

I had a vomiting bug last Thurs and Fri. Awful, couldn't even hold down a cup of tea. Nobody I knew had it though.

Our immune systems are lower after 2 winters of being extra careful. Ordinary germs are knocking us out more and spreading more easily.

^This. It's not really a mystery!

Yeah I could have written this. I'm too ill for work which really sucks because I don't get sick pay.

I think it's just the first 'let it rip' winter, really, and everyone's immune systems are getting hammered. Weirdly we were really unwell last winter for about three months but had almost nothing this winter except very mild Covid a month or so ago. But loads of people we know and their kids are ill right now.

There's two types of flu, A&B, unfortunately we've only been vaccinated against type B. They are swabbing in the hospital and most people who have what you describe is type A. There's also more original Corona viruses about, which our immune systems haven't come across for two years because of lock down. These viruses were foretold by infectious disease specialists.

Everyone is also probably a lot more conscious of bugs and illness. So by that I mean people probably have a lower threshold now for cancelling plans/staying off sick, but also that you're probably more aware of sick people around you.

It's absolutely ridiculous my whole life I've generally shrugged things off after a couple of days. But no had this flu weeks ago which led to secondary infection which has still gone after a course of antibiotics and then bam been hit by flu again this week. Feel absolutely dreadful, not sleeping at all due to constant coughing day and night and shivers(again covid test was negative-I actually threw up trying to take it) and just generally feel like I need to just stay in bed and not move but I'm a single mum so it's all down to me to do Christmas. Praying I can sleep later.

*has still not gone after a course of antibiotics

Flu is back with a bang this year as well, lots of people in hospital with flu. All the social distancing and hand washing knocked all the bugs back for the last couple of years just getting back to normal, but starting from a lower immunity point.

Covid has effects on your immune system. It leaves you less able to fight things off as normal.

Such rubbish.

Maybe I had flu then. It was not a cold. I guess I just thought flu was more lengthy (more than 6 days) and more severe. Don’t get me wrong I was v sick but there was no gastric component and if there was £50 at end of my bed I could have got it.

the smell of rotting up my nose is a bit weird and made me think of covid. Test says not though.

This sounds exactly how I felt when I caught covid in the first outbreak… the phantom smells and bad tastes can last some time, took me 2 years to get my taste buds back to normal… Also affected my eyes pretty badly too

Total rubbish.

I'm pretty sure we've been told for ages that this year would be a bad one. Get your vaccines etc.

Sorry you're all feeling shit but I'm glad it's not just me, I was wondering if I was being dramatic.

I think it's just the first Christmas of close on normal socialising, people now being more cautious than they used to be about giving people any bad bugs, not just COVID. I think whereas before people might just dose up on the lemsip and carry on, they're going 'I'd feel bad about giving this to people' and flagging it up.

I've heard some people say, as PPs have, that having had COVID is lowering people's immune response, but thus far I think anecdotal or not from sources I'd consider definitely kosher; it seems a plausible idea though.

A very bad cold is a virus (like all coldds) and often people think they have flu.