A what point can a kids temp be assumed just a bug again?

[ConeHat]

So I have dh and 4 kids at home

Dh works in a school and has twice weekly covid swobs. Vaccinated

I have had covid and I'm vaccinated

Ds17 never leaves the house at all, never. Not even the garden.

Ds13 hardly leaves the house and might go on the odd countryside walk.

Ds8 and dd6 both in school as vulnerable. But no covid cases in either school.

However ds13 has flu like symptoms suddenly. How he would caught covid is only possible via a silent outbreak in the youngest two schools. None of the parents are ill as both tiny schools and we all chat on WhatsApp.

So, I will get ds tested if he still feels like this later on BUT it's got my thinking, will we be tested every time the kids have a temp or a cough for years like this?

There is no chance of him returning to school without a test so it's safe this time, but will be doing this forever ( well not forever but even when most people are vaccinated later in the year).

Dd had a snooty nose a few weeks back, ds17 caught strep throat off her now ds13 is ill.

None of the household caught covid from me and I only showed classic symptoms worthy of a test around day 3-4. We was in close contact until my positive result so around day 5

Who knows, with over 700,000 tests being taken each day, I think testing for anything and everything will continue for a while yet, just to rule out covid first.

I really look forward to the time when we can put a symptom down to just that and not covid.

Probably for a while yes, to keep control of outbreaks and to have tests to check for new strains.

Once the pandemic is over in most of the world, no. It is a total pain but it's not forever.

At the moment it's quite simple...

Test if there is one of these symptoms...

• a high temperature
• a new, continuous cough
• you’ve lost your sense of smell or taste or it’s changed

Nobody mentioning COVID on a Whatsapp group is not a reason to ignore these symptoms.

Dh may have caught Covid and been asymptomatic? The lateral flow tests aren't as accurate as PCR, so might not have been picked up?

I would guess it will continue until enough people are vaccinated and rates are low enough that it no longer matters if someone has covid, just as it no longer matters if someone has flu or another viral illness.

In the meantime, your son has symptoms and so you get him tested. You don't wait to see if he's feeling better later. Book a test and you'll probably all be back out of isolation today or tomorrow.

He is booked in for a test as he still had a temperature after a dose of paracetamol.

When I had covid it didnt even start as classic symptoms. I had flu type symptoms with no temperature, no cough. I only booked a test when I lost my taste and smell around day 3. My cough was 4 days after that and i had one temp near 39 once, i went as soon as i took paracetamol.

It's easier for adults to know if its covid symptoms ( the three you can tested for) but kids often have a cough or temp. This is going to be a long, long year when they go back.

So are the PCR tests that inaccurate? They must have some merit of every member of school staff is taking them twice a week you would think even if they was 50:50 you would pick up a outbreak with twice weekly testing

@covetingthepreciousthings

Dh may have caught Covid and been asymptomatic? The lateral flow tests aren't as accurate as PCR, so might not have been picked up?

This.

LFT need a higher viral load than PCR.

Vaccinated people are expected to fight the infection and have lower viral load but they may shed some virus before their immune response.

It's just as likely to be another virus but that's a way it could have been caught.

Every single child under 11 that caught it in my year 6 bubble had no symptoms except a bit of tummy ache or a runny nose. One had a headache. As their teacher, I found out from The X in the register and afults in school getting sick. My TA, but not me, yet.
My 9 year old asthmatic nephew was hospitalised. He had mild asthma. It's left him with heart difficulties.

I would test for anything - the official covid symptoms mean fuck all in kids, as any teacher knows by now. There is a very good article on the Zoe app about it.

Covid is “just a bug” but hopefully once more people are vaccinated we will stop having to test for it and just treat it like all the other bugs.

@LockdownIsDragging tell that to my TA who was an otherwise healthy lady who was hospitalised and is still suffering and not back at work month on.

It'll be a while, but not forever.

Have you checked for meningitis? Could it be a bladder infection? If the other kids aren't ill and he hasn't met other people then alongsife the test (in case the little ones are asymptomatic) you should consider anything else, and meningitis would be urgent.

So are the PCR tests that inaccurate? They must have some merit of every member of school staff is taking them twice a week you would think even if they was 50:50 you would pick up a outbreak with twice weekly testing

Are they doing PCR tests not Lateral flow testing?

Well certainly not this winter - can't imagine them rescinding the three symptom test criteria until well in to next year tbh.

20% positive rate for kids being tested. So about 8 out of 10 will be just a bug. Better for tye whole community to get tested tho.

the official covid symptoms mean fuck all in kids, as any teacher knows by now

That too.

@RuleWithAWoodenFoot

20% positive rate for kids being tested. So about 8 out of 10 will be just a bug. Better for tye whole community to get tested tho.

Actually it's below 10% according to the surveillance graphs, even lower for younger kids as always. www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-flu-and-covid-19-surveillance-reports

[quote phlebasconsidered]@LockdownIsDragging tell that to my TA who was an otherwise healthy lady who was hospitalised and is still suffering and not back at work month on.[/quote]
Any ‘bug’ that causes a really high temperature isn’t going to be a walk in the park. We just never previously felt like we had the plague.