David777
Well-known Member
- Location
- Silicon Valley
Am starting this thread, because some senior SeniorForums dot com members obviously from reading their postings, don't understand much about virus diseases a possible serious issue to we old folks. If you had an infection during the summer or now in early fall, it is much more likely to be COVID-19. Regional detection today is performed by measuring virus within waste water systems. That is why people are no longer advised to communicate they have an infection to authorities.
COVID-19 detection within the San Francisco Bay Area has recently rapidly increased. I caught the disease for a second time last week on September 9, 2025 after being one of the last to come down with the virus the first time in October 2023. For most of us now, the current strain, Nimbus, tends to be more serious than a Rhinovirus head cold but less serious versus a case of influenza and much less serious than SARS-COV2 in spring 2020 when the pandemic began.
Note, many people for decades that have casually claimed they had "the flu" only really had bad head colds because most people don't understand how to differentiate the two, so rather any quick simple infections become a "head cold" while longer one's they will label flu. Some websites will claim head colds only rarely cause fever, but that is false, misleading.
Rhinovirus viruses cause most head colds (also is RSV) and there are over one hundred different types with variations in symptoms and duration. Our normal human body temperature is 98.6F but varies a bit daily per the circadian rhythm, lower at sunrise, higher at sunset. Typically, head cold virus fevers will be no more than 2 degrees above normal or say 100.5F at most and barely noticeable unless a person bothers to actually measure it. True influenza fevers will be 102F to 104F and last 2 to 4 days.
Influenza often begins with dramatic feelings of malaise and headaches from more than just clogged sinuses. Head cold headaches are usually just mild due to sinus inflammation. Both head colds and influenza mainly occur late fall through winter because the virus replicates more readily in cooler temperatures. This is why people should own oral thermometers and ALWAYs regularly check their temperature when sick.
The coronavirus virus varies considerably as do the range and severity of symptoms since much depends on one's current immunity especially if vaccinated. The current COVID-19 Nimbus variant often causes fever at a higher temperature than head colds. One key way to distinguish COVID-19 from head colds and flu is if an infection occurs out of the usual head cold/flu season and one has stronger symptoms. Thus an infection during summer of early fall, is likely to be coronavirus if that includes a phase with a noticeable fever.
In any case, given the serious possible complications to immunocompromised persons, it is important to know if one has COVID-19. Thus people should purchases Rapid Antigen test kits that can verify such much more readily. In my case, I had an unpleasant 6 hour phase with malaise, nausea, headache, and a fever to 101.5F. The following is the best current up to date resource I've found on COVID-19:
COVID is Everywhere (Again) in the Bay Area. What to Know About the Latest XFG 'Stratus' Variant | KQED
There are also these thorough isolation guidelines. Currently, those in the general public that are not around immunocompromised persons, don't need to be quarantined like earlier in the pandemic and rather, those immunocompromised persons are the ones that need to protect themselves.
Got COVID (Again)? Here's What the CDC Says About 2024 Isolation Guidelines | KQED
COVID-19 detection within the San Francisco Bay Area has recently rapidly increased. I caught the disease for a second time last week on September 9, 2025 after being one of the last to come down with the virus the first time in October 2023. For most of us now, the current strain, Nimbus, tends to be more serious than a Rhinovirus head cold but less serious versus a case of influenza and much less serious than SARS-COV2 in spring 2020 when the pandemic began.
Note, many people for decades that have casually claimed they had "the flu" only really had bad head colds because most people don't understand how to differentiate the two, so rather any quick simple infections become a "head cold" while longer one's they will label flu. Some websites will claim head colds only rarely cause fever, but that is false, misleading.
Rhinovirus viruses cause most head colds (also is RSV) and there are over one hundred different types with variations in symptoms and duration. Our normal human body temperature is 98.6F but varies a bit daily per the circadian rhythm, lower at sunrise, higher at sunset. Typically, head cold virus fevers will be no more than 2 degrees above normal or say 100.5F at most and barely noticeable unless a person bothers to actually measure it. True influenza fevers will be 102F to 104F and last 2 to 4 days.
Influenza often begins with dramatic feelings of malaise and headaches from more than just clogged sinuses. Head cold headaches are usually just mild due to sinus inflammation. Both head colds and influenza mainly occur late fall through winter because the virus replicates more readily in cooler temperatures. This is why people should own oral thermometers and ALWAYs regularly check their temperature when sick.
The coronavirus virus varies considerably as do the range and severity of symptoms since much depends on one's current immunity especially if vaccinated. The current COVID-19 Nimbus variant often causes fever at a higher temperature than head colds. One key way to distinguish COVID-19 from head colds and flu is if an infection occurs out of the usual head cold/flu season and one has stronger symptoms. Thus an infection during summer of early fall, is likely to be coronavirus if that includes a phase with a noticeable fever.
In any case, given the serious possible complications to immunocompromised persons, it is important to know if one has COVID-19. Thus people should purchases Rapid Antigen test kits that can verify such much more readily. In my case, I had an unpleasant 6 hour phase with malaise, nausea, headache, and a fever to 101.5F. The following is the best current up to date resource I've found on COVID-19:
COVID is Everywhere (Again) in the Bay Area. What to Know About the Latest XFG 'Stratus' Variant | KQED
There are also these thorough isolation guidelines. Currently, those in the general public that are not around immunocompromised persons, don't need to be quarantined like earlier in the pandemic and rather, those immunocompromised persons are the ones that need to protect themselves.
Got COVID (Again)? Here's What the CDC Says About 2024 Isolation Guidelines | KQED
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