Is it possible I had the coronavirus in January?

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Feb 10, 2020
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Dec 15th to January 18th I was sick as well. I went to the doctor's twice because I've never been sick for that long. It was a strange sickness. Heavy dry coughing that got worse at night. Sore throat, hurt to swallow. I lost my voice for a week. Congestion in my lungs. Fatigued. The doctor said on the first visit that it was Laryngitis (primary encounter diagnosis) Physicians Note: Discussed of a viral nature of this. Then on Jan 2nd I went back again because I was still sick with a sore throat and coughing. This time they said it was Acute tonsillitis, unspecified etiology (primary encounter diagnosis)TM's clear b/l, N-congested, T-mild erythema with sl R tonsillar enlargement, no exudate. I recall the doctor saying that there is something respiratory related going around. Again, this was on Jan 2nd. The CDC was notified on January 3rd.
Hi, where do you live?
 
Although it can not be ruled out that you had this strain of Coronavirus (believed to be identified as far back as 2012 in China currently); it would be impossible at this stage to confirm whether you did or did not have the virus earlier than known as [to the best of my knowledge] any infection captured between 2018[2] and today would in theory lead you to believe you had it prior to any known cases.
 
Mar 30, 2020
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Is it possible you had the virus? Yes. Can you confirm it? Possibly. You can be tested for antibodies.

The only consistent thing about this virus is that it affects everyone differently.
 
Is it possible you had the virus? Yes. Can you confirm it? Possibly. You can be tested for antibodies.

The only consistent thing about this virus is that it affects everyone differently.

The OP raises the question if they had COVID19 in January 2020 anf although there is an antibody test, this would not establish if you had the infection in January 2020 and recovered or if you caught it at a later date and recovered.
 
Mar 30, 2020
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The OP raises the question if they had COVID19 in January 2020 anf although there is an antibody test, this would not establish if you had the infection in January 2020 and recovered or if you caught it at a later date and recovered.

Well apparently I need to be more detailed in my answer:

Is it possible you had the virus? Yes.
Can you confirm it? Possibly.
Can you confirm that's what you had IN JANUARY? No.
 
Nov 18, 2020
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Hi Eric, I wonder the same thing. I’m a registered nurse currently working in a public hospital in South Australia. Around Dec 3rd we had a cluster of five or six staff come down with severe flu like illness after caring for a patient who had respiratory symptoms. My colleagues were typically off sick for about two weeks and they all tested negative for flu. In addition one I know had raised WCC and CRP, and I believe one or two persisted to pneumonia. They all had a terrible dry persistent cough that continued long after fever, shortness of breath and runny nose had resolved. Then in the following weeks several other staff members came down with the same mystery illness....including myself on Christmas Day. We all agree we’ve never had anything like it, and the cough was very bad. Personally I felt like I’d fractured my sternum the pain was so intense. As far as I’m aware nobody tested positive for any known flu and many were told they must have another virus. I guess without a serology test to check for antibodies, we’ll never know, but would be interested in the opinion of anyone ID related.
Incidentally the patient, from a facility tested positive for an influenza... think A from memory... and was then isolated and barrier nursed. While it would be unlikely she had travelled overseas, I’m sure it’s very feasible one of her carers may have.
Thanks in advance for any opinions.
Cheers

I had a cough that started around November 2019 and it lasted well over a month. I coughed so hard that I coughed up blood. My chest hurt and each heave felt like broken ribs. My temperature was above 38 C which is high for me as my average temperature is around 35.6 C.

The cough finally went away but it was followed by a whole host of strange things happening to my body - rashes, fatigue, trigeminal pain in the left side of the face and the feeling of stuffiness in my chest.

My husband had the cough but none of the other things I listed.

I think it is quite likely that the virus was doing its rounds before we knew about it or had a name for it.
 
I had a cough that started around November 2019 and it lasted well over a month. I coughed so hard that I coughed up blood. My chest hurt and each heave felt like broken ribs. My temperature was above 38 C which is high for me as my average temperature is around 35.6 C.

The cough finally went away but it was followed by a whole host of strange things happening to my body - rashes, fatigue, trigeminal pain in the left side of the face and the feeling of stuffiness in my chest.

My husband had the cough but none of the other things I listed.

I think it is quite likely that the virus was doing its rounds before we knew about it or had a name for it.

What did your GP say on your condition as it would be very strange to cough blood up and not seek further help.

I would also note that a hard cough is not a typical symptom of COVID19 and more consistent with Flu which is also more of a Winter illness.
 
Nov 18, 2020
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She put it down to prolonged hard coughing. At the time no one knew about COVID 19. I'm not saying that I know I had THE virus. Just saying it's possible the virus was going around before we knew about it. And it so happened that a number of people had symptoms that were unlike the ones they usually get in flu season juts before COVID-19 hit us hard in the face.
 
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She put it down to prolonged hard coughing. At the time no one knew about COVID 19. I'm not saying that I know I had THE virus. Just saying it's possible the virus was going around before we knew about it. And it so happened that a number of people had symptoms that were unlike the ones they usually get in flu season juts before COVID-19 hit us hard in the face.

I am still concerned that coughing up blood was not deemed serious enough to seek medical help.

On one hand we have symptoms that can be attributed to the known flu season and is consistant with the timing and the hospital admissions at the time.... On the other hand you may be patient zero with a strain that was massively reduced in its R number compared to COVID19 due to no work colleagues, friends etc... having acquired it and no known outbreak in your location at time of writing...
 
Nov 18, 2020
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I am still concerned that coughing up blood was not deemed serious enough to seek medical help.

On one hand we have symptoms that can be attributed to the known flu season and is consistant with the timing and the hospital admissions at the time.... On the other hand you may be patient zero with a strain that was massively reduced in its R number compared to COVID19 due to no work colleagues, friends etc... having acquired it and no known outbreak in your location at time of writing...

Oh, I'm sure youre' right. Either way.