Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Covid

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Original poster

Is a new variant evading LFTs, or is there another nasty bug doing the rounds?

64 replies

dumbledory · 12/05/2022 01:18

Hi all.

Just what the title says really.

Work in a school - triple jabbed and never had covid (recent antibody test).

Currently the children across the year I work in have all been coughing relentlessly for the last week or so. Some children have been so unwell, we've had to send them home only for them to be back the next day.

Assume parents are generally not testing at this point.

Started feeling unwell myself on Monday and have progressively been feeling worse. Colleagues are dropping like flies.

I fell asleep early last night, only to wake at couple of hours ago and have been coughing non-stop since...it's gotten to the point where my voice is hoarse and chest is very sore.

If it wasn't for all of the negative lateral flows I've taken (including one an hour ago) I would say this was my first go with Covid. But as it is, I'm testing negative and am at a loss with what to do with myself.

Is there a variant that's evading the lateral flows altogether or should I just accept that there are many other bugs that could be causing this and suck it up?

Feeling the pressure to go in, as it's SATs week and the school is already a few staff members down.

OP posts:
MallampatiCatty · 12/05/2022 01:42

I've had covid twice, confirmed on PCR. I work in ICU so...

Never had a positive lateral flow in my life. They aren't especially good.

Lessofallthisunpleasantness · 12/05/2022 01:45

I felt poorly with Covid on a Monday night. Took a lateral flow - negative. Did a PCR 2 days later - positive. Kept doing lateral flows but they did not turn positive until the Friday so 4 days after I felt ill. I had felt better by the Wednesday too....

SD1978 · 12/05/2022 02:23

Flu. Mainly influenza A. It's making a huge surge and will continue to as no one is getting flu vaccine because they've forgotten about it due to 2 years of covid.

builtonrocks · 12/05/2022 02:36

Four of us ill here, negative lat flows but my husband is convinced it's covid. I'm not sure, we all got sick with flu/colds before covid so I guess it could be that. I've no idea if we can get pcr's now, do you have to pay? I've just forgotten about covid now and am completely out of the loop.

JourneyToThePlacentaOfTheEarth · 12/05/2022 02:49

A friend was put on oxygen last week. Apparently flu as covid test was negative. I tested positive over Easter and that came with a heavy cough followed by infection

Poppins2016 · 12/05/2022 02:53

@builtonrocks PCRs are no longer available for free on the NHS, however you can pay to get a PCR privately.

6 members of my family (my household of 4, plus my parents who live separately) presume we caught covid at the same event. We all had similar symptoms but only 5 out of 6 of us tested positive using LFTs.

Another family member tested positive on PCR (back when they were available) but not on LFTs.

caringcarer · 12/05/2022 02:59

I am feeling awful and can't stop coughing. Have for 3 days, throat raw. Lft neg. Ds in year 11 so GCSE start next week, now tonight he has started coughing. I will test him tomorrow. We both get hay fever and pollen is high where we live. I also get asthma too.

MyOrdinaryStruggle · 12/05/2022 04:12

My son (year 6) has been coughing for the last 2 weeks.. last week me and the Mr started feeling a bit crappy.. headaches, sore throats ect the woke up Saturday morning feeling rough as anything. Runny, blocked nose, headaches, tired, sore throat, coughing, aching all over.
The Mr and our 1 year old all at the same time.
Son said the kids in his year have been off sick and more this week... only going into school for the Sat's in a secluded space.
Me and Mr have been testing for covid... negative.
I think it is a very nasty flu.

Notcreativeatall · 12/05/2022 04:32

We've had a similar bug/fluey thing here - sore throats/headaches /sneezy etc- and very tired- son had it first and tested negative 3 times - i had 4 negative tests over 5 days and just did a throat (rather than nose test) that tested positive ( this was triggered by someone saying that the recent covid symptoms they had tallied with mine- which basically involved feeling like ive recovered but then suddenly feeling worse again) - seems to be a theme here- lots of negative rats/lateral flows before a positive- seems odd as I thoughts RATs were supposed to give false positives....

HalloHello · 12/05/2022 04:41

I doubt any of you gave the flu. Sounds like a bad cold which is normal. Not everything is covid!!!

SpringRainbow · 12/05/2022 05:21

Both my kids have bad coughs currently, school aren’t interested. They said we have to send them in unless they are too unwell to get out of bed.

Out of curiosity and even though the school haven’t asked, I have tested them both and it’s negative.

TulipsGarden · 12/05/2022 05:34

Omicron isn't a very coughy varient, so it's probably some other bug. My son's at nursery and has had Covid, a nasty stomach bug, a regular cold and tonsillitis in the last five weeks.

purplesequins · 12/05/2022 06:01

unless you get out of breath & sweaty walking burns surprisingly little calories.

I also assume that the app doesn't monitor heart rate either. that would make it a bit more acurate. but as pp says, these devices take guesses and are not precise.

killerqueue · 12/05/2022 06:07

One of my kids had this & then I got in. Still tested but negative. Only symptoms are nasty cough & hoarse throat, nothing else.

Mirrorball2022 · 12/05/2022 06:16

I work in Paeds, kids are catching everything in my area currently. We’ve been very very busy. Covid not so much ( very few testing pcr positive anyway on admission). Flu A is still going around and some other typical viruses like RSVcausing some nasty symptoms. Covid cases in the hospital are dropping quickly too.

id say especially as you work in a school could just be as likely you’ve caught something going around , of course it could be covid but without a pcr you’ll never know tbh. . Omicron can produce a cough in some, it depends how you respond to illness. My sister had it a few weeks back and it caused a cough then a chest infection. She’s asthmatic.

Mirrorball2022 · 12/05/2022 06:18

SD1978 · 12/05/2022 02:23

Flu. Mainly influenza A. It's making a huge surge and will continue to as no one is getting flu vaccine because they've forgotten about it due to 2 years of covid.

There was a big push on the flu vaccine? Loads I know paid to have it as we are younger than eligible. I have it through work. Not sure wether they chose the right strains in the vaccine though. Sometimes that doesnt go to plan.

BUT Yes Flu A is definitely going around still. Making people feel quite Ill too.

Trafficblight · 12/05/2022 06:20

SD1978 · 12/05/2022 02:23

Flu. Mainly influenza A. It's making a huge surge and will continue to as no one is getting flu vaccine because they've forgotten about it due to 2 years of covid.

People coughing isn't flu, children who are well enough to be back at school within 24 hours don't have flu. Plenty of people had flu jabs over the winter.

AppleandRhubarbTart · 12/05/2022 09:36

Trafficblight · 12/05/2022 06:20

People coughing isn't flu, children who are well enough to be back at school within 24 hours don't have flu. Plenty of people had flu jabs over the winter.

Show quote history

People with minor symptoms absolutely can have flu. It's a commonly held misconception that it isn't flu unless you're really unwell. Flu can be asymptomatic even.

With that in mind, we can't say that someone who has a cough or is only off 24 hours doesn't have it. You can't tell purely from symptoms.

SD1978 · 12/05/2022 09:45

@HalloHello - not everything is just a cold either though. I'm not talking about those unwell fro a day or two, but the assumption that those feeling very unwell, for over a week but negative on LFT's must have some mystery disease or faulty tests.

Cornettoninja · 12/05/2022 09:47

TulipsGarden · 12/05/2022 05:34

Omicron isn't a very coughy varient, so it's probably some other bug. My son's at nursery and has had Covid, a nasty stomach bug, a regular cold and tonsillitis in the last five weeks.

This was our experience too. Me and dd (6) had it a few weeks ago and the main symptoms for her were gastrointestinal and generic feeling poorly and mine were fatigue and generic feeling poorly.

weirdly we both developed coughs (which have lingered) almost immediately after testing negative when checked on LFT around the 10 day mark.

CorsicaDreaming · 12/05/2022 15:12

@Cornettoninja - same here! I felt reasonably ok mild cold during first positive week of omicron- but the developed a persistent cough and fatigue after that's really lingered.

Cornettoninja · 13/05/2022 08:15

It’s an odd one isn’t it @CorsicaDreaming? I’d be interested in the mechanism behind that, may be the upper airway is the hardest place to clear it from?

jamoncrumpets · 13/05/2022 08:20

I have a rotten cold right now, not covid as I'm testing daily, just an old fashioned stinker.

Itwasntmeright · 13/05/2022 08:22

I have a cold with a nasty cough but negative test. There are other bugs available other than Covid, and we’ve all been staying away from each other for two years so shielded from the usual rounds of cold and flu, so it’s probably just playing catch up. It’ll be a rough year and a rough winter, but we’re just gonna have to get on with it. Covid has turned us all into a bunch of scaredy-cats.

DisgruntledSloth · 13/05/2022 08:25

I’ve had a cough which just wouldn’t go. Now finally shifting on 2nd lot of antibiotics. I’ve been ill for a month. No one else in my family caught it.