My sister’s good friend went to give blood in New York City. They took him aside and told him he tested positive for the antibodies. He had been mildly sick, in early March I think, with the headache in the back of the head and loss of smell, but felt fully recovered.
They’re going to bring him in to donate convalescent plasma. My sister said, “He hit the lottery.” The lottery nobody wants to play.
Current COVID test are unreliable–giving both false positive and false negative results. Up to 30% of asymptomatic patients test negative only to develop COVID-19 symptoms later on.
And both WHO and the CDC are now investigating multiple documented cases in different countries where COVID patients test negative for 2-3 tests then suddenly test positive again and are shedding virus for up to a 3-4 weeks after the end of symptoms.
There is still a lot that’s unknown about this disease.
I know what you mean, in the larger sense, about “the lottery nobody wants to play” but given the circumstances, I have to agree with your sister. He had mild symptoms, fully recovered, and now he’s able to help someone else (maybe a lot of someones? I’ve heard about the plasma donor process but I’m not clear on how many people one donor can help).
Oh, I agree with my sister. He did hit the lottery, and I hope he can donate gallons of plasma.
I suspect more and more than I had a month ago. The symptoms fit pretty exactly and my sense of taste and smell were impacted. Everything tasted really strange and wrong and my husband would complain about smells that I couldn’t smell at all. I would like to get the antibody test. My husband thinks he and our son had it before me and I think it is possible. A relative goes to a concierge doctor who told her she would have the antibody test available for patients about 2 weeks ago. I wonder if people who have concierge doctors get first crack at things like that. My coworker’s relative is in the hospital on a ventilator. My husband’s coworker has it but he doesn’t know which coworker or how the person is. They overlapped at work but it has been over 2 weeks now that my husband has been home so hopefully is in the clear. Someone my husband doesn’t know and hasn’t met at a medical facility that people my husband works with go back and forth between (between his office and the medical facility) died and several others have the virus. they kept his work open too long in my opinion and he and other staff felt they were just waiting for someone to get it so they could shut the whole thing down. Why wait that long when the virus is active in the area? But that’s what they did.
The problem with antibodies is that many people with mild cases don’t develop them. Or, at least they aren’t apparent in their blood.
We will need mass antibody serum testing to let people go back to work and school. I told D2 that she should offer to donate blood if it’s the easiest way to get the antibody test. She’s O negative so they’ll love her even more.
I am wondering if people know how/when they got infected.
I lost my sense of smell back in late January-early February, shortly after having a mild flu-like illness that lasted one Saturday. I remember going to a wine tasting with Mr. and not being able to taste or smell the wine. I have never expected such weird smell loss (having a very sensitive nose!) and I got worried that it was some sort of neurological issues that were causing it. My sense of smell returned after about 2 weeks. Who knows, maybe it was the virus, but maybe not THAT virus. I’d love to see if I have any anti-[covid protein] IgGs. I use public transportation here, and the buses are packed with younger folks who text with their extended families in Chinese. 
So ample opportunities for exposure, especially after the US holidays.
I was extremely sick in mid-February, with what I thought was the flu. Now, I think I had Covid19. I had a fever for days, a headache, a sore throat … and I was just SO tired. I didn’t work out for two weeks, which is something that has never happened with any other illness I have had. I stayed away from H, and he never got sick. If giving blood equates to getting my antibodies tested, I just may need to make an appointment.
I was with my extended family over Christmas. My BIL and sister were sick with a cold. On New Year’s day I came down with a cold/flu. I had a cough, body ache (headache), and a low grade fever for 3 days. It’s rare I have a fever, but I just figured I had a mld case of flu. My mother was with me and she complained about having a headache for days. She was so tired she didn’t want to go out with us. I would be interested in getting tested. I think there are probably a lot more people who have been exposed to the virus.
H and I, along with his entire work team, were all sick at the end of January beginning of February following a conference in FL. Some people on his team were hospitalized. We all had C 19 symptoms and everyone tested negative for the flu. I just signed up to try to volunteer for get in the NIH antibody study.
I’m starting to wonder if my S19 had it. Mid-Feb he called home complaining of such a bad headache, he could barely function for almost a week. When he got home for Spring Break a couple weeks later, he didn’t look like himself. Cheerful enough, but skinny, pale, and exhausted. I chalked it up to normal college tired. Now I wonder.
@ChaosParent23 I’m wondering about my D19 as well. In mid February she had the flu–exhaustion, horrible headache, fever up to 105 (taken at the ER as she felt so bad she told us she had to be seen urgently). She was confirmed to have influenza B, but I’ve heard of enough anecdotes where people tested + for both (mostly those at ERs or hospitalized). She goes to a school in NY (though upstate) with a large international population.
She has had flu before and said that this was flu on steroids–nothing like she has experienced before. And even more interesting–she had a nasty GI bug about a week before this “flu” started. Coincidence? Maybe. But an antibody test would be interesting.
I think a lot of people had it without realizing what the symptoms were. And probably many more who had no symptoms at all.
I’m looking forward to accurate antibody tests. I want to believe a lot of people have had it and either didn’t realize it or got over it safely, but as long as many people who think they have it now still test negative, I have my doubts.
I’m not willing to “call it” either way. I want the data. The flu and colds are still out there just like any other year.
Exactly. We know so little about this that a good amount of what we hear is speculation or anecdotal at best.
My Dh had a terrible cough a month and a half ago. He still isn’t 100% over it, though it’s barely noticeable now. But b/c he never had a fever, he couldn’t get a test. At the time he had just started working out at the gym at work… which also happened to be where Covid-19 first broke out in our state. It’s a ginormous business/tech campus, so the odds are slim. But since people can’t get tests and info is unreliable, everyone is left to wonder.
Ya know- something just occurred to me about your son and all the tests the did (and the big one they didn’t do) at the hospital- IIRC if he tested positive they would have to waive a lot of the bills as there is some regulation that the feds (?) will pay some pecuniary amount for the medical mills if its related to COVID-19, but if they don’t test for it, so don’t know, they can stick the full bill to your son! He should negotiate the bill way down when he gets it.
Agree, jym. I wondered the same thing. If they don’t test for covid, the visits aren’t free.
@jym626 & austinmshauri – I think the problem is that Creekland’s son was uninsured. Treatment for Covid 19 is not “free” nor is it paid for by the federal government outside of those of us who are on Medicare.
What has happened is that the federal government has issued instructions to INSURANCE companies that means that deductibles and/or copays will be waived in many circumstances:
Actual regulation: https://www.cms.gov/files/document/FFCRA-Part-42-FAQs.pdf
So this protects ONLY people who are insured. I think @Creekland posted upthread that the son did not have employer-provided coverage and had opted not to purchase private insurance during open enrollment.
If the concern is that the hospitals would purposely withhold testing because of cost issues – that is misplaced. The hospitals can still bill for ALL services at the same rate as before – it is just that the insured person may avoid a copay for a preliminary visit (urgent care, ED, telehealth) if they are seeking services for suspected Covid-19 infection.
Note that this does NOT apply to follow-up care – if the person ends up in ICU or on a ventilator, they can expect whatever copay or deductible their policy provides.
The program I believe I was recalling is this one https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20200409.207680/full/ which looks like it will help to defray the cost of uninsured COVID 19 patients. But if a patient is not diagnosed (not enough tests, want to keep the numbers down or want to bill more- who knows ) this doesn’t look like it applies to help cover costs.