Was it COVID? We May Never Know

Many of us have experienced that frustrating trip to the doctor when your symptoms are dismissed or underplayed. But imagine coming in with signs of an unknown virus, one rampaging through China but anonymous in the United States. A virus that, a couple of months later, would be known as the cause of a deadly pandemic.

When I went to an urgent care clinic in February 2020, I knew that something was different about the illness I was experiencing. I had just had mono a few months prior, I had already received my flu shot, and yet I had never been sicker. My throat was killing me, my cough was outrageous, I had horrible muscle aches, and a high fever to top it off. My doctor tested me for strep – negative. He tested me for the flu – negative. Finally, he admitted that he was stumped as to what was wrong with me.

“Could it be this coronavirus thing I keep hearing about?” I asked.

He looked at me as though he had never heard such a stupid question.

“Have you been to China?” he asked in a sarcastic tone.

No, I thought, but I had just flown back from England and did live next to Chinatown, where the first case of COVID-19 in Massachusetts had just been reported.

He explained that even if the symptoms matched, there would be no way to secure a test. At that time, the COVID tests were invasive and understocked, a reality that now seems distant. In the beginning, many remember, the only tests available were those that went deep into the nasal cavity and were extremely unpleasant. More likely, however, one could not even access a test due to short supply.

If you had a flu-like illness and you went to the doctor…usually they’re like ‘well, you know- I hope you feel better. Here’s some anti-fever medication,’ and that’s about it.

Rene Najera, DrPH

The doctor sent me off with a vague diagnosis of “a severe sinus infection and respiratory illness that was caused by your weak immune system after recovering from mono.” It wasn’t until April 2020 or so that I looked back and thought, “Wait, what if that was COVID?” I have since discovered that my experience is not unique. I spoke to others who have dealt with the confusion and fear that comes from a potential COVID case well before we knew what COVID-19 even was.

Rene Najera, DrPH,  is an epidemiologist and the editor of the History of Vaccines website.

“You can’t really pinpoint when COVID arrived here in the U.S.,” Dr. Najera explained. “The first cases [were in] February or March, but you don’t really know because you weren’t really testing.”

He explained that early in 2020, being tested for COVID “was more about being in contact with someone” and less based on symptoms. This protocol really didn’t change until the test was widely available.

“If you had a flu-like illness and you went to the doctor… usually they’re like ‘well, you know- I hope you feel better. Here’s some anti-fever medication,’ and that’s about it,” said Dr. Najera.

Kim Rhoads, MD, MPH, is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology and  Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco.

“Testing, in the beginning, was really characterized by shortages,” she said.

A lack of availability and the fact that COVID-19 was “not on the radar” of doctors at the time meant that the disease was very difficult to detect in the early stages of the pandemic.

Doctors were “looking for a genetic sequence that at the time was not incorporated into the testing protocol,” said Dr. Rhoads.

Persee Tevebaugh [a friend of the author’s] saw this first-hand when they got sick in January of 2020. In addition to the more generic symptoms of cough and fatigue, they also experienced trouble breathing and a loss of taste, now understood to be symptomatic of COVID-19.

“I was [at treatment] for many more hours than any of the doctors expected because they were super confused and couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me,” said Tevebaugh. “The guess they ended up with was that it was an upper respiratory infection and/or a super bad cold.”

Shelby Mickler’s company was flying people back from all over Asia and Mickler herself was experiencing symptoms.

 “[My cough] was so bad, at times I had to walk out of my office to try to catch my breath,” she said.

Yet, despite the evidence that might have pointed to COVID, and  her travel to Asia, she didn’t go to the doctor.

“It did not even cross my mind that I could have had COVID,” she said.

Erica Degen had some lesser-known symptoms of COVID, such as the swelling and redness in the feet known as “COVID toes.” The doctor suspected mono but after a negative test result, was stumped. 

“I felt like death for three weeks… I hated not knowing what was wrong with me,” said Degen.

What is especially frustrating to patients and doctors alike is that we may never know if how many cases like mine were COVID-19. Luckily, I have seen no long-term effects of my illness and when I see families torn apart by this disease, any frustration and confusion I feel is subdued by gratefulness that it was not any worse. These cases from early 2020 are a stark reminder that the pandemic is ever-changing, and that the full picture is still incomplete.

Annie Bennett is a journalism student at Emerson College. Her goal is to use media and communications as tools for human rights and social justice. She is originally from Maryland.

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Featured photo credit: CDC/ James Gathany