Maybe that was it then. I just google covid tests where you break off stick and that popped up first and seemed familiar. It was awful! Probably made by the same people who seal pills in impossible to open tiny packets.
The CDC guidelines are here: Isolation and Precautions for People with COVID-19 | CDC
The CDC guidelines seem needlessly complicated compared to a simpler guideline to keep away from infecting others as long as you get positive antigen test results. But perhaps the CDC assumes that most people do not have enough of a supply of antigen tests to check when they are no longer likely to be contagious.
1 Like
Yes, thankfully H never had a fever, has been med free for the past 48 hours, and is nearly symptom free. We have plenty of tests and hopefully he tests negative sooner rather than later. He cancelled his travel plans and thankfully arenāt going anywhere until after the new year.
5 Likes
Kinda was nostalgic - felt like a nice throwback to my 2nd grade chemistry set.
2 Likes
Wow @momofboiler1 that is fast progressā¦was your husband on Paxlovid?
At that point I was in the hospital. I wonder if Paxlovid is the difference. I only ask so others will take it if that is part of the reason for the difference in severity.
I took it both times I had Covid. Worked very fast both times. Faster the second time probably because I started it earlier. Long history of post-Covid throughout the last half of 2022 and first half of 2023, but unless sudden-onset rheumatoid arthritis turns out to be a post-covid symptom, nothing since my terrible asthma resolved by the end of May 2023 or so. Recent infection probably acquired at or right after my daughterās wedding in mid-November 2023.
2 Likes
No paxlovid. He had a very minor case with minimal symptoms and no risk factors, so our MD didnāt recommend it.
Dās MIL has what might be Covid. If so, this will be the first time for her. Her S is a doctor, and heās going to test her for Covid. Fortunately, her symptoms started before her weekly Thursday babysitting duty. I watched GD yesterday because she started feeling bad. Hopefully, she just has a cold. If not, though, we dodged a Christmas Covid spread.
1 Like
New insights into long COVID.
So, heart works fine, pumping as it should. Lungs work fine pulling in oxygen. BUT the tissues themselves seem to be unable to absorbe/utilized the oxygenated blood appropriately. Hence the exercise fatigue
1 Like
Healthcare workers are also told to come in (mom of a nurse here).
Iām not sure the science backs this up- testing does not determine if you are contagious or not. There is no guideline that says to keep testing until you get a negative one. A negative test inside if the quarantine period does not make you noncontagious. And conversely you can test positive for weeks or even months without being sick or contagious.
There is a lot of testing going on in this thread. I get that there is an emotional side to it and we all feel more comfortable being around people once we can show a negative test. But itās not the guideline and there are reasons for that.
6 Likes
Based on https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.04.04.22273429v1 , an after-infection negative antigen test is typically a true negative, but a positive may be a false positive. So waiting until a negative test would be the cautious choice.
However, the testing positive for weeks or months (rather than days) after is a known possibility with PCR tests, not antigen tests.
3 Likes
Iām all for science and Iām all for protecting others. But there is the finite science side and there is real life. Most peopleās lifeās and jobs are not going to support (in nearly 2024 when vaccines and meds and such are widely available) most people being secluded and away from daily responsibilities for excess of a week. Most often when at that week point you are without symptoms.
We can argue all day but at this point there is not going to be a textbook way to do things. Use common sense, stay home when symptoms are at their worst and if fever, follow your workplace protocol. Avoid the very vulnerable if you can.
We canāt live our daily lives for the out of the box cases that may occur.
Your kids teachers are going to be back to work potentially still testing positive. Your health care workers. You store clerk. Your delivery person. Their lives dictate this. And most often, all will be ok.
7 Likes
I have read numbers as high as 20 and 30 percent false neg antigen tests. The hospital I work at is not using negative testing to end quarantines- it uses the number of days since symptom onset.
2 Likes
citation please. I am really curious.
1 Like
I think in general specificity is high, meaning positive tests are likely real.
Sensitivity is less high- meaning infections get missed (false negatives).
All of this is affected by the situation. Sensitivitu goes up when there are symptoms, and early in the course.
Prolonged positive testing is still a problem and unlikely to mean a person is contagious.
This is all really complicated. The good news is that most people arenāt getting really sick from it these days.
1 Like
I posted up thread that the antivirals (Paxlovid, Molnupiravir) are being reclassified so that they are no longer āfreeā. DH was quoted a $1,000 copay for Molnupiravir. It then had to go thru the process of Doc getting approval from Medicare which took a few days, then the pharmacy had to be nudged to look at their records and SEE that approval. So finally on day 6 he was able to pic up Molnupiravir for a $52 copay. Notice the time from start to finish - that left him outside of the window of when you should start this med. Luckily, it is prophylacticā¦to have on hand when traveling or just incase.
An as for the antigens testā¦itās pretty clear that a throat swab, in addition to nasal swab, increases the chances of catching an infection. Yet, similar to how so much of this has been handled over the past almost 4 yearsā¦there is no official update or updated instruction in the test box.
Sigh
The one-size-fits-all number of days seems like it would be even less accurate at avoiding contagiousness, unless the number of days is really long (like 15+). Also, how would one count if the patient was asymptomatic (perhaps discovered through testing after close contact with a known case), or the symptoms were so mild that it was unclear when they started?
1 Like
The one size fits all is knowingly imperfect - most people will no longer be infectious after 5 days from the start of symptoms but a few will be outliers. There will always be statistical outliers but 5 days is a number that is likely to get compliance from most people while avoiding the most contagious period in most people. A longer isolation period might actually cause more cases as those who need to go to work and fulfill other obligations would be even less likely to comply than they are now. A negative test has never been part of the official guidelines even in the beginning - while itās a good market of infectiousness early in the illness it becomes less so as the illness progresses. In my (anecdotal) case, for example, basically all symptoms resolved within 48 hours (24 hours of testing positive) yet I tested positive for 10-11 days. Was I infectious for that whole time? Very unlikely. In my case I mostly was able to stay home until I was negative and mask the once or twice I had to run in the store but many many people do not have that luxury on the off chance they might still be contagious. I have no problem with kids going back to school and those who have to work in person going back after 5 days as long as their symptoms are resolving/improving. Masking for another five days is ideal but wonāt always happen.
5 Likes
Sounds familiar! I got my first positive today (Binax, instantly positive). I read a few days ago that my state (KY) is one of the worst hot spots based on weekāover-week death increases. 
Hoping OhiBra and the little OhiBruhs donāt get it. Iām N95āing except when eating.
I had 3 Pfizer shots in 2021, but no boosting after that. Mild symptoms Friday and early Saturday, but hit by a ton of bricks Saturday night. Fever, aches, chills. Iām now just nursing body aches.
I think I caught mine through my optometrist.
For sure! But does it prolong recovery? When the vaccines first arrived, they cautioned against using ibuprofen after the shot so as not to mute the immune response.