DE-MYSTIFYING COVID-19: What does it feel like to be infected?

Covid-19 is in lagos. Its in Nigeria,  its near you, with about 12 cases, and a documented case of local transmission,  we're doomed for a massive fall-out from the virus.

By now i believe you have a general idea of what the corona virus is. the next thing to tackle  is what it actially feels like to be infected with corona virus.

As you well know the spectrum of illness,  mild moderate severe critical. its sad that what might almost be asymptomatic for some may be life threatening for some.



An infection that the young chelsea footballer callum hudson-odoi almost seemed to recover within the week, is the same that we lost ..... to.

Danni aubain is a public health nurse, one who happened to be recovering from lymphoma, one we would ordinarily classify as the susceptible fraction of the world. a survivor against all odds, she had a sit down with michael martin where she described her sojourn with the virus

"DANNI AUBAIN: So the first day, I just felt generally unwell and fatigued and kind of that flu feeling when a flu is coming on. But my blood pressure was incredibly high, which is very unusual for me. And that was sort of the first symptom for me which is unusual. I haven't heard of other people experiencing that. And the second day was the classic symptoms - coughing, fever, chills, sweating a bunch and really not being able to catch my breath and feeling incredibly short of breath. And that was the 1 of March. It was very, very noticeable."

it takes anywhere between 7 - 14 days after exposure before you come down with the infection and for her the first day really was fatigue whilst she experienced fever, chills, the cough and difficulty breathing.

6 days after was when she got tested, her pulse got weaker, she became hypothermic, she was exhausted and no she hadnt stopped coughing.

Gladly as at 15th of march when the interview was conducted, barely 2 week since established disease, she's recovered, stronger and its safe to say the worst is behind her.

Source: The national public radio

A similar but more enlightening story shared by Chris Gough, an anaesthetist an intensivist on twitter should paint a clearer picture.

within the first two days. chris experienced fatigue, dry cough, fever as high s 38.5 celsius, and whole body ache.

with the few days that followed, headaches, more fatigue, frequent naps and cough still. as at his last tweet it was day 6 and chris seemed to be recovering. and much like our nurse i expect chris to make a full recovery within 14 days, as i had earlier mentioned in the mild illness.

Let's follow another case briefly.

@Baeonda a young 22 year old who came down with the virus. For her her symptoms started with sore throat and a dry cough

The subsequently , days 3 and beyond the fatigue got noticeably worse and so did the symptoms.

Positive turnaround begun from Day 8 and it's getting more evident that the mild illness is usually captured within the two wèek time frame.

@d_psycho_guru has an underlying condition,  and following her case isn't as pleasant as the rest.

Its the 18th day and shes relapsed, still with the cough, now productive, fever and weakness.

Her case started with sore throat and diarrhoea with cough and fever following suit days later. Another angle.  And then has typically progressed like the earlier ones with little tweaks.

Click to follow through and see her complete story.

I believe you have a feel of what it's like to be infected with covid-19.

If you're suspecting  yourself, i suggest you familiarize yourself with the case defination, call the hotlines and then present to the hospital for testing.

In case you missed the first demystifying coronavirus article, please click to read.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.

The nigerian story, still demystifying corona to come next.

NOTE; Some of the highlighted words take you to the source material where information was gotten. feel free to click and follow the link so you can access the source material.


Feel free to leave a comment after you read, ill respond in my spare time and incorporate changes in coming articles. thanks. DAMI