Rebecca Whitfield-Baker: A Covid-positive child was out and about a week earlier than her healthy family members

We thought the Covid fears were behind us until our family was hit for six by one thing that still makes no sense, writes Rebecca Whitfield-Baker.

It’s said the universe works in mysterious ways and when my cheeky, Covid-mocking teenage son became the first person in our family to contract the infamous virus, we had a chuckle of sorts.

Not that he was laughing. And the speed and ferocity with which his symptoms came on confined any wry amusement to a half-hearted “who’d have thought you’d be the one to catch it?” headshake at best.

Rebecca Whitfield-Baker and her son Seb.

The timing wasn’t the best, an appointment I’d been waiting months to secure would need to be cancelled by virtue of my new close-contact status, while his younger brother was suddenly ruled out of his cricket team’s semi-final (a blow worsened when the side lost, ending his hopes for a season-ending grand final clash).

But our sympathy had to be with the poor little bugger in our house who’d actually contracted the disease. OK, he’s sturdy and six-foot tall, but still. He was really crook. So sick, he was in need of a hug, or three, from his mum.

He stayed that way for the entire 10 days of his quarantine period and wasn’t up to returning to school on day 11 or 12, either. For him, the reduced seven-day quarantine wouldn’t have been relevant as, despite having had two doses of vaccine, he’d been hit for a six.

SA Health checked in on him several times via the phone, which was reassuring. But on a couple of worrying occasions, I thought I may need to call for medical help.

It’s now more than three weeks since those dreaded double lines appeared on his rapid antigen test but I suspect it will be some time before he is 100 per cent.

However, his brother and I managed to avoid it completely, despite living in a smallish townhouse. On Monday, a colleague shared her frustrations at being forced into isolation for 14 days due to one of her kids catching Covid, while she, her husband and second child remained Covid free.

The seemingly crazy part was the Covid-positive child was out and about a week earlier than her healthy family members. Surely, if you consistently return a negative RAT or PCR test, there should be commonsense concessions?

A young woman in isolation. Picture: iStock

Of course, the problem is the hit and miss nature of this pesky virus.

It’s funny, isn’t it, how personal experience can change your perceptions and views?

Before catching the irksome bug, my son took delight in boasting Covid was no different to catching a cold. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t feel so cocky now.

The severity of his symptoms show why it is so important to avoid high-risk settings if there is any chance of spreading the virus. Still for many, it seems, the symptoms are mild – others too, we are told, don’t have any symptoms at all.

In Western Australia, now getting its first real taste of Covid, a friend’s family has had a similar experience to mine – their healthy, sports-loving 17-year-old daughter mysteriously contracting the virus while her parents and siblings remained free of it.

“We had people over to our house all weekend, none of whom had it or have since caught it,” my mum-of-three friend says. “She was quite sick for six days but slowly the symptoms got better so that now she only has a slight cough and lethargy … not the ideal start to year 12 for the kids, though.”

The unpredictability of how the virus manifests in certain individuals is not lost on a dear triple-vaccinated friend who, six weeks on from contracting Covid, is still struggling with daily work and life.

She says hearing flippant comments about Covid’s lack of seriousness riles her.

“It’s so frustrating when I hear people say, ‘it’s just a sniffle’. That’s true for some but not all of us,” she says.

While a workmate tells me her neighbour has twice battled Covid – once – at Christmas and again more recently – hit much harder the second time around.

How many families do you know in which certain members have tested positive, and possibly even been quite ill, while others in the household have steadfastly repelled the virus, no matter how much coughing and splattering of a young child, or time spent together on a couch has taken place?

Finding the answer to why Covid seems to seek out and attack some individuals while giving others a wide berth is captivating researchers around the globe.

Brazilian molecular biologist and geneticist Mayana Zatz is one who, with her team of researchers, is trying to unravel the genetic puzzle.

They’ve taken a novel approach, collecting blood samples from 100 individuals older than 90, including 15 centenarians, who’ve either made it through the infection relatively unscathed or were exposed to the virus but were never symptomatic.

“The idea is to find why some people who are heavily exposed to the virus do not develop Covid-19 and remain serum negative with no antibodies,” the University of Sao Paulo-based scientist says of this, and other projects, she is undertaking.

Having witnessed Covid’s impact on my healthy teenager, I will be fascinated to hear what they learn.

And, as annoying as it is, I’ll keep wearing my mask indoors for the time being.