Infections are much higher than we think?

[Baullocks]

So, I know a few people who’ve tested positive -

My colleague and his wife had it so mild it was basically a cold but the wife insisted on getting checked.

A friend only got checked because her daughter was positive, all she had was a headache.

Then there are my daughters who’s symptoms are a runny nose and stomach pain, I only tested them as I had a weird hunch. I’ve since spoken to one of my youngests teachers (also a friend) who said she’s concerned as several children complained of stomach pain last week and loads had runny noses, you just wouldn’t think to test them.

Basically none of these warranted a test, none of them had any of the 3 main symptoms.

Having seen this first hand it’s nothing like what they’re saying, for my kids this has been a bad stomach bug, not a respiratory infection at all.

I can’t help thinking that there are thousands if not millions more with this in the uk and that the numbers are completely wrong.

They really need to change the testing requirements urgently to get a better idea of who is and isn’t infected, I just don’t think anyone’s bothering because they think it’s something else.

And no I’m not scare mongering I don’t care for all that rubbish, I’m just shocked how much the symptoms are veering from the guidelines.

to keep the NHS functioning by avoiding them going off sick

This is key

Sorry wrong thread

Agree with you. I think test centres will be a thing of the past by the summer

I think so too, though recently Matt Hancock was wibbling on about using them to test people for flu so that we can stop spreading that in winter too, which I thought was alarming for two reasons:

1. talk about mission creep - to begin with we were just trying to flatten the curve, now we're trying to end the seasonal flu period. Are we to keep going until we've eliminated death itself?
2. can the health secretary really, really not think of any areas of healthcare where resources are more urgently needed and could be put to better use?!

I don’t really get the angst, I had bad Covid in March and couldn’t get tested. I just stayed home until I was well and completed isolation period 🤷‍♀️

@niynycachu

I also wonder if this is going to have long term consequences along the lines of asbestosis. We know that the virus attacks the lung, it's going to take decades for scientists to see if asymptomatic people go on to develop lung condidions such as emphysema/copd with no other environmental reason than Covid 2019.

But that's just you writing science fiction - we have no possible way of knowing if that's true, but also no reason at all to think it is.

I don't think we should criticize the Gov so much about testing. We do more testing than almost any other country.

Asymptomatic cases & atypical cases. I’d say so.

@BungleandGeorge

A lot of people have symptoms and get tested and are negative. So whilst I agree the rate will be considerably higher than the official figures there are still an awful lot of non covid illnesses causing these symptoms as well!

I agree. How many people get flu or a cold on a given day this time of year? It must be less this year because people are generally avoiding contact, there are no large indoor events, and people are wearing masks etc but there will still be a bit.

I am not worried about having covid if it's like a cold. And I don't believe that everyone who has it mildly has secret organ damage that will be discovered in 30 years time or whatever.

Not everyone who has COVID-19 will get organ damage, but a significant number will. And here in the US, we have no clue how many. Our death rate is so high right now that pathologists absolutely have no time to perform autopsies where there is a seemingly obvious cause of death, therefore we do not know how many of them are (or are not) secondary to COVID-19 damage. We do know that they are there.

Known covid problems are bad enough without people making up imagined covid problems.

I barely had symptoms until I lost my sense of smell and taste, only indicator was a brief (as in around an hour) elevated temperature but with the hot flushes I get it would have been missed if my dp hadn't already come down with a temperature 2 days prior

I was thinking that if these tests do pick up cases we may have a very nasty shock when we start testing kids and teachers.

Its a pity we can't get more people having the antibody test to see if they have already had it. Particularly those who are classed as vulnerable. Would be good for those so worried they arent even going for walks and still washing down their shopping etc to know you'd had it and not even noticed.

There must be so many people fearful of catching it who've had it and come out the other side without so much as a day off work!

@MargosKaftan

Its a pity we can't get more people having the antibody test to see if they have already had it. Particularly those who are classed as vulnerable. Would be good for those so worried they arent even going for walks and still washing down their shopping etc to know you'd had it and not even noticed.

There must be so many people fearful of catching it who've had it and come out the other side without so much as a day off work!

Wouldn't matter to me, either way. Several dozen people worldwide are known to have contracted it twice. And goodness knows how many others had an asymptomatic case first time around, and only knew they had it the second.

Now, a few dozen cases worldwide means that you are almost certainly safe, but..."almost" is not "entirely."

@Mamanty - are you that cautious in other areas of your life too? Never flying or going in a car or on a train as accidents have happened in the past, never having new foods just in case you are allergic etc. I dont mean to be sneery, but that is a very very low risk issue. Is it just this you aren't prepared to take a risk on your health at all, or just this way of potentially dying?

To put it another way, as the vaccine is only a 90% effective, you've got a higher chance of catching covid after having the vaccine than you have of catching covid twice.

Is this your life forever then? Or is there a level of risk you'll accept?

Sadly an antibody test will only tell us if we recently had it. Or if we've had it a while back and subsequently came into contact recently enough to have mounted a successful immune response.