Are parents testing for every cough?!

[Cacee3029]

Dd has had 4 coughs since September. All pcr tested and all negative. Currently waiting on pcr results for current cough.

Anyway, I spoke to a friend who works in a school, she said a lot of kids are coughing and honesty no one seems to be testing for a cough anymore unless it's particularly bothersome or they are obviously poorly?!

Dd has had a snotty nose, her school allows them in with snotty noses but now is left with a cough. Likely is just a cold but you just don't know surely? So I've done a pcr test.

I have noticed lately that lot of kids are coughing - I get that, my kids cough. Ds is mildly asthmatic and often coughs randomly at this time of year particularly, Dd has allergies that make her cough too. But I've heard some kids with real hacking coughs. Obviously I have no idea who's had a test and who hasn't. Some may just do lft tests. I totally get that not everyone cough is covid - I mean my own Dd has had 3 negative pcr covid tests since September with a cough! Coughs are totally normal.

But parents, are you testing your children for coughs? If it's appearing like a cold? But covid can be like a cold too for many!

Dd's current cough is a little bothersome at night but not too bad, she only coughed once last night, quite bad first thing then barely coughs at all during the day apart from an odd throat clearing but comes back again in the evening. She's had far worse coughs before.

Are we going to get to a point where we all don't panic about a cough?!

Feeling like it's going to be a long long winter!

I've even read that coughing isn't even the main sign for kids but it's obviously something that transmit it between kids easily!

Yes, we are. DC are at a private nursery and I can't afford for them to be turned away. The problem we've got is a difference of opinion between nursery and us as to when a cough is new or the ebbing and flowing of DCs' never ending coughs. So I'm just doing regular PCRs. Even if I don't personally think it's a new cough, nursery are telling me when they think it is so I'm ticking the box for new symptoms and sending off for tests.
It's not great but I don't know what else to do.

I would test if my children had a cough. But it would be very unusual for them or me to have one, I can’t remember the last time any of us had a cough - certainly none of us have had one since covid, as I’d have been hyper alert to it.

Cough variant asthma here and I'm testing her regularly especially if there is any change at all, but she's been coughing consistently since September. Apart from once when she was a close contact of 3 positives I haven't informed school or kept her off, so school won't be aware she's testing

@Kyliealwayshadthebestdisco

It’s not a fine judgement at all. The rules on when to test are crystal clear and have remained unchanged since the beginning of the pandemic. Your only decision is whether you are going to do the right thing or not. And the more people who don’t bother the longer we are all stuck with stubbornly high numbers and all the crap that goes along with it. Please for the love of God test for a cough. I have had several who later very much regretted not testing when it became very clinically relevant and important to know if they had recently had COVID or not but it was too late.

Agree but at the same time we only have to 'officially' test for one of the three but many people have tested positive with sore throats, tummy issues, snotty noses, sinus pain etc. Ds had a sore throat recently but school were happy for him to be in and encouraged it but could it have been covid? I don't know! Tbf it wasn't bad. Just a little niggly throat! Was fine after a day or two!

@PiesNotGuys

I would test if my children had a cough. But it would be very unusual for them or me to have one, I can’t remember the last time any of us had a cough - certainly none of us have had one since covid, as I’d have been hyper alert to it.

It's generally unusual for Dd to cough so much too so this is why I'm baffled. She's not usually a cougher apart from an odd tickle from her allergies. She barely got a sniffle last winter. No time where I would have even considered a test. she does get allergies but I know that her allergies are generally a morning thing and gone by 9am - if it lasts longer I know it could be a virus!

We don’t test for coughs.

My son’s school say that for coughs alone they don’t require a PCR to be done to allow the child into school, and they would only request a PCR be done if the child had a cough and a temperature.

@Kyliealwayshadthebestdisco

Please please do test your kids with PCR for a cough. All coughs can be COVID, of course not all are but there is really no way to tell especially in children without testing. What is a cough for your child could be very serious for someone more at risk if it gets passed on.

Totally understand it’s a pain at this point especially in winter but let me reassure you that you are the one being responsible here, don’t let yourself be influenced by other less responsible parents (of which there are unfortunately plenty) - and don’t listen to any nonsense about tests being needed for others more in need or any such absolute rubbish that people like to tell themselves to ease their own conscience about not doing the right thing. A cough is a COVID symptom until proven otherwise and the government guidelines on testing for cough remain unchanged.

I am a doctor and the amount of people who just don’t bother is absolutely shocking and so so selfish - I would never have dreamed people would be so selfish about this pre pandemic - they then put me, other staff and patients (including vulnerable and elderly patients, those with HIV or cancer on chemotherapy etc.) at risk when they get worse and need to be seen before a test can be done and returned. Not to mention school staff and other kids etc. People are still dying every single day of COVID. The same people would be the first to complain if their elderly mother caught COVID in our waiting room from the coughing child next to them and became seriously ill or died. I would just encourage everyone to give some serious thought to how they would feel if this was someone else’s child and not your own happily running around untested and potentially spreading COVID everywhere.

Of course they might still need seeing anyway regardless of COVID or not, and the tests aren’t 100 percent but if we know the test is positive or negative, it allows us to deal with these things in a safer way and direct to the right services. Just test your children (and yourselves) for cough or a temperature or loss of taste/smell. Does it have to be all 3 and no the lateral flow test won’t do instead - way too many false negatives.

And thank you for taking it seriously.

If you are a doctor, you'll have a better salary, more security and higher value on the labour market than some of the people you're decrying here for selfishness. It's an unfortunate fact that some parents are in sufficiently precarious positions that doing what you ask here would threaten their livelihoods.

Not any more. Unless he seems unwell. DS has asthma and has been for around a dozen tests this year. Enough is enough.

Sorry what I should say also is that for four years he has coughed continuously every winter, from his first cold of the season until the weather warms up. I cannot test him continuously, so unless he has a temp/ a very clearly “Worse” cough, or other symptoms, I won’t PCR test.

I do LFT him most weeks at least once though.

He’s 5.

For persistent coughs I am but my ds school is strict and will send children home until they’ve had a negative pcr so to be honest as soon as he gets a cough/cold I’ll get him tested so he misses the least school as possible. It’s miserable and he doesn’t like it but it’s necessary.

I think we are the only peoples still sticking to only testing if there's a fever or new persistent cough, defined as coughing continuously for more than an hour. Or the sense of smell thing.

All of DDs coughs have been related to colds, and have not been coughing non stop, so no, we have not had her tested for any coughs.

At my kids school in London all her friends have coughs and zero of their parents have tested them to my knowledge. The school doesn’t seem to care and just wants attendance. I have given up worrying about it. My kid has had either one never ending cough since September or a succession of different ones. We did PCR for the first two waves of symptoms and school seemed quite amazed and then I kind of gave up and just do lateral flows when I can or if we’re doing anything out of the ordinary. All negative but 🤷🏼‍♀️

@DontWantTheRivalry

We don’t test for coughs.

My son’s school say that for coughs alone they don’t require a PCR to be done to allow the child into school, and they would only request a PCR be done if the child had a cough and a temperature.

That's really surprising - are you in the UK? It surely goes against guidelines to tell parents this if so? We're testing for any covid symptoms and if we've been in close contact. We're all sick of the test centre but it feels like the right thing to do. There are certainly plenty of tests in our area. One of my kids had a positive lft this morning and when we booked the pcr there were 400 + appts at our nearest centre and over 1000 at the next nearest.

Yea I am, also cough related asthma.

It’s not a hardship for us though, only a 15 minutes journey and there are late appointments. So just fit it around work.

I would hate to think of my child giving covid to their lovely teacher.

No, not testing here.

No. My toddler is terrified by the nasal swabs and becomes so distressed that she vomits. And I would have to take unpaid leave to look after her isolating.

People not testing for coughs, you have no way of knowing it's not Covid without a test. Just get them tested FGS!

Every single time yes :( nursery insists.

Under the definition of 3 coughs per day we've not had any "new" continuous coughs since September although DD probably now could develop a new cough as she's been clear for a couple of days. DS has not had a day without coughing since term started...

So we've tested for temperatures and if the cough gets worse after getting better... Which has been 4 times this year...

No, I won’t get them tested. It’s just not happening.

I test if there seems to be a new cold in the house, but not if it's the same one going around. But we have a fair number of allergies in the house too, so I don't tend to test just for cough. More combined with other symptoms.

I think a lot of people don't, especially if they can't take time off.

I don't think it will be long before they are going to have to stop all this testing though. It's not sustainable long term.

DD had a mild cold last wednesday. Started coughing slightly ovenight and was coughin a bit in the morning (mainly the clear chest I think). I kept her off and got her tested, and was annoyed with myself because the cough had stopped by 10am and she was fine by noon. ButI’d already informed schoom that she had been coughing so had to wait for the test results. She came back as positive for covid. Tested negative on 4 LFTs too.

Am very glad I had tested. 3 of her class mates subequently came down with it. Would have been a lot worse if I had just ignored the cough.

Wow the number of people not testing is shocking! Is it really that much of a hardship? You know school kids don’t have to isolate even if you’ve done a PCR? Just test and send them to school?

@DramaLlllama hope she's okay now! 💕 has anyone else in the house caught it if you won't mind me asking?

Yes & no. I’m another one with a child with asthma. She coughs ALL the time. If she was a coughing fit in the night, which she does ALL the time, no I don’t. Because it’s what she’s done her whole life. Mega fit at night, needs inhaler, wakes up with zero cough. No coughing in the day. It’s not covid. It’s asthma.

If she has a definite new cough, I PCR. Occasionally, she has a break & a couple weeks cough free. But when she’s coughing for weeks & weeks (& I’m not exaggerating) on end, I don't re-test her. It’s not a new cough. It’s her asthma. If I’m in two minds occasionally, I lateral flow.

My DD is probably one of the kids people see ‘coughing all the time’. That’ll be her every year for the rest of her school life I imagine 🙈