Why are you testing negative on an antigen test with symptoms of COVID-19? Do you have the flu? Not necessarily — here’s why

You isolate for at least 5 full days – day zero being the first day of symptoms – because it’s the responsible thing to do. Still, you still have your sense of taste and smell, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have COVID-19.

“Get vaccinated, get boosted, wear a mask in indoor public places in areas of high and high community transmission,” says Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. “Take a test before you assemble.”

As the omicron variant sweeps the world and flu season sets in, how can you tell the difference between COVID-19 and the flu? Until you finally get that positive COVID-19 antigen test, the truth is, it’s nearly impossible to tell.

Symptoms of COVID-19 and the flu are pretty much the same

Omicron and delta pose a greater threat to those who are not vaccinated, but a persistent dry cough and shortness of breath are two symptoms that could indicate COVID-19, above all if you have been exposed to someone who tested positive.

However, COVID-19 and the flu can cause fever, cough, shortness of breath / difficulty breathing, fatigue, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache. , vomiting, diarrhea, change or loss of taste or smell.

The CDC says a loss or change in taste or smell is Following common in COVID-19, but it’s not a prerequisite for having omicron, the highly transmissible variant that leads the way through schools, workplaces, and family gatherings.

Do you see Catch 22? Influenza and COVID-19 has almost identical symptoms. Despite all the guidelines helping people distinguish between the two, a positive rapid antigen test is still the only sure-fire way to find out what disease you have.

Moreover, the tests are not one and done. A person with COVID-19 and suffering from symptoms may always test negative for antigen tests 1 to 3 days before the virus develops. Their immune system, supported by a vaccine, can actually defeat the virus.

Repeated negative tests with symptoms of COVID-19 or flu

This is where the silver lining resides for feeling sick. At the start of the pandemic, our immune system fought off the coronavirus and we felt sick. Without any pre-existing immunity, we probably had a large amount of virus in our systems by the time we were feeling rotten.

Vaccines have changed that. Michael Mina, an epidemiologist, says feeling sick can be a Well thing. Vaccines help our immune system recognize and fight the virus faster, and this makes us sick – not necessarily the viral load.

Mina said you can be symptomatic and pre-infectious, infectious, post-infectious, or never infectious. “Symptoms don’t = contagious virus,” he said. wrote on Twitter. “It literally reflects the fact that vaccines are doing their job! ”

This is why we feel horrible even when we are negative. “We recognize the virus quickly after it lands in us, we develop symptoms, we fight it in some way, and then it often ends up winning and grows rapidly AFTER the immunity / symptoms have started”, a- he added.

“So if you’re symptomatic and negative – although that means you’re probably not contagious at the time, be very, very careful,” Mina adds. “Quarantine even if possible and test the next morning or that night. (Sometimes even longer.)”

Isolate and test with symptoms. But when do we come out of isolation?

How do you interpret these rapid tests? One red line is negative, while two red lines mean positive. A stronger second red line probably means you’re the most contagious. A lighter red line means you are at the start or end of your infection.

When and how to get out of isolation has become more complicated. The CDC is maintain positionn on its isolation policy, requiring people who showed symptoms and who have access to a test to take one before leaving isolation. But it does not require it.

Even though you’re less contagious once your symptoms abate, critics of the CDC argue that it creates another gray area of ​​confusion and forces the individual to make the decisions best left to public health officials.

CDC explanation: “The majority of SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs early in the illness, usually within 1-2 days before symptoms appear and 2-3 days after. This, however, was before omicron has spread like wildfire.

This position has divided public opinion and frustrated some epidemiologists. Many public health advocates say it’s safer to get this negative antigen test before go out into the world. For her part, Mina called the CDC guidelines “reckless.”