Have you had Covid-19/coronavirus and how bad was it?

[editor]

I couldn't find a straightforward poll on this and I thought it might be interesting to see how many urbanites have been hit by Covid - especially as I caught it recently.

I haven't included an option for those who think they had it but never tested as it's pretty meaningless.

So here goes.

I ran out of options for a 'no I have not had covid' option but I guess that's not so important.

 

[Thora]

My then 2 year old had it pretty mildly - runny nose/sneezy, sore throat and lost her voice, barky cough. But never had a fever and didn't need any paracetamol or anything. I thought I possibly had it too at the time as had a few days of feeling generally under the weather, achey and tired but had a negative test. No one else in the family was ill.

 

[marty21]

I don't know is the answer , I had some of the symptoms in April last year , just a high temperature (no cough) but I wasn't tested as it was early days and I'm not sure the test was widely available, since then I'm pretty sure I haven't had it.

 

[Brainaddict]

I could tick mild for the period of having the virus itself but would have to say somewhere between fairly bad and really awful for the long covid. 2/10 Would not recommend.

 

[colacubes]

I did an antibody test before Christmas and it turns out I've had it. No symptoms.

 

[wtfftw]

between fairly bad and mild I guess. I was definitely ill. Felt pretty bad for a week or so. Didn't need medical attention. Was never very worried about my breathing but did have a range of symptoms that weren't really mentioned at the time. (I couldnt get a test but my partner did and he was less symptomatic than me)

 

[wemakeyousoundb]

I has the not so important option.

 

[moomoo]

I’ve currently got it. It started with a mildly sore throat and itchy eyes which I thought was hayfever. Now I’ve got a slight temperature and a bit of a headache. And I’m tired. But I have a busy life so I’m always tired.

Double jabbed here.

 

[kalidarkone]

I’ve currently got it. It started with a mildly sore throat and itchy eyes which I thought was hayfever. Now I’ve got a slight temperature and a bit of a headache. And I’m tired. But I have a busy life so I’m always tired.

Double jabbed here.

Hope you feel better soon x

 

[moomoo]

Hope you feel better soon x

Thanks. Headache is banging now so I’ve come back to bed. I’ll be able to pinpoint exactly when/if I lose my sense of taste because I’m having a biscuit every half an hour in the name of science.

 

[editor]

Thanks. Headache is banging now so I’ve come back to bed. I’ll be able to pinpoint exactly when/if I lose my sense of taste because I’m having a biscuit every half an hour in the name of science.

In the name of olfactory research I inhaled a big noseful of extra-pongy TCP and smelt but not a thing.
I then tried thinking of other normally smelly things around the house/prison and headed for the Branston Pickle jar. Once again, I was Whiffless in Gaza.

 

[moomoo]

In the name of olfactory research I inhaled a big noseful of extra-pongy TCP and smelt but not a thing.
I then tried thinking of other normally smelly things around the house/prison and headed for the Branston Pickle jar. Once again, I was Whiffless in Gaza.

My son wanted to try to bite into an onion but we’ve not got much food in so I stopped him.

 

[moomoo]

My son wanted to try to bite into an onion but we’ve not got much food in so I stopped him.

He’s 25 btw. Not 8. In case you were wondering.

 

[IC3D]

When people get sick I've noticed there is a tendency to say how happy they were vaccinated assuming it would have been worse otherwise. Is this an optimism bias, which is a thing in human nature. Maybe the vaccine didn't do anything? Kind of think this because a lot of people are getting ill regardless of vaccination.

 

[cupid_stunt]

When people get sick I've noticed there is a tendency to say how happy they were vaccinated assuming it would have been worse otherwise. Is this an optimism bias, which is a thing in human nature. Maybe the vaccine didn't do anything? Kind of think this because a lot of people are getting ill regardless of vaccination.

There's been plenty of reports that vaccinated people are spending less time in hospital, with less chance of ending up on a ventilators, than those unvaccinated.

 

[IC3D]

There's been plenty of reports that vaccinated people are spending less time in hospital, with less chance of ending up on a ventilators, than those unvaccinated.

I'm not saying that vaccines don't prevent hospitalisation. They do.

 

[IC3D]

There's been plenty of reports that vaccinated people are spending less time in hospital, with less chance of ending up on a ventilators, than those unvaccinated.

More likely high flow O2 now

 

[elbows]

When people get sick I've noticed there is a tendency to say how happy they were vaccinated assuming it would have been worse otherwise. Is this an optimism bias, which is a thing in human nature. Maybe the vaccine didn't do anything? Kind of think this because a lot of people are getting ill regardless of vaccination.

Well at the very least there is a simplification bias and a bias towards 'filling in the unknowns with assumptions'.

There isnt a single answer. Some will get it less severely than they otherwise would have. Including people who would just have felt worse if they hadnt been vaccinated, people who would have got long covid if not vacianted but instead avoided that, people who would have been hospitalised but avoided it, people who were still hospitalised but didnt die, etc etc. And we dont have a tidy means to know what would have happened in each individual case if their vaccination status had been different. We can make broader judgements based on overall numbers that were hospitalised or died as opposed to how many would have been expected to be hospitalised or killed in a no vaccine era, but these things dont tell us what effect vaccination had in any particular individual case. Only the most obvious failures of the vaccine to save a particular individual will stand out clearly.

Personally I am quite happy that I will never know how I would have been affected if I had caught it without being vaccinated, that is one bit of my personal picture I was delighted not to get to the bottom of.

 

[elbows]

And whilst I do take estimates with a pinch of salt, I think its quite reasonable for people to attribute positive outcomes to vaccination given the overall estimates, even though there are other reasons why particluar individuals have avoided hospitalisation or death too:

The latest estimates indicate that the vaccination programme has directly averted over 230,800 hospitalisations. Analysis on the direct and indirect impact of the vaccination programme on infections and mortality, suggests the vaccination programme has prevented between 23.7 and 24.1 million infections and between 119,500 and 126,800 deaths.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1019992/Vaccine_surveillance_report_-_week_38.pdf

In reality if we hadnt had the vaccines then we likely would not have had all the additional infections, hospitalisations and deaths mentioned in that estimate, because authorities would have been forced to bring in fresh restrictions in order to avoid a chunk of those from happening.

And yes that document does also give some indication of cases where vaccination did not prevent death, eg over 2000 deaths of double-jabbed people between weeks 34 and 37.

 

[Carvaged]

I had it early March 2020, just before they stopped community testing and things went to shit. It was pretty nasty, had a moment where I couldn't breathe easily, but I wasn't hospitalised. I suffered long-term brain damage that's been life-altering though and hasn't improved at all since.

 

[Dogsauce]

And whilst I do take estimates with a pinch of salt, I think its quite reasonable for people to attribute positive outcomes to vaccination given the overall estimates, even though there are other reasons why particluar individuals have avoided hospitalisation or death too:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1019992/Vaccine_surveillance_report_-_week_38.pdf

In reality if we hadnt had the vaccines then we likely would not have had all the additional infections, hospitalisations and deaths mentioned in that estimate, because authorities would have been forced to bring in fresh restrictions in order to avoid a chunk of those from happening.

And yes that document does also give some indication of cases where vaccination did not prevent death, eg over 2000 deaths of double-jabbed people between weeks 34 and 37.

Given how the numbers are counted, and without trying to sound like some Telegraph prick, is it not likely that a fair few of that 2000 will be people dying ‘with Covid’ or with significant comorbidities? Most of the elderly and vulnerable are double vaccinated.

 

[LDC]

Given how the numbers are counted, and without trying to sound like some Telegraph prick, is it not likely that a fair few of that 2000 will be people dying ‘with Covid’ or with significant comorbidities? Most of the elderly and vulnerable are double vaccinated.

I was chatting to a friend in public health who works on the covid side of things for a regional area last night, and she said in her area the people dying are those that are largely those they would expect to die - the elderly and those will significant underlying health issues who mostly haven't been vaccinated. She's far from a 'dying with not of' type but she was very much of the opinion for double vaccinated people under 60 it's (almost?) nothing to be concerned about now, and she's been very cautious all the way through. The only thing bucking that trend is non-vaccinated pregnant women as there's a few of them in hospital and think there's been a few deaths as well.

 

[planetgeli]

she was very much of the opinion for double vaccinated people under 60 it's (almost?) nothing to be concerned about now,

I'll pass that on to my 55 year old asthmatic work colleague currently suffering long Covid which is fairly destroying her current life as she struggles to breathe and walk.

She'll be chuffed.

 

[LDC]

I'll pass that on to my 55 year old asthmatic work colleague currently suffering long Covid which is fairly destroying her current life as she struggles to breathe and walk.

She'll be chuffed.

Well, you could, but I'd think that would be insensitive and probably not very helpful or nice. Anyway, knew someone would chirp up say something like that.

She didn't say nothing to worry about for anyone, but that for most vaccinated people the risk is very, very low. It's the same as other things where the risk is very low, it doesn't mean nobody will have a bad outcome or suffer long term, and pointing out someone that has had that doesn't disprove the other. Anyway I'm just repeating what someone in public health who has previously been very cautious told me in response to Dogsauce's post.

 

[elbows]

Given how the numbers are counted, and without trying to sound like some Telegraph prick, is it not likely that a fair few of that 2000 will be people dying ‘with Covid’ or with significant comorbidities? Most of the elderly and vulnerable are double vaccinated.

I will find it easier to talk in detail about such aspects when:

(a) I've seen more detailed clinical data from various ongoing research efforts. Such data already exists but it lags behind and I'd rather wait till I can view it for a long period covering this autumn and winter.

(b) When there no longer seems to be a substantial risk of hospitals etc being overwhelmed. We arent there yet, and in the meantime although I will happily discuss some details briefly, I am wary of playing into really shit agendas at a hugely inappropriate time.

All throughout the pandemic a significant number of the people dying had comorbidities. So what? And yes its certainly true that it was always expected that a large proportion of the people dying or being hospitalised at this stage would have been vaccinated, because vaccinated people make up a large majority of the population.

 

[ddraig]

Got it at the moment, tested positive in weekend after feeling rough on Tuesday last week
It is weird, kind of feel ok a lot of the time and odd/spaced out/headache at other times

Voted for

Yes I have but it was mild - and I was double vaccinated​

 

[scalyboy]

I had it quite recently, finished the 10-day isolation 5 days ago. Went back to work the day after and felt OK, I struggled a little at remembering some work procedures but put that down to being off for 10 days. Just now had a driving lesson, it was the weirdest thing, I felt like I was in a dream. Very foggy, made some quite elementary mistakes, crunched the gears a couple of times which I felt bad about cos its the instructor's car!

It was like I was having to really concentrate and think about what to do - approaching a roundabout, for example. Kind of like I was a few months ago when I just started learning.

Other than this, and I expect this will go away soon too (hence not posting on the long Covid thread), I reckon I was very fortunate (double-vaxxed, plus I was infected about one week after I had the booster, so very lucky timing IMHO), the symptoms were fairly mild and TBH I've had worse colds. What seemed to me different was a difficulty in sleeping on several nights, loss of appetite, and an exhaustion during some days (which I guess I am still recuperating from).

 

[sojourner]

This is what my brother said about his:

'Generally feeling flu like with Mexican waves of pain on my skin. Been eating and drinking ok, but trying to get to sleep is like a nightmare challenge quiz show. Keep thinking I'm getting better then have the worst night ever. Fucking awful.'

His bloody oxygen has been hovering around the 93 mark too.

 

[Dr. Furface]

I had it from about 19 Oct when I first felt a tickly cough - next day had a runny nose too so did a lateral flow test which was positive, confirmed by PCR a couple of days later. My cough got a bit worse and I felt rough and had a bunged up nose for a couple of days after that. I really didn't have a temperature until about the 5th day and that was only for a couple of hours, and that was pretty much the end of it. Next day I kinda knew the virus had gone although it took another couple of days to clear my head. I've had worse colds and it definitely wasn't flu-like as I didn't feel weak or have shivers or any of that. Feel fine now except my sense of smell is non-existant and my taste sense is only about 50% of what it should be, but these will come back.

I'm double jabbed but I caught it in the last week before the end of the 6 month period and was booked to have my booster jab just 3 days after I caught it, which of course I had to cancel. But now I've had Covid I should have plenty of antibodies so I think I'll leave getting the booster until the new year.

 

[Edie]

I got it 23rd December 2020. First five days were mild, then day 5 fever shot up to 40oC. Felt shocking. So badly fatigued could just about get to toilet. And breathless, dropping my sats to 86% on exertion but recovering quickly on rest. The fever was unreal and felt confused at times towards the end. Day 10 started decompensating a bit and sats staying low even after paramedics made me do my 40 steps, so they took me in. Had some oxygen, dex, and fluids in CAT. Home after 48 hours. My fever on the ambulance sheet was recorded 41.6 which I was very pleased with as its impressively high.

I would say I had it moderately badly. Wasn’t then vaccinated and had been working on front line plus immunosupressed.