Telltale Signs You May Have Had COVID-19 Without Knowing It Jon Cooper - WebMD
go to original February 7, 2024

The COVID-19 virus may have been around longer than we originally thought. So people may have had the virus and recovered from it without knowing. Some telltale signs could indicate that you’re one of those people.

A ‘Bad Cold’

It’s not uncommon to get a cold during the winter. But if you had one in late 2019 or early 2020, there’s a chance your cold might have actually been COVID-19. One way to know the difference is that COVID can stick around 2 weeks or longer, while a cold typically lasts only a few days. And unlike a cold, COVID could have caused a fever and made it hard for you to breathe.

Shortness of Breath

This isn’t typically a symptom of a cold or the flu, but feeling like you can’t breathe is common with COVID-19. You may have thought you had bronchitis, which COVID-19 can cause. Or it may have felt like anxiety or a panic attack. But with COVID, shortness of breath lasts longer than a panic attack. It also comes with flu-like symptoms.

Persistent Cough

If you had a dry cough that took a long time to go away, it could have been a symptom of COVID-19. It would have been different from a cough caused by a cold. It would have started mildly, but then got worse during the next 5 to 7 days.

Loss of Smell or Taste

If foods and drinks seemed to taste different than usual (or had no taste), or you weren’t able to pick up on odors for a couple of weeks, you could've been infected with the virus. Nearly 80% of people who test positive have this issue, and it’s usually a sign of a mild case.

Need to Know? Get an Antibodies Test

Antibodies are proteins your body makes to help fight off an infection. The only way to know for certain if you’ve had COVID-19 is to have your blood tested to see if you have the antibodies that fight the virus. If you do have them, scientists aren’t sure how well they'll protect you from getting it again. But some studies show that people who have those antibodies are less likely to get COVID again.

Read the rest at WebMD

Related: 6 States Still Unable to Overcome the Economic 'Havoc' Caused By COVID in Mexico (El Financiero)

Related: New Report Raises Concerns About Long COVID in Children (The New York Times)

Related: The Impact of COVID-19 on Human Rights (Brookings)

Related: How Long COVID Takes a Toll on Relationships and Intimacy (Washington Post)