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!

Never tested, EVER

Don’t understand how your friend knows which parents are getting a PCR? I’ve got my DC a couple before and they’ve come back negative. I wasn’t instructed to notify the school.

DDs school had the kids back in masks from half term, and asks for regular twice weekly tests, but still is ripping through the school.

Lots of cases in DDs class so she did an extra test 1 day after the regular one even though she was symptom free & was positive, PCR confirmed it.

We did daily LFTs while she was isolating and the LFT was back to negative after 4 days, so if she were testing only once a week it would never have been picked up.

I'm not doing lateral flow tests anymore I don't see the point. I'll do a PCR if I have to but it's only a tick box exercise to enable me to have the evidence I need to send them to school.

Please sign this if you find testing children difficult, and think there should be a better option available
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/598824?fbclid=IwAR1RVQgLwMn0fajsolp2T0qiARzoeO9mWDdNrJaF7hJkbUcXt5ilAPHMZVc

@OhDear2200

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?

That’s only if they are close contacts.

If they test because of symptoms then no, they cannot go back to school until they have a negative PCR.

@OhDear2200

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?

Yes it is quite a hard ship when you don’t get paid leave because you’re needing to isolate for the millionth time this year.

Luckily we've only had 1 cough so far but because I don't drive he ended up missing 4 days pf school waiting for the postal results.

When me and ds3 had coving a few months ago neither of us had a cough though. Both started with a really bad headache, I now dread headaches and coughs !

Do regular lateral flows and PCR if poorly, high temperature, complaining of feeling unwell. All negative so far, wondering how much longer we can escape.

We have been PCR testing each time yes. We all have the same cough which has lingered for over three weeks now for my children, all negative results though.
Their school are religiously sending people home for coughs as covid is rife in school to the point where they were struggling to get supply teachers before half term

Thanks all. Thankfully dd's result come back within 14 hours through the night and it's negative 💕

@Cacee3029

Thanks all. Thankfully dd's result come back within 14 hours through the night and it's negative 💕

Horray! Nice and quick.

To the PP who've said absolutely you must, I'd be interested to know what age their DC are. DD's nursery require a negative PCR every time they get one of the three Covid symptoms (so every new continuous cough and every time they get a temperature). As we are in the first few months of nursery...this is a lot. It is almost impossible to effectively swab a wriggly one year old so I'm sure the false negative rate in this age group is sky high - so we're essentially causing the babies pain just to tick a box. Wales advise against Covid testing for the under fives for exactly this reason (including with symptoms, unless recommended by a doctor) and I think they've absolutely got it right. Older kids probably a slightly different story but it's not clear that the costs and benefits of this test are being weighed up in the official guidance, as they are for any other test provided by the NHS

My two are resting twice a week, plus daily during any coughs - they've both had two coughs already this term!

yes.

testing requirements are even stricter where I am (in forrin). you are supposed to stay at home with any cold symptom and test.

however my dc are in secondary school so a bit more robust by now. plis they wear mask inside school buildings. we had to test them twice each since sept.

I am testing for every new cough as per government guidance. This means that DS is now in double figures for PCR tests, but nursery rightly require a negative test for attendance if children have any covid symptoms, plus I don't want to transmit covid to anyone else if any of us do turn out to have it!

We have been testing our DD for each cough/Covid symptom illness. I think we’ve done 5 PCR tests since August. All negative.

Our nursery aren’t enforcing a policy of testing before return though I think that’s what is written down. I’ve mainly done it because I want to carry on with life being confident that I’m not spreading Covid.

@Etherealhedgehog

To the PP who've said absolutely you must, I'd be interested to know what age their DC are. DD's nursery require a negative PCR every time they get one of the three Covid symptoms (so every new continuous cough and every time they get a temperature). As we are in the first few months of nursery...this is a lot. It is almost impossible to effectively swab a wriggly one year old so I'm sure the false negative rate in this age group is sky high - so we're essentially causing the babies pain just to tick a box. Wales advise against Covid testing for the under fives for exactly this reason (including with symptoms, unless recommended by a doctor) and I think they've absolutely got it right. Older kids probably a slightly different story but it's not clear that the costs and benefits of this test are being weighed up in the official guidance, as they are for any other test provided by the NHS

I'm not that poster but I'll add my experience...

My DS probably was about 1.5 years old when he had his first test and he's now 3... We're lucky as he always lets us get on with it with minimal fuss (the other day he saw the swab and said "oh, Mummy, you need my nose now" and tilted his head back to let me swab him)!

So testing can be done properly with very young children... but I appreciate that my situation is possibly the exception and not the norm!

...on balance, I think Wales has probably got it right on this one. Despite my own circumstances, I agree that it must be difficult to effectively test under fives (and many over fives)!

I wish they bloody would. 1/3 of our children are currently absent from school for Covid related reasons, some year groups have 50% occupancy. 6th member of staff went down yesterday.

We are because kids not allowed in school with a new couch. So we are using lateral flows regularly for no symptoms or extra LFT when kids just have a cold.
As soon as anyone has a cough or temperature or loss of taste we do a PCR. Just following the schools’ policy here. If a child coughs in class they are taken to the isolation room and parents called to pick up to do a PCR. I would hope they make some exception for asthmatic children though…

I am for a new cough or temperature.

My experience of testing a toddler is not great, we’ve had nosebleeds and everything. It’s a nightmare and I can’t believe it’s nearly two years in and we still don’t have a better method of testing a young child who doesn’t understand what you’re doing or why. I actually agree we should not be testing under 5’s. Realistically if they have it a parent/guardian would have it too so perhaps test those instead. We’ve had several colds this year (all tested) and every time my DD has had one, Ive had one too.

To add. I was worried about initially swabbing my 2 year old. But now she's had 4 swabs and she didn't get on with the narrower lft recently but other than that, very complient.

@Greytminds my point is that unless you're one of the lucky ones with a very compliant child (I'm sure they exist but it's luck of the draw) you can't carry on in confidence that you're not spreading COVID. Part of the rationale for the Welsh decision was the high false negative rate in this age group.

No