[transreal]

This is pretty interesting. I've been taking Plaquenil (hydroxochloroquine) regularly for 6 months now to control an auto-immune disease, and I came down with potential symptoms of covid-19 2 weeks ago, but it was very mild - just a sore throat and cough that lasted 4 days, and I had a slight fever the first night. I self quarantined just in case, but after recovering thought I must have just caught a cold, since my symptoms were so mild. But I wonder now if I got it and if taking Plaquenil helped me recover quickly.

Too bad I can't get tested to know for sure :-(

When I started Plaquenil, the doctor told me it takes about a month or two to really build up in the blood stream to help control my condition. I wonder if the need to take it for a while also applies for Covid-19.

[axaxs]

Please remember that greater than 90 percent of people who have covid like symptoms test negative. So while there's a chance you had it and recovered, it's very small. Stay safe and assume you're still vulnerable.

[jennyyang]

90% of tests reported negative. If someone is tested, they need to take 2 tests. If someone is tested positive, they need to be tested until they get 2 negative tests in a row. So the numbers are very skewed.

[axaxs]

This is good info. Are you suggesting that most people would get 3 tests...a confirmation, then after x weeks 2 negatives, skewing the number potentially up to max ~66% testing negative even for people with the virus?

[paulmd]

Moreover, please assume you're still shedding. You may still be contagious.

[Arnt]

That's like me, and I haven't taken plaquenil or anything at all. Just got a weirdly sore throat yesterday, a very slight fever, a bit of a woozy head. Ten hours of sleep later and the fever went away, but I'm not stepping outside.

There's a word for it, and the word is anecdata. You can trust anecdata about as far as you can throw them.

[adrr]

You can get an antibodies test that you can do at home with a finger prick. Need to google it. I am about to one since I had symptoms couple weeks ago after being in the same room with someone with an uncontrollable cough.

[ignoramous]

> You can get an antibodies test that you can do at home with a finger prick.

Here's a recent discussion on $15 kit for SARS-CoV-2 serological test: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22641946

iirc, Singapore announced a plan to do these tests to find total infections.

[kadoban]

Many Covid-19 cases are mild even without any medication. That is an interesting anecdote though.