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

Wibble said:
My wife had a sore throat and someone at her gym tested positive recently and I drove her to the drive through test centre and thought we might as well both get tested as we are triple vaxxed, so could have it and be asymptomatic (doubt it TBH). I was expecting the nose bit of the test to be annoying, irritating or painful but it was barely a tickle. Which pleased me.

Rapid tests are both hard to get and expensive with PCR tests free.
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Yeah my BIL was over for a month and took a load of self tests back with him last week
 
Wibble said:
Hope she recovers quickly.
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Thanks and same to the others who replied.

She's slowly getting better, if this is supposed to be the milder Omicron variant i wouldn't want to see what the previous variants would have been like.
 
The missus is on day 5 now of isolation, still has a sore throat, but overall improving a lot. We've the 7 day isolation here, so is it still ok to venture out with a sore throat if its not fully recovered?
 
Is there anyone here who has never been tested? Somehow, by freak accident, I've never had any type of test for COVID... My wife has had many. Even my 7-year-old had to endure that horrid thing-up-the-nose. I'm, however, a virgin. Noice.
 
Shakesey said:
Is there anyone here who has never been tested? Somehow, by freak accident, I've never had any type of test for COVID... My wife has had many. Even my 7-year-old had to endure that horrid thing-up-the-nose. I'm, however, a virgin. Noice.
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Same zero tests not been on holiday and not been ill in a couple of years i imagine theres loads the same.

I'm not gonna go around testing myself every other day on a whim.
 
Big-Red said:
The missus is on day 5 now of isolation, still has a sore throat, but overall improving a lot. We've the 7 day isolation here, so is it still ok to venture out with a sore throat if its not fully recovered?
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If I was her I would get out and about for some fresh air but wouldn’t go anywhere indoors. Not just yet.

Also, take it very easy. You hear a lot about relapses when trying to get too active, too soon.
 
Shakesey said:
Is there anyone here who has never been tested? Somehow, by freak accident, I've never had any type of test for COVID... My wife has had many. Even my 7-year-old had to endure that horrid thing-up-the-nose. I'm, however, a virgin. Noice.
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Me until 8 30am today
 
I find it incredible people haven't even done lateral flow tests.

When we were going into work I'd do them at least twice a week. When going to big events, or group gatherings, I'd do one then. Seems a pretty selfless thing to do to make sure you're not asymptomatic and spreading it to others.
 
mitChley said:
I find it incredible people haven't even done lateral flow tests.

When we were going into work I'd do them at least twice a week. When going to big events, or group gatherings, I'd do one then. Seems a pretty selfless thing to do to make sure you're not asymptomatic and spreading it to others.
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Agreed, I do one every time I'm visiting my parents or meeting up with a big group of people. I just think why not when I can do a 20 second test and avoid the risk to them.
 
mitChley said:
I find it incredible people haven't even done lateral flow tests.

When we were going into work I'd do them at least twice a week. When going to big events, or group gatherings, I'd do one then. Seems a pretty selfless thing to do to make sure you're not asymptomatic and spreading it to others.
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Don't go to big events, its that simple
 
I’ve brought back loads of testing kits from the UK if anyone in Sydney is in dire need
 
Pogue Mahone said:
If I was her I would get out and about for some fresh air but wouldn’t go anywhere indoors. Not just yet.

Also, take it very easy. You hear a lot about relapses when trying to get too active, too soon.
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She's a teacher though, so expected back in on Monday or else she's taking sick days.
 
Shakesey said:
Is there anyone here who has never been tested? Somehow, by freak accident, I've never had any type of test for COVID... My wife has had many. Even my 7-year-old had to endure that horrid thing-up-the-nose. I'm, however, a virgin. Noice.
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Can understand there will be a fair few people who’ve never been sick or travelled, so never needed a PCR (I’ve only been tested once in the last 2 years, my wife never). But surely you’ve done a few antigen tests on yourself?
 
Big-Red said:
She's a teacher though, so expected back in on Monday or else she's taking sick days.
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Sorry. Misunderstood your question. Thought you were asking if ok to go out today, on day 5.

If she’s still symptomatic on day 7 she shouldn’t go back to work. The 7 day isolation only applies to people who are asymptomatic at the end of it.
 
11101 said:
Two years and its finally got us. My wife just tested positive after a few days of feeling shit, she's in her third trimester so exceptionally glad to be vaccinated.

I'm negative so far and thankfully with current rules here still allowed to go out.
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Hope she feels better soon and good luck on the new arrival!
Dumbstar said:
It's our oppressed women killing us with all that cooking. Bloody long game. :(
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:lol: Early contender for post of the year
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Sorry. Misunderstood your question. Thought you were asking if ok to go out today, on day 5.

If she’s still symptomatic on day 7 she shouldn’t go back to work. The 7 day isolation only applies to people who are asymptomatic at the end of it.
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Cool, I saw on the hse site that they say you can end isolation if symptoms are mostly gone. So her energy levels are back to normal, no fever etc. Just the persistent sore throat. But she's not sure what that means for actually going back to school.
 
Big-Red said:
Cool, I saw on the hse site that they say you can end isolation if symptoms are mostly gone. So her energy levels are back to normal, no fever etc. Just the persistent sore throat. But she's not sure what that means for actually going back to school.
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Yeah, the guidance is vague. It says you can exit isolation if symptoms “substantially or fully resolved“ for 48 hours. If she’s had a load of other symptoms, as well as the sore throat, and they’ve all gone away then I’d say she’s probably ok?

The whole isolation guidance document is one of the most badly written things I’ve ever seen. So much more complicated and confusing than it needs to be.
 
I'd like to think those who have never tested are in different countries (to the UK) where things are different. Or people haven't been inside anywhere other than their home in almost 2 years.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Yeah, the guidance is a bit vague. It says you can exit isolation if symptoms “substantially or fully resolved“ for 48 hours. If she’s had a load of other symptoms, as well as the sore throat, and they’ve all gone away then I’d say she’s probably ok.
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Lovely.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Can understand there will be a fair few people who’ve never been sick or travelled, so never needed a PCR (I’ve only been tested once in the last 2 years, my wife never). But surely you’ve done a few antigen tests on yourself?
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I only did antigen tests once as a precaution because I wasn't officially identified as a close contact. I'd been sitting closer than 2m from the guy when on lunch for somewhere between 10-20mins and I couldn't for the life of me tell you for definite. This was in the small window where I was going into the office one day a well. I was asymptomatic so took the tests over 5 days for peace of mind and kept myself to myself for a few days. If it hadn't been for that incident, I wouldn't have taken any.

I've been fairly lucky in that nobody in my current social circle has had it (the ex and her family all got it after we split up and extended family who I haven't seen at all have had it) and I don't really go to any events or meetings of large groups of people.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Can understand there will be a fair few people who’ve never been sick or travelled, so never needed a PCR (I’ve only been tested once in the last 2 years, my wife never). But surely you’ve done a few antigen tests on yourself?
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Nope. Would've been nice to know. I just assume I've had it and been completely asymptomatic
 
Withnail said:
I only did antigen tests once as a precaution because I wasn't officially identified as a close contact. I'd been sitting closer than 2m from the guy when on lunch for somewhere between 10-20mins and I couldn't for the life of me tell you for definite. This was in the small window where I was going into the office one day a well. I was asymptomatic so took the tests over 5 days for peace of mind and kept myself to myself for a few days. If it hadn't been for that incident, I wouldn't have taken any.

I've been fairly lucky in that nobody in my current social circle has had it (the ex and her family all got it after we split up and extended family who I haven't seen at all have had it) and I don't really go to any events or meetings of large groups of people.
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I was mainly thinking of spending time with elderly parents/grandparents. Just seems common sense to test yourself beforehand, when case levels are very high (eg over xmas holidays)

I’ve only ever done a couple of tests outside that scenario, when meeting a friend who was recently diagnosed with quite severe heart failure. I’ve never done any tests before going to the office but I’ve hardly ever been in and tend to be one of only 2 or 3 when I did.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
I was mainly thinking of spending time with elderly parents/grandparents. Just seems common sense to test yourself beforehand, when case levels are very high (eg over xmas holidays)

I’ve only ever done a couple of tests outside that scenario, when meeting a friend who was recently diagnosed with quite severe heart failure. I’ve never done any tests before going to the office but I’ve hardly ever been in and tend to be one of only 2 or 3 when I did.
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Oh yeah well I've no Grandparents left and my folks who are late 60s are the only older people I'd see but my Da is extremely anxious about covid.

He won't let you within 2m of him at all and I wasn't even allowed in the house for most of the pandemic. He was going to make us all do antigen tests at Christmas but decided against it as he didn't want false positives ruining someone's holidays. He got one of those air purifiers in the end.
 
Withnail said:
Oh yeah well I've no Grandparents left and my folks who are late 60s are the only older people I'd see but my Da is extremely anxious about covid.

He won't let you within 2m of him at all and I wasn't even allowed in the house for most of the pandemic. He was going to make us all do antigen tests at Christmas but decided against it as he didn't want false positives ruining someone's holidays. He got one of those air purifiers in the end.
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Ok, cool. I probably came across as a bit judgey there. Every family has their own perception of risk and will make their own decisions re testing for all sorts of reasons. And that’s grand.
 
Multiple PCR tests as part of clinical trials/sampling (vaccine trial + Zoe app) and once as a covid phone app "you've been in contact with a positive case" (probably while eating a hotel breakfast). The first few were done by pros so I knew what to do, what it should feel like, before I did a home test.

Antigen LFT tests, before family gatherings, house visits and before going to events - football, theatre, eating out etc. In the UK, they're free so why not.
 
‘Nocebo effect’: two-thirds of Covid jab reactions not caused by vaccine, study suggests

More than two-thirds of the common side-effects people experience after a Covid jab can be attributed to a negative version of the placebo effect rather than the vaccine itself, researchers claim.

Scientists in the US examined data from 12 clinical trials of Covid vaccines and found that the “nocebo effect” accounted for about 76% of all common adverse reactions after the first dose and nearly 52% after the second dose. The findings suggest that a substantial proportion of milder side-effects, such as headaches, short-term fatigue, and arm pain are not produced by the constituents of the vaccine, but by other factors thought to generate the nocebo response, including anxiety, expectation and misattributing various ailments to having had the jab.

ggest that a substantial proportion of milder side-effects, such as headaches, short-term fatigue, and arm pain are not produced by the constituents of the vaccine, but by other factors thought to generate the nocebo response, including anxiety, expectation and misattributing various ailments to having had the jab.

In view of their results, the researchers argue that better public information about nocebo responses may improve Covid vaccine uptake by reducing the concerns that make some people hesitant.

“Telling patients that the intervention they are taking has side-effects that are similar to placebo treatments for the condition in randomised controlled trials actually reduces anxiety and makes patients take a moment to consider the side-effect,” said Ted Kaptchuk, professor of global health and social medicine at Harvard medical school, and a senior author on the study. “But we need more research.”

Kaptchuck and Dr Julia Haas at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston analysed adverse events reported during a dozen clinical trials of Covid vaccines. In each trial, those in the placebo arm were given injections of inactive salt solution instead of vaccine. The study did not look at severe, rare side-effects such as blood clots or heart inflammation.

Writing in the journal Jama Network Open, the researchers describe how after the first injection more than 35% of those in the placebo groups experienced so-called “systemic” side-effects, such as headache and fatigue, with 16% reporting site-specific ailments including arm pain or redness or swelling at the injection site.

As expected, those who received a first shot of vaccine were more likely to experience side-effects. About 46% reported systemic symptoms and two-thirds experienced arm pain or other localised symptoms at the injection site.

When the researchers looked at side-effects after the second jab, they found the rate of headaches or other systemic symptoms was nearly twice as high in the vaccine group compared with the placebo group, at 61% and 32% respectively. The difference was even greater for local ailments, reaching 73% among those who had the vaccine and 12% in the placebo group.

Overall, the researchers calculate that about two-thirds of common side-effects reported in Covid vaccine trials are driven by the nocebo effect, in particular headaches and fatigue, which many Covid vaccine leaflets list as the most common adverse reactions after a shot.

While evidence suggests that information about side-effects can cause people to misattribute common ailments to the vaccine, or make people hyper-alert to how they are feeling, Kaptchuk argues for more information about side-effects, not less. “Most researchers argue that patients should be told less about side-effects to reduce their anxiety,” he said. “I think this is wrong. Honesty is the way to go.”

https://www.theguardian.com/science...eactions-not-caused-by-vaccine-study-suggests
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Shakesey said:
Is there anyone here who has never been tested? Somehow, by freak accident, I've never had any type of test for COVID... My wife has had many. Even my 7-year-old had to endure that horrid thing-up-the-nose. I'm, however, a virgin. Noice.
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Never had a test and never had a jab. I had a sore throat a few days ago, perhaps it was Omicron, don't know, don't care. My immune system handled it like it always does.

Is the pandemic coming to an end? Will people who didn't get jabbed still be discriminated against even after the pandemic is over? For how long? Months? Years? Forever? If there is no pandemic do I still need to get the jab? How any jabs? If they bring out a new jab do I still need to take 2 doses of the obsolete jab?
 
ManchesterYoda said:
Never had a test and never had a jab. I had a sore throat a few days ago, perhaps it was Omicron, don't know, don't care. My immune system handled it like it always does.

Is the pandemic coming to an end? Will people who didn't get jabbed still be discriminated against even after the pandemic is over? For how long? Months? Years? Forever? If there is no pandemic do I still need to get the jab? How any jabs? If they bring out a new jab do I still need to take 2 doses of the obsolete jab?
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Ah. You’re back!
 
ManchesterYoda said:
Never had a test and never had a jab. I had a sore throat a few days ago, perhaps it was Omicron, don't know, don't care. My immune system handled it like it always does.

Is the pandemic coming to an end? Will people who didn't get jabbed still be discriminated against even after the pandemic is over? For how long? Months? Years? Forever? If there is no pandemic do I still need to get the jab? How any jabs? If they bring out a new jab do I still need to take 2 doses of the obsolete jab?
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Christ almighty. There's a BBC story on this same page about a singer who trusted her immune system to deal with Covid. She's dead now.

I do agree that we can't keep getting jabbed forever. I think it'll come in alongside an optional flu shot annually or maybe they merge them somehow? Not sure that's even possible. Anyway I'm feeling optimistic that this pandemic is nearing its end thanks to the vaccines.
 
Klopper76 said:
Christ almighty. There's a BBC story on this same page about a singer who trusted her immune system to deal with Covid. She's dead now.

I do agree that we can't keep getting jabbed forever. I think it'll come in alongside an optional flu shot annually or maybe they merge them somehow? Not sure that's even possible. Anyway I'm feeling optimistic that this pandemic is nearing its end thanks to the vaccines.
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There are lots of BBC stories like that, it's called propaganda. I'm immune to propaganda too!

If the pandemic is nearing it's end it's thanks to Omicron, not vaccines.
 
Klopper76 said:
Christ almighty. There's a BBC story on this same page about a singer who trusted her immune system to deal with Covid. She's dead now.

I do agree that we can't keep getting jabbed forever. I think it'll come in alongside an optional flu shot annually or maybe they merge them somehow? Not sure that's even possible. Anyway I'm feeling optimistic that this pandemic is nearing its end thanks to the vaccines.
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Moderna are looking at combining into one shot and I'm sure the others will be as well. They're aiming for winter 2023 for the roll-out but it's dependent on how trials go with MRNA influenza vaccines. That'll definitely make it easier to manage and persuade people to get if they can get one jab for multiple illnesses annually.

Moderna aims to launch single Covid and flu booster jab within two years | Pharmaceuticals industry | The Guardian
 
Steven Seagull said:
do you think vaccines have helped save any lives at all?
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Yes, there will be many people who were at risk from Covid, got vaccinated, then got infected and the vaccine immunity helped them fight the infection. Do you think the vaccine has killed or seriously harmed anybody at all?
 
ManchesterYoda said:
Yes, there will be many people who were at risk from Covid, got vaccinated, then got infected and the vaccine immunity helped them fight the infection. Do you think the vaccine has killed or seriously harmed anybody at all?
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I think you might have had Omicron and its given you brain damage, should have got jabbed, you might still have kept your sanity.
 
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