Quick question - I had Covid about 3'ish weeks ago as of last weekend was still testing positive but no symptoms for whatever like 10 days. Anyhow, neither here nor there but I am getting pretty far removed from having covid and no one can tell me how I can figure out if I have had the Delta, Lambda, etc.

I really want to know for my own health records / can someone tell me how I can figure it out?

Please and thank you - btw.

A very good question. When I caught it back in Feb, my MD wife and I are fairly sure it was the UK based on minimal exposures and the symptoms. I offered to both the county and my doc to come in for additional testing to see to see as the variants were just getting warmed up. Crickets from the county and my doc deferred to them.

It doesn't really make a difference. I am not surprised the county was indifferent to your type.

The only way to know is the sequence the virus you have. After you have recovered, there is likely no way to determine unless a sample of your virus was kept.

Generally doesn't alter treatment so it isn't worth doing on all patients.

gonemaroon said:

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Quick question - I had Covid about 3'ish weeks ago as of last weekend was still testing positive but no symptoms for whatever like 10 days. Anyhow, neither here nor there but I am getting pretty far removed from having covid and no one can tell me how I can figure out if I have had the Delta, Lambda, etc.

I really want to know for my own health records / can someone tell me how I can figure it out?

Please and thank you - btw.

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When we had COVID the Harris County health department contacted us. They got our test from the Walgreens lab that tested us. My husband had the UK variant... so, presumably, the rest of us did, too. You might contact the county health department and ask. This information was nowhere on our test results data.

Incidentally, during that conversation, the lady at the health department told me we did NOT need to retest. She said that we would get positive tests up to 90 days after our first positive test. The quarantine period was dependent upon two factors 1) 10 days after the first positive test AND 2) symptom-free for 24 hours.

Right, and I'm fine so I'm not worried about treatment. I want to know so I know / so if something is being talked about 20 years from now I know. Which is driving me nuts because I'm willing to pay whatever to know / yet can't figure it out.

Reveille said:

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BiochemAg97 said:

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The only way to know is the sequence the virus you have. After you have recovered, there is likely no way to determine unless a sample of your virus was kept.

Generally doesn't alter treatment so it isn't worth doing on all patients.

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THIS!!!!

Patients frequently ask which variant they have? The media has literally scared them to death. They come in OMG do I have the delta variant? I tell them I have no idea and it really doesn't matter until we have a variant that dramatically alters your treatment course.

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I'd tell them they have the zombie variant because they were literally scared to death and still came in.

gonemaroon said:

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Right, and I'm fine so I'm not worried about treatment. I want to know so I know / so if something is being talked about 20 years from now I know. Which is driving me nuts because I'm willing to pay whatever to know / yet can't figure it out.

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I believe counties sequence a certain percentage of tests at random.

Ok, I've ran into a brick wall it appears. Testing centers where I live definitely do not know how to test for it.

Testing center I called in Houston never called me back. Called my Dr. he has no idea.

Really roll my eyes at all this public health stuff / I cannot believe things like this aren't standard and easy data for the centers to give a person.

Yes our public health system is pretty awful. Don't forget got the first 2-3 months of the virus in 2020, it was almost impossible to get a TEST for COVID-19.

gonemaroon said:

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Ok, I've ran into a brick wall it appears. Testing centers where I live definitely do not know how to test for it.

Testing center I called in Houston never called me back. Called my Dr. he has no idea.

Really roll my eyes at all this public health stuff / I cannot believe things like this aren't standard and easy data for the centers to give a person.

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Variant testing is an academic/epidemiologic pursuit. Public health needs to be proactive about requesting samples from testing centers, especially in cases of reported breakthrough infections.

Most testing centers just want to run as many tests as possible to make money and don't really want to, or need to, invest in the genetic sequencers needed to identify what strain each sample is.

If you really need to know, and your county public health office is under funded, you'd be best off contacting an academic research lab at a major institution and see if they'll bite. However, by the time all this happens, the sample is probably useless.

gonemaroon said:

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Quick question - I had Covid about 3'ish weeks ago as of last weekend was still testing positive but no symptoms for whatever like 10 days. Anyhow, neither here nor there but I am getting pretty far removed from having covid and no one can tell me how I can figure out if I have had the Delta, Lambda, etc.

I really want to know for my own health records / can someone tell me how I can figure it out?

Please and thank you - btw.

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From the CDC:

Quote:

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CDC's national genomic surveillance program identifies new and emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants to determine implications for COVID-19 diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines authorized for use in the United States. Monitoring the spread of emerging variants in the United States relies on widespread, rapid sequencing. To accelerate sequencing in the United States, CDC contracted with commercial diagnostic laboratories along with partnering with the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL). CDC's collaborative approach with these organizations implemented the National SARS-CoV-2 Strain Surveillance (NS3) program to provide a comprehensive and population-based US surveillance system.

Based on these data, sequences with similar genetic changes associated with important epidemiological and biological events are grouped into lineages. A viral lineage is a group of viruses defined by a founding variant and its descendants. The proportion of lineages circulating in the United Stated are tracked and characterized to determine if they are considered variants of high consequence (VOHC), variants of concern (VOC), or variants of interest (VOI). These data, along with data from many other sources, are used to inform national and state public health actions related to variants.

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That's how they do it. Ultimately, the variant mix is "estimated" as they have no 100% way of knowing.