SARS CoV-2 coronavirus / Covid-19 (No tin foil hat silliness please)

Father is positive but after 24 hours his symptoms have subsided. Now my mother has symptoms for half a day and seems fine. What is the appropriate time to isolate for us after this please? I’ve been exposed to both of them but no symptoms yet. Google throws up mixed results.. assuming the caf would have the best known answer..

Varies from country to country. 5 days in US, 7 days in Ireland. I would say 5 days reasonable if their symptoms were over so quickly. A negative antigen before mingling again would give good reassurance.
 
Varies from country to country. 5 days in US, 7 days in Ireland. I would say 5 days reasonable if their symptoms were over so quickly. A negative antigen before mingling again would give good reassurance.
Alright. Thank you.
 
Can I book a fast PCR or antigen test at Manchester airport when I visit Manchester in february? Can't seem to find anything for foreigners. Only people leaving the UK. It's called a Day 2 test but as i read it, you don't have to take it on day 2 and it can even be a self test now? How do they check the results or am i misreading?

You can do it at any point up to 2 days after arrival and you need the reference number for the UK PLF. If you have an old reference from a previous test you can usually re-use that and skip buying a new one, not that I would suggest you do anything of the sort.

https://www.britishairways.com/en-it/information/incident/coronavirus/covid19-tests


I would strongly recommend waiting until a few days before departure to book as the rules change so frequently and you wont get a refund.
 
Succumbed to the 'rona.
Forget how "mild" symptoms can still be pretty awful. Worst head cold ever but glad not to be in ITU

Obviously not at all discounting the benefits of getting the booster which are clear as day but anybody know vaccine efficacy of booster in terms of latest real world data? I got boosted in early October so probably bit of waning but literally every single person family member I know has had close contact and contracted the damn thing (obvious anecdata but wondering if vaccine efficacy numbers for symptomatic disease even in that 1-2 month period are a bit lower than what's currently being said)
 
Succumbed to the 'rona.
Forget how "mild" symptoms can still be pretty awful. Worst head cold ever but glad not to be in ITU

Obviously not at all discounting the benefits of getting the booster which are clear as day but anybody know vaccine efficacy of booster in terms of latest real world data? I got boosted in early October so probably bit of waning but literally every single person family member I know has had close contact and contracted the damn thing (obvious anecdata but wondering if vaccine efficacy numbers for symptomatic disease even in that 1-2 month period are a bit lower than what's currently being said)

Can’t find it easily but saw a pre-print recently which concluded that recency of vaccine is by far most important factor in protection vs symptomatic illness with omicron. At three months out from the booster there’s a good chance your protection vs transmission is low to non-existent.

Obviously, protection vs serious illness more persistent (shout out to T and B cells!)

Having said that, my own anecdata includes a number of households where boosted inviduals (1-2 months out from last jab) have swerved the virus (when unvaccinated kid was index case) These were all mRNA boost to mRNA original vaccine.
 
Succumbed to the 'rona.
Forget how "mild" symptoms can still be pretty awful. Worst head cold ever but glad not to be in ITU

Obviously not at all discounting the benefits of getting the booster which are clear as day but anybody know vaccine efficacy of booster in terms of latest real world data? I got boosted in early October so probably bit of waning but literally every single person family member I know has had close contact and contracted the damn thing (obvious anecdata but wondering if vaccine efficacy numbers for symptomatic disease even in that 1-2 month period are a bit lower than what's currently being said)
40-50% 10+ weeks. 50-70% 5-9 weeks, depending which vaccines.
 
I know a few people who have now contracted the virus in the past few days despite having been boosted a month ago. I don't believe any had tested positive at any point during the pandemic up until this point and all feeling relatively fine.

Are we now close to the point (in the UK at least) where getting the virus is a virtual inevitability? It's surely now mainly about how you protect yourself (vaccines/boosters, healthy lifestyle, etc) in the build up to this.

*Should add that the positives mentioned have all been in people who have had a Pfizerx2, Moderna vaccination history
 
You can do it at any point up to 2 days after arrival and you need the reference number for the UK PLF. If you have an old reference from a previous test you can usually re-use that and skip buying a new one, not that I would suggest you do anything of the sort.

https://www.britishairways.com/en-it/information/incident/coronavirus/covid19-tests


I would strongly recommend waiting until a few days before departure to book as the rules change so frequently and you wont get a refund.

Cheers!
 
Succumbed to the 'rona.
Forget how "mild" symptoms can still be pretty awful. Worst head cold ever but glad not to be in ITU

Obviously not at all discounting the benefits of getting the booster which are clear as day but anybody know vaccine efficacy of booster in terms of latest real world data? I got boosted in early October so probably bit of waning but literally every single person family member I know has had close contact and contracted the damn thing (obvious anecdata but wondering if vaccine efficacy numbers for symptomatic disease even in that 1-2 month period are a bit lower than what's currently being said)


I've seen some stuff recently on them investigating what gives rise to the odds ratio for symptomatic infection - personal susceptibility v leakiness. That is whether it protects 50% of people really well against infection (in which case can we tell who is susceptible) or if it depends on something else like the viral load of the contact or the environment where you get exposed to it (in which case can we make the risk activity/location advice more specific). I don't think anyone has the answer on that yet.
 
A really interesting (and mainly understandable to me) article explaining how our immune system works and the differences between how B and T cells respond to viruses. There's a bit on the end which explains that T cells can spot more of the virus (hence the longer lasting protection against varients), but with the MRNA vaccines only introducing them to the spike protein, means that there is only a limited amount of protection against major mutations when the response hasn't experience the rest of the virus yet.

It lends some evidence that a mixture of traditional and MRNA vaccines may be a good longer term protection?

https://arstechnica.com/science/202...y-omicron-had-experts-worried-form-the-start/
 
I actually don't think Fauci and the CDC would be able to argue this point given their recent public statements

 
A really interesting (and mainly understandable to me) article explaining how our immune system works and the differences between how B and T cells respond to viruses. There's a bit on the end which explains that T cells can spot more of the virus (hence the longer lasting protection against varients), but with the MRNA vaccines only introducing them to the spike protein, means that there is only a limited amount of protection against major mutations when the response hasn't experience the rest of the virus yet.

It lends some evidence that a mixture of traditional and MRNA vaccines may be a good longer term protection?

https://arstechnica.com/science/202...y-omicron-had-experts-worried-form-the-start/

Most people will end up with good long term protection from a combination of vaccine and infection. Ideally in that order.
 
Great news. Can only imagine the ICU numbers right now without our vaccination rates. Even if we only had the sort of numbers as some other European countries (75%) we'd be fecked.

Yeah, good to see some obvious upsides from our extremely high vaccine take up. Because it did feck all to keep case numbers down!
 
Yeah, good to see some obvious upsides from our extremely high vaccine take up. Because it did feck all to keep case numbers down!
You say that, but I know a lot of people (myself included) who have been in direct contact, even isolating with, people who had Covid... and they didn't get it. That's surely the vaccines at work. We'd probably be at a fecking 80% positivity rate or something mad without them :lol:
 
You say that, but I know a lot of people (myself included) who have been in direct contact, even isolating with, people who had Covid... and they didn't get it. That's surely the vaccines at work. We'd probably be at a fecking 80% positivity rate or something mad without them :lol:

Yeah, true. I‘m sure it helped. Mind boggling to think where we’d be at otherwise.
 
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So, finally had it, around three weeks after getting the booster.

First day: moderate fever in the evening.
Second day: a bit of fatigue (but completely functional and able to work), throat ache.
Third day: same as second
Fourth day: throat ache
Fifth day: very mild throat ache
Sixth/seventh/eighth day: nothing at all.

In general, it was as severe as a mild cold, likely less than flu.

I assume that a lot of this was because of the vaccine and I had pretty high protection. My fiancee who had covid a year before and was double vaxed, had similar experience. My two brothers (double vaxed but no booster and no covid experience before) had it much worse.

Moral of the story: get the fecking booster. We are all gonna get omicron, probably several times, be prepared for it and get the booster(s) to maximize your chances of doing well and converting a potentially. very bad experience into a very mild one.
 


Good summary of covid in-patients in Ireland. 71% not receiving any oxygen at all!


Is that saying 58% of people were in hospital for other things and just happened to have (unsymptomatic) Covid? Or people in Ireland just like rocking up at hospital for fun?


In other news for those who question restrictions on the unvaccinated, the biggest anti vaxxer in my office has just got herself jabbed. The reason? She was not allowed to watch her daughter perform in the school nativity play this Christmas. The restrictions do work.
 
So my father tested positive. He was fine after a day with vitals under control. Spoke to a doctor and he was asked to take like 15 tablets a day for a week. doctors in India are insane.

I then picked it up and like my father I’m takingjust paracetamol.

just getting better.

my mother got symptoms and was fine in a day but the next day again she got a fever, which she again cleared in three hours. She also has a persistent cough which worries me but her spo2 levels for now are good at 98. Pulse is high at 100. Am hoping she will get better with sleep and as the days pass but am concerned and want to check with a doctor because she’s been fragile and bed ridden for a decade now but all doctors here seem to hand out drugs like candy..
 
Is that saying 58% of people were in hospital for other things and just happened to have (unsymptomatic) Covid? Or people in Ireland just like rocking up at hospital for fun?

The former. We are a joyous and fun loving nation but we draw the line at being admitted to hospitals for the craic.
 


Good summary of covid in-patients in Ireland. 71% not receiving any oxygen at all!

Just to throw in a piece of anecdata, which I'll justify on the grounds that it might help someone on here who's dealing with an infection at home.

It seems a significant proportion of overnight stays are basically being treated for dehydration, coupled with general fatigue. Self care says stay hydrated, try and eat something, rest. Sounds obvious but easy to forget if you're feeling rough and your usual preferred food/drink doesn't appeal, also important if you're looking after kids/oldies or anyone else who's feeling queasy or who's got a sore throat and just doesn't fancy anything.

Manchester has got a particular problem at the moment that's keeping some cases in longer than are strictly medically necessary - not enough carehome places, not enough home care packages, especially for someone who may still be infectious.
 
Just to throw in a piece of anecdata, which I'll justify on the grounds that it might help someone on here who's dealing with an infection at home.

It seems a significant proportion of overnight stays are basically being treated for dehydration, coupled with general fatigue. Self care says stay hydrated, try and eat something, rest. Sounds obvious but easy to forget if you're feeling rough and your usual preferred food/drink doesn't appeal, also important if you're looking after kids/oldies or anyone else who's feeling queasy or who's got a sore throat and just doesn't fancy anything.

Manchester has got a particular problem at the moment that's keeping some cases in longer than are strictly medically necessary - not enough carehome places, not enough home care packages, especially for someone who may still be infectious.
That was my and my fiancee's therapy (adding a couple of paracetamols and throat pain killers). We ate like normally and drank a lot. I guess staying hidrated is the key for most mild cases.
 
You say that, but I know a lot of people (myself included) who have been in direct contact, even isolating with, people who had Covid... and they didn't get it. That's surely the vaccines at work. We'd probably be at a fecking 80% positivity rate or something mad without them :lol:

I went abroad for the NY with one of my mates. I am triple jabbed, he's had covid in the summer (not vaccinated). Even if we spent basically all the time together, he tested positive on the 4th day, I didn't. Long story short, I am back in UK and he is still self-isolating in the hotel.
 
Mum is confirmed now, she’s x3 Pfizer. Spent the whole day with her yesterday, let’s see how previous infection (8-months old) + Pfizer will hold up against it. Though I just had a cold, so my immune system might not be in the best shape atm.
 
So my father tested positive. He was fine after a day with vitals under control. Spoke to a doctor and he was asked to take like 15 tablets a day for a week. doctors in India are insane.

I then picked it up and like my father I’m takingjust paracetamol.

just getting better.

my mother got symptoms and was fine in a day but the next day again she got a fever, which she again cleared in three hours. She also has a persistent cough which worries me but her spo2 levels for now are good at 98. Pulse is high at 100. Am hoping she will get better with sleep and as the days pass but am concerned and want to check with a doctor because she’s been fragile and bed ridden for a decade now but all doctors here seem to hand out drugs like candy..
I hope they both get better soon
 
So my father tested positive. He was fine after a day with vitals under control. Spoke to a doctor and he was asked to take like 15 tablets a day for a week. doctors in India are insane.

I then picked it up and like my father I’m takingjust paracetamol.

just getting better.

my mother got symptoms and was fine in a day but the next day again she got a fever, which she again cleared in three hours. She also has a persistent cough which worries me but her spo2 levels for now are good at 98. Pulse is high at 100. Am hoping she will get better with sleep and as the days pass but am concerned and want to check with a doctor because she’s been fragile and bed ridden for a decade now but all doctors here seem to hand out drugs like candy..

Good decisions on paracetamol only. The only other treatment which might help would be an oral steroid (prednisone) but can cause nasty side effects, so not worth it for mild illness. 15 tablets/day is nuts.
 
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Good decisions on paracetamol only. The only other treatment which might help would be an oral steroid (prednisone) but can cause nasty side effects, so not worth it for mild illness. 15 tablets/day is nuts.

Ivermectin, favripiravir(a dosage of 2g in the morning and again at night, so you have to pop five 400g pills), some vitamin d, famocid, budesonide, some vitamin supplements, something to clear phlegm, a cough syrup. This is not some rando doctor, he’s a well established general physician.

this was his prescription.. I got fomo that I was doing the wrong thing. Am still concerned about my mother who has always been very immune weak. Persistent cough. Spo2 is normal all day though. Spoke to an ENT who prescribed some anti allergy meds for the cough and a cough syrup. Just doing that and revisiting day on day.

this is now super common in India where doctors just go nuts in their own way. There are people criticising it in the news but just seems very tough to find a good gp for covid without trial and error
 
What’s the protocol in U.K. if someone tests positive in terms of medicines prescribed?..
 
Well shit. My mam has covid now. Hopefully I'll get lucky and don't have it. Last time we met was 3 days ago and we kept our distance. Least she's got the booster.
 
England’s restrictions are likely to be removed in a couple of weeks.

A very risky move in my opinion considering we are still hitting over 100k cases a day .