Hey All, just wondering if any of you have had experience with this:
My husband was feeling a little under the weather and took 4 Covid tests. The first one was negative, the second had a very faint line, and the second two were negative. I took two also, both of which were negative. I'm not really sure what to make of it. He works from home and everyone in the house has gotten every booster, obviously we are gonna stay put and test again tomorrow. Has anyone had this happen to them?
@RickiTarr
2.5 weeks ago, my sister felt cruddy, scratchy throat, lethargic. She's a nurse, so to be careful, she did a home test, which was faintly positive. She stayed home, but employer (ah, healthcare) insisted she have a lab test. Was negative. She did another home test, also negative. She felt worse the next day (Saturday) & went to urgent care, where the test was positive & she was put on paxlovid. These tests, even the hospital ones, are all iffy! She was out for 10 days.
@RickiTarr The current strains of Covid don’t always show up on the tests. That said, there is no such thing as a false positive. I’m sorry to say he has it, and you probably do too. I’m glad to hear you’re up on your booster, but the vaccine only makes it less likely that you’ll end up in a hospital. It doesn’t stop people from catching and spreading Covid, which is why N95 (or better) masks are so important anytime you’re in a public place. Rest as much as possible to prevent Long Covid💜💜💜
@RickiTarr a line visible at all indicates COVID. If you’re up to date with boosters and have a healthy immune system and get COVID it can take days for the viral load to get high enough to show up on a rapid test. The minimum viral load a rapid test will generate a very faint line for is based on what was considered possibly infectious several years ago. Current strains are more infectious. Don’t know if newer RATs are more sensitive. Recommend good masks,, air filters, fresh air.
@RickiTarr My disabled grocery worker friend tested negative on first test. I advised she takes 2nd one, 48 hrs after 1st test. It was a solid positive on 2nd test.
@RickiTarr those tests, have a very low false positive rate. I would take it seriously especially in conjunction with symptoms
Might be tail end of an infection or about to grow. Open windows, fresh air, and lots of masks.
@RickiTarr faint is positive sadly. could be just kicking up or just ending believe it or not. Mrs. Smiths took two weeks to get negative and we tested every 48 hours. Watched it go from beet red double stripe to just the faintest of lines before finally invisible. But the faint line on the way out (seriously had to shine a light on it to see it) still meant it was there.
Hope it's not too bad. I probably had a few weeks before MAY WAIIIF it but it literally was under 24 hours of a scratchy throat followed by a congested night. Claritin and Dayquil the next morning and... nothing.
@RickiTarr Both of the most common US antigen tests state something to the effect of "If there’s a line under the “T,” then the test is positive for COVID. “It doesn’t matter how faint or how bright the line under the “T” is, if it’s there, it’s a positive test for COVID,”
@RickiTarr i have heard that the at-home tests can be inconsistent. A lot depends on the quality of the sample you give it, too. it's best to assume you have it, unfortunately.
@RickiTarr It took 4 days for me to test positive back in September. Saturday I thought I could make out a super faint line, then Sunday it was a bold positive.
@RickiTarr the home tests are known to not be sensitive enough to pick up some mild infections or one that is still developing. I'm thinking you have one positive and 3 false negatives there.
I'd recommend assuming positive. take all precautions, and it will probably show up on the tests better in a couple of days.
If it turns out negative after all the precautions may still keep y'all from gettin' a cold or something anyway.
@RickiTarr my spouse once took a very faint positive test and then took a negative one, and neither of us had any symptoms and I tested negative. my guess is either a) he is positive but has a low viral load right now or b) he's been exposed but not infected and his results were contaminated.
I think a is more likely, and either way I'd isolate to be safe. plus other precautions like wearing a mask around you for a bit (assuming you remain negative)
@RickiTarr I also saw an article recently about how as our immune systems have gotten used to different strains of covid, we've been experiencing symptoms earlier and testing earlier while our viral loads are still not up to a level that can be reliably detected by a covid test. so he might have tested too early
@RickiTarr@msquebanh
This (testing over 2-3 days) is critical. Serial testing strongly increases the accuracy of lateral flow test results (I used to make them, to detect HIV not Covid though, for a living).
@sennoma@RickiTarr Absolutely critical. This exact same info was shared to me by one of my community nurse friends. She goes & helps people/families with testing & so many people because almost everyone here doesn't know how to test themselves or family members well.
I blame the failures on #PublicHealth authorities who have completely dropped professional balls & broken #HippocraticOath to not do harm.
@jennifersmith Our doctor's offices here recommend not coming in unless you're having severe symptoms, but I could see if anyone is still doing drive thru testing
@RickiTarr Just had it a couple months ago. Here is the drill from the doctor which worked pretty well. Paxlovid immediately! Get the prescription tonight if possible. Drink lots of liquids. More than 4 liters per day. Cold juice mixed with hibiscus tea worked well. Ibuprofin 600mg 4x per day. Mucinex if/when he needs it.
The goal is to keep it out of the lungs. That's why the Paxlovid and liquids are so important.
It may be a mild case and this will be overkill, but better safe than sorry.
@mastodonmigration@RickiTarr
Any liquids - herbal teas, broth, juice, ginger ale - it's important to stay hydrated & flush out your system. Hot, warm, room temp, cool or cold - all good, though ice cold is usually hard to drink much of without brain freeze. 😉
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