“Indistinguishable” from other post-viral symptoms, long-term Covid

Post-Covid circumstances are a reality that many people worldwide are experiencing. According to a research conducted last year by Hannah E. Davis and colleagues and published in Nature Reviews Microbiology, there are an estimated 65 million people with long-term COVID globally, and the number of new cases is rising every day.

 

“Long COVID (sometimes referred to as ‘post-acute sequelae of COVID-19’) is a multisystemic condition comprising often severe symptoms that follow a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection,” it said.

Long-term COVID seems to present as a post-viral syndrome that is similar to seasonal influenza and other respiratory infections, according to a new study by Queensland Health researchers. A year after infection, there is no indication of increasing moderate-to-severe functional impairments.

The Chief Health Officer of Queensland is among the authors of the study, which is being presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2024), which is being held in Barcelona, Spain, from April 27 to 30, this year.

According to the study, rather than the severity of long COVID symptoms or functional impairment, the impact of long COVID on the health system in the highly vaccinated population of Queensland exposed to the Omicron variant is likely to result from the sheer number of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 in a short amount of time.

The results corroborate earlier study by the same authors that was published in BMJ Public Health and indicated that, 12 weeks after infection, there was no difference between COVID-19 and influenza in terms of continuing symptoms and functional impairment.

Due to high immunization rates after the relaxation of COVID limitations and the population’s subsequent exposure to the Omicron form, Australia has low rates of long-term COVID-19 infection. The sickness has been linked to symptoms such as brain fog, exhaustion, coughing, shortness of breath, taste and smell changes, disorientation, and fast or irregular pulse.

“Due to the high number of COVID-19 cases during the pandemic, long COVID may have seemed to be a distinct and serious illness in health systems with highly vaccinated populations.” Queensland’s Chief Health Officer, Dr. John Gerrard, said, “We discovered that the rates of persistent symptoms and functional impairment are identical to other post-viral disorders. “These results highlight the significance of conducting additional research into post-viral syndromes and comparing post-COVID-19 outcomes with those following other respiratory infections.”

“Moreover, we think it’s time to stop using terms like ‘long COVID,'” he continues. They falsely suggest that the longer-term symptoms linked to this virus are special and extraordinary. This phrase may lead to unwarranted anxiety and, in some situations, an increased awareness of persistent symptoms that may hinder healing.

The results, the authors warn, are associations rather than prevalence. Among the many drawbacks they highlight is the inability to identify individuals within the cohort who were hospitalized or had pre-existing medical conditions. They also point out that, in comparison to earlier SARS-CoV-2 variations, the risk of long COVID has been reduced during the Omicron wave. Given that 90% of Queenslanders had received vaccinations at the time of Omicron’s emergence, this decreased risk of long COVID may be attributable to the variant or to vaccination.