I'm #COVID19 Positive.
Was bound to happen at some point
I feel terrible today: Fever, aches, chills (Immune mediated symptoms). Cough (maybe immune, maybe virus)
So, here we go.
I'll update this thread daily. See photo for rapid test results + infection/test result description
I am exceedingly frustrated that b/c my wife & I didn't get dose 2 until 8/21 - we cannot get boosted yet
We have a 3 month old, Lila, who'd benefit greatly during Omicron by high antibodies in breast milk. But w/out my wife being boosted, Lila won't get much protection.
2/
At 0-12 hours into symptoms:
No rapid Ag or rapid molecular tests were positive
At 24 hours into symptoms: All nasal tests were bright positive
Throat swab test was fully Negative
Symptoms start earlier for many ppl now (see this thread for why (
I'm guessing ppl wondering why I used so many tests. Some may even be angry about it
It was for instructional use only
I have Demo tests for educational/research purposes only that manufacturers sent me over past 2 yrs to look at. These tests couldn't have been on shelves
4/
Ppl also wondering why I waited to get vaccines
Simple answer
I never left my house when i was working 15-18 hrs every single day on COVID through into the summer '21
I got dose 1 in May. I got dose 2 three months later bc it was biologically much more relevant than 3 weeks
5/
And my wife got dose 2 in August so that she would maximally transfer antibodies through the placenta to our infant by the time she was born.
6/
COVID Day 4: Rapid Antigen Test Self-Experiment
Updating thread
Days 2,3: Fever worse. Nasal Swab all v Pos
Day 3: Throat swab MAYBE faint Pos
Day 4:
-Fever improved ~20%
-Cough worse
-Highest virus load yet (fastest time to positivity)
-Throat swab fully Neg again
7/
Day 4 from Symptom Onset:
Video of what a REALLY strong positive looks like.
Time to positivity is a measure of virus load - as is line intensity.
Here, note that the sample line (T) becomes visible AND dark before the fluid gets a chance to even hit the control line.
8/
Also on d4 I used a U-Smell-it test - a scratch and sniff test for loss of smell
Despite obvious very high viral load, sense of smell still seems largely in tact - as is taste, for now. Supports that this is Omicron - but will get sequencing too.
9/
Also, between constant wearing of N95s and this awesome Corsi-Rosenthal Box (@kprather88) we made (plus a other Hepa air filters we have and windows open -brrr), so far I'm the only one in the house w COVID.
I'll be surprised if it maintains, but we are doing what we can.
10/
Day 5 since symptom start:
4 days of straight Fever and night sweats finally gone
Most symptoms gone
Some congestion
Still have cough - will probably linger for a week
Still very high positive but going in right direction. Samples took… ~15 seconds to turn Pos vs immediate
Adding to the above
These are the rest of the day 5 tests. The middle one there (2nd to left) is quite old and expired for… a year now almost. So it has a very faint line, not representative.
The rest are each high positive
12/
Day 6:
Symptoms resolving. Fever gone.
Cough a bit worse (normal)
• 100% (25/25) easily detected my infection days 1-5, when virus load was highest & detection most important
• All tests Neg by day 9
22/
Post COVID Update:
It is now about ~10 days since my last positive result.
My wife and 4 month old remained fully Neg the whole time! (Go ventilation and N95's!)
My Post-viral cough is terrible - worse ea day (but normal for respiratory viruses)
Of course it wasn't just the N95 & ventilation for why they didn't get infected. It was
#1) Because I found out early via rapid testing that I was infectious and was able to take mitigating steps early - N95 and start intense ventilation quickly and...
#2) because they are vaccinated (or receiving antibodies via earlier placental transfer and now milk) and thus have pre-existing immunity (potentially also from a prior undiagnosed infection - should one have occurred) which offer some limited immune protection from acquisition.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
Here we go again with this asinine cautious approach to testing for H5N1
CDC is NOT recommending that people with no symptoms - but who have had contact w infected animals - be tested at all… and certainly are not recommending a swab w any frequency.
Though we should have learned it in 2020, Here’s why this doesnt make sense:
1/
Firstly, tests are our eyes for viruses. It’s literally how we see where viruses are
If we wait until people are getting sick, we may have missed a major opportunity to find viruses jumping into humans before they learn to become so efficient in us that they cause disease
2/
So waiting until we actually have highly pathogenic strains harming humans - when we have a pretty discreet population at the moment to survey - is short sighted
3/
A particularly deadly consequence of measles is its erasure of previously acquired immune memory - setting kids and adults up for infections that they shouldn’t be at risk from!
We found for example that measles can eliminate as much as 80% of someone’s previously acquired immunity to other pathogens! science.org/doi/full/10.11…