Let's talk about the long-term effects of Covid infection

Even if the novel coronavirus were to magically vanish tomorrow, a substantial proportion of the population would continue to face the daily challenges of its lingering effects.

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Variably termed “chronic COVID,” “long haulers” and “long COVID” by physicians, patients and the media, whatever you call it, the protracted symptom complex following COVID-19, seemingly affecting all organ systems, has emerged as an unanticipated, devastating outcome of the pandemic.

The earliest data out of Europe and the United States painted a concerning picture: The majority of hospitalized patients remained symptomatic weeks or months after their acute illness, the most common symptoms being fatigue and shortness of breath in approximately half of patients studied. Even patients who were never hospitalized had persistent symptoms several weeks later. Over ensuing months, the full gamut of persistent symptoms emerged, ranging from chronic fatigue, sleep disturbance, cognitive impairment, fast heart rates and exercise intolerance.

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The good news is that, in our anecdotal experience, we do see some of these symptoms slowly improving over time in our patients. However, on the precipice of a second wave, the prospect of millions more people infected with coronavirus with even a small percentage of that cohort emerging with incapacitating lingering symptoms represents, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease doctor, “a significant public health issue.”

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A growing body of literature is emerging, but as hospital systems face the reality of surging cases and capacity constraints, resources may not be adequately allocated to continue to care for and study survivors of the first wave. Thus, it is imperative that federal support be directed to academic medical centers to fund clinical and research programs to study the long-term consequences of COVID-19.

  The Hill

Good luck with that.