The Covid-19 Pandemic (When posting new information, please cite sources)

@jeanne-mayell Jeanne, there are so many viruses going around right now.  By masking, we protected ourselves from a lot over the past few years.  When everyone started to unmask, the viruses started to attack with a vengeance.  We have seen a lot of Flu A at work.  Not so much RSV (we see RSV all the time in the ER, mostly in young children and mostly this time of year - I think a lot of the RSV coverage has been hype), and much less Covid.  The flu shot covers the A and B strains which were projected to be the most prevalant, but there are other strains out there.  It sounds like you had a virus that caused an upper respiratory infection, thus your doc prescribing the antibiotics.  That and the steroids should help you feel better in a couple of days.  Rest, lots of fluids (tea, broth, Gatorade, water) and your Tylenol/Ibuprofen regimen.  You will feel better soon! Lots of love!

@deetoo @lovendures @jeanne-mayell I’m sending all of you light and healing angels! I hope that you all feel better quickly.
Unfortunately I haven’t been on here as often due to generally being busy at the moment. I am also still masking in stores and wondering how to navigate a family gathering in a couple of weeks with all of the yucky stuff going around. I understand from people here that everyone is getting sick more readily and really feeling it due to our immune systems being out of practice from masking and isolation over the last couple of years. 
Take care of yourselves and know that I’m thinking of you!

@baba 

Thank you!

I must say I'm surprised by how this cold/flu is moving through my body.  I felt the illness was mild on day 3 and that I was on the other side of it.   Not so fast,  day four had other ideas.  Day 8, today, hasn't really changed from day 4.  For me it is the cough, being tired easily and sore.   I'm grateful I've been able to breathe through my nose and lungs relatively well, all things considered.  I am being forced to take things slowly and in smaller increments which is ok.  

@lowtide Thank you for giving me nursing advice and information.  I treasure your input.  Since starting the steroid, I've learned from a doctor I trust that it is not good to take a steroid even for a short period of time.  But I started it and now they say you can't just stop, you have to taper. So I'm tapering.  But since starting that regimen yesterday, I am feeling so much better today!

@lovendures 

Lowtide offers excellent suggestions. I will add one: from personal experience, I have found that an inhaler can help when you have a persistent cough if it is  bronchospasmatic (mild, not severe) in nature. A pediatric nurse practitioner that I know said she prescribes them in such cases.  Irritated or swollen bronchi can cause a cough that seems to come from higher in your chest, not a deep rumbly cough and you are NOT coughing up anything. (unproductive is the term) This sort of cough just tires you out and doesn't help your body. You might run the option by your health provider. Albuterol is one short acting inhaler that might reduce the coughing and also allow better rest and sleep. Just a thought..

@lowtide 

Thank you for putting down all of that helpful information.

@rainbow

Thank you for adding on to lowtide's information.  That might be a useful suggestion.

Thr viruses that have been going around all year have been nasty little *****

My parents and I caught the flu in February this year despite having the flu vaccine and all came down with secondary infections. I had a throat infection and required antibiotics, and my parents had both chest infection and a sinus infection that required antibiotics. We were ill for nearly 6 weeks from the secondary infections and tested negative for covid.

Then come October, and we all caught covid and tested positive for the first time in 2 and a half years, and then less than a month later we caught flu again, and my dad got a secondary chest infection again - and we knew it was flu because we tested negative for covid and got it from my nephew who attends nursery and he got a very serious sinus infection and was in hospital and tested positive for Influenza A. Thankfully, my nephew is over it now, but he had to have IV antibiotics injections in his legs.

We have all had our covid booster jabs in November, so I'm hoping that this plus the covid anitbodies when we caught covid will give us some more protection.

Anyway, such is life.

Long Covid.  First study indications show thousands have died from Long Covid and that many more likely have but haven't been reported as such.

30% of those who had  Covid appear to have Long Covid as well. 

https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/14/health/long-covid-deaths/index.html

Yes, I Think anti virus face masks are still necessary for preventing the spread of COVID-19. While vaccine rollout has begun and cases may be decreasing in certain areas, it is important to continue following guidelines set by health officials and to use face masks in public settings and when around individuals outside of your household. Wearing a mask helps to protect yourself and others from the virus and is a simple but effective measure to take. I found top quality face mask at ViroMask and will recommend you all to also try their quality.

@joshphillips Thank you for that advice. I agreed with you completely, and I also want to welcome you to our forum.

I have not stopped wearing masks in stores and at a party I attended where only a few people were wearing masks.  I am glad I did because I didn't have to worry over every little symptom after that.  

The group pressure to confirm and go maskless is immense. But I ignore it because I know I'm doing the right thing for myself and my family by wearing one. It didn't prevent me from getting an awful cold after Thanksgiving that took steroids to get over it. But I got it because I had stopped washing my hands after shopping.  Covid is mainly passed around via breathing it in the air, so I got sloppy about my hands. 

Good news!

A test that detects covid AND other pathogens? 

Yep!!

Caltech researchers have developed a new at-home test for COVID-19 that is more than twice as sensitive as current state-of-the-art antigen tests. While the test was developed for COVID-19, the technology can be used as a platform for designing tests to detect other pathogens as well

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-02-sensitive-rapid-at-home-covid-.html

@lovendures I read the FDA has approved one that detects covid and influenza now.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2023/02/25/first-covid-flu-home-test-authorized-fda/11347202002/

We have used antigen tests for years in veterinary medicine - like for heartworm,lyme, ehrlichia, and anaplasmosis combo snap test and parvo tests etc.  Glad they have been carrying the technology on over to the human side!

Some good news, even if it won't be available for a little while:

https://scitechdaily.com/game-changer-nasal-spray-a-universal-shield-against-all-covid-19-variants/

Free tests available by mail again: https://special.usps.com/testkits

@billy-mike Thank you for posting this for people.  I just ordered!

Scientists discover receptor that blocks COVID-19 infection.

@tgraf66 Very cool news!  Thanks for finding it.

I just want to mention that I'm hearing a lot about people who have Covid-like symptoms but test negative and are also testing negative for the flu. I'm reading reports of people not testing Covid positive until at least day 5 of symptoms (one lady tested finally positive on day 12- her whole family had Covid and she had symptoms at the same time, which was why she kept testing). Also, some people are testing negative on a nasal swab but positive on a throat swab because the virus doesn't always colonize the nose. 

@hazyjane 

Thanks for that information.  This is good to know.

This is just a reminder that Covid is still out there.  And free Covid tests are still available to be mailed directly to your homes:

https://special.usps.com/testkits