To ask if you think yourself or your family had covid before it was a thing.

[Starry4120]

I’ve heard so many reports that people were very ill before covid was seen as a major issue here in the U.K.

Obviously there is no way to know. Even with an antibody test you may not have long lasting antibodies and we don’t know how long we are in immune. So it really doesn’t make a difference if we have or not. We still need to act like we haven’t of course.

Back last January, nearly a year ago. Both dc were extremely poorly suddenly. Both had high fevers. As a parent I’ve never seen them as ill, both were very fatigued. It started with Dd, then a few days later DS. They did not have a cough whilst they had a fever but they had a cough shortly after the fever subsided. Dd coughed non stop for a week, she just couldn’t stop and it would make her vomit it was that bad. Doctors had no answer. Even said it could have been scarlet fever with the rash 🤷‍♀️

Many children in DD’s class had similar. Many of the teachers did too. I remember a teacher saying many of them had been off with a bad cough/chest they couldn’t shift fully for weeks.

A child in DS’s class travelled to China for a holiday (if I can remember rightly) not long before Christmas, came back and went off ill herself shortly after. Makes you wonder. Of course it could be a complete coincidence!

The only thing that makes me think they did
Not have covid is that both myself and partner did not get ill despite having a lot of close contact with dc (as all parents do). Saying that I was very poorly Christmas 2019!

It really makes no difference but wondering what others views are on this matter?

I suspect it was circulating before it became big news. However, no one has any way of knowing whether they had it or something else.

@BrickFireplace absolutely. I am just thinking if it was covid dc had I hope they don’t catch it again. They were very poorly 😭

I had something nasty and scary end Feb/early March, it was certainly some form of virus and will never know, there are of course always different viruses going round and some effect people worse than others, but the timing and that my dc and us were the only few in their class and social circle that hadn’t been skiing in the weeks before, I’m not fully convinced it wasn’t covid and neither is my one other friend that hadn’t been skiing but caught whatever it was from close contact with me. Either way it was horrible and I was scared but I recovered from whatever it was - would be nice to know though ha!!!

Yeah I'm convinced I had it but I can't prove it.

DS2 and I were very ill in February. If we had the same now I would be assuming a positive test would be the outcome.

Yup very certain here, only a month early but we will never have that theory proved. However wasnt there evidence found in France and Italy that it had been there far earlier than initially claimed?

I’m certain I had it in April - so it was a thing but I didn’t have a test - GP I spoke to put it down as such and gave me the prescriptions they were giving at the time.

Might have it again now though - waiting on a test- but not nearly as ill as I was in April. Symptoms are extreme fatigue / weakness and changed sense of taste/ smell.

A large number of my colleagues thought they’d had it early on, but not a single one tested positive for antibodies so I’m pretty sceptical really

I’m not sure - it’s possible. The week before the March lock down I had a terrible cough for a week and was generally unwell. I was ok to wfh but felt pretty ropey. So that could’ve been covid but equally I’ve had coughs before obviously so I suppose I’ll never know.

I definitely think I had it in December last year. I went on a weekend away and had to make myself constant hot drinks and wear a scarf around the cottage as I was so ill and my throat and cough were so awful. I’m one of those annoying people who never get ill but it wiped me out for a few days and the cough stuck around for weeks - I remember going for a run with dh and being completely breathless and having to stop on the side of the road as I still wasn’t over it some weeks later. It went all round my office too, more than one person said they didn’t get out of bed on Xmas day etc.

DD was really ill with something that manifested with all the classic covid symptoms starting on 22 February. I’m pretty sure it was covid, but can’t prove it.

Pretty certain I had it mid march.
Wanted the antibody test at one point but it seems a waste of time now because you could have had it and been asymptomatic at any point since then with no way of knowing.
No one believed me at the time but half of my office had been off with the same covid identical symptoms between January and March.
Coincidentally non of those people myself included have had any covid diagnosis since then.

Both my children were ill in December 2019 (I nearly said last year ). DS was first with breathing difficulties and he was so ill; two ish weeks later DD had a cough that was making her vomit it was so bad and was in hospital with chest pains which showed an infection on an X-ray. Then after I started with the worse cough I've ever had.

DD then about 13 months was hospitalised last January with an astronomical temperature and cough that resulted in breathing difficulties. The ward she was admitted to was full, and the consultant commented that there was ‘something seriously nasty going around these last couple of weeks’.

Just before February half term a child in my class’ dad, who works away all week in Asia, came down with nasty flu and couldn’t come in for a planned talk (about Asia, incidentally!). The boy I teach swiftly followed, then lots of other children. One week I was averaging 15/32 children present each day. Many had over a week off. Happened in a few other local schools and we joked that we’d avoided a big hit of noro this year so clearly this was our replacement.

Coincidentally - or not, I don’t know - our school didn’t have any cases at all until November and December when the second wave battered us (South East).

It’s all speculation, but food for thought.

A friend of ours is/was certain she had it in March after a flight.

She’s just come off a ventilator after actually catching it in December.

🤷‍♀️

I was really ill at the start of March, it came on quite suddenly and had a 3 month old baby so hadn't really been anywhere. Had zero energy, temperature, my whole body ached, my head was banging, a really bad cough started that lasted weeks afterwards, I felt absolutely dreadful. I didn't really connect the two until a month or so later when the cases started soaring, do still wonder if that's what it was, DP had a milder version a couple of weeks after me

There was a very nasty virus with cough and fever circulating in February. I was ill as was DS, his preschool friend and his friend's parents. Thought it could have been covid but both the friend's parents had negative antibody tests (health care workers) and I had actual Covid in October - which had totally different symptoms to the February bug and was, in comparison, a complete walk in the park. I think a lot of people had MysteryWinterVirus and think it was Covid, but MWV just didn't make people seriously ill like covid can.

I was very ill at the start of March but I’ve had an antibody test (full hospital test with blood taken from a vein not a finger prick at home kit) and have no antibodies so it doesn’t really matter if I had it or not in March but I probably didn’t.

I was certain I had it in January. I was so poorly with whatever it was. But, I had the antibody test as I’m a nurse and it was negative. I know I could’ve had it and cleared the antibodies but I think I probably didn’t.

@Northernbeachbum

Yup very certain here, only a month early but we will never have that theory proved. However wasnt there evidence found in France and Italy that it had been there far earlier than initially claimed?

I've read the reports about traces found in blood samples back from the previous September in Italy.

Yes.

Early January last year I came down with a sudden fever, which is unheard of for me. A dry cough started hours later. I was unwell for 1-2 days and tried to go back to work - a couple of hours in I had to go home as I felt so nauseous I couldn’t leave the toilets.

A relative flew over from Shanghai on 23rd December, straight to mine for all of Christmas and new year....

Yes I think me and DD may have had it over Christmas 2019. dd got over it in a couple of days and it definitely affected me worse. At the time I described it as the worst cold I'd ever had. Bad cough, intermittent fever and upset stomach and extreme tiredness. It even messed up my periods for months after. They have discovered covid was present on the west coast of the US in December (where we live) so its a possibility. We'll never know for sure though . I dont think it was the flu because it didn't have the sudden onset and dd already had that earlier in the year and this was nothing like it. It also wouldn't be usual to have a fever with a cold

Yep I’m sure I had it in March. Didn’t think it was COVID at the time, cos I didn’t have a temperature or a cough. Felt a bit ill and tired for about 10 days. And then when I started to feel a bit better, taste and smell disappeared completely.

My friend came back from New York last December and was really unwell. She's convinced she had it.

I have a colleague who was ill before Xmas 2019. Since then she has had the symptoms of long Covid. It has taken her doctors months to identify this - and it was only really as more people spoke about it.

My 15 year old was wiped out last Christmas. High temp that was impossible to get down. Loss of taste and smell. We thought it was flu but in hindsight I don’t think so.