The majority of us currently have a good awareness of COVID’s acute symptoms due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. But many of us don’t have a lot of knowledge on “Long Covid”.
This word and others like it, such as “long-haul COVID,” developed with people directly affected by the syndrome as early as May 2020. The term “long COVID” is a contraction of “long-term COVID illness.” In part to refute the notion that COVID only has an acute phase and a recovered phase, the hashtag #LongCOVID emerged on social media.
According to Dr. Christy Bussey, medical lead for the QEII COVID-19 inpatient service at Nova Scotia Health, it is still interesting that this is not recognizable as being a problem. She also added that there is a difference between being recovered and being no longer infectious from your acute infection.
The lack of knowledge regarding Long COVID, how it manifests, and its long-term dangers is particularly troublesome for patients who have it and are seeking treatment.
Long COVID, according to Dr. Bussey, is a collection of symptoms that patients experience weeks or months after developing an initial COVID infection. The Public Health Agency of Canada and several other organizations refer to it as the post COVID-19 condition. Different classifications and symptom lists are used for the syndrome by other organizations, including the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control.
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people who have been exposed to the virus that causes COVID-19 may develop a variety of new, recurring, or ongoing health issues. These disorders are known as post-COVID conditions. The development of post-COVID problems might be observed at least four weeks after infection because most COVID-19 patients recover within a few days to a few weeks after infection. Post-COVID symptoms can affect anyone who contracted the infection. However, some people who later developed post-COVID illnesses did not know when they became infected. The majority of people with post-COVID disorders showed symptoms days after discovering they had COVID-19.
According to the World Health Organization, it refers to the collection of persistent symptoms that some individuals encounter following COVID-19. Long-haulers is a term sometimes used by those who have post COVID-19 conditions.
Both physical and psychological symptoms may be present in long COVID. In COVID-19 individuals ranging from those who required ICU treatment to those who had either mild or no acute symptoms, it has been seen in both adults and children as well. Some patients report that excessive mental or physical effort worsens their condition.
The fact that long COVID symptoms don’t always coincide with acute COVID symptoms is one feature of long COVID that can be challenging to comprehend.
Dr. Bussey’s main point in explaining long COVID to Nova Scotians is that the condition is real.
Do you want to learn more about long Covid? Visit https://www.yourdoctors.ca/blog/health-care/longcovid
References:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/long-term-effects/index.html
https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/coronavirus-disease-(covid-19)-post-covid-19-condition
https://www.yourdoctors.ca/
Photo by Fusion Medical Animation on Unsplash
