2019 Novel Coronavirus Covid-19 Discussion

Forums › Health and fitness › 2019 Novel Coronavirus Covid-19 Discussion

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#3333126 19-Jan-2025 09:24

My mum has been in hospital for the last four weeks.

The majority of those who have visited her have caught COVID, including her.

I tested positive yesterday :(

eracode

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#3333172 19-Jan-2025 12:22

martyyn: My mum has been in hospital for the last four weeks.

The majority of those who have visited her have caught COVID, including her.

I tested positive yesterday :(

Do you mean she is in hospital for something else and caught COVID while in there?

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

martyyn

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#3333173 19-Jan-2025 12:30

Yes, she is in for something else and caught it in there.

digitalbugsy

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#3333533 20-Jan-2025 14:07

dafman:

We have a family member who tested positive two days ago, now isolating in separate part of house. The rest of us are isolating while we wait out to see if we have also picked it up.

Friends have expressed surprise that we are still bothering to test, let alone isolate.

The reason to test is it can still be pretty nasty, and it's VERY contagious. You're doing the right thing by isolating.

I picked it up over the Christmas break way with 2 other families. Someone came down pretty sick in the first day or so, and by the end of the week away half of us had some form of illness. To be honest I just put it down to a cold, then I realised the last time I had a sore throat as bad was the last time I had COVID. Found a test and double lines immediately even though it was expired. If that first person had isolated properly, it may not have spread so wide. It knocked me around for a couple of weeks, the brain fog is probably still there a little bit, definitely would rather not have had it...

mattwnz

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#3333590 20-Jan-2025 15:06

The problem currently is that tests are no longer free. So people aren't getting tested. My parents told me they just had a cold, but as I still had tests, I got them to test for it and they had it, and they had passed it onto me. I wonder how many tests have been thrown out before they were distributed to people. I still have some brain fog and dizziness well after I have recovered from it.

wellygary

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#3333596 20-Jan-2025 15:29

mattwnz:

I wonder how many tests have been thrown out before they were distributed to people. I still have some brain fog and dizziness well after I have recovered from it.

The huge majority of test kits that were dumped had or were very close to expiring.

Using an expired lateral flow test is just an invitation for a huge number of false negatives...

Benoire

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#3333601 20-Jan-2025 15:41

wellygary:

The huge majority of test kits that were dumped had or were very close to expiring.

Using an expired lateral flow test is just an invitation for a huge number of false negatives...

My understanding from my scientist colleague is that the chemicals in the LFTs do not break down if stored in the box/packets and so you should get the same result even if its well passed its use by date. Certainly, I've used out of date and in date during my last positive session and they both produced the same result multiple times (positive sadly)

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neb

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#3333611 20-Jan-2025 16:23

Benoire: My understanding from my scientist colleague is that the chemicals in the LFTs do not break down if stored in the box/packets and so you should get the same result even if its well passed its use by date. Certainly, I've used out of date and in date during my last positive session and they both produced the same result multiple times (positive sadly)

I've mentioned this before in other threads but most meds stay active long, long after their printed expiry date. The military keeps stockpiles of essential meds for emergencies and has run extensive tests on them, most meds are still at 90% efficacy after 10 years of storage under appropriate (what it says on the label) conditions.

The exception is MREs, which have a half-life of about 10,000 years.

mattwnz

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#3333615 20-Jan-2025 16:33

wellygary:

mattwnz:

I wonder how many tests have been thrown out before they were distributed to people. I still have some brain fog and dizziness well after I have recovered from it.

The huge majority of test kits that were dumped had or were very close to expiring.

Using an expired lateral flow test is just an invitation for a huge number of false negatives...

Potentially, but they could also pickup cases that wouldn't otherwise be picked up. But I used a test that had expired 6 months prior and it was positive. I am guessing how they are stored may make some difference.

This also seems such a waste of taxpayer money https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/521485/covid-19-mountains-of-expired-ppe-rapid-antigen-tests-to-be-turned-into-alternative-fuels-or-recycled It do wonder why they are destroying masks, when they could be giving out the masks for free as they should last many years.

deepred

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#3333681 20-Jan-2025 17:08

neb:

Benoire: My understanding from my scientist colleague is that the chemicals in the LFTs do not break down if stored in the box/packets and so you should get the same result even if its well passed its use by date. Certainly, I've used out of date and in date during my last positive session and they both produced the same result multiple times (positive sadly)

I've mentioned this before in other threads but most meds stay active long, long after their printed expiry date. The military keeps stockpiles of essential meds for emergencies and has run extensive tests on them, most meds are still at 90% efficacy after 10 years of storage under appropriate (what it says on the label) conditions.

The exception is MREs, which have a half-life of about 10,000 years.

With or without freezing?

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Batwing

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#3333687 20-Jan-2025 17:17

Entirely dependent on the number of ice ages pass during the MRE lifespan

ezbee

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#3333701 20-Jan-2025 17:40

Somewhere buried in 'MicrobeTV' discussions
It was mentioned that in USA test kit lifetimes were extended.
Problem is you are not changing dates already printed on boxes and especially those already sold.

You don't 'know' how long term aging progresses until you have product aging, then someone has to pay for the process to check.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-test-expiration-dates-fda-extension-accurate/

""
The FDA has extended the expiration dates of several different test brands, lengthening their shelf lives to up to two years. The extensions come in response to manufacturers testing their kits for accuracy beyond their printed expiration dates and sharing the results with the FDA.
""
"All BinaxNOW COVID-19 Antigen Self Test kits currently have a twenty-two-month expiry date," the company said. Abbott added that expiration dates could be extended again in the future, pending new data on their viability.
""

This article from Dec says USA is still mailing out 4 free test kits postage free on request
https://www.cnet.com/health/how-to-find-out-if-your-covid-tests-are-expired/

I expect that this won't last more than 100 days ?

tweake

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#3333707 20-Jan-2025 17:59

mattwnz:

The problem currently is that tests are no longer free. So people aren't getting tested. My parents told me they just had a cold, but as I still had tests, I got them to test for it and they had it, and they had passed it onto me.

for most people its a non issue and is regarded as just another thing in the mix. most won't even notice they have it. even tho i think its still the 2nd leading cause of death (i'm a bit out of date).

the interesting question is what happens to a person after the 50th time they have got it? most people would have had it many many times because it often does nothing, or very little, to them.

turtleattacks

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#3333708 20-Jan-2025 18:02

My partner has just picked it up from work and she tested positive with an expired kit.

I’m now feeling rubbish, despite having a chest infection, I’m 3 kits down and it’s still negative.

KiwiSurfer

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#3333768 20-Jan-2025 19:09

I've had the flu a few times (as have tested negative for covid so by process of elimination most likely the flu) and I've found it much, much worse than Covid. I'm currently coming out of a 7-day flu sickness which was awful. Covid on the other hand I've tested positive for three times and all three times it has been relatively mild compared to the flu -- the 2nd and 3rd times I was back at work within 3-4 days. Granted I do have the covid vaccine (and not the flu vaccine) which certainty does seem to help. Don't think I will bother testing for covid given it only tells me if I have covid or not--not very useful given there's not much I can do if I know it is covid. I'd prefer testing for the flu instead -- if there is something like that available? Or even a multi test to show if it's covid/flu/etc. It'd be much more useful for me to isolate if I have the flu IMHO as I don't want to pass on the flu I've had.

As for expired kits, I tried a expired kit once and it didn't have enough of the fluid solution left in the tube so I guess one of the reasons they have expiry dates is because the solution sometimes goes off? Ended up chucking the kit and getting a new one which worked fine straight away with plenty of fluid in the solution.

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