I had something in late December that lasted 3-5 days. Fever, upper respiratory and not flu. Was told it was "a viral infection" I'd just have to fight off. It could have just been a random viral infection no doubt, but it is interesting and since that time I've wondered as news of corona virus was hitting. Not enough for us to jump to conclusions just yet.

I posted the same thing on the politics thread a few days ago. I tested negative for flu but diagnosed with pneumonia and was sick for almost all of November. If this virus has been infecting people in the US since November then it certainly isn't overwhelming the medical system like many fear.

But why are Chinese, Italians and Iranians dropping like flies from this now? Have Americans been dying in large numbers as well but they are just counted as "flu related pneumonia?"

I would be interested in seeing what the hospital numbers were this winter for pneumonia without confirmed flu. Anecdotally, I know it seemed like people in our acquaintance circle were in and out of urgent care/ER's for breathing treatments, etc. It just seemed like an unusual number of severe cases Jan/Feb, even in the kids. At one point my daughter's preschool class was down to 4 kids and every single one of them was out with some form of RSV/bronchitis/1 confirmed pneumonia.

Wife and I dealt with this in mid-late December as well. I missed 4 days of work for first time in almost 10 years. I was hit hard with 101-102 Fever for days, bad deep cough but no drainage or sinus issues at all. I've only had the flu once in my life and swore it was that heading into Dr. However, Tested negative for flu and I wasn't normal for almost 2 weeks after the symptoms popped up and then went away. I come in contact with a lot of internationals with work including a lot of Chinese nationals so it really makes me wonder what I had then. Doctor just said I had a bad virus lol. Wife got it about a week after mine started and it ran about 2 weeks as well. Our almost 2yr old was completely fine during all this. We were supposed to fly out to Cabo tomorrow so that's not happening now..

Cheetah01 said:

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This seems likely. We have a lady at work whose family lives in Wuhan. She visited last November and came home sick with "the flu" for 2 weeks.

It was almost certainly COVID 19, but no one knew.

This happened in Houston and is not a story from a friend, but my direct co-worker.

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I would agree, this is highly likely this may be in our society already.... why is it showing up in small south Texas towns already ... it shouldn't move that fast? Niece sent me tweets showing Yoakum, Yorktown, Wilson County, all small south Texas rural areas with cases

fullback44 said:

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Cheetah01 said:

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This seems likely. We have a lady at work whose family lives in Wuhan. She visited last November and came home sick with "the flu" for 2 weeks.

It was almost certainly COVID 19, but no one knew.

This happened in Houston and is not a story from a friend, but my direct co-worker.

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I would agree, this is highly likely this may be in our society already.... why is it showing up in small south Texas towns already ... it shouldn't move that fast? Niece sent me tweets showing Yoakum, Yorktown, Wilson County, all small south Texas rural areas with cases

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I'm sure the Houston Rodeo is going to be the cause for a lot of it. Pretty sure the first confirmed case in Montgomery County said he had gone to the kickoff bbq. If he had it, I'd bet a large portion of the people there got it too.

Only thing I got a the cook off this year was a big hangover !

But yeah, if it was already here, cookoff and rodeo would have helped spread it around

I had tickets to see Cody Johnson this past Thursday and was gonna have to make a gametime decision as whether or not to go. But then the Rodeo made that decision for me

He was only in one tent from my understanding

PWestAg18 said:

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I had tickets to see Cody Johnson this past Thursday and was gonna have to make a gametime decision as whether or not to go. But then the Rodeo made that decision for me

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I had an old neighbor, the guy is in his mid to late 40's and still lives for the rodeo, drinks, smokes, smokes weed the entire time the rodeo is going on... when the rodeo would end he would look like walking death, face sagging, eyes barely open, coughing up a lung, etc.

He's probably heart broke his annual event got canceled, but Im sure it may have added a few years to his life since he only had cookoff and 1 week of rodeo...


its pretty sad though, rodeo is a Houston staple event for years... next year will even be that much more exciting since it got canceled. Sad part is all the kids that raised animals for the show

grizzo said:

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RCR06 said:

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I don't think any unexplained illness between November and now should be assumed to have been covid-19.

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I don't think anyone is saying that. We are all asking questions, and I don't think it should be ruled out.

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Cheetah19 said "It was almost certainly'



That being said, I had a something in early February that was odd. I tested negative for the flu which surprised me. I also tested negative for Strep, something that I have never had as an adult. I have wondered the same thing. But I am going to go with the experts on this one.

There was something nasty going around here in Denver in January. I got it, along with everyone in the office. Highly contagious. High fever, chills, night sweatd, and a nasty cough that lasts for weeks.

I never get flu, and rarely get sick, but this was brutal. Slept for 16 hrs straight to fight it off.

It may be anecdotal, but add me to the list who had something "different" last year end of December. I've never missed a day of work for a cold or sinus infection in 40 years. Usually just dose myself up and shut myself up in my office and at least get a little bit done until things clear up, but this season was different. Started feeling bad Christmas day then would have chills or fever for a short time that would come and go. Stomach issues. Then for a couple of days I just couldn't get out of bed. Didn't feel that bad, but absolutely no energy. Coughed for about three weeks afterwards, sometime incessantly.

Again, I'm no doctor and haven't even been in a Holiday Inn Express lately, so I'm not sure what that means other than "something" different seemed to be going around this season.

IrishTxAggie said:

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DSAg44 said:

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Why does India have less than 100 cases?

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Climate. Also, the Indians don't interact nearly as much with the Chinese as the rest of the world. They have their own 1.3 billion people for cheap labor

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I certainly don't buy this... a lot of India in on the same parallel as China is. Their are simply too many people going back and forth between those countries... many from both countries work in each.

This is a very good question? Why doesn't India, a country very similar to China not have all the cases like China?

fishy at best?

I had this for 2 weeks in October. Dry cough, body aches, chills, and negative for flu. Got a steroid shot, Z-Pak, Codeine cough syrup, and took a lot of Benadryl. I felt like I had stuff in my bronchial tubes but couldn't cough it up.

fullback44 said:

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IrishTxAggie said:

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DSAg44 said:

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Why does India have less than 100 cases?

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Climate. Also, the Indians don't interact nearly as much with the Chinese as the rest of the world. They have their own 1.3 billion people for cheap labor

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I certainly don't buy this... a lot of India in on the same parallel as China is. Their are simply too many people going back and forth between those countries... many from both countries work in each.

This is a very good question? Why doesn't India, a country very similar to China not have all the cases like China?

fishy at best?

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Maybe because they likely deal with so much poverty and sickness on a constant basis it is just going unnoticed? This is coming from a total non-medical person. Just throwing out theories.

dellgriffith said:

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Ran through my family in February. All 5 of us. Same symptoms, negative flu test.

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Same here; all 5 of us. Dr said flu but didn't test. We were out for several weeks. Wheezing, cough, fever, body aches, chills, etc. It was the worst my wife and I have ever felt. Our son was also diagnosed with asthma that week. Interesting..

I can absolutely believe it was here months ago. But doesn't explain why Italy, France, Spain are only just now getting hammered. Shouldn't they have seen this a month or 2 ago if it was here in Nov?

this very well could be true, it may be there and they aren't looking due to all the people or they just treat like the flu and move on

Maybe they did and didn't know it.

fig96 said:

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Doctor on thread: This is all anecdotal and very unlikely, here's why.

Every poster: You know, you guys are onto something...

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In our defense, a lot of us posted before the doctor.

IrishTxAggie said:

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fig96 said:

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Doctor on thread: This is all anecdotal and very unlikely, here's why.

Every poster: You know, you guys are onto something...

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In our defense, a lot of us posted before the doctor.

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Haha, fair enough

grizzo said:

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RCR06 said:

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I don't think any unexplained illness between November and now should be assumed to have been covid-19.

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I don't think anyone is saying that. We are all asking questions, and I don't think it should be ruled out.

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I meant to say "I don't think every unexplained" in my post. I read about 20 people tell stories about themselves or family getting sick and now wonder if it wasn from covid-19 because the doctor said it wasn'r flu or strep. There are so many other things it could be that they don't test for because at some point it doesn't really matter what it is, just how can we help this person get better. I think asking questions is a good thing. We just had a lot of people giving anecdotal evidence and others going yeah me too, seemed like Texags was about to claim they had discovered covid-19 in the U.S. before anyone else.

I'm not a Dr, but that sounds like a compelling set of facts in your example.

I also think the Wu Flu has been stateside for a lot longer than reported.

Something started to hit me 12/18; could tell something wasn't right. Was feeling worse on 12/19, like a bad cold was coming on. 12/20 was horrible (I remember this, because it's when we had the shooting day at the farm for the Rib's company Christmas Party). Cold's typically hit me and last 5 days, max. Start with drainage, then a very sore throat, then my head stops up, then I start coughing, then I start to feel better, hack for a few days, then back to normal. I got the flu shot this year before #2 was born, and this was definitely not flu. This thing was like a combo of flu & cold. I was down all of Christmas week, and have been trying to shake the cough for 3 months now. Sinuses have been giving me fits since December, and the cough is just now becoming sporadic.

I stopped riding the DART train several weeks before #2 was born, so I'd have some flexibility if I got the "Call". After he was born (early) and in the NICU, I rode the train a few times in late November/early December. Lots of professionals on the train going to downtown Dallas, but there are also lots of the dregs of society on there as well, especially in foul weather. Point being, I probably picked up whatever I got on the train, from either of the aforementioned groups.

Also,#2 got "bronchiolitis" in early February, and all the hospital could tell us was that it was some kind of viral infection. Two nights in the hospital on O2 and an IV, and he was able to come home.

So look at the infection/spread timeline and do the math. Two weeks before it hit me, I was in fairly large crowds of unknown masses. Don't remember much about late December/early January, but it hit #2 in early February. We're both fine now, but the coincidence/anecdotal evidence pointing to this thing being here before news escaping China and the mass media picking it up. And several other members of my family came down with something nasty after being around me as well.