This is unreal - the new variant - anyone have it

[GreenPebbles]

I am not ill and I don't have it. I had COVID in the summer and I know it's likely only just around the corner again.

Did anyone have COVID recently? How was it?

I came across this on twitter. Apparently there's a new variant called XEN.

It looks a lot like the original Wuhan variant. It appears as if people are getting better and then by the second week there is respiratory distress.

I mean like WHAT THE HOLY FUCK?

I mean like how can this be allowed to spread if this is happening?

I work in a GP surgery, not medical but seeing patients (especially older patients) face to face. We're not eligible for covid boosters this year (though we were last Autumn). We don't have access to free tests either. If you're too ill to come to work then you call in sick, but there is no longer any specific guidance about covid and testing as there used to be.

a 'good' immune system means sod all.

i HAD a good immune system. i used to work with kids, my immune system is pretty bomb proof.
The only things i've been sick with in the last 20 years are 1 throat infection, 1 sinus infection, 1 bout of flu, a couple of chest infections (Thanks to my asthma) and a smattering of mild sniffle things, most of which lasted only 48 hrs and were gone. I've seen my kids bring home some horrible bugs and take the whole house out, and i've been fine.

Even now the only thing i have been sick with in the last 3 years is Covid.

When i said my immune system is shot, i mean cuts are getting infected, i've had some awful abscesses, skin infections...etc, that i never used to get, and when checked via blood tests, the bits responsible for immune system response are low.

I dont agree with the idea that everyone is getting covid several times a year. Its been a few years since my one and only covid infection. Same with most people I know, although I do know a couple of people who are on their 3rd/4th/5th infection but they are also always coming down with other illnesses too so obviously their immunity in general isnt great. So it's far from the majority who are always sick imo.

I tested positive almost 3 weeks ago, been negative for almost 2 weeks but still feel extremely tired and weak. It's really knocked me off my feet.

@Firealarm1414 everyone isn't, i tend to find most people i know with repeat infections who don't have immune deficiencies are working in the hospitality/events/retail industry, or schools.. environments where they're around a lot of people a lot of the time.

I’ve just had all those symptoms! Didn’t think it could be Covid, just assumed it was food poisoning. Ah well, I’ll never know I guess.

This all sounds good to me.

I had Covid a short while ago and it floored me. I was ill for about 8 weeks. I hate the thought of getting it again any time soon.

My last vaccine was nearly 4 years ago.

Can anyone explain what a booster does? Is it for specific variants? Or for all? In what way does it protect if I am still getting Covid?

Some people get it mild, true but for others it ravages their body.

Are those long term impact figures self reported though? If I’m tired after a cold or have post viral fatigue, which has always been a thing, do I now have long Covid? There will always be a number of people more severely impacted than others by illness, and there will always be a bunch of drama llamas. Those things combined make the numbers look big.

So rude.

I think it's quite unkind to say people who self-report Long Covid are drama llamas, especially since some of them are children. There isn't any other way to count Long covid reliably besides self reporting currently, although there is some research in progress on identifying biological markers.

Post viral fatigue existed before Covid, of course. The key issue is that it appears to be much more common and severe after Covid than after flu or common colds. There is this tendency for people to pretend "it's always been like this, nothing new" and... it's just not true. If you don't believe people when they say they're sick, look at the figures on how many people are leaving the workforce for health reasons since 2020. Look at school absence stats. Look at figures on increased illness amongst teachers and NHS staff. There are so many markers of rampant illness in society and they all point towards a real issue.

If anything, the numbers are probably undercounted because most people don't think about Covid anymore, so even if their health declines after a "flu" or other illnesses they will try to find other explanations.

There was an US study that said Americans had 3.5 infections by now on average. This of course can mean some people had 1 and some had 6, people are not affected equally. The most affected professions tend to be healthcare and teaching.

The main point is that if 6 infections are bad and we don't do anything to mitigate transmission, then we will all get there soon anyway.

It definitely isn’t competitive sickness, I agree. And I expected at least one response like this, so well done. I was simply pointing out that a lot of us are severely compromised to differing degrees and catastrophising about the worst case scenario is not helpful.

Yep, in hindsight lockdowns weren’t exactly helpful were they ?

What is it with people being so bloody rude just lately, behaving like they have some kind of superiority and being shitty/snarky with their responses?

it was ME that YOU replied to, feeling the need to reel off your own litany of unrelated ailments as if being sicker than me should shut me up and invalidate the point i was making, which is that covid has absolutely crocked some of us.

I'm sorry that the reality that its been a horrible experience for some of us makes you feel we're giving 'worst case scenario' or we're catastrophising but it isn't. worst case is dead. You don't get to minimise MY experience because you're also ill.

if you don't like being accused of competitive sickness, then don't reply in a way that makes it read like that.

Yes, air purifiers would cut down on so much illness and the knock on effect that has on the economy, that I’m sure if there was a little longer term thinking employed by our policy makers they would realise that they would be worth the investment. It’s incredibly frustrating.

I explained what I meant. It wasn’t rude it was factual.

Horrible cough and sneezing spasms. Snagged out and breathless. If it is Covid ill be aggrieved as I had my booster 3 weeks back. But what can we do , realistically?

They were helpful in trying to reduce overwhelm in the NHS. It was still overwhelmed, but would have been worse. Would I like us to have been better prepared for this pandemic and to have acted more swiftly so that the toll of lockdown and deaths wasn't so high? Of course.

I haven't seen a single person on this thread suggest a lockdown. I have seen a few imply that people want a lockdown, rather than respond about the actual measures people are suggesting. I also haven't seen a single person who thinks we should do nothing further say how we are meant to pay for the impacts of effectively keeping the dial at 11.

I had covid 2 weeks ago,started with diahorrea, then more cold type symptoms.

Ever since I've had a disgusting taste in my mouth and a headache that just will not go.
I havent yet had flu nor covid jab and I'm too Ill to get them now.

I think we just have to live with it and the variants now. I'm not going to mask up again.

I didn’t say all the people who report long Covid are drama llamas, I said as in every case of illness there will be some severe genuine cases and some people who are dramatic.

I’m not convinced there is more illness because of covid. It’s an overall societal problem. People are lazier, more overweight, more addicted to screens, more work shy and less resilient. A cost of living crisis has made it hard for people to eat healthier or have gym memberships or pursue active hobbies. The UK weather has been wet and miserable for most of the last two summers so people aren’t outside being active and accessing fresh air as often. There are mitigating factors beyond Covid.

I’m a teacher for a local authority - our illness absence statistics for both teachers and pupils haven’t changed massively in one direction or the other since 2020. Numbers leaving are slightly higher among teachers than when I came into the profession but it’s the way the job has changed that is pushing people out, not long term illness.

I believe long covid exists and impacts many people but as with any long term or chronic illness you get plenty of bandwagon jumpers. It’s one of the many reasons why chronically ill people find it difficult to access help and support. You can’t fake or exaggerate cancer, for example. You can, however, fake or exaggerate fibro, chronic fatigue, long covid, etc quite effectively. And people sadly do which I believe skews the numbers.

Well, I'm 7 weeks into my third case of Covid and still ill. I'm self employed so it's a nightmare. But everytime I do anything an hour later I'm absolutely floored with extreme fatigue lasting at least 24 hours. Permanent headache too.

It's not an ordinary virus.

1. It increases your chance of heart attack and stroke for at least three years (unvaccinated covid patients)
2. It causes brain stem inflammation

3+ infections significantly increase your chance of LongCovid.

And yes flu does this. But most people don't get flu every year or more than once a year.

Hopefully mine won't turn into Longcovid. But I Really do not want to get this again and risk it. So I'll be wearing a mask despite all the dirty looks.

I really wish that, like Parliament, schools and hospitals had air filters and that in general people improved ventilation and didnt mix/wore masks if ill.

I think everyone should be offered an annual vaccination.

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/news/2024/first-wave-covid-19-increased-risk-heart-attack-stroke-three-years-later

https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/ultra-powered-mri-scans-show-damage-to-brains-control-centre-is-behind-long-lasting-covid-
19#:~:text=The%20researchers%20found%20that%20Covid,measure%20inflammation%20in%20the%20brain.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanwpc/article/PIIS2666-6065(24)00217-7/fulltext

“May increase the risk.”

“Appeared to increase the risk”

“If supported by longer term follow up”

Wording used in just one of these articles. Presenting this kind of info as 100% fact is what drives people into hysteria. I could post 3/4 similar articles about dangers and long term impact/risk of the vaccines, including similar blood clot/heart irregularity data. There is enough info out there to scare us all stupid about covid and about the measures taken to fight it!

Me, Dd and dh have all developed unrelated autoimmune diseases since having Covid. Dh has a particularly rare one. Dd actually has 3 now. And the cat has also got a rare autoimmune illness recently diagnosed though no idea if she’s had covid! 😁

Why is it that COVID causes such an irrational, aggressive backlash against anyone who dare suggest we shouldn't accept unmitigated transmission? I wonder why that is. Cognitive dissonance? Trauma from the lockdowns?

Trauma not so much from lockdowns, but the way that the government and the media weaponised fear to keep on locking down for months on end, in spite of the very obvious and extremely damaging effects of lockdown; and that if anybody tried to say anything about this, they were silenced with "SHUT UP, YOU FUCKING GRANNY MURDERER!" Those of us who are exhibiting the "irrational, aggressive backlash" are making damn sure that we are never silenced like that again. If we had had lockdown without the hysterical campaign of fear, egged on by the mainstream media (and Mumsnet), the public pleading "please lock us down even harder", the self-appointed covid vigilantes "my neighbours are hugging their grandchildren!", the very strong implication that regular lockdowns would be a "new normal", instead of a one-off, the government effectively painting itself into a corner by saying "we will do whatever it takes to eradicate the virus", and the very obvious ways in which the government only allowed those who supported the lockdown narrative to speak, and was silencing anybody who spoke against lockdowns (you could watch BBC interviewers doing this), I would have respected lockdowns more. Because of all these underhand methods employed by the government and the media, I feel that it is absolutely vital that we keep on fighting back tooth and nail against such appalling methods, in case they are used again.

And yes, maybe I am losing sight of the original perceived danger: a virus. But those in government who made it the official policy to "frighten the pants off the public" need to learn the lesson of the boy who cried wolf. The government well and truly squandered the public's goodwill on this ONE danger. Will people be so compliant for the "next pandemic" that Bill Gates keeps going on about?