Inability to perform one’s job, shortness of breath at the slightest effort, persistent pain, problems with sight, concentration or memory… Fifty-three symptoms linked to a so-called “long” Covid, are listed by theCompaRe study and the Hospitals of Paris.
They can appear in different forms, at the same time, on an ad hoc or prolonged basis, but above all, they handicap those who are victims of them in their daily lives.
How do patients live with it?
Déborah Ferrari, driving license inspector in Eure-et-Loir, says:
“Medical appointments follow one another each week with different specialists: speech therapy, orthoptics (visual rehabilitation), respiratory physiotherapy and another physiotherapist for vascular problems, not to mention the general practitioner and the psychologist. My life has totally changed. The way others look at me has changed, it’s very heavy. »
Déborah Ferrari (driving license inspector in Eure-et-Loir)
–
The patients of a long Covid suffer from a scientific ignorance both on its evolution and on the long-term effects on the organism.
How to detect it?
“My first general practitioner did not think it could be a long Covid and prescribed me antidepressants. I didn’t want to take them. I did not feel depressed at all, ”underlines Brigitte* municipal police officer for fifteen years. “The first pulmonologist thought it was the menopause, I wanted to cry,” she adds.
The police officer says:
“Some are honest and admit they don’t know, it allows for a better understanding. I had to look for myself, I no longer recognized my body. I was unable to make any effort even though I was in good physical condition before. »
Brigitte (municipal police)
–
How are patients followed?
For these two patients, the symptoms of long Covid appeared in 2020 and have still not been fully cured. They had to go on sick leave but this could not exceed six months without recognition of long-term illness (ALD).
According to our information, certain ALDs known as off-lists, particularly in Paris or in the PACA region, are more easily recognized because “more specialists are put in touch. They have more patients and specific knowledge allowing this. But most long Covids are not recognized in ALD, even off-list. »
How many long Covid cases are detected?
The government estimates that 1,700,000 people are suffering from long-term Covid with symptoms lasting more than a month and 700,000 are patients suffering for more than three months. However, the CPAM, at the national level, only recognized off-list ALD in less than 4,000 patients (between March 2020 and March 2022). This past year, 146 files were recognized as occupational diseases.
Bridget says:
“This creates a financial problem of care. I was not helped either by the CPAM or by my employer. I am neither recognized in ALD nor in occupational disease while I continued to exercise during the pandemic. We have the impression of being invisible”
Brigitte (municipal police)
–
Situation also experienced by Deborah. “My health costs are very high and it is a problem to be able to pay them and get reimbursed. Fortunately, my speech therapist agrees to wait before cashing my checks. These caregivers are my “everyday heroes” (referring to the Soprano song)! Without them, I would have lost hope,” describes the driving license inspector who is just beginning to be able to drive again. She moves thanks to the support of her husband and her neighbours.
Different but very debilitating symptoms
Tachycardias appeared in several cases, even among the most athletic of these patients. Émilie Vautrin-Cesareo, general practitioner, specifies that she had “five long cases of Covid. Among them, a man accustomed to physical exertion, at work and outside, who is today traumatized by no longer being able to work. »
premium Physiotherapists, exercise bikes, psychologists… What care is provided at the care unit for Covid long patients at Chartres hospital, in Coudray?
Physiotherapist Milena Anastasova has followed 40 patients for over a year. They came to follow the rehabilitation program for two months. “The truth is that the patient does not come out fully cured right away. The sequelae are fading but still persist today for several patients, ”explains Milena Anastasova.
For the speech therapist, Caroline Dézétrée, a total of nine patients came to consult for smell disorders (anosmia, hyposmia, parosmia and phantosmia). These can extend to ageusia (loss of taste) and cognitive impairment. “The Covid infection could have caused smell and taste disorders, as well as loss of memory and concentration added to intense fatigue”, she specifies.
Deborah Ferrari, left, with speech therapist Caroline Dézétrée. Photo: Thomas Desprez
Care is also provided by orthoptists following effects on the perception and sight of patients due to disorders related to the central nervous system. These sufferings are often summarized by the term “brain fog” preventing normal life.
“It’s a whole social life that resumes”: four patients from Eure-et-Loir testify to their life after the Covid
Help at Louis-Pasteur Hospital
At the Louis-Pasteur du Coudray hospital, 144 patients followed the six-week rehabilitation program offered by pulmonologist Anissa Berraies and Sonia Derelle, nurse coordinator of respiratory rehabilitation. The exercises adapted for each patient allow them to regain a certain endurance so that they feel less out of breath.
The coordinating nurse, Sonia Derelle and the pulmonologist Anissa Berraies at the Coudray hospital. Photo: Thomas Desprez
Dr. Berraies supports:
“For the majority, their condition is improving. They must also continue these exercises afterwards at home, while adjusting the efforts. Some recover and can return to work. And for others, we do not yet fully know why, the symptoms, especially cognitive, persist. This is the mystery of this virus. We are still formulating hypotheses and do not have total certainties”
Anissa Berraies (pulmonologist)
–
“The majority of cases are often young workers with very demanding jobs creating a lot of pressure. Nevertheless, we note that the variants of the virus have created fewer severe forms of the long Covid”, concludes Dr Anissa Berraies.
premium “Sport helps heal Covid”, according to a pulmonologist from Chartres hospital
The first name has been changed.
Thomas Desprez
–
