How sick are people really getting with Covid?

[MothExterminator]

I am not at all trying to be goady here. DC2 has Covid, we are on the last day of isolation.

DH and I, both double jabbed and boosted, negative PCR and no symptoms. DC1 and DC3, negative PCR and no symptoms. DC2 (family’s Covid case) had a cough and a runny nose, no temperature at any point but was Covid positive. Symptoms lasted for 2 days.

So far I have entertained 3 children at home for 9 days (all plans cancelled, replaced by TV and video games), looking at day 10 today and this is lighter than most colds and apparently not very transmissible (DC2 regularly comes to my bed in the night). Or maybe the rest of us has it earlier without symptoms?

What are other people’s experiences?

DD (10) too young for vaccination, headache for a couple of days and slept a lot, now fine.

DS (12) single vaccination, still testing negative on LFT’s.

DH (53) two jabs plus booster a month ago, slim and fit. Bad headache, exhausted but not too bad.

Me (46) two jabs plus booster 3 weeks ago, also slim and fit, not been able to get out of bed for two days now. Horrific headache, sore throat, chills, whole body aches, brain fog, sore throat and hacking cough. I’ve ordered a home PCR as not well enough to get to a test site with DH yesterday.

I dread to think how bad I’d be if I wasn’t max vaxxed.

IMO it must depend to some extent on genes.
We know of a late 70s man, very overweight, who caught it in hospital last year while in for major heart surgery - no symptoms at all.
This was in France, BTW.

And an elderly and very frail neighbour of ours, 80+, who also caught it in hospital in the U.K. after just one jab - he’d been admitted after a fall, and had to stay in hospital for a month, so as not to infect his wife. But also no symptoms at all.

At the same time, a much younger, very fit man we know was extremely ill with it. How do you explain that, unless it’s down to genes?

My son had it first, starting last weds with a headache and sore throat. Tested positive and on Thurs night I was very worried about him as he was in bed crying that his whole body hurt and I couldn't do anything to help him.
He hasn't felt that since and has had a slight cough but as of yesterday seems completely back to normal, his isolation ends midnight on Xmas day.

I tested positive on Sunday, was doing lateral flows and on Sunday i had quite a headache and a very sore back.
On the whole I'm not too bad and it seems worse at night where I've woken up with aches.
My only symptoms have been a sore back and headache so I'm wondering if I'm asymptomatic and the backache is a normal backache.

I'm not vaccinated so am prepared to get worse but at the moment it doesn't feel like it will happen. It does seem like much ado about nothing at the moment however I know this isn't the case for everyone.

@rrhuth

Every person is different. The stats are very clear - most people are fine, some people have a very nasty bout that can be managed at home but causes internal damage of varying lengths, a small percentage are hospitalised and an even smaller percentage will die. These bsics have never changed although the vaccines have hugely improved the percentages.

It is important that you isolated to protect those who would get very seriously ill or die.

If you spread it into hopsitals, the consequences will be horrendous. If we run out of nurses/doctors due to isolating, the consequences will be horrendous.

I am glad you had mild symptoms, and thank you for isolating.

Very well said

[quote rrhuth]@loveisagirlnameddaisy One more time - the issue is the dsmall percentage of serious cases.

Why will you not discuss properly the small percentage of serious cases and the impact on the country? Maybe you could explain how the country works if there is an extremely damaged healthcare system for other illnesses, even for a short period?

If you are still comparing covid to flu after two years of it being clearly very different then [/quote]
Not comparing to flu in terms of how the virus behaves, but am using as a comparator of something which kills people every year, is a virus, is transmissible and affects the vulnerable disproportionately.

I didn’t get my booster in time and I have it. I feel very unwell, worse than my kidney infection that required IV antibiotics. I’m not looking for sympathy but just want to point out that it can be really unpleasant.

Old, vulnerable and morbidly obese are more likely to be very ill. Everyone else will be fine. But let's all panic madly anyway.

My 2 year old DS had it and wasn't well with it. Had a temp of 38/39 for 14 days before we could leave the house. Didn’t eat, hardly drank, was being sick and and had upset stomach. Also had the cough, snotty nose and his eyes looked like conjunctivitis . Barely moved off the sofa and his whole face was puffy, lips were on and off blue and looked so poorly. I was really quite worried about him and constantly on the phone to the doctors as his temperature was so hard to keep down. I was having to wake him through the night to have more calpol or it was going above 39.

None of the rest of us caught it and I had it before and didn’t feel great but wasn't that different to a cold. It surprised me how ill he was from covid.
I was convinced it had progressed into sepsis as covid was nothing like that when I had it…. But doctors didn’t agree with my panicked diagnosis and he did get better so they were obviously better doctors than me and google!

I think genes play a huge part in the severity and it’s just not understood yet.

@loveisagirlnameddaisy

It appears you so not want to discuss covid as it is in the UK currently. You only want to talk about the mild cases and what we might do at some point 'in the future'.

This is why I do use the term covid denial - a reluctance to talk about the reality of covid now. The issue is the small percentage who end up in hospital in the next six-eight weeks.

We can't discuss the future yet because we don't know what the next variant will be, the next vaccine improvement or the next anti-viral treatment.

It depends. Some people have mild , head cold like symptoms and others die within 10 days. Does that help ?.

My son, DH and I all had covid in the summer (assume delta variant). My son (aged 9 so not vaccinated) got it first. He was quite I'll - temperature for approx 48 hrs and lethargic - but I think he's been more unwell with other viruses when younger. Me and DH (both double jabbed at the time) were ill in bed for about a day at most and then a lot better. We both lost sense of taste & smell for about a fortnight but other than that we weren't affected after a day or so. I've had 2 colds this December - both of which I though was covid again at first (neg PCRs) and they have made me feel more unwell than covid in the summer. My daughter didn't have any symptoms when we had covid in the summer, but we don't know if she had it as her PCR test never came back!

I know a few people with omricon now - double jabbed say it's like a cold but quite nasty at first, one person who got it was triple jabbed and not got any symptoms

[quote rrhuth]@loveisagirlnameddaisy

It appears you so not want to discuss covid as it is in the UK currently. You only want to talk about the mild cases and what we might do at some point 'in the future'.

This is why I do use the term covid denial - a reluctance to talk about the reality of covid now. The issue is the small percentage who end up in hospital in the next six-eight weeks.

We can't discuss the future yet because we don't know what the next variant will be, the next vaccine improvement or the next anti-viral treatment.[/quote]
That's a good point, and yes, of course now is what's important. I guess I am interested in what the future holds and how governments will respond as each variant grows more mild which is what usually happens with a virus.

I have a hunch that Omicron will not result in mass hospitalisations and deaths. It would be ideal if there were more reliable data from S Africa who are a few weeks ahead of us, but I understand they don't collect data on which variant a patient had when they died.

@loveisagirlnameddaisy I guess I am interested in what the future holds and how governments will respond as each variant grows more mild which is what usually happens with a virus.

we all hope so for sure. If that happens I will be very pleased of course.

I think we are all struggling with the uncertainty. Anyway, after a clash of swords have a - we will both know when we know!

My 75 year old Dad pre vaccines had basically a bad flu. I have a triple jabbed 30 year old friend (with some other health issues) on a ventilator at the moment.

[quote rrhuth]**@loveisagirlnameddaisy* I guess I am interested in what the future holds and how governments will respond as each variant grows more mild which is what usually happens with a virus.*

we all hope so for sure. If that happens I will be very pleased of course.

I think we are all struggling with the uncertainty. Anyway, after a clash of swords have a - we will both know when we know![/quote]

DH got it last year pre vaccine and had flu like symptoms which disappeared after day 3. Took a year for taste to come back. No one else in house caught it.

DS who is 5 had it 3 weeks ago, cough only which turned to a bark and we just knew he had it. He had the bark like cough for a week - no other symptoms. Again, myself and DD still have not had it which is just weird.
I think it depends on the person etc.

Many of my colleagues (school) have had it. The majority were quite unwell, ie spent their ten days isolation sick in bed, very fatigued for a few weeks after. Similar to flu. I only know one colleague who had it asymptomatically and we are all pretty good at testing regularly.

DC(11) had it in the summer and just had a sore throat for a couple of days. DH had it at the same time, shortly after he was vaccinated, and felt flu-like for a couple of days then was fine. The people I know who were worst hit had it pre-vaccine. One was breathless for months and eventually had a scan which showed a partially collapsed lung. The other had pneumonia and ended up in hospital. Friend of DH's was hospitalised with it just last week. He was vaccinated but hadn't yet had his booster. All in their 40s, no other health issues. It seems very variable by person and maybe by how recently they had the vaccine?

Most of the kids at my school who've had it (primary-aged) just had mild cold-like symptoms although many also lost sense of taste or smell. I know of just one child who was very poorly indeed and ended up in hospital twice. She didn't have any underlying health issues so nobody knows why it hit her so badly.

I don't know anyone who's definitely had Omicron, which is hopefully going to turn out to be milder.

Family member in their 30s who never gets sick, no underlying health issues and average weight has been in hospital, unable to breathe without assistance.

People can get very sick. The messaging about people who are young and healthy not getting it as bad was totally wrong.

My DD age 6 has just had it. Had a high temp for 7 days, horrendous stomach cramps, vomiting, couldn't eat, no energy she just lay on the sofa for a week. Some how the other 3 of us in the house have not caught it. It was much worse in her than I was expecting and has made me fear getting it more. Also my friend has just been in hospital with it. Woman in her 40s. That's also put the fear up me! Everyone else I'd known who'd had it before now felt like they had a bit of a cold. I have another 2 friends who have it at the moment who are feeling quite unwell so I'm currently feeling a level of anxiety that I haven't experienced throughout the whole pandemic!

In my family alone -

One parent in bed for 3 weeks, low oxygen, touch and go whether they needed hospital.

Other parent lost taste and smell - no other symptoms

BIL - a bit of a blocked nose, no taste/smell

SIL - in bed for 2 weeks, had to take extended time off work to recover.

No underlying health issues in any of them.

I've also heard similar stories from my neighbours of one being fine and the other bed bound.

we've all had it in this house but very mild.

Dp had a headache, runny nose and lost his smell & taste for 3 days. Then back to normal. Didn't feel poorly at all, other than feeling a bit crap with the first day headache. Double jabbed, booster had to be rescheduled.

Ds 10 was mildly poorly for 24 hours only - sore throat, off food, tired and a little bit of a cough then back to normal. That was day 1 so we've had 9 days of him climbing the walls!

I've had it and I've probably been worse off but still very mild. Head cold symptoms, burning sinuses (I have sinus issues anyway which doesn't help), headache. Started on day 1 with a heightened sense of smell but lost smell & taste over the next few days. Last day of isolation for me is tomorrow and my sinuses are still burning but I tend to have sinus pain for weeks after a normal cold. Taste and smell still very distorted. I'm double jabbed but my second dose was in May so had a long gap between second dose and getting the virus. Had to reschedule booster when I caught covid.

Dd 6 has been totally asymptomatic. She was the last one to get it 9 days after Dp did. She's out of isolation at the end of the week.

I know people who only know they had it because routine LFT flagged it, then confirmed by PCR. Double jabbed (as was the maximum then). I also know some who have been sick enough for hospital, and two who have died. A friend’s 12 year old daughter caught it when she went back to school in September and was quite poorly, but has just been confirmed to have long covid. She had been training for an international dance competition for two years - now she can barely get up the stairs without needing to sleep.

If it’s no worse than a mild cold for you - great! Many are not so lucky.

@AD80

we've all had it in this house but very mild.

Dp had a headache, runny nose and lost his smell & taste for 3 days. Then back to normal. Didn't feel poorly at all, other than feeling a bit crap with the first day headache. Double jabbed, booster had to be rescheduled.

Ds 10 was mildly poorly for 24 hours only - sore throat, off food, tired and a little bit of a cough then back to normal. That was day 1 so we've had 9 days of him climbing the walls!

I've had it and I've probably been worse off but still very mild. Head cold symptoms, burning sinuses (I have sinus issues anyway which doesn't help), headache. Started on day 1 with a heightened sense of smell but lost smell & taste over the next few days. Last day of isolation for me is tomorrow and my sinuses are still burning but I tend to have sinus pain for weeks after a normal cold. Taste and smell still very distorted. I'm double jabbed but my second dose was in May so had a long gap between second dose and getting the virus. Had to reschedule booster when I caught covid.

Dd 6 has been totally asymptomatic. She was the last one to get it 9 days after Dp did. She's out of isolation at the end of the week.

To add, none of us had a fever or a major cough. Me and dp had a slight tickly throat but nothing too bothersome. Ds coughed occasionally for about a day.

I had what I thought was a mild cold for a few days. I only knew it was covid because I did a LFT just in case.