Possible Jan/Feb cases?

[BuggaLugga]

First of all: Please don't give me a hard time - I'm obviously not relying on this but just wondering - and for context my DP works for the NHS so is at risk every day.

Back at the end of January my DD(10) was ill with temperature and a cough - it dragged on longer than usual and she is rarely ill. I then got 'it' and wasn't too bad and continued working but noticed I felt breathless. I went to my GP and she said my oxygen levels were okay and my chest sounded okay but told me I had a temperature and clearly had a virus. I do t really remember the other symptoms but so remember the breathlessness. I've not had that with a cold/flu before. The feeling dragged on for several weeks, I thought it may be anxiety as news of Coronavirus hitting the UK was coming through then, but it hasn't necessarily coincided with my feeling or being anxious.

A colleague at work got a similar thing with a similar feeling in her chest.

DP then got ill and ended up on antibiotics for a chest infection. It took him quite a while to improve but he wasn't 'scarily' ill, the cough was awful but it wasn't a dry cough. He wasn't right for quite a few weeks.

Lots of other kids were ill around the same time, and parents. It's a very big primary school and fairly international. don't know ANYONE connected to the school who has been ill since lockdown which seems strange (of course they may be keeping it quiet).

We live in a university city near London that attracts students and tourists from around the world, notably China and Italy.

As no one was being tested, who is to says some cases did not arrive earlier than originally thought?

Maybe wishful thinking but I wish we could be antibody tested (particularly with my DP working at the hospital).

DH and I both had something in early January. Floored us both - I had it the second week and him the third week and w both had to take time off work. I had a sore throat for around a week and he ended up with blocked ears. Children didn’t get anything. Suspect it was some random virus

I think I had it mid February, I was fine one day and the next day had a horrendous cough, temperature and no sense of smell, I went to work that day and they sent me home. I managed to get a doctors appointment, who told me it was probably bronchitis but it didn’t quite fit the bill as bronchitis normally gradually develops and this came on overnight. I was poorly for a week and then dd2 became ill, I couldn’t wake her up and she had a high temp, took her to the doctors who rang an ambulance, her bloods sugars were 2.6 and her temp was 39.2 (she is three) she didn’t have a cough though. They kept her in hospital as they literally couldn’t find anything wrong with her? A week later my oh came down with an awful cough and high temp and he had three days off work but he couldn’t stay awake and it took him weeks to feel better. This was all the middle of feb and I am in Wolverhampton.

Around the 8th Feb, ds(6) came into me one morning complaining of a headache. Took his temp and gave him meds. His temp was over 40 and would not come down. He has never had a temp anywhere near this high before. He was so I'll, we took him to the gp 3 times in 6 days. They said he had a viral ear, nose, throat and sinus infection. For nearly 2 weeks he didn't go to school, was having naps that were hours long during the day and barely ate for a week and a half.
In the meantime, a few days after he first had his symptoms, I became ill. I had a severe pain in my throat, ears, chest and dizziness. I went to the doctor, again they said it was viral. I was so ill I couldn't make it through the day at work and had to come home to bed. I was sleeping all day and my body ached all over. I developed a really strange cough that lasted for 5 weeks. The dizziness also stayed for weeks.
My baby and my dp also fell ill, they both visited the gp aswell although their sickness wasn't as bad.
My mother then caught it from us and she got a bad dose aswell.

In our case, I believe whatever we had came from a colleague in work.
He is Chinese and was in China for xmas and new years. When he came back, he was in the office for a few days, then was off sick for two weeks (flu-like virus), then came back in for two weeks, then was off sick again after that.

DD went to London to visit her girlfriend at the end of January. Her gf is Malaysian and had been in Malaysia for the Christmas university holidays. They have lots of Chinese friends who had also just returned after Christmas.

Within 10 days of DD coming home me, DH, DD and DD's gf all came down with the same symptoms which for all of us came on suddenly. One minute we were fine, the next we felt like we'd been hit by a truck - for me it was a Sunday afternoon and I was sitting reading and I suddenly felt as if I had the worst hangover I'd ever had. We all had this strange sore throat (felt like there was a sharp stone in our necks) on one side only, earache on the same side, migraine, loss of taste/smell, this strange achy leg thing like someone was sitting on our shins, hacking cough and fever. DD bounced back fairly quickly but I felt ill for weeks - in fact it's only very recently I haven't felt like death every day. Like a post virus malaise. It was like nothing we've ever had before.

DH got it by far the worst though. He hasn't had time off work sick for 15 years but was off for two weeks. He had a raging fever for over a week and when that broke he started to feel better, even planned to go back to work. But suddenly the cough came back and he was fighting for breath. He went to the GP, something he never ever does (this was late Feb, before the advice was not to do so). GP asked if he'd been to China, DH said no but he'd had indirect contact with people who had. GP said his symptoms fit but laughed and said let's face it, it's highly unlikely, and gave him antibiotics for a chest infection. The antibiotics didn't work and he was still coughing and short of breath two weeks later, by which time he'd gone back to work. When he did, incidentally, he found that half his office were off with the same thing. His chest is still not fully recovered and his loss of taste/smell lasted for three weeks - even now it's not completely back to normal. I've never seen him so ill, I was so worried when he was at the height of it.

I can't say for sure if it was cv but it was like nothing any of us have had before. If it was, it was way before any of the advice about social distancing etc so god only knows how many people we passed it on to.

@BuggaLugga I'm in London.

Yes lots if kids and parents at our school were ill with high fever headache and cough. Lots travel and airline crew too. I had a thing in feb... Absolutely awful... Never that ill. Ulcers in throat and no taste or smell, fever, sickness, floored. Awful dry cough and couldn't breath. Head felt like it was in a fish bowl for 2 weeks... Remember having an appointment 2 weeks in and feeling so unbelievably odd.. Vision and head so weird. 3 weeks later still breathless and struggling to walk. Took herbs homeopathy and vits and now much better. Dh got it... Awful and in bed with fever and cough and head... Dd fever and cough no real problems. This was 2nd week feb... Had been in contact with someone from northern Italy... However as i say lots of school had same.