Updated: DS2 and 2yo has covid :( How accurate will testing her brothers be?

Updated: So DS2 (who had the close contact, it's always his freaking classes..) did end up coming back positive on saliva pcr tests. DS1 and DS3 are negative which is super obnoxious for "when can they ever go back to school" purposes... if they are still negative after being so close to DS2 and DD (we were in the car together roughly 3ish hours Thurs-Sat) I think it's highly likely they are either immune (from one shot?) or had it and we missed it so we are "isolating them" so maybe just maybe they can go back to school again sometime this year. (Although DS2 is definitely my kid who needs to be in school the most as he has special needs and receives a lot of services so if only one was going to be positive and get to go back soonest, he's the one who needs it the most!)


So our 2 yo's preschool shut down 3 weeks ago due to a covid outbreak. (And she was sick with noncovid prior to that so she's really barely went.) She has been with my mom who is vaccinated and boostered and me (same) but we've gone basically nowhere together..I don't even go shopping, I do pick ups. She started randomly dry coughing on Saturday (like not a lot or anything serious so I didn't think much of it), yesterday she was coughing a little more, this morning she woke up okay but then got hot w/ a 101 fever mid morning so I did a home covid test as a precaution and it's a blaring obvious positive. :(

Her brothers are all in school with masks optional (they do wear them.) I called the nurse and DH picked them up. A few hours later nurse called me back to tell me that one of DS2's classmates ended up being positive and had last been at school on Tuesday when DS was there, they were still contact tracing but it turns out DS2 was a close contact. They are all partially vaccinated (in fact they weren't able to get vaccinated the first weekend they were available because DS2 was quarantined from another kid! I vaccinated them the first time they were out of quarantine.) So with that being the most likely culprit, if DS2 was exposed on Tuesday, got sick but asymptomatic either out of luck or being partially vaccinated (they would be due for the second shots this Wed/Thurs so nearly two weeks out last week)...is there any hope he might still test positive on a saliva PCR test? (He's my kid with bad nosebleeds and even the at home tests give him nosebleeds so trying to avoid that..plus if he does test positive we need it documented to "count" for avoiding quarantines,etc. over the next 90 days.) I am afraid that he *did* have covid, but will test negative almost a week later with probably a relatively low viral load?? :(

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Originally Posted by AngB

So our 2 yo's preschool shut down 3 weeks ago due to a covid outbreak. (And she was sick with noncovid prior to that so she's really barely went.) She has been with my mom who is vaccinated and boostered and me (same) but we've gone basically nowhere together..I don't even go shopping, I do pick ups. She started randomly dry coughing on Saturday (like not a lot or anything serious so I didn't think much of it), yesterday she was coughing a little more, this morning she woke up okay but then got hot w/ a 101 fever mid morning so I did a home covid test as a precaution and it's a blaring obvious positive. :(

Her brothers are all in school with masks optional (they do wear them.) I called the nurse and DH picked them up. A few hours later nurse called me back to tell me that one of DS2's classmates ended up being positive and had last been at school on Tuesday when DS was there, they were still contact tracing but it turns out DS2 was a close contact. They are all partially vaccinated (in fact they weren't able to get vaccinated the first weekend they were available because DS2 was quarantined from another kid! I vaccinated them the first time they were out of quarantine.) So with that being the most likely culprit, if DS2 was exposed on Tuesday, got sick but asymptomatic either out of luck or being partially vaccinated (they would be due for the second shots this Wed/Thurs so nearly two weeks out last week)...is there any hope he might still test positive on a saliva PCR test? (He's my kid with bad nosebleeds and even the at home tests give him nosebleeds so trying to avoid that..plus if he does test positive we need it documented to "count" for avoiding quarantines,etc. over the next 90 days.) I am afraid that he *did* have covid, but will test negative almost a week later with probably a relatively low viral load?? :(

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My understanding (from extensive testing at the college I work at) is that PCR testing is highly sensitive and will pick up COVID post active infection for up to 90 days (which is why we exempt students from testing for 90 days after they've had a documented case of COVID). A rapid test most often only detects active infection, where PCR will continue to detect COVID antigens.

That said...not sure what your school and health department rules are but ours is 10 days quarantine from date of positive test or date of exposure. So, if his exposure was Tuesday, you'd count 10 days from Tuesday, but if you get him a COVID test tomorrow and it is positive then the 10days starts from tomorrow. So, I guess it depends on how badly you want to know if he was previously infected. If he is supposed to get dose 2 later this week then he'll be considered fully vaccinated in two more weeks and then would not be subjected to any quarantines after that point. Although, I suppose your DDs now active case probably puts DS's on quarantine anyway and that might reset his clock?? I know for our health department if you live with someone with active COVID and you cannot fully isolate from them (which would be hard with a 2yr old!) then your quarantine clock doesn't start until their's ends since you are constantly being exposed to their infection. Not sure if that's how things are in your area.

I would test them. Since they aren't fully vaccinated I "think" (things change so rapidly I'm not sure if this is accurate anymore) that they would have to quarantine for 10 days after their last exposure to your 2 year old, which would be 10 days from her first symptom (the end of her quarantine) unless you successfully isolate her from the rest of the family and then it's 10 days from their last exposure to her. So getting a positive test could relieve them from quarantine earlier than the wait and see.

I'd get them a PCR test. It will detect covid, even if it was a mild case last week. Your older kids will need to quarantine anyways since they live with someone who has covid, so might as well get it all over and done with. Getting a positive now, won't really extend their quarantine time by that much. Here, they would need a negative PCR test 6 days after being a close contact, so if you wait a few days and then test, if that one were to come out positive, the 10 days would start then. So I'd test sooner rather than later, to get the clock on their quarantine ticking.

I too would test. Can your DS blow his nose thoroughly and you test him that way?

So sorry to hear it! Hope your DD is better soon! (((Hugs)))

I'd definitely get a PCR test as that would most likely stay positive longer than a rapid test. I also wouldn't be shocked if your DS ends up with a negative PCR test. I remember hearing on TWIV months ago that children were only testing positive for a very short window, like 48 hours, unlike adults.

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