19 ms·

Good anecdote. I also had a "weird cold" in February with symptoms that are unusual for me but typical of COVID-19, and have been waiting to get the antibody t

Good anecdote. I also had a "weird cold" in February with symptoms that are unusual for me but typical of COVID-19, and have been waiting to get the antibody test. I kind of expect it to turn out the same way. (Otherwise, I would really like to figure out what the "weird cold" that everyone had in February was. Because it sure was weird, and everyone I know had it.)

ssully 7y ago
I had something weird in March. It was a mix of a mild burning feeling in my chest, loss of appetite, and fatigue. I honestly thought it was just anxiety related to the quarantine manifesting in symptoms, and it very well might have been, but I have no idea.
GabeIsman 7y ago
Another New Yorker with a weird cold at the end of February here!
ardit33 7y ago
took this test this Friday (Quest Direct) in NYC and tested negative. In late Feb. I had a 'flu like symptoms' with fever and massive headache for few days. What worried me later is that I had the 'can't taste anything' symptom a week later. No coughing though. If you read online, you see people swear they had it at some point this winter. So, if you had a 'flu like' symptoms in Feb or early March, perhaps it was just that... It cost $110 and personally I think it was worth it... (it is a reminder to be more careful as I can still get it)...
- jrockway 7y ago
  I also signed up for the test. Should be interesting.
- CydeWeys 7y ago
  Similar story here, had COVID-19-like symptoms in mid-March, but the Abbott test (administered at CityMD) came back negative. It makes me wonder what exactly is going on with this test. Do some people not produce antibodies? Is it overly specific to one strain of the virus and other people in NYC got a different strain that doesn't produce compatible antibodies? Was there some non-COVID-19 respiratory infection that hit NYC at around that same time that went under the radar? Is this test somehow just not as good as we think it is?
  - Marsymars 7y ago
    > Was there some non-COVID-19 respiratory infection that hit NYC at around that same time that went under the radar? Not really under the radar, there are always a lot of respiratory illnesses. In my area, after reducing non-covid cold/flu by an order of magnitude due to social distancing, we're testing everyone with cold/flu symptoms, and they're still ~96.5% not covid-19.
    - CydeWeys 7y ago
      Yeah, but I'm in NYC. Since some inflection point in March the vast majority of patients presenting with these symptoms do in fact have COVID-19. Being the global epicenter of the pandemic will do that :/
      - Marsymars 7y ago
        Slim majority, not vast - NYC test positivity rate peaked at around 55% IIRC.
        CydeWeys 7y ago
        A lot of those tests were people not presenting with COVID-19 symptoms though. Think of all the asymptomatic people who were getting tested; that group had a much lower test positivity rate than 55%, thus bringing the average down. For people who had all the right symptoms, it was higher than 55%.
        Marsymars 7y ago
        That effect doesn't seem like it would skew a larger difference between Alberta and NYC test positivity rates. If anything, that would depress Alberta test positivity rates more than NYC ones, since we've got more spare testing capacity for people without all the right symptoms.
        CydeWeys 7y ago
- StavrosK 7y ago
  Keep in mind that many coronaviruses can cause loss of smell/taste.
  - ben-schaaf 7y ago
    Pretty much any URTI can cause loss of taste. The loss of smell causes loss of taste.
  - rindalir 7y ago
    But which other coronaviruses are widely circulating right now is the question. As in, if you were to lose your smell because of a coronavirus, how likely is it that it was not SARS-CoV-2?
    - bkanber 7y ago
      I don't know the absolute figures in terms of cases per year, but the four common coronaviruses are... common. From [1], we see that 1 in 200 flu-like infections was the coronavirus HKU1. This [2] paper corroborates and gives figures for the other three common viruses. We can therefore assume that about 1 in 25 bad-cold or flu-like illnesses are caused by a coronavirus. 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5466428/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5466428/
- Scipio_Afri 7y ago
  Just to put this in some context, but the Quest Diagnostics and other tests currently available are good but not great. For example, from their website there are the following disclaimers: This test has not been reviewed by the FDA. Positive results may be due to past or present infection with non-SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus strains, such as coronavirus HKU1, NL63, OC43, or 229E. Negative results do not rule out SARS-CoV-2 infection, particularly in those who have been in contact with the virus. Follow-up testing with a molecular diagnostic should be considered to rule out infection in these individuals. Results from antibody testing should not be used as the sole basis to diagnose or exclude SARS-CoV-2 infection or to inform infection status. https://www.questdiagnostics.com/home/Covid-19/HCP/ https://www.questdiagnostics.com/home/Covid-19/HCP/ Other sources state the following, however its important that not a lot of research has been done to validate the manufacturers specifications, of these tests such as specificity. Only over time and independent review will these numbers be more accurately quantified: "The company started out using the Euroimmun AG Anti-SARS-CoV-2 ELISA IgG antibody test and then added the Abbott IgG antibody test. It is continuing to use both tests, although the Abbott test has become the primary platform. Euroimmun is a division of Perkin Elmer. Both tests have received emergency use authorization from the FDA; only 10 serology tests have received this designation from the agency. The Euroimmun IgG test has a reported specificity of 96% and sensitivity of 65%, while the Abbott test claims a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 99.5%. The FDA has just cracked down on serology tests requiring supporting validation documentation to be submitted within 10 business days of an initial notification."
tmh88j 7y ago
Same here, had a lingering cough for nearly a month. The other weird part is I had flu-like symptoms for 3-4 days before I had any congestion and a runny nose. I can't recall any other time I've had a cold that didn't result in congestion within 24 hours of the first sign symptoms like a cough or sore throat. Just an anecdote, won't know until I'm able to get tested.
- jrockway 7y ago
  Yeah, I know exactly what you're talking about. I get a lot of colds, and they are all the same. The day before, I have a ton of unexplained energy. Then my body hurts. Then my throat hurts. Then it's like that for a week. It is always the same. Whatever I had in February was completely different. The cough is all I really remember. It is so rare for me to get a cough that even though I was around people that were coughing, I didn't really expect to get sick. But get sick I did. (Oddly the thought of COVID-19 never crossed my mind even once during the whole thing. I knew about it but I didn't make the connection at all. It seems so strange to me in retrospect.)
- texasbigdata 7y ago
  Exactly the same symptoms and timeline. I wonder if airport at full volume "tagged" everyone that travelled in early Q1.
y-c-o-m-b 7y ago
"Weird cold" in February checking in. I did not have any temperature variations or fevers, but I got struck with a fatigue like no other. For the first time since I was 3 years old, I took afternoon naps three days in a row because I was just completely wiped out. It's rare for me to take a nap at all (happens maybe once a year)! It took two weeks to get out of this fatigued state. My other symptoms were "chills-like" sensations throughout the day, post-nasal drip and burning feeling in my chest/lungs but very minimal cough. My child did have COVID-19 symptoms back around Feb/March (can't remember exact time-frame) and I even wrote about that here on HN. Maybe I should take this test. I still think there's a possibility this virus was already in the US before 2020. I don't think they ever found a cause to the "mystery respiratory virus" in Virginia from July 2019: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/health-officials-to-give-update-after-respiratory-illness-sickens-dozens-at-virginia-retirement-community/135890/ https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/health-officials-to... > Three people have also died, but Dr. Benjamin Schwartz of the Fairfax County Health Department said Wednesday afternoon that those who died were "older" and had complex health problems. Officials don't yet know the extent to which the respiratory illness contributed to their deaths, he said.
- jfoster 7y ago
  I have been wondering why it is considered to have originated in Wuhan rather than Wuhan simply being the first major outbreak where it was identified as a novel coronavirus. Is it always the case that hospitals will be capable of identifying a new type of virus based on some patients who look like they have the flu? One thing that's known about covid-19 is that it has an unusual spread pattern. In some circumstances it might not spread too much (eg. average R0 is well less than 10) but in other circumstances where air is recirculating a lot or a particular patient is very contagious, it seems to spread a lot more. Couple that with many people being asymptomatic. So, what if it had been spreading in many places but Wuhan was simply the first place where it was detected? It seems to be capable of spreading without being detected for quite a while in many other parts of the world. (eg. Singapore's foreign worker dormitories)
  - shawabawa3 7y ago
concordDance 7y ago
Yet Another Weird February Cold with COVID-19 symptoms checking in.
TallGuyShort 7y ago
This is really only a step above anecdote in terms of sample size, but I know from nurses and doctors at all the nearby hospitals that they reached their capacity for respiratory / ICU cases (which is exceptionally unusual for them) right when the outbreak was supposed to be flaring up here (and what I mean by that is that there was the outbreak in China, then it was reported breaking out in other countries, then it was reported breaking out in Seattle, NY, and the Bay Area, then it was reported breaking out in our state capital and tourist hotspots, and then it broke out here, all in pretty regular succession). Now, maybe more people went to the hospital precisely because that sequence of reporting led them to think it was serious when they may not have before, so the timing was a self-fulfilling prophecy. Ultimately, we'll really know so little for certain until we've had ubiquitous testing and a lot more time to study this, and the best we can do until then is extrapolate & theorize from what little data we do have. But the "weird cold" stories I've heard from February and even as far back in November just don't seem consistent with what pneumonia patients hospitals have seen - because that's how this was initially noticed as being unusual in Wuhan.
Baeocystin 7y ago
Right there with you. I felt like I got hit by a truck, and wound up going to the hospital for IV + Tamiflu. Took three weeks to feel normal again, and usually I'm over a cold or actual flu within a week. I never skip getting my flu shot, either. Two things come to mind: The first is that the day I went to the hospital, there were so many of us with similar symptoms that we overflowed down the hallway. Second, when the triage nurse was talking to me, she off-handedly commented that everyone was saying they'd gotten their flu shots, yet there we were. We both kind of shrugged and guessed it just wasn't a very effective year. Now I very much wonder.
arcticbull 7y ago
I got wrecked by a cold in February, too -- late February. Got it from my friend. Neither of us ever get sick, and we both got wanged pretty hard. Same basic symptoms. Could have been the flu, could have been COVID. I'm gonna grab a test as soon as I can. [edit] Make that tomorrow at 1245p. Turns out "as soon as I can" is pretty soon!
randallsquared 7y ago
> what the "weird cold" that everyone had in February was. Probably just a different coronavirus or flu. I was sick for weeks in October 2019 with a dry cough and body aches plus lethargy that sound superficially similar, but the fact that whatever it was didn't produce packed ICUs seems to strongly indicate that it was something else. Lengthiest cold ever for me, though.
BearOso 7y ago
I had a weird bout of something in the middle of March. It was a mild fever, general weakness, and a strange pressure in my upper abdomen. It lasted a couple of weeks. Before that I had gone to see my GP for a med update for refills. Apparently my doctor also saw what would be one our area’s earlier coronavirus patients that same day. I’m presuming I got put into the same waiting room as that guy. I’d like to try an antibody test, too.
tomc1985 7y ago
I swear I had one of these too, but it was in December, in Vegas, at the AWS con. (It started thurs or fri, was kinda pissed cause I booked some extra days in town but ended up staying in) I don't remember all the symptoms, but I remember thinking how weird it felt and that "with a cold or the flu I usually get X" Not gonna call it covid because I don't have any proof, but a "weird cold" is definitely going around

ssully 7y ago

I had something weird in March. It was a mix of a mild burning feeling in my chest, loss of appetite, and fatigue. I honestly thought it was just anxiety related to the quarantine manifesting in symptoms, and it very well might have been, but I have no idea.

GabeIsman 7y ago

Another New Yorker with a weird cold at the end of February here!

ardit33 7y ago

took this test this Friday (Quest Direct) in NYC and tested negative. In late Feb. I had a 'flu like symptoms' with fever and massive headache for few days. What worried me later is that I had the 'can't taste anything' symptom a week later. No coughing though. If you read online, you see people swear they had it at some point this winter. So, if you had a 'flu like' symptoms in Feb or early March, perhaps it was just that... It cost $110 and personally I think it was worth it... (it is a reminder to be more careful as I can still get it)...

jrockway 7y ago
I also signed up for the test. Should be interesting.
CydeWeys 7y ago
Similar story here, had COVID-19-like symptoms in mid-March, but the Abbott test (administered at CityMD) came back negative. It makes me wonder what exactly is going on with this test. Do some people not produce antibodies? Is it overly specific to one strain of the virus and other people in NYC got a different strain that doesn't produce compatible antibodies? Was there some non-COVID-19 respiratory infection that hit NYC at around that same time that went under the radar? Is this test somehow just not as good as we think it is?
- Marsymars 7y ago
  > Was there some non-COVID-19 respiratory infection that hit NYC at around that same time that went under the radar? Not really under the radar, there are always a lot of respiratory illnesses. In my area, after reducing non-covid cold/flu by an order of magnitude due to social distancing, we're testing everyone with cold/flu symptoms, and they're still ~96.5% not covid-19.
  - CydeWeys 7y ago
    Yeah, but I'm in NYC. Since some inflection point in March the vast majority of patients presenting with these symptoms do in fact have COVID-19. Being the global epicenter of the pandemic will do that :/
    - Marsymars 7y ago
      Slim majority, not vast - NYC test positivity rate peaked at around 55% IIRC.
      - CydeWeys 7y ago
        A lot of those tests were people not presenting with COVID-19 symptoms though. Think of all the asymptomatic people who were getting tested; that group had a much lower test positivity rate than 55%, thus bringing the average down. For people who had all the right symptoms, it was higher than 55%.
        Marsymars 7y ago
        That effect doesn't seem like it would skew a larger difference between Alberta and NYC test positivity rates. If anything, that would depress Alberta test positivity rates more than NYC ones, since we've got more spare testing capacity for people without all the right symptoms.
        CydeWeys 7y ago
StavrosK 7y ago
Keep in mind that many coronaviruses can cause loss of smell/taste.
- ben-schaaf 7y ago
  Pretty much any URTI can cause loss of taste. The loss of smell causes loss of taste.
- rindalir 7y ago
  But which other coronaviruses are widely circulating right now is the question. As in, if you were to lose your smell because of a coronavirus, how likely is it that it was not SARS-CoV-2?
  - bkanber 7y ago
    I don't know the absolute figures in terms of cases per year, but the four common coronaviruses are... common. From [1], we see that 1 in 200 flu-like infections was the coronavirus HKU1. This [2] paper corroborates and gives figures for the other three common viruses. We can therefore assume that about 1 in 25 bad-cold or flu-like illnesses are caused by a coronavirus. 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5466428/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5466428/
Scipio_Afri 7y ago
Just to put this in some context, but the Quest Diagnostics and other tests currently available are good but not great. For example, from their website there are the following disclaimers: This test has not been reviewed by the FDA. Positive results may be due to past or present infection with non-SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus strains, such as coronavirus HKU1, NL63, OC43, or 229E. Negative results do not rule out SARS-CoV-2 infection, particularly in those who have been in contact with the virus. Follow-up testing with a molecular diagnostic should be considered to rule out infection in these individuals. Results from antibody testing should not be used as the sole basis to diagnose or exclude SARS-CoV-2 infection or to inform infection status. https://www.questdiagnostics.com/home/Covid-19/HCP/ https://www.questdiagnostics.com/home/Covid-19/HCP/ Other sources state the following, however its important that not a lot of research has been done to validate the manufacturers specifications, of these tests such as specificity. Only over time and independent review will these numbers be more accurately quantified: "The company started out using the Euroimmun AG Anti-SARS-CoV-2 ELISA IgG antibody test and then added the Abbott IgG antibody test. It is continuing to use both tests, although the Abbott test has become the primary platform. Euroimmun is a division of Perkin Elmer. Both tests have received emergency use authorization from the FDA; only 10 serology tests have received this designation from the agency. The Euroimmun IgG test has a reported specificity of 96% and sensitivity of 65%, while the Abbott test claims a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 99.5%. The FDA has just cracked down on serology tests requiring supporting validation documentation to be submitted within 10 business days of an initial notification."

tmh88j 7y ago

Same here, had a lingering cough for nearly a month. The other weird part is I had flu-like symptoms for 3-4 days before I had any congestion and a runny nose. I can't recall any other time I've had a cold that didn't result in congestion within 24 hours of the first sign symptoms like a cough or sore throat. Just an anecdote, won't know until I'm able to get tested.

jrockway 7y ago
Yeah, I know exactly what you're talking about. I get a lot of colds, and they are all the same. The day before, I have a ton of unexplained energy. Then my body hurts. Then my throat hurts. Then it's like that for a week. It is always the same. Whatever I had in February was completely different. The cough is all I really remember. It is so rare for me to get a cough that even though I was around people that were coughing, I didn't really expect to get sick. But get sick I did. (Oddly the thought of COVID-19 never crossed my mind even once during the whole thing. I knew about it but I didn't make the connection at all. It seems so strange to me in retrospect.)
texasbigdata 7y ago
Exactly the same symptoms and timeline. I wonder if airport at full volume "tagged" everyone that travelled in early Q1.

y-c-o-m-b 7y ago

"Weird cold" in February checking in. I did not have any temperature variations or fevers, but I got struck with a fatigue like no other. For the first time since I was 3 years old, I took afternoon naps three days in a row because I was just completely wiped out. It's rare for me to take a nap at all (happens maybe once a year)! It took two weeks to get out of this fatigued state. My other symptoms were "chills-like" sensations throughout the day, post-nasal drip and burning feeling in my chest/lungs but very minimal cough. My child did have COVID-19 symptoms back around Feb/March (can't remember exact time-frame) and I even wrote about that here on HN. Maybe I should take this test. I still think there's a possibility this virus was already in the US before 2020. I don't think they ever found a cause to the "mystery respiratory virus" in Virginia from July 2019: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/health-officials-to-give-update-after-respiratory-illness-sickens-dozens-at-virginia-retirement-community/135890/ https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/health-officials-to... > Three people have also died, but Dr. Benjamin Schwartz of the Fairfax County Health Department said Wednesday afternoon that those who died were "older" and had complex health problems. Officials don't yet know the extent to which the respiratory illness contributed to their deaths, he said.

jfoster 7y ago
I have been wondering why it is considered to have originated in Wuhan rather than Wuhan simply being the first major outbreak where it was identified as a novel coronavirus. Is it always the case that hospitals will be capable of identifying a new type of virus based on some patients who look like they have the flu? One thing that's known about covid-19 is that it has an unusual spread pattern. In some circumstances it might not spread too much (eg. average R0 is well less than 10) but in other circumstances where air is recirculating a lot or a particular patient is very contagious, it seems to spread a lot more. Couple that with many people being asymptomatic. So, what if it had been spreading in many places but Wuhan was simply the first place where it was detected? It seems to be capable of spreading without being detected for quite a while in many other parts of the world. (eg. Singapore's foreign worker dormitories)
- shawabawa3 7y ago

concordDance 7y ago

Yet Another Weird February Cold with COVID-19 symptoms checking in.

TallGuyShort 7y ago

This is really only a step above anecdote in terms of sample size, but I know from nurses and doctors at all the nearby hospitals that they reached their capacity for respiratory / ICU cases (which is exceptionally unusual for them) right when the outbreak was supposed to be flaring up here (and what I mean by that is that there was the outbreak in China, then it was reported breaking out in other countries, then it was reported breaking out in Seattle, NY, and the Bay Area, then it was reported breaking out in our state capital and tourist hotspots, and then it broke out here, all in pretty regular succession). Now, maybe more people went to the hospital precisely because that sequence of reporting led them to think it was serious when they may not have before, so the timing was a self-fulfilling prophecy. Ultimately, we'll really know so little for certain until we've had ubiquitous testing and a lot more time to study this, and the best we can do until then is extrapolate & theorize from what little data we do have. But the "weird cold" stories I've heard from February and even as far back in November just don't seem consistent with what pneumonia patients hospitals have seen - because that's how this was initially noticed as being unusual in Wuhan.

Baeocystin 7y ago

Right there with you. I felt like I got hit by a truck, and wound up going to the hospital for IV + Tamiflu. Took three weeks to feel normal again, and usually I'm over a cold or actual flu within a week. I never skip getting my flu shot, either. Two things come to mind: The first is that the day I went to the hospital, there were so many of us with similar symptoms that we overflowed down the hallway. Second, when the triage nurse was talking to me, she off-handedly commented that everyone was saying they'd gotten their flu shots, yet there we were. We both kind of shrugged and guessed it just wasn't a very effective year. Now I very much wonder.

arcticbull 7y ago

I got wrecked by a cold in February, too -- late February. Got it from my friend. Neither of us ever get sick, and we both got wanged pretty hard. Same basic symptoms. Could have been the flu, could have been COVID. I'm gonna grab a test as soon as I can. [edit] Make that tomorrow at 1245p. Turns out "as soon as I can" is pretty soon!

randallsquared 7y ago

> what the "weird cold" that everyone had in February was. Probably just a different coronavirus or flu. I was sick for weeks in October 2019 with a dry cough and body aches plus lethargy that sound superficially similar, but the fact that whatever it was didn't produce packed ICUs seems to strongly indicate that it was something else. Lengthiest cold ever for me, though.

BearOso 7y ago

I had a weird bout of something in the middle of March. It was a mild fever, general weakness, and a strange pressure in my upper abdomen. It lasted a couple of weeks. Before that I had gone to see my GP for a med update for refills. Apparently my doctor also saw what would be one our area’s earlier coronavirus patients that same day. I’m presuming I got put into the same waiting room as that guy. I’d like to try an antibody test, too.

tomc1985 7y ago

I swear I had one of these too, but it was in December, in Vegas, at the AWS con. (It started thurs or fri, was kinda pissed cause I booked some extra days in town but ended up staying in) I don't remember all the symptoms, but I remember thinking how weird it felt and that "with a cold or the flu I usually get X" Not gonna call it covid because I don't have any proof, but a "weird cold" is definitely going around