Already had it?!

[MaomiMak]

I had a routine GP appt this morning.

There were a massive spike in horrible coughs and shortness of breath at the beginning of the year. Coughs that went on for weeks and they said we are seeing a lot of this and it going on for ages.

I needed asthma inhalers again.

With hindsight she said I've probably had coronavirus already. There isn't always a temperature with it and I didn't have one.

It was fine if I did have it. I'm fully recovered though it took weeks.

It would be lovely if we'd all had it already.

But GPs lightheartedly proposing that to patients is totally irresponsible.

I’m wondering if DB and SIL have had it too. They are in Germany, SIL works in an international school with lots of pupils from east Asia.

They had fever, dry hacking coughs, shortness of breath and were off work. DB never gets coughs. Lots of colds but never coughs. He was given an inhaler by his doctor. A month on and they’re still not really well especially DB who has a cold that seems to die down and return every few days. They both say they’re never had anything that resembles this.

All the people who think they've already had it (but never got tested) doesn't explain why only 10 people in the U.K. have died from it so far. I'm sure that if people were dying they would be tested.

So either the mortality rate is far, far lower than is being reported, or the cases you're talking about were not Covid 19.

I had the same
At the beginning of December I went to warner brothers Harry Potter lots of Chinese people there

5 days later my son got chicken pox so didn't go out for over a week or two.
21 days later had chills fever and a sore throat, then nothing4/5 days later horrible cough all day and night with lots of clear sputum coming up, coughing fits which stopped me in my tracks, no cold symptoms
Tired all the time sleeping all day... I still have a bit of that cough. Doctor has sent me for a chest x ray
My son got it for a week too... high temp, cough very sore throat no cold symptoms, roughly 2 weeks after I did!

@TulipsInAVase
If you have had it, would you have antibodies, so if you were tested, there would be a way to know

I read yesterday that they are working on developing a test that will see if you have already had/recovered from it. It would be useful wouldn't it.

We've all had a really annoying lingering cough and high temperatures. To be honest being an asthmatic I get the cough every year so I'm not convinced we have/had it, whereas my husband thinks it could be a mild case of coronavirus. Anyway either way, we're self isolating for 7 days as per the guidance.

This crossed my mind. I had a weird flu type bug with aches, fever and a cough at the start of the year. Not something I'd had before given the mix of symptoms. It wiped me out for a good couple of weeks after and the cough lingered.

I don't see how it could be though - as a PP mentioned, there was no big spread and no deaths. It was odd though.

If I had it now, I would absolutely assume it was Coronavirus.

I know somebody who thinks she and her family have already had it. They were knocked sideways. Because her mother is immuno supressed, she just locked everybody up, kids/husband off school/work and rode it out. Took about 2 weeks. They are all fine now.

But of course, everyone might previously just have had this years' strain of normal 'flu

Oddly enough I thought this yesterday, after Christmas we both had really bad coughs that lasted a few weeks, maybe there's something in it. If one has had a version of corona does that mean that there's some kind of immunity in our system.

It wouldn't surprise me at all.

I had an awful cough and temperature in January. I was off sick for nearly a week. I could barely breathe, had coughing fits 10+ times a day - it was horrible. If I had it now, I'd assume it was Covid-19 and isolate as per the guidelines.

Me too, end of Jan. Relentless dry cough, ongoing temperature - moderate not sky high... Bed bound. Inhalers weren't helping me.
Really really wish there was a blood test as I could stop worrying every time I go out. I felt so bad asking the cashier if I could scan my own items the other day, she was coughing...

From what I’m reading there’s a possibility of two different strains so I wouldn’t be surprised if plenty of people have had a milder strain and will never know? If this was going on in China in November last year there’s nothing to say that tourists and residents travelling to and fro from the initial area of outbreak had not been infected and unknowingly taken it on their travels simply presuming they had a cold of sorts.
It’s entirely plausible.

They’re now saying the first case in China was November. My wife, 36, had a weird episode that started at the very end of December in the U.K. when we were on a city break. She’s one of those people who never gets sick, she’s literally seen a doctor about three times in her life. One day at the end of December she was suddenly v.short of breath. This persisted for a couple of days before it became serious enough that we found a walk in NHS clinic. Nurse did checks - nothing wrong. She had no fever, no history of recent travel to China, and cases here we I think basically zero at that time. She did have a bit of cough though, which the nurse put down to seasonal cold..
Anyway, fast forward about a month and she still had occasional shortness of breath. Went to see GP, and GP referred to hospital. Hospital did more checks (but not for the virus as she still didn’t fit the profile, and cases still virtually zero). Doc said she’s fine, go home and it was almost certainly just the aftereffects of whatever flu/virus she got four weeks ago and that it would clear up by itself in another week or two, which it did..... Wouldn’t surprise me if it wasn’t just a random flu/virus. I’d also be worried, as whatever it was had a very fit 36 yr old with no underlying conditions at all and who always shrugs off or totally avoids flue etc quite uncomfortable for a period of weeks. Weirdly though I didn’t get it all and I’m usually much more susceptible to colds etc.

I've had a hacking cough and shortness of breath - but I've been prone to asthma for the last couple of years and attribute it to that

I'd love to think that you are right and that there is a degree of herd immunity already present, but I don't think we should be complacent. There are too many vulnerable people who are still at risk.

A friend whose DD works in a large hospital says the hand sanitiser is being stolen wholesale - they no sooner put a bottle at the end of a bed, and it's gone. There are so many visitors per bed, these days, and so much visiting time hat they can't keep an eye on it.

These thieves probably don't even regard themselves as thieves - they certainly won't regard themselves as murderers - but that's what they could end up being.

Funny we were talking about this last week. I work in a university with a high number of chinese students. When they all came back after the Christmas holidays I came down with a bad virus, like a bad flu. Only me and DH had it, the kids were totally fine. I’m also now wondering if it was covid 19.

@stirling
I work in retail - I bet the cashier was relieved that you preferred to scan your items. I certainly would be.

DH and I (both 60) came down with some weird bug/virus end of Dec / into Jan that lasted for 4 - 5 weeks.
A dry cough that kept us up all night and cough medicines didn’t touch. Fever/chills, complete loss of voice, fatigue, chest pain, muscle pain - no cold.
We just couldn’t shift it for weeks.
Interestingly, neither of our adult DS’s caught it.

I had a temperature, bad headache and a cough in late January. It wiped me out for 5 days, two in bed, three on the sofa. It obviously wasn't CV because no-one caught it from me, at home or at work (in a school) but if I had it now I'd would assume it is CV.

There may well have been a similar, but less severe, virus doing the rounds.

I'm quietly convinced my mother in law's had it - she got a "chest infection" in January and has cancelled all of her plans with us since, she just doesn't feel up to leaving the house. She's getting there now but it's been about 5-6 weeks I think, maybe longer.

It would be lovely if we'd all had it already.

But GPs lightheartedly proposing that to patients is totally irresponsible.

Only if they're saying that having had it results in immunisation and therefore you can let your guard down, which I don't think there's been any conclusions on at all?

Immunity*

During the Christmas period I had worst cough I've ever had, worst drenching night sweats I've ever had and breathlessness. I'm confused though - was Coronavirus around then? I thought the outbreak only occurred more recently?

Apparently the virus first appeared in China in November.

I had a horrible virus in January. Started with high fever (felt so ill I nearly collapsed on the way to the bathroom) and progressed to bad cough that lasted for weeks.

It’s probably wishful thinking that it was Coronavirus. Apparently that cough isn’t productive, but I was coughing up gunk for ages.

You can catch it more than once. There are known cases in Japan where people have had it twice.

@MonkeyClimbing Thank you for clarifying. Sorry, I just looked over previous threads and saw this. Really interesting.