Breaking news on Sky re asymptomatic patients

[Wallabyone]

I had a pain inside my nose on Tuesday/weds which sort of felt like I was getting a cold as my nose was blocked. It's become a sinus-type headache and I've felt a bit more tired than usual. Since Thurs/Fri I have lost my sense of smell and taste entirely. I've had no temp and no cough, and I was going to call the GP on Monday to ask for antibiotics for sinusitis. A few hours ago a consultant has said that the loss of the two senses can be a symptom even without a cough/temp. I think there's still so much to learn about this virus. I'm now going to stay in and keep my family in for the requisite time, as I'm 95% sure it is it.

I personally think unless you are actually tested for CV (because the symptoms are similar to other viruses and illnesses), then we can't take your particular symptoms as a definite indicator.

Cross post with @jasjas1973 but similar point

@CanIHaveAPenguinPlease There aren’t enough tests. There will never be enough testing kits.

Everyone has to be sensible, self-isolate completely if they have CV symptoms and use social distancing to stop the spread of CV and other bugs/colds/viruses now more than ever.

I understand that crocodiles but as I’m immunosuppressed I’ve been advised to isolate for 12 weeks. I have teenagers. I will do it but it’s a real strain on our family for something I may not even have or get.

Nadine Dorries has said on Twitter that she has lost her sense of taste and smell.

I had the exact same symptoms, started just over a week ago with aches and pains and feeling a bit under the weather. Completely (and I mean completely) lost sense of smell/taste last Sunday despite no sinus issues or cold symptoms, along with short lived diarrhoea. Developed a temperature on Weds which broke yesterday, as well as a dry cough with chest pain/tightness which is still lingering but not terrible.

Obviously heightened awareness turns us all into hypochondriacs and I wouldn’t go so far as to assume I’ve had it but I’ve honestly never had a ‘cold’ like this before and it does match many of the C19 symptoms, albeit very mild.

Of course I have isolated myself, and will continue to abide by government advice because I’m not an idiot however if these antibody tests can be made widely available surely everyone can see the benefit in those who have had the virus and are therefore protected from it via antibodies (which must be the case as otherwise how is Wuhan now free of new cases?) being able to return to work?

Its probably just a cold, heres a grip x

@callmeadoctor would you self isolate just in case if you had the same symptoms?

I suspect we all had it in January. I live in the most visited city in the world (I think), and there are lots and lots of Chinese tourists normally.
It doesn't mean I'm not going to do all the things I'm told to. Interesting conclusion to jump to.

@callmeadoctor that's a ridiculous thing to say. OP doesn't need to get a grip, nobody does at the moment. We have to err on the side of caution. It doesn't make someone hysterical/hypochondriac

Hit send too soon!

Right now, there is is nothing wrong with being over cautious and everything wrong with being too blase.

To be perfectly honest I think lots of people are looking for signs they have already had it and only experienced mild symptoms as it is a way of self-soothing.

callmeadoctor that’s my point I’m pretty certain I don’t have CV but have to self isolate just in case. I’d rather a test than a grip if you don’t mind. That & the fact that if I get it it may kill me. Not definitely but may do. So I actually would like to know if this is it quite frankly.

There's a thread on mumsnet right now, ''lungs are on fire'' and lots of posters describe the strange taste in their mouth.

I have just come across the video of Tara Jane Langston the 39 yr old who was in ICU, now recovering at home. She has the same cough I had over half term.
I also had sinusitis after the cough subsided even though I didn’t have a blocked runny nose and I had metallic taste I put down to using a different toothpaste but apparently can be a symptom while recovering. I started with the cough before half term and didn’t really link to the virus until last week when I was still getting tightness in my chest and low grade fever.
Because of the fever last week I have been self isolating.
Fortunately the period when I was coming down with the cough I was at home all the time due to the storms and severe flooding in our area. If it was C19 the only person I passed it onto was DH. I was only at work for two half days because I was really struggling with the cough and breathing. And I wear full PPE to work in anyway so probably didn’t pass it on.
I did go round our local Waitrose one evening barking like a seal but it was very quiet.
Still having the odd day when I’m short of breath but almost gone.
I’m speaking to my GP on Monday. I am hoping that as HCP I get tested early for antibodies when they introduce the test, then I can return to work. I’m a key worker but because I have flu jab for health issues I am reluctant to see patients until I’m cleared to do so.
If it was C19 I will say it was pretty grim for a few days. I didn’t feel like I had flu but I have never had a cough like it. I was on the verge of asking DH to take me to A&E because I was struggling to get air in my lungs. I slept on the settee downstairs for nearly a week because I couldn’t lie down without coughing.

To be perfectly honest I think lots of people are looking for signs they have already had it and only experienced mild symptoms as it is a way of self-soothing.

Exactly this! Deep down every person hopes they might have had it already and that mitigates a some of the panic coming through. Probably the case with some people, probably red herrings with others. From other first person reports on FB, it seems like taste mix-ups can also occur rather than losing the sense completely. One diagnosed person said coffee tasted salty.

I didn’t think it was C19 until I heard the cough on the video then realised it was a possibility. Also it’s has taken a good month for all the symptoms to clear which is unusual for just a cold.
It is the first clear recording of the C19 cough I have been able to find.

The whole thing is so difficult to determine. Before Christmas I went through a spell of feeling really ill. Nebulous symptoms I thought might be post menopausal. One of the symptoms was feeling hot. I was in London at the start of Dec to do The Tutankhamun Exhibition. About a week and a half ago I had the metallic mouth for about two days. Currently I have a slight headaches and the feel of a threatening cough. Certainly feel tired. However taking my temp each day, it is lower rather than higher. I feel cold rather than hot.

Could I have had it/have it? Who knows?

I've also had a weird pain in my nose as if air is shooting up it causing a sharp pain however no blocked nose never crossed my mind to be THE virus.
I put it down to having the windows open at night.

No loss of smell but I can't taste my toothpaste which is weird as if the mint has been taken out of it and also a weird taste in my mouth through out the day not metallic more gross than that

Been self isolating for over a week due to one of my children having a high temperature and upset stomach plus cough.

To just try and put this in perspective (without undrplaying the seriousness of it):

As of yesterday in the UK:

66,976 tests.

62,993 tested negative.

3983 positive.

There are a lot of people in the UK who are getting the symptoms, but not having CV19.

But PLEASE everyone isolate yourselves as far as humanly possible! Stay home - this virus is slippery, it mimics many other illnesses. Stop the spread - stay home. Skype your loved ones.

I think I may well have had it in mid Feb.

I was off work for 7 days ill. No cold but a horrendous sore throat (but lower down...definitely not the tonsils) that I’ve never had before. Fever. Continuous, burning cough that literally felt like sandpaper in my lungs and windpipe.

I felt a bit better on day 4 in the evening then woke up day 5 feeling like I’d been hit by a train and couldn’t get a full breath in. Went to the GP who diagnosed early stages of pneumonia and gave antibiotics. They worked pretty quick and I was in work on day 8 although still wasn’t right for another week.

I’d love an immunity test to see if I’d already had it...I’m hoping that will be the next thing to roll out.

Oh and I also had double conjunctivitis at the same time which I’ve never had before and recently read has also been linked 🤷🏻‍♀️

As far as I can ascertain, the danger is from the secondary pneumonia about a week later, not the coronavirus itself. Nobody knows yet why some people go on to the secondary pneumonia, but from available stats, (from the WHO) age and underlying health issues would seem to be a factor in 99% of cases of death. But many young people are developing this , and needing ventilators and ICU - for weeks. It's a mistake to think young people will just be immune, or only have a mild case.

A lot of reports are coming out of hospitals where patients are tested and are negative but then later found to be positive. If you only have one test it is only negative for that day. It also may depend on viral load and on the sensitivity of the test.
So many variables. Certainly milder cases are likely to be just viral infections. But the cough is pretty awful accompanied by extreme shortness of breath.