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Omicron anecdata?


Not_a_Number

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48 minutes ago, Spryte said:

My mother tested positive this morning, and is being moved to the quarantine wing of her nursing home. It was a routine test, but she has a sore throat and sounds congested.

I wish I could go hug her. She turns 81 tomorrow.

 

Am I misremembering, was your mom sick for a bit before this positive test?  Or maybe that was somebody else on this? 

Sending good thoughts to her and hope she has a mild case. 

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Public health experts say most of us will get COVID-19. What does that mean? : NPR

 

) Yeah, you know, Dr. Fauci was talking about the long run here, Ari. Not everyone is going to get infected during this current surge, though millions of people are. The World Health Organization has warned that about 50% of people in Europe will be infected with omicron in the next six to eight weeks, according to some models, and it could be similar here in the U.S.

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6 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Am I misremembering, was your mom sick for a bit before this positive test?  Or maybe that was somebody else on this? 

Sending good thoughts to her and hope she has a mild case. 

She did have some minor symptoms a week or two ago, but tested negative. I'm not sure if I mentioned it here. She has a wicked cough now.

Lots of Covid here, though. I’ve posted about some of them, so you might remember those!

DH’s 96 yr old grandma just recovered.

And my ILs are at the same facility, and have both been very ill with the same symptoms that turned into pneumonia and bronchitis. They never tested positive on their RATs. Being treated as positive, though. MIL just started hospice yesterday, but we are hoping that she’s back to her baseline now.

On a different note, my mom called me early this week, upset because her roommate had three visitors in their room for a few hours. My mom has been hanging in the room and not going out to activities, hoping to avoid Covid. I told her to put a mask on, and stay on her side, to alleviate anxiety, but man. The timing is crummy. She could have caught it from staff, but the visitors were not tested, like staff members.

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5 minutes ago, Spryte said:

She did have some minor symptoms a week or two ago, but tested negative. I'm not sure if I mentioned it here. She has a wicked cough now.

Lots of Covid here, though. I’ve posted about some of them, so you might remember those!

DH’s 96 yr old grandma just recovered.

And my ILs are at the same facility, and have both been very ill with the same symptoms that turned into pneumonia and bronchitis. They never tested positive on their RATs. Being treated as positive, though. MIL just started hospice yesterday, but we are hoping that she’s back to her baseline now.

On a different note, my mom called me early this week, upset because her roommate had three visitors in their room for a few hours. My mom has been hanging in the room and not going out to activities, hoping to avoid Covid. I told her to put a mask on, and stay on her side, to alleviate anxiety, but man. The timing is crummy. She could have caught it from staff, but the visitors were not tested, like staff members.

Your poor mom. That's so awful. It must really suck to have a roommate whose behavior you cannot control. 

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1 hour ago, Spryte said:

My mother tested positive this morning, and is being moved to the quarantine wing of her nursing home. It was a routine test, but she has a sore throat and sounds congested.

I wish I could go hug her. She turns 81 tomorrow.

 

Poor you, and poor mom. I wish you could go hug her, too. 💛

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32 minutes ago, Spryte said:

She could have caught it from staff, but the visitors were not tested, like staff members.

I'm sorry, that's terrible.  To visit my mum, I have to test negative in the 24 hours before each visit and I have to wear a medical mask of some kind (not cloth).

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11 minutes ago, Laura Corin said:

I'm sorry, that's terrible.  To visit my mum, I have to test negative in the 24 hours before each visit and I have to wear a medical mask of some kind (not cloth).

I’m so glad they have you test ahead of time! It’s not a perfect solution, but a help.

Visitors are supposed to wear masks, and there’s a temp screening when we walk in, but no testing. Residents don’t mask in their rooms, and while I keep mine on throughout the visit, not sure all visitors do.

The facility has a current outbreak among staff, so my mom could have picked this up from staff, too. Who knows?

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7 minutes ago, Spryte said:

I’m so glad they have you test ahead of time! It’s not a perfect solution, but a help.

Visitors are supposed to wear masks, and there’s a temp screening when we walk in, but no testing. Residents don’t mask in their rooms, and while I keep mine on throughout the visit, not sure all visitors do.

The facility has a current outbreak among staff, so my mom could have picked this up from staff, too. Who knows?

The preschooler that tested positive in my kids german Saturday school was asymptomatic. No one would have guessed. Their German school has to do random tests weekly because they are renting public school facilities.

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1 minute ago, Arcadia said:

The preschooler that tested positive in my kids german Saturday school was asymptomatic. No one would have guessed. Their German school has to do random tests weekly because they are renting public school facilities.

Yes, between asymptomatic infections and RATs that don’t always catch it, there’s no way to know.

The facility my mom and ILs are in tests every staff member and resident twice weekly, with RATs. They catch a lot of asymptomatic cases! 

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5 minutes ago, wilrunner said:

What's happening with Idaho? They seem to consistently be doing better than the rest of the country. Is it less testing or are they in general doing better?

I'm not sure why Covid Act Now is showing "no data" (gray) for Idaho — Worldometer had Idaho posting their highest case number ever yesterday, and their positivity is 28%.

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4 hours ago, Soror said:

Dh tested positive on an at home test Monday (he then tested pos at his work clinic Tues- he said pretty sure the same test as he used at home). He started feeling a bit icky Saturday. Half of his office is out with Covid so I'm sure that is where he got it. He is still not feeling great. It started with a horrible headache and joint pain. Now he has more sinus congestion, some fatigue, and random headaches and joint pain. He was vaxxed but not boosted, despite my insistence. It had went around many times at work and he never caught it so he thought he was going to be lucky.

I had a bit of sinus issues earlier in the week but that went away. Dd2 had a few random stomach pains and now reduced appetite. Everyone else is fine.

We are not quarantining him in the house as it had already been 2 days at that point. He didn't find out about the others having Covid until he got it (hipaa and it happened at the end of the week he didn't know why people were out). 

I have a few more tests here but am waiting to use them as they are not easy to get. Testing slots are limited for the pcr and always days out.

ETA: I just got boosted in Dec and my younger 2 finished their shots then. I meant for my 17 and 14 yr old to get boosted over christmas but it didn't happen so they will be going early next week

I'd probably book some PCR tests now, for several days from now, so you have them if you need them. If you don't you can cancel. 

4 hours ago, Spryte said:

My mother tested positive this morning, and is being moved to the quarantine wing of her nursing home. It was a routine test, but she has a sore throat and sounds congested.

I wish I could go hug her. She turns 81 tomorrow.

 

Hugs to her!

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My 16 yo double vaxxed (not sure if he was boosted yet) nephew, who didn't get covid three weeks ago when his dad had it, just got it now, second week back to school. He took his mask off for PE, so my SIL assumes that was the culprit. She says he had a high fever a couple of days ago and now has cold symptoms: stuffy nose, headache, cough.

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3 minutes ago, kokotg said:

My 16 yo double vaxxed (not sure if he was boosted yet) nephew, who didn't get covid three weeks ago when his dad had it, just got it now, second week back to school. He took his mask off for PE, so my SIL assumes that was the culprit. She says he had a high fever a couple of days ago and now has cold symptoms: stuffy nose, headache, cough.

I think a lot of times what is happening in these cases is the immune system just gets beat down over time...so exposure for days on end, wearing out the immune system for lack of a technical explanation, and then another exposure soon after and they just don't have the reserves to fight it off. 

 

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2 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

I sure feel like I'm experiencing "Chemo Brain" after an otherwise mild case of Covid. Daily head-aches at the base of the brain that feels like pressure. I can't focus for long to actually get much work done. I sure hope this doesn't last for 7 weeks, but knowing that it will improve in time is very reassuring! 

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just found out my SIL has been sick since last Friday and had a fever/chills on Sunday. She tested negative via home test and never retested. Now my nephew is sick--fever, headache, sore throat. I personally think it is likely to be COVID, although my husband just told me about a coworker with a horrid case of strep that was so bad the doctor said if he had waited another day he would be in the hospital.  It's tough out there right now. 

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13 minutes ago, cintinative said:

just found out my SIL has been sick since last Friday and had a fever/chills on Sunday. She tested negative via home test and never retested. Now my nephew is sick--fever, headache, sore throat. I personally think it is likely to be COVID, although my husband just told me about a coworker with a horrid case of strep that was so bad the doctor said if he had waited another day he would be in the hospital.  It's tough out there right now. 

Ugh.

There is indeed plenty of other illness! Flu, strep, stomach bug, and random not-covid crud all very prevalent here. In addition to Omicron. 

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10 hours ago, Ali in OR said:

I have a couple of students who were out last week with Covid that are back now. Like one tested positive last Monday and one last Tuesday or Wednesday. Our district just changed their positive-test isolation period from 10 to 5 days. So far I have not seen spread within a class. Like the girl who sat in class with one of these students for 90 minutes is still there, not sick. I counted notifications of 9 students last week and we got an email yesterday that so far there were 28 total in our school, so I'm guessing 17 the first few days of this week.

Our county (whose rules our district must follow) changed the positive-test isolation period from 10 to 5 days (with masking on days 6-10) but only for schools with universal masking. Which our district (and most others nearby) does not have. It's like the the health department is saying, "Screw you, you districts who refused to follow our recommendations, you will have to deal with your staff and students being out longer," and I think it's AWESOME. Our superintendent (who may have made a mask mandate if there hadn't been such intense pressure from parents not to) made it very clear in their email update to parents that the isolation period remains 10 days because we do not have universal masking.

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I'll post our experience:

Dh: Negative test, no symptoms, then flu-symptoms 8 hours later followed by positive test. Felt crummy for 4 days. Fully vaxed.
Me: Mild flu symptoms for 2-3 days. Fully vaxed.
Dd25: Strong flu symptoms for 4-5 days. Fully vaxed
Ds24: Mild fever, lots of chest congestion for 4-5 days. Not vaxed.
Dd18: Strong flu symptoms for 4 days. Fully vaxed
Dd16: Hit hard for 5 long days. Fully vaxed. Put on antibiotics for tele-health diagnosed strep, fast recovery after meds started.
Dd15: Nothing. Not so much as a sniffle. No vax.
Dd13: Nothing. No vax
Ds11: Very minor throat irritation, nothing more. No vax.
Ds10: Nothing. No vax.
Dd10: Minor flu symptoms. No vax.
Ds7: 24 hour fever then fine. No vax.
Ds4: 2 days of mild fever. No vax.

No one had to go to the doctor. Two tele-health calls for antibiotics (strep). Fevers ranged from 100-104. I initially thought this was the flu and a very mild one at that, especially with my younger kids. We would not have even tested save for dh's work wanted him to. No one had smell/taste loss or body aches/fatigue beyond what I'd expect from fevers.


Those who got fevers also had mild sore throats and 2 of us had chest "pressure" for a day or less.

Not sure if this is helpful or not, but there it is. All of this began on a Friday and everyone was fine by Wednesday.
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13 hours ago, wilrunner said:

What's happening with Idaho? They seem to consistently be doing better than the rest of the country. Is it less testing or are they in general doing better?

Definitely less testing if any.  I live near the border and know people in various small schools in rural Idaho (20 students in a school to about 140 in others),  so it has been an interesting observation these last few years.  A mix of vaxed (teachers) with masks, lots of sanitizing all the way to not a care in the world it seems.  Some of these families have had sicknesses the past year ("He had RSV with a fever and tightness in his chest."), but none that I have talked with ever mention getting tested or even use the C word.  There are grandparents raising grandchildren which I have been concerned about, but none that I know have been sick from it yet. Or if they have, it has been mild. Their health doesn't seem to be the best to begin with. 🤷‍♀️ I pick and choose which stores I will go to when I need to. Lately there have been a 'few' wearing masks at a local grocery store, which is up from a few months ago. 🤪   The news mentions 220 new cases in the Panhandle area today, so yeah, they have it. 

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@BakersDozen and anyone else with input:

My SIL and nephew 16 both have COVID (second set of tests confirmed although first were negative).  Apparently 16 y.o. is miserable. He is vaxxed, not sure of booster. What can they do, if anything, to help him with the symptoms?  Symptoms are fever, sore throat, achy.  Apparently his sore throat is so bad he can't sleep.  I told her to call the pediatrician. I wonder if he could have strep as well as COVID?

 

Edited by cintinative
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6 minutes ago, cintinative said:

@BakersDozen and anyone else with input:

My SIL and nephew 16 both have COVID (second set of tests confirmed although first were negative).  Apparently 16 y.o. is miserable. He is vaxxed, not sure of booster. What can they do, if anything, to help him with the symptoms?  Symptoms are fever, sore throat, achy.  Apparently his sore throat is so bad he can't sleep.  I told her to call the pediatrician. I wonder if he could have strep as well as COVID?

 

I’m assuming they’re already doing ibuprofen and Tylenol?  They usually work well for my kids sore throats.  I’ve also read about coating it with a spoonful of honey.  As kids we used to use Chlorospetic  numbing spray.  Personally, I always take NyQuil so I can sleep when sick.  What about a hot toddy so he can sleep?  There are lots of recipes for one online.  I hope he feels better soon!  And yes, I’d test for strep to be safe.

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57 minutes ago, cintinative said:

@BakersDozen and anyone else with input:

My SIL and nephew 16 both have COVID (second set of tests confirmed although first were negative).  Apparently 16 y.o. is miserable. He is vaxxed, not sure of booster. What can they do, if anything, to help him with the symptoms?  Symptoms are fever, sore throat, achy.  Apparently his sore throat is so bad he can't sleep.  I told her to call the pediatrician. I wonder if he could have strep as well as COVID?

 

I’d go in for a strep test for sure. We don’t have experience with covid (thankfully) but throat hurting so bad you can’t sleep definitely sounds like strep to me. Assuming no health reasons where he can’t, he needs to be taking Advil/Tylenol around the clock (just like with fever). 2 Advil. Four hours later 2 Tylenol. Four hours later 2 Advil. And so on. Set the clock and don’t miss a dose! I had strep recently and his throat issue sounds just like mine—couldn’t sleep and one Advil here and there wasn’t working. The urgent care doctor is the one who told me I needed to be taking the meds like that to get the pain under control until the antibiotics kicked in (24 hours later). 

hope he feels better soon!

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40 minutes ago, cintinative said:

Ped won't let him come in with COVID without doing telehealth first. I hope they agree to do the strep swab. I understand them not wanting a COVID kid in their office. It's hard.

That is definitely hard and unfortunate. I would not want strep to continue longer than necessary. I was so miserable I couldn’t have made it another day or two without antibiotics. In my experience, urgent care has been great for seeing us when we are sick, if that’s a possibility. 
 

ETA: meaning all urgent care facilities have seen us and been really good about seeing us during the pandemic. Once, when our pcm wouldn’t see my dc because he had covid symptoms (he ended up having an ear infection, not covid) And then when I had strep (sore throat being a covid symptom, but was actually a strep infection)

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Two members of staff at Mum's care home have tested positive.  The home is waiting for Public Health to come and test the residents (I suspect that this is done centrally to make sure that unscrupulous home owners don't fake negative results) and decide whether to close the doors.  I'm going to see Mum tonight - I'm vaxxed and boostered and will be well-masked - in case I can't see her for a while.  She's vaccinated and boostered (Pfizer throughout) but, given that she's 97, it's hard to know what kind of immune response she has had to the vaccination. 

The staff are not brilliant at staying masked all the time around the residents.  It's a small home with just 22 staff including cook and cleaners, so she's likely to have had contact with those members of staff.

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3 hours ago, cintinative said:

@BakersDozen and anyone else with input:

My SIL and nephew 16 both have COVID (second set of tests confirmed although first were negative).  Apparently 16 y.o. is miserable. He is vaxxed, not sure of booster. What can they do, if anything, to help him with the symptoms?  Symptoms are fever, sore throat, achy.  Apparently his sore throat is so bad he can't sleep.  I told her to call the pediatrician. I wonder if he could have strep as well as COVID?

 

I have heard people say their throats felt like they had knives in them with Omicron, so it's quite possible it's just Covid.

Symptoms definitely vary and not everyone experiences that much throat pain.

This is really basic but I think warm showers, herbal tea (dd was loving raspberry tea with stevia), soup and popsicles make a difference during the day. She had one night where she couldn't sleep and then slept better after that. 

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I've not read (and have no plans to read) 24 pages of Omicron discussion, but I'll respond to the OP re experiences:

My unvaccinated, previously-uninfected 18 yo son had a quick positive on a home test recently. I had the test on hand only because it was left over from a two-pack from a couple of months ago or I would not even have tested him. He was mildly fluish-feeling for about 36 hours. No fever. No sniffles. Mild sore throat. He was completely back to normal after 36 hours, and by "normal," I mean well enough to work out and run. No one else in our household of 5 caught it, including those of us who were in a car with him while he was symptomatic, and we took zero precautions around him. Two of us had extremely mild confirmed cases last January and March. To summarize, there have been three cases in our household over the last 12 months, and no one has caught it from anyone else despite our taking minimal-to-no precautions around each other. Go figure.

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