Symptoms and Lateral Flow Tests

[crispsinasandwich]

From reading a few threads on here it seems that if you have symptoms LFTs still seem to be showing negative.

I had a cold for a number of weeks - should I have been doing PCRs? I was doing LFTs before seeing people.

Honestly I am not stupid but I was not aware of this.

Are people doing PCRs if they have any symptoms of cold?

I've had a sneezy cold for the last 2 weeks. LFTs said negative.

Then I had a PCR last weekend because I started chemo, and that came back negative too.

There are still plenty of the normal coughs and colds circulating. Just stick to LFTs unless you get a cough or lose your sense of taste/smell.

I took a PCR last week as I had a text from NHS saying I had visited somewhere that had had an outbreak- still don't know where this was. Was advised not to isolate and do LFT if no symptoms and PCR if symptoms. Did a PCR even though I'd had the same symptoms I'd had for a while - came back positive. I can't have had covid for 4 weeks! Before I got the results of the PCR - took 3 days - two LFTs were negative.

Pcr can remain positive for up to 90 days.

My sister has just tested positive on LFT with symptoms as has her ds although he didn't have symptoms

I’ve tested positive on pcr with sneeze/ headache/ slight cough for a couple of days. Day 2 of isolation and I’m negative on a lft so I’m not particularly trusting of them now. I’ve not had any symptoms before these very mild ones.

My son tested neg on five days of lfts he has a scratchy throat. Then yesterday tested positive on LFT. PCR done and results awaited. He won't be home for Xmas. ☹️

@Mxflamingnoravera

My son tested neg on five days of lfts he has a scratchy throat. Then yesterday tested positive on LFT. PCR done and results awaited. He won't be home for Xmas. ☹️

Is he at university?

I posted this on another thread.
It's from here
twitter.com/MsHannahMurphy/status/1472550485747847170?t=6ei-pHULOFT_th2yRKxfcg&s=03

@crispsinasandwich no not at university, living in London in a shared house. All the group have had the same issue.

Yes you should do a PCR if you have symptoms. I would check the lasted covid symptoms (not the nhs ones) and make a judgement based on that.

[quote Mxflamingnoravera]@crispsinasandwich no not at university, living in London in a shared house. All the group have had the same issue.[/quote]
Will they all have Christmas together?

I know you will miss him but at least he won't be alone hopefully xxx

There is still a lot of confusion about the tests, not surprisingly. Lots of people think that, if you do a LF test and it’s negative then you’re fine. However, LF tests don’t always pick up COVID and false negatives are quite common (unlike false positives that are rare). COVID, and the Omicron variant in particular, often presents as a cold so I would say that, if you’re unwell in any way, get a PCR test just to be on the safe side.

That diagram Siuan posted is so useful - exactly what happened to me

Inhad a shocker of a cold a few weeks ago, did a PCR because work asked me to, but it was still negative. All the regular bugs are still out there.

This article talks about new symptoms being similar to a regular cold:
news.sky.com/story/covid-19-most-cases-now-like-severe-cold-and-omicron-appears-to-produce-fairly-mild-illness-expert-says-12497094

You can do a lft if you wish but in these times of a bit of a rush on them I would probably just do the PCR because that is what you need to do and a negative lft does not precluded the need for a PCR.

@Yellowmellow2

There is still a lot of confusion about the tests, not surprisingly. Lots of people think that, if you do a LF test and it’s negative then you’re fine. However, LF tests don’t always pick up COVID and false negatives are quite common (unlike false positives that are rare). COVID, and the Omicron variant in particular, often presents as a cold so I would say that, if you’re unwell in any way, get a PCR test just to be on the safe side.

Unfortunately false positives on LFTs are not rare. Friends working in hospital tell of staff testing positive on LFT - taking PCR and testing negative - and the whole cycle being repeated every couple of weeks.

The NHS guidance is to take a PCR rather than an LFT if you have one of the three main symptoms: high temperature or a new, continuous cough or loss/change to sense of smell or taste.

I think the main reason people still use an LFT in that case is that the results are available much sooner, and some people may already have a supply of LFTs on hand. It's kind of a "better than nothing" temporary answer. But it's best to take the PCR as soon as you can once you detect symptoms; obv the sooner you take it the sooner you have the results.

I wonder also whether 'how' you do LFTs also changes the result. Recently....

I did an LFT as normal, but let the solution mix more than recommended (maybe 1-2 minutes). Result: super faint positive.

I did an LFT again, just to check, exactly as directed: the result was negative.

So I thought, which one was right? And I did an LFT and swabbed my tonsil area for good measure. Result: clear positive after a few mins.

And the next morning did again for good measure: again clear positive, much clearer this time and much faster.

So it seems to me that in my case, unless I went a bit over the expected swabbing/time in solution, I would not have had these positive results in all likelihood.