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)?

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

yes my DH swears by inhaling eucalyptus oil. I don't like it and don't do it, but it's not irresponsible for people to say it works for them.

Depends on people being tested. The more you test the more you seem to find, it's behind the volume in Italy. They tested more people.

Tbh if it's been circulating for months it's reassuring as the death rate % will probably go down.

DP and I visited China in November for three weeks. By the time we came home, he was unwell, and ended up hospitalised and diagnosed with pneumonia. Since then, I’ve wondered whether he actually had Coronavirus; there have been no recorded cases in our area, so it’s perhaps unlikely, but I think it’s very possible.

The thought had crossed my mind OP. I spent three days at a residential conference with people from all over the world, including China, at the beginning of December. Ten days later I was struck down by a horrible illness that I assumed to be flu. I've never had anything like it before. I followed it up with bronchitis. . A friend who got it around the same time followed his with pneumonia. It completely knocked me for six - I lost pounds of weight, had an awful fever and was very ill. It was probably "just" flu but I do wonder.

I am sure there were many cases in China which were not diagnosed as they were quite mild ( I would not go to the doctor if I had a cold) and other cases where it was diagnosed as pneumonia, hence the spread as people were not aware that they had the virus.

There have been several horrid bugs the last few years. I think they would have clocked before if the death rate from pneumonia had gone up suddenly in certain communities.

Apparently childhood pneumonia cases went up 50% in the last decade, mainly due to bronchiolitis, and community acquired pneumonia is (so I read) poorly researched and poorly understood. 29,000 people die each year from pneumonia. My Dad died of it last year after a chesty virus, but his was bacterial ie it responded to antibiotics (but it then came back worse). So did my 89 year old grandma (not last year).

I believe with Coronovirus you get diarrohea too..

Fit healthy friend early 30’s had pneumonia, family member has had it too. All in the last month.

Very unusual

Lweji Its quite possible that what we know as COVID 19 was a varaint of what went before and has probally modified itself again, thats what virusus are good at!

Too damm good!

Whatever i had in the new year, also gave me 24hrs of diarrohea (as the fever went) the likes of which i ve never experienced before, my DD said my complexion went green.... as soon as she turned up at the house i sent her packing, no way did i want her getting this.

I had pneumonia just before Xmas. I’m never Poorly and felt like I was going to die. I’ve never felt as ill. It’s taken me months to get over too.

@MilkTrayLimeBarrel I have the same thing, sore throat all week that doesn't develop into anything and is on and off.

I had a chest infection for over two months that took two rounds of antibiotics to shake off. It was the worst cough I've ever had and left me totally fatigued.

@MilkTrayLimeBarrel i've had that for a month! It turned into a night time cough. Very exhausting. But not really ill enough to go to bed iyswim? Although if i were a man I would have done. Obvs.

Me and friends were having this very discussion the other day. We all (lots of people) had the worst chest infection we've ever had lasting for 6/7/8 weeks with virtually no other symptoms.

Lweji Its quite possible that what we know as COVID 19 was a varaint of what went before and has probally modified itself again, thats what virusus are good at!

The data is well known for the virus genome. Several strains have now been sequenced. Phylogenetic analyses have shown it was a zoonotic virus that has recombined to acquire the capacity to infect humans.
Such analyses also show how it's evolving.
There are no current data that suggests that it has been in circulation outside of China other than the recent cases.

This type of analysis, that shows that the virus may have been in circulation in the US for some weeks now, with most cases undetected.
www.nytimes.com/2020/03/01/health/coronavirus-washington-spread.html

If it had been around from November, the most recent cases in Europe would be much more diverse and would have no epidemiologicial links.

This is something that professionals will have looked into.

I am sure there were many cases in China which were not diagnosed as they were quite mild ( I would not go to the doctor if I had a cold) and other cases where it was diagnosed as pneumonia, hence the spread as people were not aware that they had the virus.

And pneumonia is one of the leading causes of death in China anyway (alongside various types of cancer and other respiratory problems) due to poor air quality/pollution, the high number of smokers (highest in the world), and lack of primary health care providers to treat minor health issues before they reach the point of becoming serious health issues. Some of the stats I've read say that pollution alone is directly responsible for 700,000+ deaths in China each year. It will be interesting to see (if interesting is the right word) whether the incidence of pneumonia in COVID-19 patients from Western countries will be as high as it has been in patients from mainland China.

Humm......

If the virus has been spreading undetected in Washington since mid-January, that could mean that anywhere from 150 to 1,500 people may have it, with about 300 to 500 people the most likely range, said Dr. Mike Famulare, a principal research scientist at the Institute for Disease Modeling in Bellevue, Wa., who performed the analysis. These people “have either been infected and recovered, or currently are infected now,” he said.

Many of those people would now be in the early stages of incubating the virus, and might not yet be contagious, Dr. Famulare said.

I had such a horrible virus in early January. Started with what I was convinced was going to be tonsillitis: very sore throat, early stage pustules, moderately high fever. Being a tonsillitis sufferer I was just waiting to break out the emergency penicillin but then the throat subsided but I had a little snot, and a horrible barking cough. I had a fever for over a fortnight, and a cough that was hacking and productive. Eventually, 6 weeks later I had antibiotics which did treat it, so bacterial at that point, but I do believe it started as a virus and it was a bad one. Some of my contacts seem to have caught it, but not as many as you might expect, which is the only reason I think it probably wasn’t covid 19. Everything else fits and we were only discussing last night how maybe that was it. We live in a diverse university city with large movement of people and I work at a large university with students returning from the winter break.

Between December and March is the peak for flu and similar diseases. From viruses that are transmitted person to person through close contact and in closed environments.
Almost every winter there are people asking about this odd virus that has given them long term cough or somewhat unusual symptoms.
Chances are people have caught different viruses in sequence in some cases.

@Porcupineinwaiting would they tell the general public though?

I had similar symptoms in February but think it was just regular flu. Hot and cold chills, couldn't lift my head, sore throat, cough and cold. It took me three weeks to get over fully. My sister had the same symptoms when she came over to visit and ended up in steroids and an inhaler. For her it was again three weeks before she was back to normal.

@Wildfireponie and @Motherofallnamechanges - how strange! It somehow makes you feel better though, knowing others have the same symptoms. I woke during the night with a really bad sore throat again, with coughing and a stuffy nose. This morning it's gone again!!! But I'm tired as have been awake since 3.30 with it. Hope you are both better soon.

Yes, almost certainly.

I don’t think all pneumonia cases are swabbed but unusual ones are. I got pneumonia 2 years ago after accidentally inhaling dirty water in a water park, and I was swabbed to check which bacteria it was (it was bacterial not viral). This was after hearing from every doctor how unusual it was for a 34 yo healthy woman with no history of asthma or smoking or immune issues to have pneumonia. I was tested for HIV and quizzed about my sexual activity, because they couldn’t understand how I had caught it!

Anyway, if enough people were presenting at hospital with pneumonia outwith the normal parameters then they would be swabbed/tested. Not saying that some elderly folk with a history of asthma/COPD would be, though!