Do I need to get a COVID test post-symptoms?

[Alfred001]

I got symptoms Sunday afternoon (chills which evolved into a fever and general weakness which was later joined by a headache). At one point I collapsed on my way to the bathroom. By Monday evening, the symptoms were largely gone and this morning I'm symptom free.

We did a COVID test, but my mother rubbed the q tip inside my nose cavity, not the area behind the nose, so, although the test came back negative, I don't know whether I can trust it.

I'm double Pfizer vaxxed, though ma last dose was in July.

With all this in mind, do I need to get tested before going outside, or can I take my absence of symptoms to mean that if this WAS COVID, I'm no longer contagious? Can I go outside tomorrow? (I have an appointment with a doctor, unrleated to this)

Edited February 15, 2022 by Alfred001

[Peterkin]

54 minutes ago, Alfred001 said:

With all this in mind, do I need to get tested before going outside, or can I take my absence of symptoms to mean that if this WAS COVID, I'm no longer contagious? Can I go outside tomorrow? (I have an appointment with a doctor, unrleated to this)

I would go to the appointment - and nowhere else - and ask to be tested. Of course, you must take all recommended precautions against touching or approaching other people or breathing into their air-space. If nothing else, a professional negative test might reassure you; OTOH, if you're contagious, you need to know!

[CharonY]

57 minutes ago, Alfred001 said:

With all this in mind, do I need to get tested before going outside, or can I take my absence of symptoms to mean that if this WAS COVID, I'm no longer contagious? Can I go outside tomorrow? (I have an appointment with a doctor, unrleated to this)

Basically, if the test was not applied correctly, you do not know whether you got COVID-19 or whether you are still contagious. The rough timeframe of being contagious was about 1-2 days before you got symptoms and for roughly 10 days after. But a test would be much better to ascertain that. Wear a tight mask, see if you can get tested again (either rapid or PCR) and talk to your MD. 

[Dropship]

I'm also unsure what to do, and am open to advice.

I've never been vaxed and was hit by Cov-19 in May 2020 (yes 22 months ago) and had all the symptoms except breathlessness, so I rode it out without bothering to consult a doctor, and the symptoms slowly cleared up after a couple of weeks.

However, since then I've had recurrent symptoms every couple of months which I presume is 'long covid'. 

Question- would getting vaxed now be pointless, bearing in mind the virus is already in my system?

[iNow]

51 minutes ago, Dropship said:

Question- would getting vaxed now be pointless, bearing in mind the virus is already in my system?

No. Vax (2 shots plus booster) plus confirmed infection from the past equals strongest possible protection.

What you have now is an immune system that saw the caterpillar when it was young and can fight against that caterpillar, but that same immune system can’t recognize the butterfly in its current state with its current colors. The caterpillar is no longer relevant and the butterfly is what’s flying around today.

Just like getting the flu in 2020 doesn’t much protect you from getting flu in 2022, covid has evolved a LOT since you had your infection 2 years ago so should be mostly ignored in terms of predicting risk. 

Edited March 16, 2022 by iNow

[Dropship]

Thanks, which brings me to this follow-up question- there are at least 8 Covid variants floating around, so will one vax shot give us protection against them all, or would we need a different shot against each one?

Furthermore some variants need one or more "booster shots", so that'll be a lot of stuff sloshing around our systems, is it safe?

https://www.bmj.com/content/374/bmj.n1971

Edited March 16, 2022 by Dropship

[CharonY]

55 minutes ago, Dropship said:

Thanks, which brings me to this follow-up question- there are at least 8 Covid variants floating around, so will one vax shot give us protection against them all, or would we need a different shot against each one?

Furthermore some variants need one or more "booster shots", so that'll be a lot of stuff sloshing around our systems, is it safe?

https://www.bmj.com/content/374/bmj.n1971

First, something regarding the "sloshing around" bit. Vaccinations do not leave residues behind. They come in, trigger the immune system and then are flushed out of the system. Actual infections with virus or bacteria could stick around if they are not fully eliminated (though with SARS-CoV-2 we have not seen that happening yet). In other words, what sticks around is really just your modified immune response and not the vaccine.

To date, all approved vaccines were developed against the original variant. While there are attempts to target vaccines more specifically to a given variant (similar to flu shots), there is nothing that has outperformed the 1st gen vaccines yet. So far most existing vaccines provide overwhelming protection against severe disease regardless of the SARS-CoV-2 variants. However, protection against getting an infection (and potentially transmitting it to other folks) is waning, especially without a booster.

Also, as a side note, there are many, many, many more than eight variants of SARS-CoV-2. A huge number of folks were infected and as a result we have created hundreds if not thousands of different variants. However, only few are spreading successfully and those are also called variants of concern (VOC, but not all VOCs are first characterized by spread, some might be of concern due to mutations that could make them more likely to evade vaccines or changed their virulence).

However, the dominant ones currently circulating are Delta (some of its subvariants) and Omicron (and mostly its subvariant BA.2, which has edged out Omicron in some areas). These have displaced most of the other variants of concern (such as Alpha or Gamma).

[iNow]

2 hours ago, Dropship said:

will one vax shot give us protection against them all, or would we need a different shot against each one?

Depends on which shot you get and when you get it. Much like the virus evolves, so too do our defenses against it. Active development efforts are happening as you read this 

[Dropship]

16 hours ago, CharonY said:

...However, the dominant ones currently circulating are Delta (some of its subvariants) and Omicron (and mostly its subvariant BA.2, which has edged out Omicron in some areas). These have displaced most of the other variants of concern (such as Alpha or Gamma).

Thanks and incidentally where do viruses come from, do they just blink into existence out of thin air or what?

And what's their life cycle, how do they "breed"?

And as they float through the air are they resistant to hot and cold weather and the ultra-violet radiation from the sun?

Speaking of floating, what's their lifespan if they can't find a human to attach themselves to, do they just die off?

PS- the thing stuck itself to my eyeballs 2 years ago which it used as a "beach head" to invade other parts of my body.

Below- my baby blue eyes at that time, and a news article-

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Edited March 17, 2022 by Dropship

[CharonY]

45 minutes ago, Dropship said:

Thanks and incidentally where do viruses come from, do they just blink into existence out of thin air or what?

And what's their life cycle, how do they "breed"?

And as they float through the air are they resistant to hot and cold weather and the ultra-violet radiation from the sun?

Speaking of floating, what's their lifespan if they can't find a human to attach themselves to, do they just die off?

PS- the thing stuck itself to my eyeballs 2 years ago which it used as a "beach head" to invade other parts of my body.

Below- my baby blue eyes at that time, and a news article-

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Viruses are basically genetic material wrapped in protein (and sometimes other compounds). They do not replicate by themselves but are always spread by a host that produces them. Essentially they get in, inject their genetic material into your cells and forces them to make more viruses. Viruses generally become inactive outside of a body over time, but some are more resilient than others and it also depends a lot on the conditions (e.g. temperature, exposure to UV, humidity etc.).  SARS-CoV-2 is mostly transmitted directly via aerosols produced by infected individuals.