Are people still getting non-COVID viruses?

[Frazzledstar1]

Been feeling a bit unwell with a scratchy throat so been doing LF tests for 5 days in a row now, all negative so far. Cough has turned wet/chesty (little bit of phlegm coming up - sorry tmi) and now I have a slightly raised temperature. Is it possible that I’ve caught a regular old cold virus, or should I be waiting for the positive LF to appear?

About 1 month ago I was feeling crappy with a raised fever and I’d travelled abroad so had received fit to fly tests and day 2 tests etc and all negative. So I’m hopeful this is just a cold. Can anyone offer me some positive vibes? I have a Christmas trip planned and I’d hate to miss it

I was loaded with cold the other week, no temp,no loss of taste or smell.
Negative lft's and pcr, had to do those for work.

yes! My eldest daughter got a horrible cold last week and was pinged by the app too. So I thought oh no - here we go. But after 3 negative lateral flows and 2 negative PCRs all seems fine. It lasted about 4-5 days - 2 of which were bed bound and now just has a residual cough.

I have a crappy cold. Cough, temp, dizziness pcr and multiple lft all negative.

Yep, I had a really bad cold a couple of weeks ago. Constant coughing, temperature and a sore throat. The covid PCR test came back negative.

Yes we seem to have a new one every week! Mostly colds, tonsillitis, ear infections we are on week 5 now of a different cold/bug. Think everyone's immune systems are a little low after lock downs

Ah no sorry to hear so many of you have been poorly/poorly family members!

Yes, I’ve had what sounds like the same as you OP - hoarse voice, turning to chesty cough, and all tests are negative inc PCR. Still staying in a lot though as the cough sounds like it comes from the depths of hell, especially in the morning.

@Angelton

You shouldn’t be using a LFT if you have symptoms, it won’t give you a correct result. You need a PCR.

I didn’t know this. Why wouldn’t it give you correct results?

@Staffy1 because they aren't as sensitive as PCRs, they're only 40-70% accurate. Possibly to do with the viral load.

They CAN give correct results but not always.

They're just 2 totally different type of tests looking for and picking up different things.
Lft as prevention and when no symptoms
PCR for symptoms

We saw my SIL last weekend who was at the tail end of a cold. My 2 year old had it earlier this week, and now DH and I have it (him milder than me).

SIL and I have done PCR tests and everyone has done lateral flows, and not a positive test between us. So that's 6+ negative tests by different people on presumably the same illness.

I know the tests aren't super accurate but I'd be surprised if all of those were false negatives, so at this point I do think we've just had a cold instead of covid.

At the beginning of November DS had covid with very minimal symptoms. At the same time DH had a horrible cold. He's had 2 PCRs and numerous lateral flow tests all negative and the cold is still lingering although nowhere near as bad. I had a cold and temp at the end of November but pcr and lfts were negative.

I’m in the middle of the worst cold virus I’ve had in years. It’s not flu and it’s not covid, but it’s bloody awful!

Sinuses painful, lots of green snot, awful cough so much my ribs are hurting, banging headache. It’s been nearly a week and I’m not much better.

Yeah had an awful cold a month ago and it's just returned, definitely not covid.

Yes other viruses also available. Both DS and I had a week off with awful cold and cough, both PCR negative. I don’t bother with LFTs with symptoms just go straight for PCR.

Yep DD1 currently has viral tonsillitis and DD2 has had a stream of colds since September, all PCR tested and all negative.

Yep! Chicken Pox has taken out about a quarter of the kids in nursery in the last week.
Feels refreshing to worry about something other than covid

I’ve lost track of the number of colds I’ve had since my DS started nursery. More than I’ve ever had in my life before and some have been really nasty. Had a very covid like thing a few weeks ago which may have been the super cold - coughed for weeks and my asthmatic mother was really ill with it. Think my immune system got very sluggish during the year off.

Lateral flow tests are still accurate for people who are symptomatic, eg see this Research: LFTs 95% accurate for symptomatic cases. The issue is that if you're symptomatic and if it's Covid, you are likely to be more infectious than an asymptomatic case & therefore m more as at stake. Hence the advice to get a PCR test. But if you're symptomatic and get multiple negative LFTs then that is highly reliable, and in the health research literature I've seen proposals that taking 2 LFTs in this case could be used as a substitute for a PCR test.
So yes, lots of non - Covid illness still around, and either a positive or negative LFT is still valuable in this case, but personally I'd want 2 negative LFTs to feel confident. The probability of 2 LFTs missing a true positive symptomatic case is roughly 5%x5% ie 0.25%.

To clarify, LFTs are most accurate in the stage when you are infectious with Covid, ie the first week post - symptoms. They tend not to pick up post - infectious cases where your body is just clearing out dead viral material. PCR tests pick up these plus post - infectious cases. The average person tests positive on PCR for 17 days but is only infectious for 5-7 days, and these days overlap quite well with the period when you'll test positive via LFT.

[https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanmic/article/PIIS2666-5247(20)30172-5/fulltext Research on infection dynamics by Cevik et al]] for those of you who like a reference.

Yes I've had repeated illnesses since August including tonsillitis twice. Always negative on tests.

You shouldn’t be using a LFT if you have symptoms, it won’t give you a correct result. You need a PCR.

I have permanent symptoms so does that mean I shouldn't be using an LFT? What am I supposed to do in that case? I have a permanent cough, blocked nose etc. I can't go for a PCR every time I cough a bit more as I'd spend all my time in isolation!

Exactly the same as Tigerwhocameforsupper.
have never had such a horrific cold. Incapacitated on sofa, no Christmas shopping or preparations done. Like a Zombie, so grim. Feeling sorry for myself 🥺

I've had plenty of non-Covid viruses this past two years. One in October was particularly brutal but not covid.