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Were you able to get tested? For some reason I’ve gotten the impression that a disproportionate number of long-haulers got sick in March or April and never had

Were you able to get tested? For some reason I’ve gotten the impression that a disproportionate number of long-haulers got sick in March or April and never had a confirmed test. I’m not sure whether that points to a change in the virus or a psychosomatic component to being infected with an unknown virus at the beginning of the pandemic.

Itsdijital 6y ago
I could not get tested in March. I tested positive for antibodies in August. I live right outside NYC, which based on April antibody testing, likely had 250,000 to 500,0000 cases/day for about a 3 week period from late Feb into March. This was when the media was still debating about whether or not the virus was a big deal and Trump was saying just a few people were sick.
wincy 6y ago
My wife and I got sick in early March 2020 and she coughed until July. We were never able to get a positive test, as they weren’t available unless you went to the hospital. I also had a negative antibody test. She started coughing again last month. It’s possible it’s not COVID but it seems very strange she’d develop this chronic cough right after a global respiratory disease pandemic sweeps the world.
- jennyyang 6y ago
  I don't know where you live, if you even live in the US, but that is a travesty that you weren't able to access quick testing. In the Bay Area, I get free testing through Project Baseline. My family has alternated getting tested once every 2 weeks, since our assumption is that if one of us gets COVID, then all of us gets COVID. Collectively we have been tested around 15 times,including children, and it's a breeze to get here. But overall lack of testing capability is one of the stupidest things that happened over this past year. The US should have free testing available to everyone at least once a week. The capacity to test 100 million people in 2 days should have been built up, because testing is so vitally important to understanding what is going on. The fact we don't have that should be a crime because it has lead to so many deaths. One thing to keep in mind is that a very bad flu went around in February/March. I know at least 10 people that thought they had COVID but didn't, because this flu was occurring at the same time. The other thing that many people have gotten mixed up with COVID is severe allergies. Try taking daily antihistamine to see if that clears up her coughing. Antihistamines need to be taken for weeks at a time in order to get good effectiveness, doing it one-off isn't nearly as effective. Her illness last March, be it COVID or not, may have made her more susceptible to alleriges or anything that irritates her lungs.
  - janekm 6y ago
    Just as an aside, it's not necessarily the case that all your family would get infected if one of you does... in studies the proportion of family members who get infected is between 10-50%: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2774102 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle... My wife got infected around 10 days ago (PCR confirmed last Wednesday, now seemingly recovered and testing negative) and while I exhibited some very mild cold symptoms (fatigue, joint pain, a single high temperature reading) it never went beyond that (so far, knock on wood) and I tested negative when tested at the same time... Good point about the flu. I also had some flu symptoms around that time and always tested negative on antibody tests.
    - sjg007 6y ago
      The flu is super rare now because of masks and no travel. Did u get tested when symptomatic?
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
      - janekm 6y ago
        I did, and also had both an antigen and antibody test since both negative... but I’m prepared to believe my symptoms may have been psychosomatic.
  - makomk 6y ago
    > The US should have free testing available to everyone at least once a week. The capacity to test 100 million people in 2 days should have been built up, because testing is so vitally important to understanding what is going on. The fact we don't have that should be a crime because it has lead to so many deaths. You're arguing that it's a travesty and a crime that the US didn't have something which no country in the world had, or even came close to. That probably wasn't even remotely feasible based on what other countries achieved and the fact that there was limited manufacturing capacity for pretty much everything that would be required to do so. The frustrating thing is, it's not even surprising that you think that. For nakedly partisan reasons, the American media pushed the idea that the US would've had this kind of massive widespread testing and complete control over Covid if only its leader wasn't a monster who was sabotaging its efforts, warping perceptions of how everyone else was doing in the process. It worked too - they got the guy voted out of office at the cost of massively misinforming everyone about the biggest crisis facing the world, not only in their own country but elsewhere in the Western world too.

Itsdijital 6y ago

I could not get tested in March. I tested positive for antibodies in August. I live right outside NYC, which based on April antibody testing, likely had 250,000 to 500,0000 cases/day for about a 3 week period from late Feb into March. This was when the media was still debating about whether or not the virus was a big deal and Trump was saying just a few people were sick.

wincy 6y ago

My wife and I got sick in early March 2020 and she coughed until July. We were never able to get a positive test, as they weren’t available unless you went to the hospital. I also had a negative antibody test. She started coughing again last month. It’s possible it’s not COVID but it seems very strange she’d develop this chronic cough right after a global respiratory disease pandemic sweeps the world.

jennyyang 6y ago
I don't know where you live, if you even live in the US, but that is a travesty that you weren't able to access quick testing. In the Bay Area, I get free testing through Project Baseline. My family has alternated getting tested once every 2 weeks, since our assumption is that if one of us gets COVID, then all of us gets COVID. Collectively we have been tested around 15 times,including children, and it's a breeze to get here. But overall lack of testing capability is one of the stupidest things that happened over this past year. The US should have free testing available to everyone at least once a week. The capacity to test 100 million people in 2 days should have been built up, because testing is so vitally important to understanding what is going on. The fact we don't have that should be a crime because it has lead to so many deaths. One thing to keep in mind is that a very bad flu went around in February/March. I know at least 10 people that thought they had COVID but didn't, because this flu was occurring at the same time. The other thing that many people have gotten mixed up with COVID is severe allergies. Try taking daily antihistamine to see if that clears up her coughing. Antihistamines need to be taken for weeks at a time in order to get good effectiveness, doing it one-off isn't nearly as effective. Her illness last March, be it COVID or not, may have made her more susceptible to alleriges or anything that irritates her lungs.
- janekm 6y ago
  Just as an aside, it's not necessarily the case that all your family would get infected if one of you does... in studies the proportion of family members who get infected is between 10-50%: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2774102 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle... My wife got infected around 10 days ago (PCR confirmed last Wednesday, now seemingly recovered and testing negative) and while I exhibited some very mild cold symptoms (fatigue, joint pain, a single high temperature reading) it never went beyond that (so far, knock on wood) and I tested negative when tested at the same time... Good point about the flu. I also had some flu symptoms around that time and always tested negative on antibody tests.
  - sjg007 6y ago
    The flu is super rare now because of masks and no travel. Did u get tested when symptomatic?
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - janekm 6y ago
      I did, and also had both an antigen and antibody test since both negative... but I’m prepared to believe my symptoms may have been psychosomatic.
- makomk 6y ago
  > The US should have free testing available to everyone at least once a week. The capacity to test 100 million people in 2 days should have been built up, because testing is so vitally important to understanding what is going on. The fact we don't have that should be a crime because it has lead to so many deaths. You're arguing that it's a travesty and a crime that the US didn't have something which no country in the world had, or even came close to. That probably wasn't even remotely feasible based on what other countries achieved and the fact that there was limited manufacturing capacity for pretty much everything that would be required to do so. The frustrating thing is, it's not even surprising that you think that. For nakedly partisan reasons, the American media pushed the idea that the US would've had this kind of massive widespread testing and complete control over Covid if only its leader wasn't a monster who was sabotaging its efforts, warping perceptions of how everyone else was doing in the process. It worked too - they got the guy voted out of office at the cost of massively misinforming everyone about the biggest crisis facing the world, not only in their own country but elsewhere in the Western world too.