Was supposed to video chat with my friend the other day.
he hits me up and goes “sorry man I can’t talk today. I’m sick and can’t get out of bed.”
With a cold? A cold has so knocked you on your ass that you haven’t been able to get out of bed for days? Of course he won’t actually test so to him he just has a cold.
To be fair, I recently had an illness of some sort that fatigued the absolute fuck out of me. I tested 6 times for COVID and all of them came up negative. Still have no idea wtf it was.
Or it could be the chronic fatigue I’ve been dealing with for almost 15 years now. I just haven’t dealt with it in about a year so I had forgotten about it.
I had a bacterial infection of the tonsils but my throat didn’t even hurt. Symptoms were basically flu-like with fever, chills, and headache. It was my first time having such a thing, no idea how I contracted it.
The last couple of time I’ve thought I’ve been sick I used the tests I got from Biden but they always come back negative and so has my partners. I feel like/assume the tests don’t do a great job with the new strains
E: not saying people shouldn’t test this just reminded me about my frustration around testing
Yeah the rapid tests can only really tell you if you have it, they can’t really confirm a negative. The CDC recommendation is to test twice within 48 hours, thrice in 72 if you’re having symptoms. Which sort of negates the usefulness of the free tests when you’re only giving out like a couple per household. We need free and abundant PCR testing.
This actually is what happens to me every time I get a cold, the flu, RSV, anything other than just seasonal allergies.
A few years back I had a cold for like 6 weeks. Tested negative for Covid, Influenza, and RSV multiple times each during the illness but could barely even make it to the bathroom, drink, or eat.
huh maybe it’s a similar thing for him then. I still think he should test, but of course he’s more concerned with convincing me that covid is over than in taking care of himself.
Was it like that for you in 2018 and prior though?
If you test negative for COVID, you often still have COVID. the PCR tests are only 80% accurate in optimal scenario (only 80% of infected people actually test positive, on the peak viral count day of infection, so the practical accuracy is more like 60%)
so the rapid tests are prob 50% accurate if we’re very generous
covid also destroys your immune system so even if you’re getting knocked out by colds, as long as that reaction was post-2019, then it’s still caused by covid
not trying to dismiss your experiences, you may just have something else that was already there. But if colds and flus began knocking you out in the last 5 years, then yea that’s either literal covid or covid-induced
If you test negative for COVID, you often still have COVID. the PCR tests are only 80% accurate in optimal scenario (only 80% of infected people actually test positive, on the peak viral count day of infection, so the practical accuracy is more like 60%)
source on this? especially the numbers. My understanding was PCRs are typically very sensitive, and tend to stay positive for far longer than people are actively experiencing symptoms or contagious, which doesn’t line up with you saying “80%” on the peak viral count day of infection.
What I’m seeing is confirmed false negative rates somewhere below like 5%, though mostly studies from earlier in the pandemic.
source on this? especially the numbers. My understanding was PCRs are typically very sensitive, and tend to stay positive for far longer than people are actively experiencing symptoms or contagious, which doesn’t line up with you saying “80%” on the peak viral count day of infection.
I don’t know for sure, but I suspect they are citing this link, which says “… In these studies, clinical performance ranges and approaches 80% sensitivity and 98-99% specificity when using a good comparator…”
An 80% sensitivity means that if you have COVID, you have a 20% chance of a false negative (i.e., testing negative despite being positive). Let’s say you test everyday for 4 days; the odds of getting all false negatives is 1/(5^4), or 1/625, or 0.16%.
A 98% specificity means that someone without COVID has a 2% chance of a false positive (i.e., testing positive despite not being sick). PCR’s are imperfect, but afaik they are the gold-standard test. They are widely available, and have the most science backing their use.
They also suggested that tests completed at-home are 50% accurate, which doesn’t seem like it’s based on any scientific findings I can find. For example, this study found that tests completed at home are equally as sensitive (>83%) and specific (>99.5%) as tests completed by doctors. But I could be wrong.
That person also mentioned stool tests are the best for screening for COVID-19, but I’m not sure what that is all about, and research comparing stool tests to other measures doesn’t seem to support the accuracy of stool tests over others… I understand much of their concern and skepticism - I don’t take people in my life saying things like “Sure I’m sick but I tested negative so it’s just a cold” seriously. I get very frustrated when I hear that shit. That being said, I am a bit sus about the specific things they are recommending or saying in this thread.
Was supposed to video chat with my friend the other day.
he hits me up and goes “sorry man I can’t talk today. I’m sick and can’t get out of bed.”
With a cold? A cold has so knocked you on your ass that you haven’t been able to get out of bed for days? Of course he won’t actually test so to him he just has a cold.
To be fair, I recently had an illness of some sort that fatigued the absolute fuck out of me. I tested 6 times for COVID and all of them came up negative. Still have no idea wtf it was.
the BEST covid tests have 80% accuracy on the BEST day to test
your shitty rapid test prob has 60% accuracy on that day, and declining every day afterwards
alternatively your immune system is fucked from covid and now colds and flus fuck you up
the best way to test for covid is stool tests but crackers are dumb so this doesn’t happen
Or it could be the chronic fatigue I’ve been dealing with for almost 15 years now. I just haven’t dealt with it in about a year so I had forgotten about it.
is there a DIY method or something? or do i need actual lab equipment to do this stuff
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A “common cold” can still knock you on your ass for sure
I had a bacterial infection of the tonsils but my throat didn’t even hurt. Symptoms were basically flu-like with fever, chills, and headache. It was my first time having such a thing, no idea how I contracted it.
The last couple of time I’ve thought I’ve been sick I used the tests I got from Biden but they always come back negative and so has my partners. I feel like/assume the tests don’t do a great job with the new strains
E: not saying people shouldn’t test this just reminded me about my frustration around testing
Yeah the rapid tests can only really tell you if you have it, they can’t really confirm a negative. The CDC recommendation is to test twice within 48 hours, thrice in 72 if you’re having symptoms. Which sort of negates the usefulness of the free tests when you’re only giving out like a couple per household. We need free and abundant PCR testing.
They also might have expired, and have a pretty bad false-negative rate.
This actually is what happens to me every time I get a cold, the flu, RSV, anything other than just seasonal allergies.
A few years back I had a cold for like 6 weeks. Tested negative for Covid, Influenza, and RSV multiple times each during the illness but could barely even make it to the bathroom, drink, or eat.
huh maybe it’s a similar thing for him then. I still think he should test, but of course he’s more concerned with convincing me that covid is over than in taking care of himself.
Yeah, he absolutely should test.
Was it like that for you in 2018 and prior though?
If you test negative for COVID, you often still have COVID. the PCR tests are only 80% accurate in optimal scenario (only 80% of infected people actually test positive, on the peak viral count day of infection, so the practical accuracy is more like 60%)
so the rapid tests are prob 50% accurate if we’re very generous
covid also destroys your immune system so even if you’re getting knocked out by colds, as long as that reaction was post-2019, then it’s still caused by covid
not trying to dismiss your experiences, you may just have something else that was already there. But if colds and flus began knocking you out in the last 5 years, then yea that’s either literal covid or covid-induced
source on this? especially the numbers. My understanding was PCRs are typically very sensitive, and tend to stay positive for far longer than people are actively experiencing symptoms or contagious, which doesn’t line up with you saying “80%” on the peak viral count day of infection.
What I’m seeing is confirmed false negative rates somewhere below like 5%, though mostly studies from earlier in the pandemic.
Rapid tests are straight trash though
I don’t know for sure, but I suspect they are citing this link, which says “… In these studies, clinical performance ranges and approaches 80% sensitivity and 98-99% specificity when using a good comparator…”
An 80% sensitivity means that if you have COVID, you have a 20% chance of a false negative (i.e., testing negative despite being positive). Let’s say you test everyday for 4 days; the odds of getting all false negatives is 1/(5^4), or 1/625, or 0.16%.
A 98% specificity means that someone without COVID has a 2% chance of a false positive (i.e., testing positive despite not being sick). PCR’s are imperfect, but afaik they are the gold-standard test. They are widely available, and have the most science backing their use.
They also suggested that tests completed at-home are 50% accurate, which doesn’t seem like it’s based on any scientific findings I can find. For example, this study found that tests completed at home are equally as sensitive (>83%) and specific (>99.5%) as tests completed by doctors. But I could be wrong.
That person also mentioned stool tests are the best for screening for COVID-19, but I’m not sure what that is all about, and research comparing stool tests to other measures doesn’t seem to support the accuracy of stool tests over others… I understand much of their concern and skepticism - I don’t take people in my life saying things like “Sure I’m sick but I tested negative so it’s just a cold” seriously. I get very frustrated when I hear that shit. That being said, I am a bit sus about the specific things they are recommending or saying in this thread.
speaking from my experience in canada, so my bad haha. at least in my area, anyone can take a pack from any pharmacy whenever they want
Talking about PCR tests here
Yep, it’s been like that ever since I was born. I just have a poor immune system.
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https://time.com/6306361/covid-19-immune-system/
https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(23)00796-1
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https://libguides.mskcc.org/CovidImpacts/Immune
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Just Google Covid immune Dysregulation.