Are we going to be in a cycle of being unwell for a while now?

[WildFlowerBees]

Now there's no mask wearing etc most people will be exposed on a regular basis so will we all be in a cycle of having covid being ok for a while then getting it again?

[RadioRouge]

I really don't want it again. It takes so long to get back to full health afterwards, and I have no idea of our chances of getting long covid/strokes/heart conditions/organ damage etc because of covid and we Do Not Want any of that thank you.
My FB is full of "Aaaagh! It got me again" and "Oh no, it finally got me" posts at the moment.
Is this it now, for the rest of our lives? I've already had enough.

[ColourMeExhausted]

I was of the view that 'we just need to live with it, it hopefully won't be too bad for most of us' although I really wish they'd keep mask wearing. But now I have it and I feel bloody awful. I don't want this again thank you! But no idea what the solution is, and suspect there isn't one. It's really scary the amount of damage it does and I'm not just talking about Long Covid which is fucking terrifying enough. My friend has developed lung scarring despite a 'mild' case. Another friend has neuralgia, another some kind of herpes. It's really scary! After this I will be wearing my mask to shops etc and sod the stares. Two years of not being unwell and then this. It's a bit of a wallop...

[RadioRouge]

Having had it twice seems pretty normal amongst my school mum friends and our children, twice in the last eight months is standard, but I do know people who haven't had it at all, and some who have had it three or four times now.
We've had it two terms running thanks to the blessed Omicron that was going to save us all and end the pandemic. Some hopes.

[Abraxan]

So it's not fair to say that cold and flu viruses are much milder than the covid virus. Many, especially vulnerable people, can sadly die from any of these viruses and bacteria.

Whilst this is true to an extent, my experience has been that covid has made me more ill, and led to ongoing and lifelong health issues, than any cold or flu bug has done previously.

The only other virus that has left me as poorly before was pneumonia, which was horrible and led me to be in hospital and a lengthy absence form work. This was several years ago and before I was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition, though likely to have been at the very start of it I guess.

I catch colds a lot - poor immune system due to health condition and medication and I work in a school with small children. They make me feel a bit rubbish, like right now - a bit headache-y, stuffed up, fizzy sinuses, etc - for a couple of days, but can usually work through it.

I have knowingly had flu once, though like most viruses I may have had it without symptoms. I felt rubbish, really poorly. But I was better and back to normal a week or so later.

Covid however led me to be hospitalised due to complications, being rushed to A&E with a very real risk of imminent heart attack or stroke, and needing 7 weeks of work, an ongoing health issue requiring medication daily and long covid symptoms still here some 1.5 years ,after. Luckily the second time I could access antiviral treatment which reduced all symptoms within 24 hours of having it.

[Abraxan]

How does anyone know if they have covid right now?

I test. I'm eligible for free covid LFTs due to being vulnerable. As a result dh, dd and I can and do test if feeling ill. I test weekly just in case as if I catch it it's useful to know before the virus takes hold, so that I can access antiviral treatment quickly.

Dh is asked to test before visiting care homes as part of his job. At the moment the homes, hospices and hospitals are still providing the test for him on arrival.

A lot of our friends and family still have left over test kits as they only test if feeling ill, so haven't used up the boxes they had from before.

Many people are now travelling and a lot of places still require tests, so may find out that way.

You can also pay for tests. I know of one couple who pay for a test before visiting their elderly and vulnerable parents to reduce the risk of passing it on to them.

[MostlyEatingBiscuits]

I know someone, mid 20s and doing LFTs for work, who had the first strain of Omicron in February and then got it again (guessing second strain?) only 10 weeks later. Fully jabbed, fit and healthy, ill enough to have to go to bed for 2 or 3 days each time.
I get the sense that there are a lot of reinfections amongst young people in shared houses who are using public transport and socialising.

[Remmy123]

yep same with flu / sick bugs etc

[Waxonwaxoff0]

I've still only had it once, last August. I only know one person who has had it twice, a year apart.

[RadioRouge]

I was ill and off work for several days both times I was ill with covid, and off work for several days each time one of the children was ill with covid, and they've both had it twice.
Some families we know have had covid all at the same time, which may be more convenient (?) but getting it repeatedly doesn't seem all that unusual since Delta and the Omicrons.
I can't find any info on how often we are expected to get covid now. Say if someone has had it twice in the last 7 months, are they in the clear for 5 months now perhaps? Or just as likely to get it again in 2022?
I wasn't anywhere near hospital ill with covid, but it's still the illest I've ever been in my life.and the most sick time I've ever taken. Most years I don't take any.

[Overthebow]

I don't know anyone who has had it repeatedly, only people who have had it either none,1 or 2 times. Everyone I know is either back in offices or has worked in contact jobs throughout. I really don't think everyone will repeatedly get it often, and lots of people can work through it anyway or wouldn't even know they had it.

[Pootle40]

In 2 years I've had Covid once officially and was under the weather for 48 hours but still worked from home and an earlier episode which was a cold or Covid and same for 48-72 hours. Have kids at school so for 24+ months .....it's not a lot of illness.

[RadioRouge]

How many times a year are we all expected to get covid now? Does anybody know?
I'm thinking about trying to get a remote working job because my employers are so hacked off with my repeated absences due to being ill with covid or my children being ill with covid. (Even though I know working at home can't be easy with sick children either.)

[bluetongue]

Not for everyone.

I haven’t had Covid yet and have not had even a cold since February 2020. Of course I don’t have children which I’m sure helps. I’ve never even had the opportunity to work from home and have taken public transport to work work throughout the pandemic.

Maybe in the future there will be a vaccine which actually prevents Covid infection for various strains but in the meantime ‘living with covid’ is the best of the bad options.

[RadioRouge]

@WildFlowerBees

Now there's no mask wearing etc most people will be exposed on a regular basis so will we all be in a cycle of having covid being ok for a while then getting it again?

That's what I've been wondering. My friend is subject to a disciplinary because she's had too much time off sick with covid, but if living with covid means we're all going to be ill with covid several times a year and our children are going to be ill with covid several times a year then penalising people for having too many instances of sickness a year is going to have to change isn't it?

[Didiplanthis]

Part of the problem is it is sooo variable. First time I had it I was bed bound with raging temp and horrendous headaches..but pretty much OK after a week. Second time not bed bound but utterly exhausted and breathless with low oxygen sats. 4 weeks in I'm still wiped and get episodic severe breathless 🤷‍♀️. It felt like an entirely unconnected illness. I know almost no adults who have been symptomatic and just felt like they had a cold. They were either pretty much asymptomatic or felt like shit.

[WildFlowerBees]

[quote containsnuts]Interesting article on the subject

amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/12/herd-immunity-covid-reinfection-virus-world[/quote]

Thanks, interesting read.

[containsnuts]

Interesting article on the subject

amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/12/herd-immunity-covid-reinfection-virus-world

[RichTeaRichTea]

“The common cold” or viruses that for many cause symptoms like a cold? Just to be specific. Fwiw I agree with you about the covid rates. But I am still surprised at the surprise about the cycle of illness/being well, long term complications and so on. In some ways it is a good thing because it means that most people have not been unlucky enough to experience serious adverse effects from commonly circulating viruses until now.

[UnmentionedElephantDildo]

How does anyone know if they have covid right now?

They test.

• workplace testing (an awful lot of people work in NHS and care sectors)
  
• because they were admitted to hospital (this may unfortunately be changing)
  
• because they see a critically vulnerable person and are following the guidance to test before visiting
  
• because they want to know and still,have test kits in the house or can afford to buy
  
• because they need to test before travel
  
• because they hope that if they can show when they had it (do LFTs count for recovery certificates?) it will mean their holiday plans aren't scuppered by positive as result of old infection

[CockSpadget]

@Purpleroseas

For those who say for most it's just a bad cold, I don't know anyone who has died of a bad cold

Infection with rhinovirus or one of the other viruses responsible for common cold symptoms can be serious in some people. Complications from a cold can cause serious illnesses and, yes, even death – particularly in people who have a weak immune system.

Some viruses, such as adenovirus, can also cause symptoms throughout the body, including the gastrointestinal tract, the urinary tract and the liver.
Furthermore, viral infections can induce serious bacterial infections that can be deadly.

So it's not fair to say that cold and flu viruses are much milder than the covid virus. Many, especially vulnerable people, can sadly die from any of these viruses and bacteria.

I think the numbers speak for themselves. 170000 people have died from covid and it's resulting complications in the last 2 years. A minimum fraction of that number will have died as a result of complications from catching the common cold.

[Purpleroseas]

For those who say for most it's just a bad cold, I don't know anyone who has died of a bad cold

Infection with rhinovirus or one of the other viruses responsible for common cold symptoms can be serious in some people. Complications from a cold can cause serious illnesses and, yes, even death – particularly in people who have a weak immune system.

Some viruses, such as adenovirus, can also cause symptoms throughout the body, including the gastrointestinal tract, the urinary tract and the liver.
Furthermore, viral infections can induce serious bacterial infections that can be deadly.

So it's not fair to say that cold and flu viruses are much milder than the covid virus. Many, especially vulnerable people, can sadly die from any of these viruses and bacteria.

[RichTeaRichTea]

Yes I have known several previously healthy people who have died of complications of what for others was a cold. Not in such great numbers as covid, but then previously I haven’t seen people catching viruses in such great numbers all at once. I am an HCP, I have seen this via my work.

[WhiteJellycat]

How does anyone know if they have covid right now?

I was on holiday last week and it's now fairly unusual to be in a big venues mixing and I now have cold symptoms. For the first time in ages my first thought isnt to test for covid. 1) I have had covid so the fear of it hospitalising me on a personal level is low ( that my view in my personal risk level so separate from the fear of spreading etc) 2) at what point do I move back into the mindset that colds exist.

Are people still doing multiple LFT? I honestly have no plans to do lft routinely going forward

[CockSpadget]

@Lovemusic33

But it’s not the actual cold or covid that kills, it’s the possible infections that a cold or covid can cause. I know people who have died from chest infections caused by a cold, the same as covid. A lot of elderly or sick people can contract a cold and then end up with pneumonia which can kill them.

How many healthy people do you know who have died from catching a cold? Yes, the elderly and immunocompromised can contract pneumonia after having a cold, but how often does that happen in healthy people. 170000 people have died of covid in the last 2 years, a lot of them previously healthy.

[Lovemusic33]

But it’s not the actual cold or covid that kills, it’s the possible infections that a cold or covid can cause. I know people who have died from chest infections caused by a cold, the same as covid. A lot of elderly or sick people can contract a cold and then end up with pneumonia which can kill them.