It's just the flu

[notanoctopus]

Just got off the phone from a friend of mine ... it's just the flu and doesn't kill anyone not elderly without an underlying condition...aaagh!

@Kitcat122

22MrsGradyOldLady

Just to add balance - I tested positive for covid 9 days ago and the only symptoms I've had have been loss of taste and smell. I'm pushing 50, unfit, and drink and smoke more than I should.

So yes, some people do suffer, but I haven't and neither has my partner who all tested positive despite having no symptoms at all.

My initial Covid symptoms were mild didn't feel terrible until 2 weeks in.

Oh bollocks! Did you feel totally ok though and then suddenly get really sick? Or was it more gradual,?

Interestingly (well for me anyway) I was talking to my friend tonight as we were both convinced we had it back in March. I was actually exposed to a confirmed case but wasn't tested. I was PROPER ill then. Temperature, coughing, confusion, diarrhoea, confined to bed. I was actually quite scared at the time. Me, my partner and daughter all had symptoms. Yet this time when we've all got a confirmed positive test only I've had any symptoms at all (loss of taste and smell) and my partner and daughter (who are both younger and fitter) have had no symptoms at all. My friend suggested that I did in fact have it back in March and that's maybe why we've all shown such mild symptoms. Will never know now though...

@mrsgradyoldlady

The PCR test throws up a lot of false positives.

I did actually consider whether it was a false positive but I do have the loss of smell and taste. Still hasn't really come back. Plus my partner got tested on a separate day and also had a positive. So that made me think it was more likely to be accurate.

Do you not think it is?

I try not to care about what people say about it being the flu or false positive tests, mask or no mask, deaths labelled as with Covid or from Covid etc

Despite all the restrictions (whether you agree with them or not) it simply does lead to an overwhelmed health service. Far above the pressure they have previously seen

You know that flu isn't a trivial illness? It's not just a bit of a sniffle, right?

When I had the flu I was young and very fit. For a whole week I was so ill that if the house were burning down around me I would not have been able to get out of bed to escape. The second week I would have been able to stagger to the door.

Flu kills old people. A lot. Every year. In the past nobody was much bothered. The care homes would let anyone in during flu season then people got sick and died. Nobody bothered. Then there's norovirus and various other diseases that are unpleasant for the young but deadly to the vulnerable. Nobody was calling for 'Spoons and B&Q to be closed to save lives.

There are very very very few young fit people dying of covid. It is a disease that kills the elderly and infirm.

No need for ...aaagh at your friend. She was being reasonable.

[quote hamstersarse]@mrsgradyoldlady

The PCR test throws up a lot of false positives.[/quote]
Not it doesn't, particularly not when prevalence is high and almost all people being tested are symptomatic, which is the current situation in the UK.
gidmk.medium.com/most-positive-coronavirus-tests-are-true-positives-60c95fe54fec

Why do you keep deliberately spreading misinformation?

Unfortunately there's no cure - or vaccine - for stupid.

It’s looking like about 50% of people with Covid have no symptoms.

Overall it is worse than flu, but not massively worse.

According to ONS about 15% of care home deaths are caused by flu/ pneumonia. Covid has caused 30%. But that’s without a vaccine for Covid whereas all care homes are for flu.

That was referring to the "It's just the flu" brigade, not your sensible post @CoffeeandCroissant

I don't really understand all the posts saying "but flu can be deadly". Surely that's the point? Flu can be awful, can cause complications and post-viral fatigue, kills vulnerable people. But we don't lockdown for it. Isn't that what people are talking about when they bring it up?

Everyone I know who has had covid has had much milder illness than flu. I was in hospital very ill with flu and pneumonia a few years ago. In most cases covid seems much milder. And I'm not convinced it's much more infectious, none of those I know who've had it passed it on to those they live with.

My cousin and her partner, both in their seventies, had covid and were not terribly ill. However I have known a couple of people who were very ill indeed, one still is after months, and one died.

It all depends on the individual's immune system.

I too have been very ill with the 'flu in the past and no way do I want to catch Covid.

@WildWindBlows

Everyone I know who has had covid has had much milder illness than flu. I was in hospital very ill with flu and pneumonia a few years ago. In most cases covid seems much milder. And I'm not convinced it's much more infectious, none of those I know who've had it passed it on to those they live with.

So how do you explain the overrun hospitals with winter pressures much much worse than normal where cases are high, despite at least some sort of social distancing being in place then?

Hospitals are not more over run than they usually are at this time of year. In many places they are below the 5 year average

that is not to say it is not horrific for people working in the NHS. It surely is. But it is always unacceptably horrific in the winter in the NHS

Flu kills though. And children as well more often than covid. That's why there's a vaccine. So flu isn't "just the flu" either!!!

" To all the #COVID19 pandemic deniers out there. I’ve been a hospital doctor in the NHS for 25 years and have never witnessed a viral outbreak as bad as this one. It is far, far worse than any seasonal flu outbreak that I’ve worked through. Get a grip of reality, please. "
Clive Peedell, NHS Consultant.
mobile.twitter.com/cpeedell/status/1323182594771529731

Some flu is horrific - last time I had it I wished for death

Coronavirus is much worse for a larger portion of people - and is 20 times as fatal as flu if you're over 75

Right now I'm almost 100% confident I would survive flu but only about 60% confident I would survive Covid 19 without damage

To me that's a huge fucking difference

Flu terrifies me.
Every year I race to get mine and my families flu jabs done.

I had Covid. Was ill for months. Just started to feel nearly 100% and lots of health issue appearing. Thyroid not functioning properly, extremely high blood pressure. I am under the post Covid clinic and waiting to see if I am damaged. Before my illness I was a runner, very fit and healthy. Flu has never done that to me.

I believe Spanish flu was quite awful

@hamstersarse

I believe Spanish flu was quite awful

100 years ago. many people lived in poverty- in overcrowded households with limited sanitation- death of children and adults was commonplace There was a lack of medical care and the drugs we expect today for most people

Not really comparable to 2020 in the UK.

flu is dreadful. Covid is far worse unless someone is one of those people who only get it mildly.

Which is a pretty large proportion of people. You could equally say "covid is far milder, unless you're one of those people who gets it badly"