In 2020, the first wave of deaths from COVID-19 was over, but reports warned of a second wave of deaths from severe symptoms that persisted or worsened. This condition was known as long COVID, and it was projected that a significant proportion of those infected with SARS-CoV-2 would succumb to this life-threatening condition. There were articles in newspapers and magazines that told about all the different kinds of pain people suffered when their doctors couldn’t help. Paul Garner, a British epidemiologist, wrote an early and essential account in which he talked about feeling very tired, having a “muggy head,” having trouble breathing, having sore muscles, and having a “weird feeling in the skin.” Long-term COVID is an uncommon condition not only because of its kaleidoscope of symptoms but also because physicians did not initially recognize it.

So, COVID patients who couldn’t get better during the first few months of the pandemic could describe it. The early “long haulers” complaints were exacerbated by activists, whose advocacy convinced the government to allocate more than $1 billion for research. Three years later, the study has caught up with anecdotal reports and early evidence, and a clearer picture of protracted COVID has emerged. It is neither as widespread nor as severe as was initially anticipated, and the U.S. government has moved to lift the emergency declaration.

Researchers in Australia conducted phone interviews with every person in New South Wales diagnosed with COVID-19 between January and May 2020. The researchers discovered that recovery followed a parabola, with 80% of patients fully recovering after 30 days and 91% after 60 days. However, the population of symptomatic patients continued to diminish, with only 4% of the original patient population still experiencing symptoms four months after diagnosis. In addition, other research indicated that COVID could affect many people. To circumvent these issues, scientists have begun conducting retrospective cohort studies. These studies involve combing through anonymized electronic medical records to identify patients who tested positive for COVID and returned with subsequent symptoms.

The disparity in post-COVID symptoms between the two groups demonstrates the medical havoc caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. A study of 150,000 patients in an Israeli health network revealed that those infected were more likely to experience prolonged specific symptoms. These symptoms included loss of taste and smell, concentration and memory issues, difficulty breathing, weakness, hair loss, palpitations, and chest pain. However, by the end of the first year, the differences between the infected and the controls had dissipated mainly. Those that remained affected were a relatively small number of patients. The researchers had anticipated discovering many chronic COVID aftereffects, but they only found a small number—researchers at Oxford University in the U.K.

The Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx and the New York University Langone Medical Center found no evidence of a higher risk of any initial neurological or psychiatric diagnosis following COVID-19 than any other respiratory infection. However, 6.4% of COVID patients had a “cognitive deficit,” compared to 5.5% of patients with other respiratory infections. There is no evidence that the pandemic has triggered widespread disability, and disability claims have not increased during the pandemic. The New York State Insurance Fund has released a report analyzing long COVID claims made between January 1, 2020, and March 31, 2022. The report reveals that while there were several hundred successful claims after the initial wave, the number dropped to fewer than 10 per month. This number spiked to double digits only after the Alpha and Omicron waves. The most recent data from March 2022 indicates that only about five long-term COVID claims were approved per month out of approximately 3,000 disability claims in the state. This suggests that a substantial number of patients experience significant and potentially onerous symptoms for several months following a SARS-CoV-2 infection but only a minimal percentage experience symptoms for extended durations.

Cohort studies on chronic-term COVID have revealed that it is challenging to establish a causal relationship between a particular infection. Many patients suffer from a condition that differs marginally from short-term COVID. According to data from the Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics, 11% of American adults who have had COVID are presently experiencing residual symptoms. Still, it is impossible to determine whether the SARS-CoV-2 virus causes these symptoms. There is no doubt that many people with long-term COVID struggle with their symptoms, and the medical community frequently fails to treat them properly. In February, Katherine Wu of The Atlantic wrote about a Brazilian chronic COVID patient whose ordeal resembled those of the first long-haulers. The media has continued to raise the alarm about long-term COVID, even though it is not yet known how many people have it, why, and what their chances of recovery are, let alone what the long-term consequences will be for society.

Even patients with the most debilitating form of long-term COVID can experience improvement within weeks and months, not years. Having COVID for a long time is challenging to define because patients can manifest dozens of symptoms in various combinations, none of which are specific to the disease. Post-Covid is a heterogeneous group of people who complain of prolonged COVID, with some suffering from the lingering effects of many diseases, others experiencing the onset of newly emerging symptoms or the continuation of old ones, and others affected by mood disorders and psychiatric symptoms. However, most patients do get better. According to Census Bureau survey data, the percentage of COVID-19 patients who claim they have experienced COVID decreased by 42% between June 2022 and January 2023. In addition, Dr. Knight’s clinic has seen a decrease in the number of COVID-treated patients. For those whose tiredness, insomnia, and chronic pain have been more severe and debilitating, the heightened concern about long-term COVID in recent years could turn out to be a blessing, as it may hasten the day when those with long-term COVID will be able to put their medical conditions behind them for good.

Resource:

The Truth About Long COVID Is Finally Emerging. It’s Not What We Thought.. https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/the-truth-about-long-covid-is-finally-emerging-it-s-not-what-we-thought/ar-AA18P5r5