03 May I Tested Positive for COVID-19 Antibodies
I Tested Positive for COVID-19 Antibodies
Last week, I tested positive for coronavirus antibodies.
Antibody testing allows people who’ve had little or no symptoms to know if they contracted coronavirus – and maybe not known it. This quick blood tests will give medical experts a more concrete idea of how widespread coronavirus is, and inform when and how our economy and society are reopened.
It’s hard to base anything off diagnosed numbers because: 1) testing has been limited and unevenly distributed, and 2) most people with minor symptoms — or who were asymptomatic – have yet to be tested. Antibody tests indicating if someone had, and has recovered from the coronavirus, are different than molecular tests performed with nasal swabs to diagnose active cases of COVID-19.
What are Antibodies?
“Your body makes these when it fights an infection, like COVID-19. The same thing happens when you get a vaccine, like a flu shot. That’s how you develop immunity to a virus. The antibody test isn’t checking for the virus itself. Instead, it looks to see whether your immune system has responded to the infection.” – WebMD
Getting Tested for COVID-19 Antibodies
At this point, you need to speak with a doctor in order to get a coronavirus antibody test. You’ll be asked questions about travel and any symptoms you experienced in order to determine if you may have had the disease.
Drew and I used Cura, a telemedicine company, for our testing. We jumped on a video chat with a doctor who said that, given our travel history and symptoms, he would be surprised if we didn’t test positive for coronavirus antibodies.
After getting the doctor’s approval, he registered us for the test online and we drove to one of several designated testing sites — typically a hospital parking lot — in the Las Vegas area. A nurse in full PPE gear pulled up my doctor’s orders and took a blood sample. Everything at the location we visited was quick and professional; driving to the location was the longest part of the whole experience.
In Nevada, our samples get sent off to an out-of-state lab which causes our results to take a few days. However, in many other places, results are ready on-site within 15-20 minutes.
Travel History
In February, Drew and I headed off to Morocco. We laid over for a few hours in Paris-Orly waiting for our flight to Casablanca in a small, crowded area. This may have been the place we contracted COVID-19.
This was back when people outside of Asia still thought that COVID-19 was something that was just happening in China. There were almost no cases in the United States (eight known cases), France (12 known cases), or Morocco (no known cases at the time).
We felt good and healthy at the start of our trip – save for an incident where I was assaulted. However, on February 10 (eight days since we were in the Paris-Orly airport) I felt extremely tired. I blamed it on a hectic pace and being ready to be home, but I also thought it could be stress kicking in and messing with my thyroid and my Hashimoto’s disease. I hadn’t let my guard down since I was assaulted, and I thought also that might have worn me down physically and mentally.
My Symptoms with COVID-19
While we were exploring our final stop in Morocco, all I wanted to do was crawl into our riad’s gorgeous king-sized bed. My throat started to ache as well – but I thought that perhaps all the dust and smoke in the air around the medinas had caused a little irritation.
As the day wore on, I felt worse and worse. I took a couple of Aleve, but more and more I felt like I’d hit a wall going 100 miles per hour. Every bone and joint in my body ached and the hairs on my skin were sensitive to touch; I thought that maybe I’d gotten the flu. The bed had a wonderful heated mattress pad which seemed to help my achiness. I ran a fever and – despite being exhausted – I slept very little, if at all, that night because it was impossible to get comfortable.
In the morning, I still felt terrible, but I had the motivation of heading home. We ate a lovely breakfast at the riad and loaded up the car.
During this time period, Drew felt completely fine.
Back Home in Las Vegas
It wasn’t until we got back to Las Vegas that Drew started to catch up to my symptoms. He thought it was just jet lag hitting us harder than usual.
Beyond feeling tired and slightly short of breath, we continued to live our lives as normal back home. At this time, the United States had just 12 known cases and the only cases we were hearing about on the news were those that were severe and required intubation. We didn’t hear about mild cases, so the symptoms we had didn’t fit with what we knew of COVID-19.
One day we were looking to get out of the house and get a little exercise. We have public lands with these beautiful desert mesas located behind our house and frequently hike to the top of them. Drew and I couldn’t even get a quarter of the way up before we were both so out of breath that we had to turn around and head home. I remember saying “I can’t be this out of shape!”
… Could This be Coronavirus?
On February 20, I visited the doctor because I had some problems hearing out of one ear. I get really bad airplane ear sometimes when I travel, but it’s usually when I’m congested – which I didn’t feel like I was (this product called EarPlanes is a lifesaver!). At the risk of over-sharing – I also had to go to the bathroom immediately every time I ate.
This was before doctors were even entertaining the idea that they had COVID-19 patients walking through the door. I heavily emphasized that I had been traveling and in large groups of people, some of whom were probably from Asia – and, at the risk of sounding like a hypochondriac, asked him “could this be coronavirus?”.
He brusquely told me I had an ear infection and travelers’ diarrhea, gave me an antibiotic prescription, and told me to eat rice for 48 hours. (Researchers are now learning that diarrhea is an early symptom of COVID-19.)
The next day I called him back extremely concerned because I had lost all sense of smell and taste. I’ve had quite a few sinus infections throughout my life (don’t be jealous – haha!) and even when you say you can’t smell or taste anything, you still get sensations of salty, bitter, sour, and sweet. I had nothing. I might as well have been putting food on my arm and hoping to taste it. A few days later, Drew also complained of a loss of taste.
This intense lack of smell and taste lasted for almost two weeks – well after I finished my course of antibiotics. I started to wonder if my sense of smell and taste would ever come back.
On February 29 we heard that loss of smell and taste were potentially new symptoms for COVID-19. I was in shock but, at that point, I knew that Drew and I had likely contracted coronavirus during our last travels.
It wasn’t until around March 7, a month after getting exposed to the virus, that we started to feel more like ourselves.
Can We Get COVID-19 Again?
Signs look good that antibodies will provide immunity, but researchers are hesitant to provide a definitive yes or no – or indicate how long an immunity will last…this disease is “novel” after all. However, a recent study indicated that rhesus monkeys who were infected with COVID-19 and recovered showed no recurrence of the disease when re-exposed – suggesting that antibodies could provide some level of immunity.
Because of our symptoms and our travel history, Drew and I weren’t really shocked when we received our positive antibody results. We’ve since been contacted by the lab to take the coronavirus antibody test again – to essentially test the test. Cura’s COVID-19 antibody test is one of the best out there and has around a 3-4% false positive result; other tests on the market are closer to 10%.
Given our ages and health status’, we are not considered part of a higher-risk group for COVID-19. (According to the CDC, people age 55 and older make up 96% of COVID-19 deaths in America.) However, I still feel very lucky that our experience with coronavirus was no worse than it was.
Where are you traveling next?
Welcome to You Found Sarah! We’re exploring the world — one country at a time. Read more…
Reader Favorites
Share
This
Resources to help your Travels
As always, everything on this site is completely free. If you found this post (or anything on YouFoundSarah.com) useful, I’d be grateful if you considered using the affiliate links below. I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. These are the services Drew and I love to use ourselves when we plan our travels. Thanks for your support! — Sarah
Booking.com – For booking hotel rooms.
Tours by Locals and GetYourGuide.com – For finding high-quality tours around the world.
AirBnB – For renting unique homes and apartments across the world.
No Comments