Stressed - sore throat but negative covid test

[Kanin]

Blah!

DH and I visited family for the first time in two years. It's usually an annual trip that was derailed because of COVID. We were apprehensive because we've been really careful, but needed to go this time. We knew that some family members would not be vaccinated, and found out while we were there that there was one more unvaxed than anticipated. We stayed at an Airbnb to reduce some exposure but we were definitely inside with unvaxed family members. 

Now, I have a sore throat. I took one of the BINAX rapid tests, and it was negative (yesterday). I'm super stressed that I've given covid to a vulnerable family member, or the next person that stays at the Airbnb. I'll take another test tomorrow I guess...

I'm hoping it's just from long drives with the A/C on, but I don't truly think it's that 😕

 

 

 

 

[Frances]

I can certainly understand your worry. I really hope it turns out not to be covid. 

[mommyoffive]

Ugh, I am hoping that it isn't covid.  I hate that every little thing makes you stress out and think it is that.  I hope you feel better.  I would retest so you can relax a bit about it.

[MercyA]

Hope that it isn't COVID.

Summer colds actually are really bad this year and are known to be going around.

[Terabith]

I totally understand your worry, but it's also possibly the truly horrific air quality recently?  Fingers crossed it stays negative.

[Kanin]

1 minute ago, Terabith said:

I totally understand your worry, but it's also possibly the truly horrific air quality recently?  Fingers crossed it stays negative.

Maybe... Probably not though. We traveled a long way so went to rest stops, etc... 😕

[Terabith]

3 minutes ago, Kanin said:

Maybe... Probably not though. We traveled a long way so went to rest stops, etc... 😕

I live in Virginia.  Our air quality has been garbage from fires on the west coast and in Canada.  I think dry a/c can make it worse, too.  

[KSera]

I'm sorry! Can you get a PCR somewhere? Hopefully it's a just a cold, but we've had friends recently test negative on Binax and positive later on PCR.

[Ausmumof3]

Don’t forget that after isolating for so long you are probably more likely to pick up whichever bugs are around.  Hopefully it’s just a normal cold.

[mlktwins]

i hope it isn’t Covid!  I do want to say that the 4 of us went through a summer cold that started with a sore throat. I was totally freaked out. Praying it is just a short summer cold!

[Kanin]

33 minutes ago, KSera said:

I'm sorry! Can you get a PCR somewhere? Hopefully it's a just a cold, but we've had friends recently test negative on Binax and positive later on PCR.

Yes... I'm going to do another BINAX tomorrow and go from there. On the plus side, I usually get a hives-ish rash with viruses (and did with the Covid vaccine) and I don't have one now... Hopefully it stays that way.

[cjzimmer1]

Beginning of July we were at a location that had quite a few people.  One of my daughters friends was sick, passed it on to someone else and then my daughter got sick and gave it to me. Everyone in the family got it except my husband.  With the exception of I had lots of sneezing (other family members didn't), it was pretty much classic COVID symptoms. It's been a month and I still have junk in my throat but it not COVID (myself and other family members have been tested many times, not a single one has been positive).  It's hard because every time you get the slightest bit sick, you have to worry but really there are lots of other things because COVID that can cause the same symptoms. 

[skywards]

8 minutes ago, cjzimmer1 said:

Beginning of July we were at a location that had quite a few people.  One of my daughters friends was sick, passed it on to someone else and then my daughter got sick and gave it to me. Everyone in the family got it except my husband.  With the exception of I had lots of sneezing (other family members didn't), it was pretty much classic COVID symptoms. It's been a month and I still have junk in my throat but it not COVID (myself and other family members have been tested many times, not a single one has been positive).  It's hard because every time you get the slightest bit sick, you have to worry but really there are lots of other things because COVID that can cause the same symptoms. 

I know a few people from church that have had the same thing. Nasty cold that just lingers and lingers, but repeated negative covid tests. So I assume its something going around. Between that and the wild fire smoke and crappy air quality, on top of everyone quarantining for so long, its no wonder everyone is passing gross stuff around this summer! 

[gardenmom5]

there are a lot of viruses that cause sore throats that aren't covid.  I have EBV, so I get one every. time. it. flares!  (It's what led my dr to test me for EBV.)  Then I caught my grandsons cold.  sigh.

salt water gargles, decongestants, etc.  dairy tends to produce mucus, but clear liquids will help with drainage.

[PeterPan]

I'm not sure, but I thought someone told me the rapid tests don't show Delta, that you'd need a pcr.

[HSmomof2]

Since you’re vaccinated and so far tested negative, I wouldn’t be super worried. It also depends on if you’re in a high transmission area too. I had a very sore throat in June, went to urgent care and tested negative. Dh just went through this this week. Woke up Weds with cold symptoms. He was tested yesterday, and got negative results today. The nurse at the testing site said they’ve had some breakthrough positive tests, but the vast majority of positives are in unvaccinated….. there are also regular colds going around as well. We’re in an area with about 300/100,000 cases right now.

Hopefully your test tomorrow is also negative and your sore throat gets better quickly. It really stinks having to worry about this for every respiratory symptom…..it’s so stressful. 

 

[Frances]

29 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

I'm not sure, but I thought someone told me the rapid tests don't show Delta, that you'd need a pcr.

In general, I think it’s better to do research first and post facts rather than speculation, similar to posting about maybe seeing a headline that people who get covid after a vaccination being more likely to get long covid. Otherwise, it can lead to misinformation being spread. 

[vonfirmath]

How can you get tested for the COVID Delta variant? | Fortune

 

I read this as the test would show up "Positive" for Coronavirus even if it could not tell specifically it was the Delta variant of Coronavirus. Not that they would throw up negative for coronavirus when it should be positive.

[KSera]

20 minutes ago, vonfirmath said:

How can you get tested for the COVID Delta variant? | Fortune

 

I read this as the test would show up "Positive" for Coronavirus even if it could not tell specifically it was the Delta variant of Coronavirus. Not that they would throw up negative for coronavirus when it should be positive.

Boy, is it just me, or is that article really unclear? I still don't know if they are talking about testing to see if someone has Covid or sequencing to determine if it's Delta.

Quote

Testing for the Delta variant usually has to be done on a more precise level involving polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing platforms, which tend to be more accurate and sensitive to genetic variations within the coronavirus. But that level of testing also takes more time than a rapid response test which may return results within a half-hour but miss out on some of the biological details. Those faster diagnostics may be able to sense whether or not you’re generally infected with COVID, but not necessarily whether it’s the Delta strain specifically that’s afflicting you.

This is a weird thing to say, because a rapid test will never tell you if it's Delta specifically. That's not what those tests do; it's a simple one line or two like a pregnancy test. So it's weird it says "not necessarily."

[AbcdeDooDah]

AFAIK, the general PCR tests don’t distinguish variants, either. They need to be sequenced.

[KSera]

1 minute ago, AbcdeDooDah said:

AFAIK, the general PCR tests don’t distinguish variants, either. They need to be sequenced.

Yeah, it’s like the article was written by someone who really didn’t understand what they were talking about.

[MEmama]

Hoping you are feeling better and that further testing continues to be negative! 

[DawnM]

We have all had whatever bug is going around, and it isn't Covid.   Two of us have been tested.   Sore throat, cough, fever, tired.    

[Danae]

9 hours ago, PeterPan said:

I'm not sure, but I thought someone told me the rapid tests don't show Delta, that you'd need a pcr.

Your “someone” is spreading false information.

They show positive for covid if you have the delta variant but they don’t show which variant. So you won’t know whether you have delta or original covid or some other variant.

[maize]

There are plenty of non-covid bugs going around. Something nasty has been making its way through my family for the past couple of weeks--sore throat, fever, cough. Three of us have tested and six negative covid tests later (3 rapid, 3 PCR) I'm quite confident that it isn't covid. 

[freesia]

54 minutes ago, DawnM said:

We have all had whatever bug is going around, and it isn't Covid.   Two of us have been tested.   Sore throat, cough, fever, tired.    

Dd, who for various reasons was tested (PCR and rapid) twice a week for about three weeks, had this, too. She was definitely negative but definitely sick. It was just a summer virus ( part of me thinks she probably got it at one of the clinics she was tested at!)

In your case, I would do the second Binax at 36 hours. But, bc you seem very worried, there’s no harm in getting a PCR at CVS or urgent care just to be sure. 

[DawnM]

1 minute ago, freesia said:

Dd, who for various reasons was tested (PCR and rapid) twice a week for about three weeks, had this, too. She was definitely negative but definitely sick. It was just a summer virus ( part of me thinks she probably got it at one of the clinics she was tested at!)

In your case, I would do the second Binax at 36 hours. But, bc you seem very worried, there’s no harm in getting a PCR at CVS or urgent care just to be sure. 

Is that 2nd part of your post to the OP?   I am not very worried, although my dad has it now so there is some concern, but not for Covid, just concern at his cough.

[whitestavern]

21 minutes ago, Danae said:

Your “someone” is spreading false information.

They show positive for covid if you have the delta variant but they don’t show which variant. So you won’t know whether you have delta or original covid or some other variant.

Isn't that exactly what PeterPan said? That's how I interpreted it, anyway.

[freesia]

25 minutes ago, DawnM said:

Is that 2nd part of your post to the OP?   I am not very worried, although my dad has it now so there is some concern, but not for Covid, just concern at his cough.

Oh, yes, sorry. 

[Farrar]

Honestly, on an individual level, it doesn't actually matter which variant you have. Y'all know that, right? It's Covid. The initial symptoms are slightly different with Delta (stuffy noses, hives, both more common, loss of smell/taste a bit less common) so it's useful to know that. It matters for public health folks to think about the spread and all that. But if you have Covid, it matters very little which variant you caught. You definitely don't need a test that tells you which one anyway.

[Danae]

20 minutes ago, whitestavern said:

Isn't that exactly what PeterPan said? That's how I interpreted it, anyway.

Person A:  I’m worried I might have Covid.  I took a rapid test and it was negative but I’m still worried.

Person B:  Someone told me the rapid tests don’t show Delta, you need a PCR.

 

Either Person B is posting a non sequitur, since Person A didn’t say she wanted to know what variant she might have, or Person B is offering the incorrect information that the delta variant won’t show as a positive on a rapid test.

[lmrich]

This was me a week ago. Not Covid - summer cold that turned into a sinus infection. Drink lots of fluids and take care of yourself; worrying about the past is not going to help you get better. 

[PeterPan]

52 minutes ago, Danae said:

Your “someone” is spreading false information.

Is there some reason you have to be so rude about it?? It's not "false information". They were just apparently incorrect. And it was my daughter (who was sick and trying to arrange testing before a visit) and I hadn't had time to research it for myself, which means this was more of an ask if anything. But apparently rudeness is the fashion.

[Danae]

1 minute ago, PeterPan said:

Is there some reason you have to be so rude about it?? It's not "false information". They were just apparently incorrect. And it was my daughter (who was sick and trying to arrange testing before a visit) and I hadn't had time to research it for myself, which means this was more of an ask if anything. But apparently rudeness is the fashion.

It was not my intent to be rude.   I don’t understand the distinction you are making here between “incorrect” and “false.” The statement was not true.  If I had said your source was spreading incorrect information would that have read as less rude to you?

[Kanin]

Throat better today. I'll do another BINAX at 36 hours.

Question is, at what point are people supposed to do a PCR? Or even a home rapid test? Since I have a sore throat, am I obligated to try to find out what it is? (I do want to know if it's covid, but I'm not sure if I should definitely seek out a PCR.)

I could see a family doing rapid tests all the time, if they're the kind of family that catches everything that goes around.

[Kanin]

Adding to this, I think I would be pretty mad if I knew that someone had potential covid symptoms and did not try to figure out what it was before going out into the world. If you can stay home all the time, fine, but it's a different story if you need to access anything outside your home. 

If you're a person that gets random sore throats like me, it's going to be challenging.....

[Kanin]

18 hours ago, gardenmom5 said:

there are a lot of viruses that cause sore throats that aren't covid.  I have EBV, so I get one every. time. it. flares!  (It's what led my dr to test me for EBV.)  Then I caught my grandsons cold.  sigh.

salt water gargles, decongestants, etc.  dairy tends to produce mucus, but clear liquids will help with drainage.

Maybe I should be tested for this.

[gardenmom5]

4 minutes ago, Kanin said:

Maybe I should be tested for this.

before being tested, you might want to research it to see if that's even your issue.   a sore throat is just one symptom among many.  I've been in and out of drs for years without being correctly diagnosed.

[Pawz4me]

15 minutes ago, Kanin said:

Maybe I should be tested for this.

Most people carry the EBV. DH has been tested for it and has it, but none of his doctors think it’s anything worth concern. Which begs the question of why he was tested for it to begin with, and that I don’t know other than it was one of a zillion other things he’s been tested for. 

[Terabith]

I think it's responsible to take steps towards figuring out if you have covid before you go out and about.  And, as much as possible, I think it is very important to stay home if you have a contagious illness, even if it's just a cold.  But I don't think it's morally necessary for all of your family members to stay home if you have a non covid illness, for instance, and I think if you have symptoms that are not necessarily a contagious illness (for example, allergies, issues with air quality, etc), once you've taken the prudent steps of testing for covid, I think it's reasonable to continue daily life.  

I don't think it's important to figure out exact virus causing an illness, though.  

Edited August 7, 2021 by Terabith

[gardenmom5]

18 hours ago, Pawz4me said:

Most people carry the EBV. DH has been tested for it and has it, but none of his doctors think it’s anything worth concern. Which begs the question of why he was tested for it to begin with, and that I don’t know other than it was one of a zillion other things he’s been tested for. 

yes - most people have antibodies.  it's a very specific tests that can tell if the virus is actively replicating.  My dr had to order it twice because the lab ran the wrong test.  (though my antibodies were over 600)