To think people may have already had coronavirus?

[minniebo]

I had pneumonia recently, pretty severe, hospitalised. Everyone I've told has said, 'it's weird how many people have said they've had pneumonia in the last month or two.' Yes I know it's the season for these things but it's a bit unusual that so many young and fit people have had pneumonia.

Just out of interest, has anyone you know had pneumonia in the last month or so (in the UK)?

If we went back 100 years we wouldn't even know that the Spanish Flu was coming yet, our ability to track the spread of a new virus is really quite incredible. There is bound to be underreporting because those with no or mild symptoms will always be missed (for comparison remember that 75% of people who get flu have no symptoms) but that is good because that means the death rate is lower.

The NHS is already testing people with flu symptoms and has been for a few days, that's presumably how they found the cases in Surrey and Essex (or are they contacts on people who've been in infected areas?). In the UK we have a centrally organised health service that monitors this kind of thing. What happened in China and is probably happening in Iran (never mind North Korea) is much more concerning.

I assumed it was a secondary infection (bacterial) that I have had following the virus.

I was so poorly just over 5 weeks ago, I was writing on here actually when it was happening. I was told it was a resp infection, tonsillitis and flu that had turned septic. I'm pregnant and it was horrific and took me so long to recover. I'm only just feeling better now. Pretty weird, wasn't;t tested for the virus I was just told I had a very bad infection

I wonder this. DH and I have had a two week long weird virus (nose septum sore etc and cough).
Why would the cases only come over now if the virus has been in humans since 2019?
Of course we all want this to be true so we can stop panicking about the dang thing...

No, but hideous pre-Christmas cold went about. Tickly cough, followed by a few days in bed totally wiped out and then a few weeks for a full recovery.

I agree. There has been a case reported today in Essex of a person with no travel or contact history. I am sure that many asymptomatic people have it.

I've worked face to face with newly arrived Chinese students on a daily basis since last April.

For the last 3 weeks I have had a shocking cough/chest infection that even a course of antibiotics hasn't shifted. The GP I saw last week took my temperature and listened to my chest. No pneumonia or corona virus.

Not stopped my colleagues raising an eyebrow or looking worried when I have a coughing fit though.

YABU.

If the novel Coronavirus had been freely circulating for the last month or earlier, it would be everywhere by now so we would also have full ITU beds and masses of people dying a premature death, including healthcare staff.

We would definitely have noticed an illness that hospitalised around 20% of people who got it.

Look at Italy, for example.

Is Italy actually hospitalising 20% of people with the virus, though? I thought I read somewhere that the case spike in Italy is to do with increased screening, although I am unsure how true that is.
I do worry that the NHS won't be able to cope with large numbers of unwell people. It's already overstretched and under resourced/funded.

I think there are just some nasty viruses about. We've had one for going on a month now, started with a week of sore throat and then two weeks of snot and coughing. DD has still got a cough now but thankfully the snot streams have abated. It's definitely the longest-lasting bug any of us have ever had. Usually a week max for a cold and we're fine, DD usually a couple of days, but this is lingering and lingering.

one of my mum's friends is a senior NHS nurse with over 25 years experience and reckons it's been here for ages undetected. Says she's seen loads of young people with pneumonia recently which is very unusual.

Highly probable.
It's been in the press this afternoon that scientists warned the Chinese government of Coronavirus and we silenced well before they told the WHO.
Another reason why their government should be severely punished for the problems this has caused everyone else.

aromatherapy oils (don't scoff, some of them are VERY effective

I put eucalyptus in an oil burner when we have cold and I have a steam inhaler that uses menthol crystals. Another way people in this house know they're ill is whe I run them a bath with lavender oil, lemon, and chamomile. The science in their medicinal properties might be sketchy but that doesn't mean they aren't a comfort.

aromatherapy oils (don't scoff, some of them are VERY effective

Please don't peddle such bollocks, it is massively irresponsible.

Yes. I think one one my relatives and her husband had it. She does too. Her children didn't catch it and supposedly Coronavirus isn't as bad for children or they're less likely to catch it or something. The symptoms she describes sound very like it and she had just come back from a business trip in Europe. Was about a month ago.

one of my mum's friends is a senior NHS nurse with over 25 years experience and reckons it's been here for ages undetected. Says she's seen loads of young people with pneumonia recently which is very unusual

I reckon shes about right. Its been here for a while it didnt just start on 1/1/2020 its been around but unreported on and untested as no one knew what it was!

Now if there was a scare re the Flu and every case was reported we'd be seening similar or worse results and panics!

We'll never know because there aren't the resources to retroactively test people for the antibodies to see if they have had it already. Plus it's all anecdotal. If they were to trade it back and find that it actually began in September 2019 (just as an example) and had been circulating undetected as it was masked by the usual cold and flu season then there might be grounds to think we'd had it.

For me the main take away from all the anecdotes is that we were all really unwell with that horrible virus going around before/after Christmas but we got over it, theres no reason why most people won't get over COVID-19 too. Obviously it's worrying for people who are vulnerable or have underlying health conditions and we should all be following good hygiene practices and observing whatever health advice is issued by PHE to avoid spreading it as this will help protect these vulnerable groups. Hopefully it'll ease off a bit by summer and then when winter rolls around again and germ season picks up there'll be a vaccine available that can prioritised to those who need it most.

If we could identify all the people who are totally asymptomatic or only mild ill, I doubt it would be 20%. However, if you restrict it to just people who visibly ill with some rotten bug (as all the posters on this thread say they were), the rate of hospitalisation is something we would notice, especially as people hospitalised with pneumonia get swabbed, for the sake of flu records and post-match analysis of vaccine effectiveness. Back on the street, anecdotally, I would personally notice if any of the nasty bugs going round over Christmas had hospitalised any of my friends and family. As I remember it, my older, more vulnerable friends and family got through all the bugs they got with tissues, fruit juice, soup and watching shite on telly.

If we look at Italy right now on the website du jour Worldmeters, we have Active Cases: 1,049, Deaths: 50, and Serious, Critical: 105.

So, that will be including all the mild cases they've caught through screening, and that's almost exactly 10% of current cases hospitalised.

Yes, I think a couple of my friends brought it back from a trip abroad. They said there were a lot of Chinese people in the place they went to. At the time this was before the Chinese admitted to having the virus. Two of us had it for nearly two months, chest infections needing antibiotics, coughing, headaches, tiredness, etc.

Who knows?

I have had a cold that has been much worse than normal and still trying to get over it. It totally wiped me out. Gave me shortness of breath as well

Yanbu
I have also wondered this myself. It flew around my village Christmas time. My friend told me the local secondary her dcs go to had 50% of children missing one day due to either flu or a sickness bug. We are close to a large city with diverse ethnicities and if this is the case, someone could have easily brought it in.

Of course it could be just a particularly bad year for flu. I got whatever it was and felt very ill on Christmas day. It almost went away then came back. I have only had flu this badly once before this infection. Late 40’s. Dh had it but not as badly as me. He is very robust. Dd (11) did not.

Yes heard of 3 people - relatively young and fit- hospitalised with pneumonia. This was before and just after Christmas.

My 4 week old nearly died in December from bronciolitis, and most of the paediatric ICU beds were bronciolitis patients, the staff commented on how this year seems to have so many. Most of them were RSV positive though so I don't think they were coronovirus. Just a bad year.

Both DC had a really nasty virus just before Christmas. DD's definitely impacted on her breathing (she sounded really raspy and she was complaining of tightness in her chest) - it diminished significantly after three to five days. DS's manifested a bit differently but wiped him out for ten days.

I commented recently to friends that I thought coronavirus could have been around undetected since then.