Long COVID

This is truly the disease that keeps giving.

We have a new research study involving scientists across the US — Yale, Thomas Jefferson University, University of Texas, University of California at San Francisco, University of Washington, Rush Medical Center (Chicago) and the CDC.(1)

I’m not going into details on the study, but the key findings are:

1. Half of persons testing positive for COVID-19 had some of the symptoms three months after the initial diagnosis. (n = 772)
2. One-quarter of people with symptoms who tested negative for COVID-19 continued to have symptoms three months after the negative test. (n = 278)

Separately, autopsies of 44 people who died after testing positive for the coronavirus showed that the virus had spread throughout the body, including the brain, and was present up to 8 months after testing positive.(2)

The lasting nature of this virus shouldn’t come as a surprise. We already know that other viruses (chickenpox, Lyme) can reside in the human body indefinitely, and pop up at times in which the immune system is stressed to cause havoc. Why should this be different?

The truth is that we don’t know how prevalent COVID is now. The reporting system in the US has broken down for a number of reasons:

• People with mild symptoms may not go to doctors for treatment
• People use home testing kits with no reporting of results to anyone other than the patient
• We only conduct autopsies on a small proportion of deaths
• Politics is interfering with the reporting that does occur

These findings predate the rise of the XBB.1.5 (Kraken) version of the virus, reportedly the most infectious mutation yet and a threat to those with prior infections and who have been vaccinated as well as those who have not.(3) Kraken is proof that — as with the common flu — our vaccines and treatments will always lag behind surprising mutations.

The disease is changing the US — demographics and life expectancy — in ways that we aren’t considering yet, but will have to face soon. Individuals, businesses, and government are basing decisions and actions on a pre-COVID view of the world.

Sources:

1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36573005/
2. https://scitechdaily.com/covid-19-virus-found-in-the-brain-autopsies-reveal-startling-new-information/
3. https://www.livescience.com/omicron-subvariant-xbb15?utm_term=D6A41F40-8497-4CC1-8DEE-7AAD10DADD00&utm_campaign=368B3745-DDE0-4A69-A2E8-62503D85375D&utm_medium=email&utm_content=F6B44618-EB7F-4A62-9079-66E267FB723D&utm_source=SmartBrief

Advertisement