Can we talk again about “mild symptoms” and what that means?

[Frances]

On 4/13/2020 at 2:34 PM, Quill said:

Let me start by clarifying: I am not a wishful-thinker hoping I have already had COVID-19 so I can go on with my life. I am taking a LOT of precautions, enough that I routinely get eyerolls and accusations of being paranoid. I completely plan to keep my precautions in place for the foreseeable future, no matter what the government restricts or doesn’t restrict. 

Having said that, I had a mild/moderate dry cough that lasted around ten days. No other symptom that could indicate illness. I have in no way felt sick; no fever, no lethargy, no body aches. I did have a headache for several days, but that didn’t really correlate with the cough and I think was stress-induced. 

I have chalked this cough up to allergies. But I am now not coughing at all. However, we are also getting rain by the bucket-load, and that usually tamps down pollen reactions for at least a few days. 

All that to ask: would “mild symptoms” be this - a mild cough, nothing more? It seems very improbable to me at my age. It seems probable to me that, if I contracted CV-19, I would most likely be sick enough to know it at least. Also, presumably other family members isolated with me might show symptoms by now. 

Does the evidence suggest there are any 49 year olds walking around with CV19 manifested as nothing but a cough? 

I just read an article about hard hit nursing homes. There are residents in their 70s who have tested positive and have no symptoms, so certainly it’s possible for you to have only a cough.

[mlktwins]

 My sister works at a hospital and is beng tested tomorrow.  The screeners sent her home before her shift today.  She has nasuea and just does not feel right.  No respiratory symptoms at this point.  But...one co-worker died 2 weeks ago form it.  Fine one minute and really sick 2 hours later.  She had major pre-existing conditions though.  Many of my sister’s other co-workers are positive with a range of symptoms.  This virus is crazy...

[Frances]

On 4/13/2020 at 3:30 PM, Quill said:

Indeed. My dd’s good friend, who works at a store that is still open, got sick a couple weeks ago. Sick, sick, sick as can be. She was able to do a telemed call, but did not “qualify” for testing. The telemed person said she probably had the flu. However, she continued to have a fever and severe, extreme weakness for close to two weeks. It seems almost certain to me she had C-19. I wonder sometimes how many more cases there are like that. 

I know people here who have been sick significantly longer than two weeks with classic symptoms, their docs are sure they have it, but they don’t qualify for testing due to shortages.

[Guest]

11 hours ago, Acadie said:

I thought this thread was asking what mild symptoms might look like, and thought my post could contribute to that discussion.

Mask use goes both ways for sure. 

It was; it did. You seem upset? I think your post was fine and contributed to the thread perfectly well. 

[vonfirmath]

10 hours ago, Jyhwkmama said:

Our nation desperately needs widespread testing--both the antigen testing (have it now) and antibody testing (already had it). 

 

But only if they are -accurate-

My sense is that testing has been dropped partly because the accuracy is not there. If people are going to get tested and then use that as their golden ticket, the accuracy of the test needs to deserve that level of trust. What we have doesn't.

 

[Scarlett]

19 hours ago, elegantlion said:

I've had something for the last 18 days, finally feeling semi-normal today. My boyfriend thinks he may have had a super mild case - severe exhaustion for two days. I've had shortness of breath (already an issue for me because I'm immune suppressed already), super fatigued, low-grade fever, everything got worse at night. I was not tested as they are limiting those here. I had the flu last year and this was very different and worse as it has lingered for so long. Was it Covid? I have no clue. I've been staying with my boyfriend as I didn't want to expose my son and my mother just in case. 

I think I missed that you  have a boyfriend! 

[Frances]

1 hour ago, vonfirmath said:

 

But only if they are -accurate-

My sense is that testing has been dropped partly because the accuracy is not there. If people are going to get tested and then use that as their golden ticket, the accuracy of the test needs to deserve that level of trust. What we have doesn't.

 

It’s not the reason here. Here it’s all due to shortages.

[Storygirl]

14 hours ago, Annie G said:

I’m not sure what to think.  Our state has done 60k tests and has about 15k positives.  I know there are false negatives but are there that many or are people ‘with symptoms’ really sick with other things?

Oldest grand was SICK For 8 days- high fever, zero energy, no appetite, etc.  The doc did flu test and strep test and both were negative.  Dd asked if it could be covid but they said no. But what was it? She’s 12, so pretty good at reporting how she feels.

Nephew in NYC had what his doc called a mild case and he was in bed for a week, feeling awful. He was tested right away. 
 

Sure wish we knew how many cases really exist. As it is, there’s too much missing data for me to really know what to think. 

The testing data is really wonky. There are people who have symptoms who are not being tested. And there are people with symptoms who really don't have it but have another illness. And there are people who are getting false negatives who really do have it.

Plus there are people who are being tested who have no symptoms but have come into contact with those who are sick. For example, my mom's entire nursing home was just tested, and only four proved positive, so that is a lot of negative tests added to the data right there. Multiply that by all of the nursing homes and other such places that have tested everyone, even if no symptoms.  And then all of those people may end up being tested again at some point, if/when cases within those institutions grow.

It does seem crazy that there are so many people who can't get tested, yet there are so many negative tests being reported. I think it just reflects that it will be a long time before we have data that reflects what is really happening in (close to) real time.

[ktgrok]

3 hours ago, Scarlett said:

I think I missed that you  have a boyfriend! 

Same! Congrats !