Am i being thick?If the first reported uk case was on jan 31st then it was here from dec/early jan then?

[Wankerchief]

Ive just read that the first confirmed case was on the 31st of jan (wiki and news sites)
Going on the two/three week incubation does that mean there was many people in Late Dec/early Jan that had it but had. No symptoms or just thought they had flu?

Dp says no but i cannot see how it cant of been here then but I've got nothing to me up

This theory that Covid was widespread since late 2019 can readily be put to bed with the current antibody tests.... The fact no one has published anything with antibody results indicating such widespread infection is very telling

I didn’t think that a reliable antibody test was put yet.
I thought the ones that had been tried had a lot of false positives and false negatives

It's very tempting to think that flu-like illnesses from December onwards could have been Covid but it would be highly unlikely that so many people could have had it without any requirement for hospital and ICU treatments considering the severity of many since. It is far more likely to have been flu or similar

@Oliversmumsarmy

Unless this is bogus, the accuracy of current tests seem pretty good to me.

medichecks.com/pages/coronavirus-antibody-blood-test-information

Flu is a nasty illness... It kills 1,000s every year in the UK and is responsible for a rise in deaths each winter. In 2017-18 it almost overwhelmed the NHS.

Covid has many symptoms that are similar to the flu, and fooled many doctors (medically trained for seven-years +) to begin with, so how a lay-person can possibly be so sure they “definitely had it” without any test or training is ridiculous.

The problem is Covid’s death rate is 5-10 times that of flu in a bad season such as 2017-18.... That 0.5-1% death rate mooted back in March has stood the test of time unfortunately.

My sister was desperately ill in December. She was hospitalised. I'm certain it was covid.

First had kidney problems (which has is now a known symptom) and diagnosed with kidney stones. She was in agony so went to the hospital where she was treated for sepsis. Then diagnosed with pneumonia.

@Derbygerbil

What caused the 2017-18 flu season to be so deadly? Was it the strain of flu?

I suspect that I had it in February... and went to a packed out Wembley without realising. It was only looking back that all my symptoms tallied.

What caused the 2017-18 flu season to be so deadly? Was it the strain of flu?

Maybe that was Covid too!... Seriously though, yes, I believe it was influenza strain H3N2.

@Derbygerbil

Thanks

My understanding is that strain tends to be more deadly. Also, the vaccine had a high failure rate - 83%! In fact, flu vaccines often have a failure rate of 50% or more, so when someone says “it can’t have been the flu - I had the vaccine”, it’s quite probable that the vaccine just wasn’t effective in their case.

Yes I've heard that the flu vaccine isn't alway effective - people get mild flu like symptoms.

Let's hope if and when a coronavirus vaccine comes out it's more effective 🤞🏿

But 'the flu vaccine' - isn't that just for the type of flu that they believe will be most prevalent in any one year? So you can still get flu, even if you've had the vaccine, you just get a different type?

That's been my understanding, and one of the reasons I've not been taking up my opportunity to have the vaccine - because work would refuse to believe that I was off sick with flu because 'it can't be flu, you had the vaccination!'.

@Zaphodsotherhead

I think so, but why do you have to tell work you’ve had the vaccine? Even if they did query there’s plenty of reliable information documenting that it’s not completely effective.

@Derbygerbil

I wouldn't have to tell work, but they may ask me! It's retail, and they will bitch among themselves at the slightest thing, so if I happened to mention I went for a flu jab (or someone else mentioned, it's a very small community where everyone knows everyone else and their business) and subsequently got flu, my sick days would be regarded with deep suspicion!

There was a known of wave of influenza A over the winter - one that can cause pneumonia. Wish I could remember what doctor was showing a chart now but he definitely pointed to the December portion and said 'and this corresponds with the known about influenza A we had'.

ICU doctors and radiographers are saying that this(C-19) is presenting very differently and needs treating differently to anything they've seen before so I find it unlikely it was here any earlier without it being noticed. It's providing markedly novel symptoms from anything we've had before. People are in ICU for many weeks longer in comparison for a start.

ICU doctors and radiographers are saying that this(C-19) is presenting very differently and needs treating differently to anything they've seen before so I find it unlikely it was here any earlier without it being noticed.

It doesn’t seem to matter how much evidence is presented, some people are unhealthily wedded to the idea that what they or their friends had “must have been Corona!” It’s a weird psychological phenomenon that would make for an interesting study in years to come.

My ds was off school for a month in late November/December with a chest infection that just would not clear up, it took 3 lots of antibiotics & steroids plus inhalers to get him better & he was really weak for ages after, his temperature kept on spiking, he ached, had a terrible headache, couldn't stop coughing, lost over a stone in weight, I was really worried he had pneumonia & would end up in hospital.

You are not wrong Derby but every so often I break inside and post something in the hope that it will help people who read these threads but don't comment. It's like an illness in me, no matter how unlikely anyone is to read and care I have to try logic every so often.

Nice to see another one out and about!

ICU doctors and radiographers are saying that this(C-19) is presenting very differently and needs treating differently to anything they've seen before so I find it unlikely it was here any earlier without it being noticed. It's providing markedly novel symptoms from anything we've had before. People are in ICU for many weeks longer in comparison for a start.

That's a good point. I know that Covid has been linked to blood clots in the lungs which isn't seen in flu. (DP is a stroke survivor so have been following with interest/anxiety)

This is really interesting- the BBC medical correspondent Fergus Walsh has had three positive antibody tests for Covid but the only time he has been ill was pneumonia in early January. So either that was actually Covid or he has been infected since and not displayed a single symptom.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/health-52762939

Whistle73

Occam's Razor would indicate he did have COVID and he did have it in early Jan. How early, when did he catch it and from whom? Was it community transmission? Those are the questions. France had a post mortem confirmed case from late Dec. It was in community transmission in Wuhan circa October.

Patience and all will out. What was loony loops conspiracy theory in January is now widely accepted, will be interesting to see what's widely accepted by Autumn.

@PicsInRed I can't wait for the truth to out on all this. The public enquiry is going to be dynamite.

ICU doctors and radiographers are saying that this(C-19) is presenting very differently and needs treating differently to anything they've seen before so I find it unlikely it was here any earlier without it being noticed

But some have also said they have “been dealing with this since January”.

Re Fergus Walsh I wonder too, is it more likely he had it when he had pneumonia, or he’s had it since with no symptoms?

I don’t think it was circulating widely or at all at Christmas but I do find the insistence of some people it was here no earlier than the first confirmed cases a bit blinkered

@Whistle73

Interesting... The natural conclusion is that he has had it. Of course he could have had Covid assymptomatically, but the fact he had pneumonia in January makes my think there’s a fair chance he did actually have it then. It is surely of significant global interest for a proper study to be done on this.

@Tatapie

Can I ask about your relatives 'throat damage" you mention? I had covid like symptoms in early feb and my throat has not felt the same since.