Notice: Users may be experiencing issues with displaying some pages on stanfordhealthcare.org. We are working closely with our technical teams to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience.

Stanford Health Care – Now

Schrödinger’s COVID: Infected without testing positive?

12.16.2022

A few weeks back, my partner and I attended a wedding where, it turns out, love wasn't the only thing in the air. Within 36 hours, a dozen attendees reported positive COVID-19 tests — which means they may have been infected before the wedding. At least a dozen more positives followed.

Soon, I started to feel a tickle in my throat and my partner started coughing. We were able to lock down for the week with work-from-home, grocery deliveries and isolation from each other. I didn't get sicker, but he did, with a phlegmy cough, congestion and a slight fever. We both took several rapid tests and I also used Nucleic Acid Amplification Tests, which are more sensitive.

Neither of us ever tested positive. But we wonder whether we still "had COVID" in some sense, and it was a hard question to investigate on our own.

Read more »

About Stanford Health Care

Stanford Health Care seeks to heal humanity through science and compassion, one patient at a time, through its commitment to care, educate and discover. Stanford Health Care delivers clinical innovation across its inpatient services, specialty health centers, physician offices, virtual care offerings and health plan programs.

Stanford Health Care is part of Stanford Medicine, a leading academic health system that includes the Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Health Care, and Stanford Children’s Health, with Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. Stanford Medicine is renowned for breakthroughs in treating cancer, heart disease, brain disorders and surgical and medical conditions. For more information, visit: www.stanfordhealthcare.org.

Close