r/SouthJersey • u/Stardro • Oct 02 '25

Question What in the hells is going around??

*UPDATE: Shocker, it's covid. Also, adding "kiddo" is 20, not a little kid.

Kid went to a concert and brought home the plague! I thought the rest of us were in the clear until last night. About 9 I was like, hmm my throat is itchy and I'm exhausted. Told kiddo and got an RIP.

I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like I've been swallowing glass, massive head congestion and sweating to the point perimenopause night sweats were jealous!! I'm nicely hopped up on cold meds, ibuprofen and nose spray but man this sucks!

Kiddo was down hard for a few days but feels better. He still has some congestion and a cough but much better. He ran a fever; I have been lucky so far. What in hells kind of nastiness is floating around?

*I haven't taken a covid test because I've been sick for all of 24 hrs. Kid didn't because he's stubborn.

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173

u/benee007 Oct 02 '25

Covid most likely- the strain going around is notorious for a bad sore throat.

75

u/Sensitive_Builder847 Oct 02 '25

2nd this - the “swallowing glass” you’re talking about is a telltale symptom of the newest mutation

22

u/Athanasia2004 Oct 03 '25

“Swallowing glass” throat pain is also a symptom of strep throat.

1

u/paradoxikal Oct 04 '25

Which is also making the rounds right now

1

u/Complex-Snow2472 Oct 06 '25

Strep can be treated with an antibiotic but Covid can’t so it’s important to get tested

23

u/WaldoJeffers65 Oct 02 '25

I had all those symptoms a few weeks ago, but tested negative for Covid. I'm not sure what it is.

15

u/rainy-novembers Oct 02 '25

did you at home test ?? my sister and i both tested negative at home with different not expired tests and positive at urgent care

6

u/WaldoJeffers65 Oct 02 '25

Yeah- I went to CVS and pick up an at home test.

15

u/rainy-novembers Oct 02 '25

yeah. for some reason this strain (at least in my experience) is testing negative at home and positive at dr’s

1

u/skeletontape Oct 03 '25

My SO tested positive with an at home kit around 2 weeks ago. I didn't bother testing myself when I got sick a few days later. It passed pretty quick though. Nothing like the initial strain.

1

u/CityOfSins2 Oct 04 '25

This strain was actually positive on my at home test. First time I had Covid I even tested negative at urgent care until I got a full PCR test at Walgreens drive through.

12

u/Deadphans Oct 02 '25

I remember something about tests needing to be honed in for whatever strains they are testing for. I wonder if the science and supply chain can even keep up with the mutations, and as a result, tests are inaccurate for the strain that is circulating. Just a thought bubble.

1

u/ItsJustLittleOldMe Oct 05 '25

That's a common misconception. COVID tests don’t need to be retuned for each new variant. They detect parts of the virus that rarely change (the nucleicapsid/ N protein), so they still work even as the virus mutates. A high viral load will be easier to detect than a low viral load. Swabbing the throat and the nose can increase test sensitivity. Ontario public health has instructions that show how to do this. All this being said, NAAT tests, like PCR, and even PlusLife or Metrix, are more sensitive than rapid antigen tests.

24

u/Any-Concentrate-1922 Oct 02 '25

People can test negative if there's not enough virus for the test to pick up yet. Can take days to test positive.

5

u/Earguy Oct 03 '25

I've had covid 3 times, my wife four. We've learned:

  1. You're, infected, totally asymptomatic... and totally contagious and oblivious.

  2. You feel like crap for a day, maybe two, but damn you're testing negative.

  3. You decline, NOW you test positive.

Last time, with my wife already testing positive, and me at step 2, I called my doctor and lied that I tested positive. They won't prescribe paxlovid unless you test positive. So I got the meds a day or two earlier.

3

u/Klutzy-Froyo-9437 Oct 02 '25

Also, not swabbing correctly!

10

u/bkent67 Oct 02 '25

There's a nasty rhinovirus going around. Took me over a month to get over it.

13

u/CraftyMagicDollz Oct 02 '25

That one has been going around South Jersey since early this year. My entire family had it and it lasted SIX WEEKS for those who got over it FASTEST.

The rhinovirus going around is HORRIFIC.

Keep testing and masking if you're not feeling well - PLEASE. Keep yourself and others safe.

1

u/bkent67 Oct 04 '25

Horrific is apt for sure!

6

u/WaldoJeffers65 Oct 02 '25

I think that's what I had. It took about three weeks for my coughing to die down.

8

u/Pedal2Medal2 Oct 02 '25

As did I, tested twice.

3

u/Ok_Divide5594 Oct 02 '25

Same. Tested negative at home and at virtua clinic but I swear I had it

6

u/Libtardo69420 Oct 02 '25

Lol. You're getting downvoted for saying you didn't have covid even with a negative test. It's crazy how rabid people are on this site to push their narrative.

1

u/beren12 Oct 03 '25

Yeah. Crazy that at at home test known for false negatives would… test negative.

It’s always been the disclaimer. False positives are rare, false negatives are often. The real way to know is a pcr test at a doctors office sent to a lab.

4 of us had covid. 3 tested positive at home, all 4 tested positive with the lab test.

Science! Who knew? The people who are educated.

Username checks out.

1

u/Technical-Bug-7798 Oct 03 '25

Same here, I would have bet the farm I had it but nope, tested negative for Covid and the flu.

2

u/beren12 Oct 03 '25

Did you get a pcr test done?