I take every vaccine going and it's odd that since getting hit with mild Covid symptoms in first days of lockdown I've not had a cold, a cough or sniffle since. Odd because I used to regularly get hit by a heavy cold and chest infection almost every year without fail. I had a jab in 2019 offered by the surgery supposed to counter the effects of pneumonia if it takes hold, and I can only put the change in my experience down to that vaccine.
Most of my family and extended family have had the latest Covid variant, even the vegans and wellness warriors with cupboards full of vitamin pills and natural therapy tonics, while, myself, an omnivorous toxin consuming pariah, am still waiting to succumb.
I haven't thought about it before but I'm the same. I've only had a runny nose since the pandemic.
I take every vaccine going and it's odd that since getting hit with mild Covid symptoms in first days of lockdown I've not had a cold, a cough or sniffle since. Odd because I used to regularly get hit by a heavy cold and chest infection almost every year without fail. I had a jab in 2019 offered by the surgery supposed to counter the effects of pneumonia if it takes hold, and I can only put the change in my experience down to that vaccine.
Most of my family and extended family have had the latest Covid variant, even the vegans and wellness warriors with cupboards full of vitamin pills and natural therapy tonics, while, myself, an omnivorous toxin consuming pariah, am still waiting to succumb.
I’m pretty similar. Have barely had a sniffle since covid, and have taken the offered vaccines. Could well just be a coincidence, but I used to regularly get quite heavy colds. I’ve never gone as long without a cold as far as I can remember. .
Me as well, I haven't had Covid to my knowledge and haven't had a cold since before Covid. I do take a high dose of vitamin and vitamin K2 each day, which probably helps and have had every jab offered.
It is known that having had a Covid infection can reduce the immune system in some people, which could be why some get repeated infections.
Me as well, I haven't had Covid to my knowledge and haven't had a cold since before Covid. I do take a high dose of vitamin and vitamin K2 each day, which probably helps and have had every jab offered.
It is known that having had a Covid infection can reduce the immune system in some people, which could be why some get repeated infections.
I had covid, a year or two back, but it was very mild. Have had nothing since.
I have a genuine question for those of you that have fairly recently had confirmed Covid. Just how would you describe the symptoms you had compared to a bad cold that you have previously experienced ? I exclude influenza because it’s a very different illness to having a bad cold.
I have a genuine question for those of you that have fairly recently had confirmed Covid. Just how would you describe the symptoms you had compared to a bad cold that you have previously experienced ? I exclude influenza because it’s a very different illness to having a bad cold.
My December cold was far worse! Have had a chesty cough for 2 weeks now, plus very snotty, and had a headache for a few days
My main Covid symptom this time round was the same buzzy headache I had back in spring 2022 when I first had Covid. Other than that I didn't feel too bad, as I had no fever this time round. I caught Covid at the same time as 2 friends I was on holiday with, and if I hadn't mentioned I had Covid, they wouldn't have taken a test and found they were also positive, as they had mild symptoms.
I have a genuine question for those of you that have fairly recently had confirmed Covid. Just how would you describe the symptoms you had compared to a bad cold that you have previously experienced ? I exclude influenza because it’s a very different illness to having a bad cold.
I described my symptoms on this thread last week. Probably worse than any cold I've had, but not as bad as some flu I've had.
Mild colds I feel 8/10. Bad colds I feel 4/10. Bad flu 2/10. Covid last week 3/10, but I did get up every day.
I've not had any vaccines this year (did previously).
4 COVID vaccines but none this year 3 rd COVID infection (2nd this year) Cold symptoms but hyper concentrated for about 5 days enduring severe fatigue after negligible exercise I was never worried by how ill I felt but it was no picnic and I had support throughout wouldn’t be trivial or straightforward for an older frailer or solo patient Definitely better avoided
Had COVID over Christmas. Had what seemed like a cold (thought it was a hangover as well) but then a fever and a bit of a cough, but now I'm testing negative, I'm still short of breath and pretty lethargic. Third time I've had it, and to be fair was worse the other times. Whole family had it. Wife and eldest sore throats for a day, wife lost sense of smell but otherwise well, eldest fine, youngest tested positive today but is totally asymptomatic.
Ireland only had 9,366 Covid deaths, perhaps due to having the longest lockdown in European. They cancelled the St. Patrick's day celebrations whilst we went ahead with Cheltenham Festival.
I wonder if anyone who reads this bothers to do their own research first as to what research this was based on.
It’s could all very much be true but currently it is based on a working paper with preliminary results by the way.
Wonder why the Irish government have jumped on this already. Assume it’s nothing to do with Ireland currently having the 2nd worse recorded excess mortality rate in the EU at the moment:
It appears that the current Covid wave could be the biggest since the winter of 2022, with few mitigations as living with Covid for many now seems to be 'to forget all about it' and pretend that it has gone away.
Each Covid infection increases the likelihood of getting Long Covid and the evidence is growing that repeated infections may reduce immunity to other illnesses, as well as make other diseases more likely, as Covid can affect the vascular system.
With so many people off sick, this is likely to cause staff shortages especially in health care.
Covid may not be putting as many people in hospital as it was before the vaccines, but it is definitely causing big problems.
Just had covid for the second time. Being over 65 I had another vaccination in October.
Barely had any symptoms, just like a very very mild cold. I only tested because my wife had it, and I was meeting friends in the pub, so tested before I was going to set off.
@WellingWill, I wonder why you’ll believe your non credible, non peer reviewed anti-vaxx sources on the internet, but won’t believe the good people on this forum who offer credible, peer backed sources that show where you’ve been misled.
And I noticed that you’ve just started a thread about Duchâtelet and Sandgaard that contains a basic error, but won’t correct the thread title. It looks like there’s a pattern here.
For those that think Long Covid is something to laugh at, you would do well to read the above article. It's from February last year, but it gives a good overall view from a respected science website.
It does state that the best way to reduce the chance of getting Long Covid is to be vaccinated. Unfortunately the UK has drastically reduced its Covid vaccine programme since the article was produced.
The following is taken from 'The i' website today. I've copied parts of it as it is behind a paywall.
More than 100,000 Britons are at risk of developing long Covid in the coming weeks as infections and hospitalisations rise, scientists have warned.
Covid infection numbers are thought to be approaching record numbers in the UK, while the latest hospital figures showed a 20 per cent jump in daily admissions in the week to 22 December, according to the NHS.
A new UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) national influenza and Covid report, out on Thursday, is expected to confirm that Covid cases and hospitalisations have risen considerably since the last updates just before Christmas.
This has prompted fears of a sharp rise in long Covid in the coming weeks, as any infection has the potential to lead to long Covid but severe illness – and hospitalisations in particular – increase that risk considerably, scientists say.
Although the highly-contagious JN.1 subvariant sweeping the UK is not thought to be any more severe than other recent Covid variants, reduced levels of vaccinations in the past two years have increased the risk of serious symptoms when people become infected.
Scientists stress that determining the true prevalence of long Covid – and making accurate predictions about its future path – is extremely difficult because there is no definitive diagnostic test and its many and varied symptoms make accurate reporting difficult.
But Professor Christina Pagel, a healthcare data scientist at University College London, has made a range of conservative predictions about how many people will develop long Covid as a result of the current wave.
“I think it will be tens of thousands certainly, but it’s quite possible it will be one to two hundred thousand,” she told i.
She estimates there is currently a 2 per cent chance of developing long Covid from an infection but points out “that’s a very rough estimate and there’s a lot of variability by age, sex, vaccination history and other health conditions”.
She adds: “As to how many new cases will come from this wave, it depends on how many total people are infected. The ONS estimate [for the two biggest waves so far] is that about 30 per cent of population got Covid during the first Omicron BA.1 wave and about 40 per cent got infected in the March/April 2022 BA.2 wave.
“So even assuming only 20 per cent get infected this wave – which I think is too small a number – that would be about 11 million people getting it in England and even a 1 per cent new Long Covid rate would be 110,000 people,” Professor Pagel argues.
Other scientists agree that the UK is set for a spike in new long Covid cases.
Professor Steve Griffin, of Leeds University, estimated that there could be tens of thousands of new cases in the coming months “as a minimum”.
“Most upsettingly, this will include children and young people, which are often overlooked when it comes to this dreadful disease and are left exposed due to the total lack of proper mitigations in schools,” he added.
Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at Warwick University, said: “The current wave of Covid will inevitably result in thousands of new cases of long Covid.
“Vaccination against Covid reduces the severity and duration of long Covid but restricted access to the latest booster jab – only the over 65s, clinical vulnerable and healthcare workers are eligible – means that many people are more likely to suffer the acute and long-term effects of Covid.”
Professor Young explained that before vaccines became available it was generally agreed that around 10 per cent of all Covid infections led to long Covid – defined as symptoms that persist more than three months after initial infection.
The risk of developing long Covid is lower now than it has been in the past as the virus has become less severe and the vaccine has reduced the chance of severe infection, he points out.
But he warned: “The current high level of infection and waning immunity in the population will result in many more cases of long Covid. This will certainly result in more people suffering the many symptoms associated with long Covid, ranging from muscle pain and breathlessness to headaches and brain fog, affecting their ability to work and their general quality of life.”
Both myself and Mrs H tested positive for covid on Saturday (6th Jan). The wife has had covid like symptom's since just before Christmas and tests herself whenever she feels rough (her mum's in a care home so she is naturally cautious...she goes to see her mum about 3 times a week...when well). The strange thing is she was negative on 3-4 occasions until Saturday so either she just had a bad cold or the test kits weren't picking up the true result. Wondering if anyone else has had this experience, for what its worth we are both OK just have mild flu like symptoms.
Both myself and Mrs H tested positive for covid on Saturday (6th Jan). The wife has had covid like symptom's since just before Christmas and tests herself whenever she feels rough (her mum's in a care home so she is naturally cautious...she goes to see her mum about 3 times a week...when well). The strange thing is she was negative on 3-4 occasions until Saturday so either she just had a bad cold or the test kits weren't picking up the true result. Wondering if anyone else has had this experience, for what it’s worth we are both OK just have mild flu like symptoms.
My wife had covid and I had very mild symptoms, so tested before meeting mates in the pub. I was negative. I then tested before a new year’s eve party, expecting to be negative, but was positive.
Still had very mild symptoms - the give away being that when I coughed or sneezed, my head hurt.
I had a booster in October, which might explain why I basically felt fine, whereas two or three friends with covid who haven’t had the booster felt worse.
I have a genuine question for those of you that have fairly recently had confirmed Covid. Just how would you describe the symptoms you had compared to a bad cold that you have previously experienced ? I exclude influenza because it’s a very different illness to having a bad cold.
I started off with a shitty 10 day cold in December. The cough stuck around for longer but I was okay by Christmas Day. Which is when I had mum over, she had a cold. Within two days I was sick again, and it felt a bit different and I couldn't taste my breakfast, so I tested for COVID and it came up positive. I was aching, the cough was painful and my head was really hurting. It was like the cold but with this added edge of shittiness. My wife had it at the same time with zero symptoms.
Thing is, since having COVID in 2020, all my colds lead to a longer-term malaise, where I get tired quickly and have headaches if I overdo anything. I have to take naps. Also the tinnitus that the original COVID strain gave me gets worse for a few days or weeks. The pitch gets higher and more intense. It's like an audio track that lets me know how fucked I am. This can go on for a few weeks, possibly a couple of months before I think I'm back to normal (which still includes permanent tinnitus and headaches if I overdo things).
Ultimately COVID last week was like a strong cold with extra pain that lasted about 7 days, although I am still coughing a week after I finally tested negative.
Comments
It is known that having had a Covid infection can reduce the immune system in some people, which could be why some get repeated infections.
Covid cases set for New Year spike and could pass July 2022 peak
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/dec/29/nhs-england-storm-of-pressure-flu-covid-cases-surge
NHS in England facing ‘storm of pressure’ as flu and Covid cases surge
Average of 3,631 patients in hospital with Covid during Christmas week, data shows, a rise of 57% in a month
Indeed I would have cancelled a pre Christmas drink with a friend, if he hadn't cancelled through having Covid first!
My main Covid symptom this time round was the same buzzy headache I had back in spring 2022 when I first had Covid. Other than that I didn't feel too bad, as I had no fever this time round. I caught Covid at the same time as 2 friends I was on holiday with, and if I hadn't mentioned I had Covid, they wouldn't have taken a test and found they were also positive, as they had mild symptoms.
Probably worse than any cold I've had, but not as bad as some flu I've had.
Mild colds I feel 8/10.
Bad colds I feel 4/10.
Bad flu 2/10.
Covid last week 3/10, but I did get up every day.
I've not had any vaccines this year (did previously).
3 rd COVID infection (2nd this year)
Cold symptoms but hyper concentrated for about 5 days
enduring severe fatigue after negligible exercise
I was never worried by how ill I felt but it was no picnic and I had support throughout
wouldn’t be trivial or straightforward for an older frailer or solo patient
Definitely better avoided
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Excess_mortality_-_statistics
Each Covid infection increases the likelihood of getting Long Covid and the evidence is growing that repeated infections may reduce immunity to other illnesses, as well as make other diseases more likely, as Covid can affect the vascular system.
With so many people off sick, this is likely to cause staff shortages especially in health care.
Covid may not be putting as many people in hospital as it was before the vaccines, but it is definitely causing big problems.
Try telling the friends and families of the thousands that died before their time, that it's nonsense.
I can assure it is not nonsense.
I'm female by the way.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10284420/#:~:text=Another study, focusing on 9,with 2 doses, and 16.0%
https://www.livescience.com/long-covid-what-we-know-so-far?fbclid=IwAR3qa72JOxVlJ6NzsIlsHg63OmEkS3rg9inv5iXJG6wJ5Y9W-EzyxIO_6sA
For those that think Long Covid is something to laugh at, you would do well to read the above article. It's from February last year, but it gives a good overall view from a respected science website.
It does state that the best way to reduce the chance of getting Long Covid is to be vaccinated. Unfortunately the UK has drastically reduced its Covid vaccine programme since the article was produced.
The following is taken from 'The i' website today. I've copied parts of it as it is behind a paywall.
More than 100,000 Britons are at risk of developing long Covid in the coming weeks as infections and hospitalisations rise, scientists have warned.
Covid infection numbers are thought to be approaching record numbers in the UK, while the latest hospital figures showed a 20 per cent jump in daily admissions in the week to 22 December, according to the NHS.
A new UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) national influenza and Covid report, out on Thursday, is expected to confirm that Covid cases and hospitalisations have risen considerably since the last updates just before Christmas.
This has prompted fears of a sharp rise in long Covid in the coming weeks, as any infection has the potential to lead to long Covid but severe illness – and hospitalisations in particular – increase that risk considerably, scientists say.
Although the highly-contagious JN.1 subvariant sweeping the UK is not thought to be any more severe than other recent Covid variants, reduced levels of vaccinations in the past two years have increased the risk of serious symptoms when people become infected.
Scientists stress that determining the true prevalence of long Covid – and making accurate predictions about its future path – is extremely difficult because there is no definitive diagnostic test and its many and varied symptoms make accurate reporting difficult.
“I think it will be tens of thousands certainly, but it’s quite possible it will be one to two hundred thousand,” she told i.
She estimates there is currently a 2 per cent chance of developing long Covid from an infection but points out “that’s a very rough estimate and there’s a lot of variability by age, sex, vaccination history and other health conditions”.
She adds: “As to how many new cases will come from this wave, it depends on how many total people are infected. The ONS estimate [for the two biggest waves so far] is that about 30 per cent of population got Covid during the first Omicron BA.1 wave and about 40 per cent got infected in the March/April 2022 BA.2 wave.
“So even assuming only 20 per cent get infected this wave – which I think is too small a number – that would be about 11 million people getting it in England and even a 1 per cent new Long Covid rate would be 110,000 people,” Professor Pagel argues.
Other scientists agree that the UK is set for a spike in new long Covid cases.
Professor Steve Griffin, of Leeds University, estimated that there could be tens of thousands of new cases in the coming months “as a minimum”.
“Most upsettingly, this will include children and young people, which are often overlooked when it comes to this dreadful disease and are left exposed due to the total lack of proper mitigations in schools,” he added.
Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at Warwick University, said: “The current wave of Covid will inevitably result in thousands of new cases of long Covid.
“Vaccination against Covid reduces the severity and duration of long Covid but restricted access to the latest booster jab – only the over 65s, clinical vulnerable and healthcare workers are eligible – means that many people are more likely to suffer the acute and long-term effects of Covid.”
Professor Young explained that before vaccines became available it was generally agreed that around 10 per cent of all Covid infections led to long Covid – defined as symptoms that persist more than three months after initial infection.
The risk of developing long Covid is lower now than it has been in the past as the virus has become less severe and the vaccine has reduced the chance of severe infection, he points out.
But he warned: “The current high level of infection and waning immunity in the population will result in many more cases of long Covid. This will certainly result in more people suffering the many symptoms associated with long Covid, ranging from muscle pain and breathlessness to headaches and brain fog, affecting their ability to work and their general quality of life.”
I started off with a shitty 10 day cold in December. The cough stuck around for longer but I was okay by Christmas Day. Which is when I had mum over, she had a cold. Within two days I was sick again, and it felt a bit different and I couldn't taste my breakfast, so I tested for COVID and it came up positive. I was aching, the cough was painful and my head was really hurting. It was like the cold but with this added edge of shittiness. My wife had it at the same time with zero symptoms.
Thing is, since having COVID in 2020, all my colds lead to a longer-term malaise, where I get tired quickly and have headaches if I overdo anything. I have to take naps. Also the tinnitus that the original COVID strain gave me gets worse for a few days or weeks. The pitch gets higher and more intense. It's like an audio track that lets me know how fucked I am. This can go on for a few weeks, possibly a couple of months before I think I'm back to normal (which still includes permanent tinnitus and headaches if I overdo things).
Ultimately COVID last week was like a strong cold with extra pain that lasted about 7 days, although I am still coughing a week after I finally tested negative.