Close contact where you didn’t contract Covid?

[Iris237]

Does anyone have stories where you had contact with a covid+ person and then didn’t go on to get covid yourself? A relative has tested positive and although we were distanced, we did not have masks and I am trying to keep my anxiety from spiraling out of control.

Bil tested positive. Me and DH were in close contact with him. We didn't test positive.

Yes. Beautician that did my facial and and eyebrow wax had just unknowingly contracted it from a previous client. Tested positive a few days later and I tested negative.

Yes my 16 year old got it just before Christmas. I bring her to school every day, kissed her forehe d to see if she had a temp when she started to feel ill and didn’t get it. Neither did my dh and ds. The dad who gave both her and her friend ( who gave it to dd) a lift home also escaped unscathed. It’s Unfathomable.

My friend had sex with her husband 2 days before her symptoms and test and slept next to him every night after and he never got it! Nor did any of her household

My dd (14) had it recently. (confirmed positive test) She spent loads of time around the whole household as it was over Christmas and we were all together playing games, eating Christmas Dinner, watching films etc... She also spent quite a bit of time lying in my bed reading next to me, and on one occasion sat on the sofa snuggled next to me with her head on my shoulder for a couple of hours watching a film. No one else in our house developed any symptoms. I do lateral flow testing for work and my tests have remained negative.

I lived with two positive cases and three of us didn't get it! They were around the house ect as well.

So what do you guys think is happening? False positive test results? Or that it isn't be really as contagious as they would have us believe?

My wife caught it back in November, we still lived together, couldnt distance in our small house, me and our dd never caught it

But she is at work today, in itu, and they have confirmed some of the patients have the knew strain of the virus!

One of them is diabetic and died this morning at the age of 45 no other health conditions and pretty fit, im diabetic aswell so im scared shitless at the moment!

Although everyone who works in itu is being mads to have a shower at the end of each shift!

Thanks everyone, don’t have a lot to say but I do appreciate the anecdotes.

My husband and daughter had it and no one else in the household did. My colleague had it last year too. We work in close proximity and had worked together the day before she fell unwell. I didn't get it then either.

DH has tested positive, I’ve tested negative and still feel absolutely fine... but still isolating as I’ve had contact but if I’ve not got it already I don’t think I will now

A colleague tested positive. She was mixing with her family as normal until her positive result and no one else caught it. This included a vulnerable parent!
A family member tested positive and her partner hasn’t shown any symptoms yet. Both their isolation periods ends tomorrow.

Yes, my Mums boyfriend had it, she isn't particularly careful but has managed to not get it from him and they live together. 2 friends also saw him but they didn't catch it either

My girls dad was hugging and kissing them and as far as know they didn't catch it off him. I was sat near him for a few mins inside and also didn't catch it. This was pre the new variant though.

Of the 4 close friends and colleagues who’ve had it only 1 has passed it on to others in their household (unless they’ve been asymptotic). Yet 2 caught it at work and 2 don’t know where they got it from.

@CranberriesChoccyAgain

I started a thread just today about my concerns re the accuracy of the tests. I don't have much confidence in them. How prevalent are false positives? Up to 20% according to some sources.

False negatives will be more common, as they depend on sampling and viral load. That would better explain those who "didn't catch it" than false positives. It depends on when the test was done and those who didn't show symptoms could have caught it before the positive person and even given it to them, although asymptomatic transmission seems to be low.

Do you have the sources for the 20%?

My 4 year old DD tested positive mid December. Both me and my husband have tested twice since - both negative. I even sniffed one of her tissues accidentally without thinking (she asked if olbas oil was on it).

@CranberriesChoccyAgain

So what do you guys think is happening? False positive test results? Or that it isn't be really as contagious as they would have us believe?

I don't think dd was a false positive. She tested positive on both lateral flow and PCR test. She totally lost her sense of smell which still hasn't returned. Must admit I am puzzled how none of the rest of us got it though, unless some had it asymptomatically, but then my lateral flows were all negative (which I accept may be wrong) so who knows!

www.expressandstar.com/news/health/coronavirus-covid19/2020/10/14/health-chiefs-concern-over-accuracy-of-covid-tests/

"Swab tests are only thought to be 70 per cent accurate and it is understood there have been cases of possible 'false negatives' across the region."

Possible false results either way I would think.

In that article, the main concern are the false negatives. How you concluded from there that there's a high rate of false positives is mind boggling.

So in 3 days I just happened to clear my body of a highly infectious and deadly virus and also just happened to not develop antibodies? What a miracle!

In our house, dh tested positive (cough, no temp, fatigue), I tested negative(no cough, red sore eyes, fatigue), dd's no symptoms so no test. No distancing between the 4 of us in same household. I felt sure I had it as felt very different to a normal bug, so wonder if it was a false negative..

For a more accurate picture about the possibility of false positives:

"The current rate of operational false-positive swab tests in the UK is unknown; preliminary estimates show it could be somewhere between 0·8% and 4·0%."

www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(20)30453-7/fulltext

But the data still shows that false negatives are more likely to explain "non-transmission", particularly if those in close contact never developed classic symptoms. It could be as much as diarrhea only.

One reference from the Lancet article above: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/895843/S0519_Impact_of_false_positives_and_negatives.pdf - can't see any data regarding actual false positive rates.
The other "reference" from the Lancet comment is a pre-print, not peer reviewed, from last May (earlyish pandemic) and from the US. Not sure it applies to current UK tests.

And, yes, you might not have detectable viral RNA down your throat 3 days after your initial test. Particularly if your symptoms didn't suggest respiratory covid.
Antibody tests are less reliable than the rt-PCR tests, and it depends on which antibodies were tested. IgG show up later. About 7 days after symptom onset.
An antigen test might have been useful to clarify what happened.

Not saying that your case wasn't a false positive for sure. They are possible.
Just that a false negative is always more likely than a false positive.

My sister slept in the same bed as her boyfriend till she got a positive test because she thought she had a cold. He was tested & came back negative.

If we look at Fig. 1 in this article, we can see that for a number of symptomatic patients, even several days after onset of symptoms, IgA and IgM are negative (undetectable even), and IgG only turns positive for all sometime after day 14.

This is a typical scenario for serology done for any disease.

So, day 3 after a positive rt-PCR test it is perfectly possible to have a negative serology test, even if done to all Ig types.

www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(20)32199-8/fulltext