5 flatmates positive

[Goingdooolally]

My DS is at university and 5 out of the 7 of them have tested positive. He’s tested negative. They’re self isolating.

There’s been no social distancing and they’ve been sharing drinks (drinking games) and in close proximity.

Why has he not caught it?! Really strange. I’m assuming he’s going to get it or has had it before (but none of us have had it and we’re not in a hotspot).

Does he have symptoms? He could have a false negative result. He may be incubating and not showing stmptoms yet. He may have been asymtamatic and may have been tested after the test period.
Lots of posibilities

He may have been the first to have it and passed it to them.

No symptoms.

Even in a house share there's no guarantee everyone will get it. I know 2 couples where the couple got it months apart, this is married couples sharing beds etc who didn't pass it to each other.

The virus is a new (novel) virus so why some people don't catch it when surrounded by it, why some people aren't ill if they catch it and why some people have long lasting effects after they catch it is unknown.

It could be a false negative, especially if he carried out the test himself.

He could have been the first to catch it, has passed it on and is now beyond the point where he would test positive.

And as an above poster has said, it is a novel virus, we don't know enough about it to know why some may not be susceptible to it.

I hope your son and his flatmates are ok.

Thank you! It’s very strange. He had it done at a testing centre. They’re all fine. A couple with coughs and a couple with loss of taste, one asymptotic!

I believe 'attack rate' within households is only about 30%. Plenty of people in same household are exposed & don't get infected. It's not quite zombie plague that media makes out.

Maybe he gave it to them?

@PotteringAlong but wouldn’t he have tested positive then?

I am currently ill with Covid.
Tested positive this week but potentially had it since mid last week (not too 3 symptoms so went unsuspected) -
Dh and 18y Dd are both for and well with no symptoms. No tests for them as no symptoms. Both SI anyway so no further risk to others if they did have it.

My colleague (not a Covid contact of mine) has just tested positive. Her Dh had it in the summer and she didn't get it then. But has now. So far neither of her teenage sons have caught it either time that they're aware of.

@Aragog what were your initial symptoms?

Sorry to ask but the more people who state what their initial symptoms were, the more awareness people have to avoid passing it on if they catch it.

I think PP are suggesting that he could have had it before the others but had no symptoms, so by the time he was tested, he would get a negative result. Very possible.

Plus he may have had it earlier in the year, and thus be immune?

Redmarauder

Early last week I felt like I had a light cold. My throat was a bit hoarse but not sore. I've returned to work (school) since being off in March, as I'm clinically vulnerable, so have picked up a couple of colds already since September.

By last Thursday my chest felt a bit tight. Colds often do this to me when they're on their way out, so didn't concern me particularly. I had no temperature, cough, sore throat etc. My heart rate was raised but this is normal for me, was nothing like when I had svt pre ablation last year.

Monday it felt much worse. I got to work and wasn't teaching that morning. After I'd gone up and down stairs my chest was really tight and my breathing was noticeably laboured. So I thought I'd head to the walk in centre incase it was turning to a chest infection - again something I've had before following colds after a dose of pneumonia years. I had some leg pains - bit as I have arthritis I wasn't sure if they were normal or not.

When there I had tests. My blood pressure was very high - stage 3 hypertension crisis level. My heart rate was 150+ - a cat 2 ambulance was called to take me to a and e. A and E did investigations for pneumonia and blood clots. My blood tests and chest x ray we're clear. I was sent home and told to see GP next day about the blood pressure issue.

GP saw me and was surprised that I'd been sent home with such high blood pressure. He arranged for me to go into hospital there abd then. The Covid test was done on Tuesday on arrival as its routine, along with MRSA swabs

During the day my chest and breathing got a little worse. Still no cough or temperature. No medics suspected Covid and I was on a clean ward and an open ward over night.

Positive result came in on Wednesday.

I went home following medication to stabilise my blood pressure. The top number has to be below 180 which we just managed!

The cough started Wednesday late afternoon. After getting the result my temperature registered 37.8 but dropped to 37.1 and then 36.6 within a couple of hours. That was the only time my temperature raised. Oxygen SATs has been around 96-98 throughout.

It's now Saturday. My chest is very tight, my breathing is laboured especially if I do anything. Blood pressure is now down to stage 1 hypertension as meds have helped. Heart rate is now around 100. Have had some aches and pains in my arms and legs. Oximeter is saying same - averaging around 97% Sense of taste and smell are normal.

I would right now to be able to take one or two nice big lung-fulls of air!

Dh and 18y Dd are symptom free.

@Goingdooolally not necessarily. If he was asymptomatic then by the time he had passed it on and they were showing symptoms and got tested and then he got tested he could have cleared the virus and thus been testing negative.