'I've caught Covid-19 just before Christmas - one symptom gave it away'

It's Christmas party season and that means it's Covid-19 season again. Hundreds of people are in hospital with the dreaded virus while thousands of others are picking up minor doses.

I caught the virus again in recent days. After a few clear antigen tests, that feint line appeared on Sunday morning and I had to remind myself of the rules. Basically a week's isolation still and hopefully right as rain again before Christmas day. 

After hearing of a few close contacts testing positive, I had a feeling I would too and one symptom gave it away even before the positive test.

I wasn't coughing, didn't have a temperature and wasn't smothering with a cold or blocked nose. The only symptom I had for a few days was a tickle in my throat, a feeling I was going to cough even though I didn't.

That was enough to know the two lines on the antigen test were coming. The headache, blocked nose and body aches have now joined in to cement the diagnosis. 

It's not a great time to be sick with lots of gatherings on the horizon over Christmas but I'm hopeful this dose is well-timed and I'll be back in action next weekend before the big day. 

It comes as cases are rising on Ireland and health chiefs at the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) have released details of nasty new symptoms and a spike in the number of cases of the 'Pirola' Covid-19 variant here.

The HSPC said: “A new variant with an unusually high number of mutations, BA.2.86, was detected in Israel first on August 13, 2023. It has since been found in many countries including Denmark, UK, USA and South Africa, though the prevalence to date is still relatively low and there does not appear to be any evidence of increased transmissibility or impact on clinical severity. There have been 111 Covid cases confirmed as infected with BA.2.8 6 lineages to date in Ireland.”

“Since CDC’s first post on BA.2.86 (Pirola) in August 2023, the proportion of infections caused by BA.2.86 (Pirola) has slowly increased. BA.2.86 (Pirola) is projected to account for 5-15% of currently circulating variants. CDC projects BA.2.86 (Pirola) and its offshoots like JN.1 will continue to increase as a proportion of SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequences," a spokesperson added.

“At this time, BA.2.86 (Pirola) does not appear to be driving increases in infections or hospitalizations in the United States. CDC contributed to and agrees with the World Health Organization’s recent risk assessment about BA.2.86 (Pirola) suggesting that the public health risk posed by this variant is low compared with other circulating variants, based on available limited evidence.”

“It is not possible at this time to know whether BA.2.86 (Pirola) infection produces different symptoms from other variants.”

According to the ZOE Health Study, the five most common symptoms of Omicron (of which Pirola is a strain) are:

- Runny nose
- Headache
- Fatigue (mild or severe)
- Sneezing
- Sore throat

New Scientist is reporting further symptoms, including diarrhoea, eye irritation and rashes.

The HSE lists fatigue, a dry cough and a high temperature/having chills among symptoms.

If you have any of these symptoms, the HSE advice is to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 48 hours after your symptoms are mostly or fully gone.

If you test positive for Covid, the advice is to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for five days from the date you first had symptoms.