Coincidence or....?

My son is an Intensive Care consultant in London - he took the antibody test last week and it came back negative, as it did for many of his co-workers who had definitely had the virus. Friends of mine who were convinced they caught the virus in late December/early January were also tested: the husband’s result was positive; the wife’s negative even though she had been more ill than him. It’s not a reliable test - and according to my son, just because you don’t appear to have antibodies does not mean you are not immune.

You can take the antibody test, just google it, but you have to pay for it. Daughter took it, she came back from Geneva airport with the super spreader end of January, and was ill for weeks afterwards, still has no sense of taste or smell. Her husband then became ill. They sent off for the tests, paying £99 each. His came back positive, hers negative. Apparently can give false negatives.

Interesting article in the Telegraph on Sunday, if you had been exposed to SARS your T cells from that would attack CV-19 and get rid of it before you had a chance to make antibodies.

The symptoms your family had do sound like those now acknowledged as being linked to this virus. There is now also scientific evidence showing that various rashes are seen in some people with Covid 19. I think the research is showing it’s an immune system response, often in those that don’t end up needing hospital admission for breathing difficulties. Here is a link to the recent information.

covid.joinzoe.com/post/covid-skinrash

I had ‘flu’ when I was away in Gran Canaria with my friend in January. I remember waking up on the morning of January 21st (2 days before Wuhan went into lockdown!) with the most awful painful cough, shivering, temperature and basically feeling horribly poorly. This lasted for 4 days which ruined my holiday. I put it down to a rogue flu virus because I’d had the seasonal flu vaccine September before ?‍♀️ Strangely my friend didn’t catch. Looking back I’m now wondering if it was Covid! I probably infected half of GC and most of the passengers on the plane going home!! Oops! I work for the NHS in the community so I’m hoping at some stage I’ll be able to get an antibody test. I’m curious to see if it was perhaps Covid19 ?

It does make you wonder. I became ill on New Years Eve with a dreadful cough which continued for weeks. Doctor said I had a virus and I could hardly get out of bed for weeks and I do wonder if perhaps that I had the virus as we were abroad at the time.

I'm pretty certain I had it mid January as had a pesistant cough, was very hot, couldn't breathe very well and had "pink eye" which is also a symptom but as I cant get a anti-body test I wont know

No coincidence... why do you think it’s called Covid-19..... they’ve known about this longer than you might think!

I had the worst sore throat for about 3 weeks in March and weird rashes and weepy red eyes and now wonder if I had it. I know quite a few people who have had antibody tests - both private (and expensive) and NHS ones who almost certainly had the virus (including 2 doctors) and they have all had negative antibody tests. Either the tests are very unreliable or the antibodies last for a very short time.

I have had the theory that Covid has been around in the UK for longer than officially stated, or at least a variance of it at least.
I also think that there are people that, without realising it are carriers of the virus or have had a very mild version and not realised.
What about all those groups of teenagers wandering the streets in groups that many communities have been complaining about ? I really can't believe that they are totally immune or is it a case of some of the immunisations that they have had have in some way been providing a protection?
Will we ever know?

My daughter, myself and three grandchildren were all ill in November 2019. I spent two days mostly in bed as I felt so ill (most unusual for me) We had headaches, aching joints, sore throats, runny noses and coughs but put it down to the Winter flu bug. I think we have had a version of the C-19 virus and that it was here long before the official date.

My DD & GD were both very ill end of last year and had weeks off school and work. It took many more weeks before they fully recovered. I had a short burst of the same thing early this year.

I am convinced it was around far earlier than we were led to believe, I was really poorly over Christmas and New Year, then I developed a hacking cough which lasted for weeks, and left me totally exhausted. I was given antibiotics but the dr told me it was unusual but that he had had several patients with the same symptoms but they didn't know what it was and really couldn’t afford to do any investigations.

Rather worried about reading that people with blood group A are more badly affected, also people on blood pressure medication plus my age (70) as I've got all three! I wonder how much scientific evidence is in all this?

Lizbethann - your GS most likely had hand foot mouth in February as my young GD did. Never seen a rash like it before particularly nasty around mouth and bum. Doctor said there was an outbreak in the area.

GrandmaKT antibody tests are not yet widely available to anyone in the UK.
SueDonim my daughter works in the NHS and became very ill with Covid symptoms. She recovered and has recently been tested for antibodies. The results came back negative. The consultant who did her test explained at length to her why this might be - dependent on viral load etc. She was quite disappointed that she couldn't claim to have antibodies, but grateful to have perhaps had it quite mildly, despite being very ill.

I’m sure me and DH had it in January. Absolutely exhausted with a dry cough. I returned to work to find about 50% of the staff absent with similar symptoms. I’m diabetic and my sugar readings have shot up plus I got a strange lumpy, itchy rash on my lower leg.

I'm just wondering why all the people who suspect they might have had it don't just get a test and then they will know? Or isn't it that easy in the UK?

i was just reading that people with blood group O seem to be more resistant, whereas blood group A are more badly affected.
any link there ?
and the vitamin D deficiency. that of the hospital admissions, those that were Vit D deficient were almost bound to die. whereas v few of those who had enough died.
anyone else read that recently? have i got that right ? (bit late night.)

I was ill over Christmas with the same symptoms and only realised that my loss of sense of smell could have been a symptom.
A woman I had spent time with a few days before I got the dry cough and felt really poorly was hospitalised with pneumonia then died suddenly. It was a shock but I now wonder if she had COVID19.
Our local hospital had an early spike of cases.

If I had the test and found I had antibodies perhaps I could relax a bit more.

We had both had the pneumonia jab a couple of years ago.

To add to that...DH had a cough in December ( around the 18th) and then soon developed a worrying temperature and went downhill fast.I called the GP who came and then he requested an ambulance.The upshot was that DH spent five days in ICU with pneumonia then a few days on the ward before coming home again.He was told he was very lucky to have survived it and it could take six months to fully recover.
It’s taken five months.
He never had flu ( which sometimes goes into pneumonia) just a cough and then a very high temp.
He does wonder if he has antibodies now, or if he is more susceptible, so is shielding ( we both are.)

As we now know the virus affected athletes at the world military games held in wuhan in October 2019 ( evidence given by French and Spanish athletes)
Look at the aerial photos of parking at 5 wuhan hospitals compared to the year before.
I'm convinced that I, and several friends had it before Xmas. I have little sense of taste or smell.

My husband and myself were both very ill at Christmas with a flu like illness.We were really ill for about four weeks but are still not back to full health.Still have a cough and get tired quite quickly.
My husband ended up in A and E.We were there for hours.He had a chest X-ray and blood tests then we were whisked out of the waiting room into a side room and he was given a face mask to wear.
We have never been given the full results of the tests he had, told it was a virus.

We had weird illnesses around Xmas , then I had another in March in which I lost my sense of taste and smell, which still hasn’t come back properly.

I’m doubtful it’s Covid, though, as I know a few people who’ve had similar and had testing because of their work but a/b tests came back negative. Maybe that‘s because they haven’t developed immunity, though. We’ve still so much to learn about this illness.

Some people experience covid with a horrible rash, Lizbbethan55, your DGS may well be considered as having suspected covid.

It will maybe be reassuring when antibody tests are widely available. Especially since a minority may well be left with after effects or ongoing problems, which may be or can be poo pooed if there is no evidence through adequate antibody testing.