• Mandy Charlton describes horror symptoms as her temperature soared to more than 39C and body 'felt like it was on fire'
• Mandy Charlton,was admitted to Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary on Friday
• The single mother-of-three, 46, has revealed her horrific coronavirus symptoms
• She is self-isolating at home until the end of the week and taking paracetamol
A mother-of-three fighting coronavirus has revealed how it left her feeling like her whole body was on fire and she 'had swallowed glass'.
Photographer Mandy Charlton, 46, was admitted to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle via ambulance on Friday evening with a temperature of more than 39C.
She is now self-isolating at home until the end of the week and taking paracetamol to recover.
Speaking about her horrific symptoms, Mandy, from Newcastle, said: 'I had a high temperature and a throat that felt like I'd swallowed glass. I've been sleeping approximately 20 hours a day.'
The coronavirus outbreak has caused havoc all over the world, with the government's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance admitting there are likely to be around 55,000 cases of coronavirus currently in the UK.
On Tuesday officials recorded the biggest daily spike in cases yet, with 407 patients diagnosed in the past 24 hours – meaning 1,950 Britons have now caught it.
The death toll also jumped by 16 to 71 on Tuesday.
Speaking about her experience with the killer virus, Mandy said: 'I know my temperature was once 37.9 and once over 39. I have a weird dry cough which hurts.
'My body has felt like it has been on fire, waking up drenched, horrible. I've had flu before but this was something else.
'When it came to the hospital saying I was well enough to go home and self-isolate, I asked how I would get home.
'They said I could wait nine hours whilst they tried to get some isolation transport or I could ask a friend.
'I had a panic attack at that point, thankful for my best friend who risked her own health to get me home.
'I don't for one moment blame the doctors or the nurses, I wholly place the blame on the government.'
Entrepreneur Mandy started feeling unwell after one of her daughters came home from school with a fever last week and believes she contracted the virus from her.
She claims despite being admitted to the hospital's coronavirus isolation unit upon arrival, she was 'shocked' to find the porters pushing her bed to a scan allegedly weren't being given face masks and even paramedics were having to borrow them from the wards.
Mandy spent a night in the hospital, before being discharged 12 hours later, and claims she had to use a hospital gown as a pillow because the hospital had run out of pillows.
She said luckily, her children are old enough to be able to look after themselves during her self-isolation period.
Mandy said: 'One of the nurses said I was lucky to be admitted when I was.
'At the moment they're coping, but in a few weeks they won't be.
'The porters weren't even given masks.
'I asked one of them and he said the day before they'd had to wear plastic visors but then on that day, Friday, they'd been told they would be fine without any protection.
'The paramedics were having to borrow masks and aprons as they'd run out.'
Coronavirus symptoms day-by-day:
Worst-affected will be struggling to breathe within five days and need a ventilator by day eight - but most people who contract the virus will recover fully within a weekScientists have produced a day-by-day breakdown of the typical coronavirus symptoms, which can progress from a mild cough to serious respiratory problems in just eight days.A new study from Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus, describes the complete picture of the progression of COVID-19, which can go from fever and fatigue to shortness of breath.
The analysis includes adults with COVID-19 admitted to Jinyintan Hospital and Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital after December 29, 2019, who had been discharged or died by January 31, 2020.
The average duration of fever – an early sign of COVID-19 – was about 12 days, but a cough associated with the illness may stay around for longer, they found.
45 per cent of the 191 patients who were looked at still had a cough on discharge after the 12-day period.
Dyspnoea – shortness of breath – would cease after about 13 days for those who survive and continue until point of death for those who didn’t.
From illness onset, the average time to discharge was 22 days, and the average time to death was 18.5 days.
Another team of Wuhan scientists have said the illness can progress from a mild cough to serious respiratory problems in just eight days.
Common symptoms of COVID-19, which has infected more than 170,000 people and killed 6,500 as of Tuesday, include fever, fatigue and a dry cough.
This team of researchers studied 138 patients with the illness at the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University.
They found that the average time from these first symptoms to signs of breathing difficulties was five days.
This was followed by hospital admission at seven days and respiratory failure, requiring a ventilator, after eight days.
Just over a quarter (26 per cent) of the patients required intensive care unit treatment, while the mortality rate was 4.3 per cent – 6 deaths out of the total 138 cases looked at.
Generally, a fever was the most common symptoms among the patients infected with the virus – experienced by 99 per cent of those who took part on the study.
More than half experienced fatigue and a dry cough, while about a third suffered from muscle pain and difficulty breathing.
85 per cent of COVID-19 patients will only experience the first seven days of symptoms, known as ‘phase one’.
However, the remainder will go through phase two, which lasts a further two weeks.
A sign outside Watford General Hospital relating to the coronavirus pandemic. The UK government says coronavirus tests will primarily be given to patients in critical care for pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) or flu like illness
A typical patient may be infected for five days or more without showing symptoms.
Because COVID-19 shares characteristics with the common cold, it’s difficult for people with symptoms know which one they have.
And as the virus escalates in the UK, testing of suspected cases is increasingly focusing on those with respiratory problems and underlying health conditions.
The NHS is currently not testing people who are self-isolating with mild symptoms.
A Coronavirus Pod outside a hospital in London, Britain, 14 March 2020. According to latest figures there are more than 1,500 cases in the UK, with 55 deaths
In all, reported illnesses have ranged from mild symptoms to severe illness and death for confirmed COVID-19 cases.
The following is a breakdown of how symptoms progress based on both separate Wuhan hospital studies and other sources.
Day 1: Patients experience a fever and may also experience fatigue, muscle pain and a dry cough.
A small minority may have had diarrhea or nausea one to two days before, Business Insider reports.
Dr Clare Gerada, 60, a GP in London, and former chair of the Royal College of GPs, said that she started feeling symptoms as a slight dry cough and tiredness.
'Yet it was so mild to begin with, I barely gave it a second thought.
Day 5: Patients have difficulty breathing – known as dyspnea – if they are older or have a pre-existing health condition.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that symptoms that occur two to 14 days after exposure are fever, cough and shortness of breath.
In the second Wuhan study, of 138 patients, about 10 per cent experienced diarrhea and nausea a couple of days prior to development of fever and dyspnea.
Day 7: At this point patients showing signs of dyspnea tend to be admitted to hospital.
CDC advises that anyone with emergency warning signs for COVID-19 – persistent chest pain or pressure, shortness of breath and bluish lips or face – should get medical attention.
Day 7 is also the point at which for the vast majority of patients – about 85 per cent – that symptoms start to diminish and coming out of isolation is a possibility, the second study claims.
Government says that if you live with others and you or one of them have symptoms of coronavirus, then all household members must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days.
The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill.
Day 8: Patients with severe cases develop signs of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) at this point, where the lungs can't provide the body's vital organs with enough oxygen.
15 per cent of cases reach this point, according to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Day 10: Patients with worsening breathing problems tend to be entered into an intensive care unit at day 10.
The second Wuhan study also said it observed that the average hospital stay was 10 days.
Day 12: Fever tends to end at around this point, according to the first Wuhan study.
The average duration of fever – an early sign of COVID-19 – was about 12 days, but a cough associated with the illness may stay around for longer, they said.
In survivors of the disease, dyspnoea would cease after about 13 days, while the average time to death was 18.5 days.
Credit to Source: Daily mail
Comments