Age: 54.0
Sex: F
Vaccine: COVID19
Symptoms: Thirst, Throat clearing
Clinical narrative: This adverse event wasn't immediate, but County officials were very interested in this story and requested I file the VAERS form.  While on vacation in (country withheld), I began to feel very ill on May 26, 2022 (<6 weeks after my Covid vax #4), with sore throat, cough, fatigue, runny nose, & congestion.  On May 27, our tour group had to take mandatory lab and rapid tests for Covid to get on a small cruise ship in the (place withheld). I was negative for both. On May 28, on the ship, another passenger felt a sore throat coming on, and tested himself with a rapid test brought from home. He tested positive. His wife did not. They had to leave the ship to quarantine.  The rest of the ship had to take another Covid test..the next day May 29 as soon as they could bring a lab tech aboard. That man's positive test was confirmed. The rest of the ship tested negative on the rapid test.  However, all remaining 14 guests left on the ship still had to eat at the same dinner table for every meal. It was a small ship and there was no way to maintain distance with our masks on. We continued the cruise. However, two days after that (5/31), we received news that the lab test found another guest, another man who had spent time with the first positive man on the ship, had also tested positive. That man's wife was also negative. He had no symptoms. He and his wife, too, left the ship. At that point, nearly all 12 passengers left on the ship were beginning to come down with my same symptoms -- most of them, including me, were convinced *I* must have Covid, in spite of 4 negative tests. When I approached, people quickly put their masks on, even outdoors. In addition, I lost my voice. Whatever it was, it was a terrible head and chest virus (note: I never had a fever). Leaving the trip on June 3, two other passengers from our ship tested positive for Covid at the airport and were unable to fly home that day. So at least four out of 16 original guests from the cruise tested positive over the course of 10 days. All had been vaccinated and boosted before the trip. My husband and I tested negative yet again and proceeded to fly home June 9. Okay, skip to Jun 14. My husband and I were still feeling tired and coughing, (3 weeks), and now add traveler's diarrhea (day 3 for me). On Jun. 16th, I started Cipro antibiotics for the diarrhea. As of Jun 18, the diarrhea finally cleared and a few days later, so did the rest of my symptoms. NOW. Here's where it gets even more interesting: On Monday, June 27th, evening, only a week after I had recovered, I began to feel the virus coming back! Nooo! Sneezing, sneezing, sneezing, runny nose, congestion, and the next day a terrible cough and chest congestion. A home test on Jun. 28 showed I was positive for Covid! So after 4 vac. doses (2 Pfizer and 2 Moderna), I contracted Covid 5.5 weeks after my last booster. This was my first and only time having Covid since the onset of the pandemic, at least the only time I tested positive if you don't count the illness in specific area as Covid. In addition to the severe head & chest congestion symptoms, I had fever, extreme fatigue, aches & pains, and another 4 days of diarrhea. I was also very thirsty, was nauseated, and had no appetite. I started Paxlovid on Day 2 (the day after testing positive). After five days of isolating, my symptoms had mostly resolved, except for the cough. I had lost 10 lbs. The chest congestion and runny nose returned after I stopped Paxlovid. Rebound Covid? On July 19th, STILL SICK -- headache, facial pain, phlegm in throat and constantly clearing throat, pain upon bending over -- my PCP prescribed antibiotics for a sinus infection, which ended almost two months of being very sick.