18yr old DS diagnosed in halls of residence

[Memeapple]

Am concerned about my DS. He just tested +tive today and is feeling terrible - fever and extreme fatigue. Fever spiked at 39.1 this evening. Am concerned that his symptoms have started quite aggressively. Does this mean anything? It's horrible with him being in a halls of residence and completely on his own. I feel impotent. Any advice?

I have no advice I'm afraid, I have a son at uni too and this is something I'm worried about. I just wanted to come and offer some support and solidarity.

Do they have a warden in the halls of residence? Could you maybe give them a call and see if there is a protocol in place for checking on the welfare of isolating/sick students?

Is he very far from you?

Agree. Ring the uni. My ds is a fresher too and had it and although he was unwell rather than very ill I was worried about lack of medical care and dh delivered a load of fresh food and medical stuff (contactlessly). On the positive side I knew he would get it so it was a great relief when he was out the other side. I really hope he's better soon.

MrsEricBAna what were your DS' symptoms? How long did it take for him to recover? Thanks.

The university are delivering food. But nothing wrt wellbeing as yet.

My DS 21 started 8 days ago with high fever and extreme fatigue and like you OP I was really worried as you say because it seemed to start aggressively however, fever lasted 2 days and by day 3 starting to feel much better so does not mean your DS will get any worse. Hope he’s ok.

Sending every sympathy OP. This is such a brutal situation. 18 is so young, and to be in his situation when unwell isn't ideal.

I've heard plenty of anecdotal stories of people feeling really rough for a short time and then much better.

I don't think this situation should have been allowed to happen. Students should not have returned. It's brutal.

Hope he gets well soon

I hope he feels better soon. Poor kid and poor you. He might have already been a bit under the weather before he caught it. The first term of uni is tough in the best of times, add this covid stress, feeding yourself for the first time as possibly partaking in more booze than your used to. Hopefully it's a element of that and the mental side where you have just had enough and curl into a ball might be that little extra push for his body to think "nope, that's it, bed for me for now"
Its normally mild for teens so keep positive with a watchful eye.

Thanks. It real is a brutal situation. They lock the corridor down as though it's a flat but it really isn't there is no one to check on DS. Only us on the end of the phone. I'm really disappointed that they were all lured into university as though it was going to be normal. They've had a crappy time, with hardly any socialising and getting locked in their rooms - sick or unsick.

@Memeapple it's all so unbelievable. Students are being treated like lepers with very little regard for them as real people.

For some reason it seems ok to treat them in a way that would be unacceptable for any other section of society.

People are also pointing the finger of blame at the students, but this really is not their fault. They were told it was safe to return, over promised a great deal, and have paid for education and board which is severely lacking.

From the outside looking in I'm not clear how anyone ever thought this wasn't going to happen. I guess there was a lot of optimism back in the summer.

The trouble is, that there is no workable solution. The only solution would have been to not send students back, especially first year students to whom everything is so new and who haven't yet made contacts and friends at uni so really are so isolated.

I realise that this is far from ideal but let's face it huge amounts of things that are far from ideal have had to happen during this outbreak.

My DD is in her first year at Uni. She developed symptoms when already isolating having been in contact with someone. She was completely hoarse and bunged up, lost her sense of smell afterwards. She managed to get a postal test after a lot of faffing about, trying to find someone who could pick it up for her from the mailroom who wasn't isolating. I rang the Halls Administrator at one point to see if someone could help her but she sorted it herself in the end. All of her flat had to isolate so they had food deliveries from Asda. After a few days she started to feel better. It's such a worrying time. Hope your DS recovers quickly. Don't hesitate to ring the Uni if necessary.