(WHDH) – They say they had COVID, eventually tested negative for the virus, but their symptoms persist. Hank studies what is going on and what is being done to help struggling patients.
Monique spent days in the hospital fighting for her life.
“You don’t know if you’re going to survive,” Monique says.
She had COVID and sometimes she couldn’t breathe.
“It was really scary,” says Monique.
She ended up with pneumonia. Now, almost a year later, walking down the streets, climbing stairs, even trying to do homework is still a struggle.
“It’s very impressive,” says Monique.
Monique says she has trouble concentrating and trying to remember things.
She had to drop out of school and cut back on her job.
“I still have muscle pain; I am still tired. I still have breathing problems. I still have headaches and they are the worst headaches I have ever had in my life, ”says Monique.
There are tens of thousands of people in the United States who, like Monique, are still struggling to get better weeks, sometimes months after contracting the virus. They are called long-haul COVID.
Celtics star Jayson Tatum is one. He says he’s still feeling the effects after testing positive for the virus earlier this year.
“You tire a lot faster than usual. You know, by running around the court multiple times, it’s easier to run out of steam or get tired a lot faster. I’ve noticed that since I have COVID, ”Jayson says.
Now doctors at Brigham and Women’s Hospital are studying the long-term effects of COVID and ways to treat it.
“Is there anything that can be done to help?” Hank asks.
“We don’t understand it as well as we understand acute infection and that’s actually what causes these symptoms, it makes treatment more difficult,” Walker Redd, MD of
Dit Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Medical teams at the hospital plan to use MRIs and other images to study what could be causing the problems with concentration and memory that some describe. They also want to understand how the virus affects the heart and lungs.
“The general assumption is that this is continuous inflammation in a general sense. And so, many of these symptoms that you get from a short-term viral infection persist and last as the inflammation itself continues, ”says Dr. Redd.
A pill studied at this Miami hospital could help.
It’s called Ifenprodil and experts say it shows promise in reducing lung inflammation and scarring in critically ill COVID patients.
Now the manufacturer of the drug can determine if the pill could be used to treat patients for the long term.
“We may do further research to see if it can help people who are on the verge of recovery but are still struggling and in pain. Can we help with the healing process in their lungs? Christopher J. Moreau, CEO of Algernon Pharmaceuticals, told 7 News.
For now, Monique uses an asthma inhaler to make it easier to breathe.
And she is hopeful that she will start improving with physiotherapy.
But she fears there is still so much that doctors don’t know.
“My life has not been the same and I don’t know if it will be the same,” says Monique.
The CDC says even patients with COVID who have mild illness can show long-term symptoms. Doctors say if this happens to you, don’t ignore it. Contact your doctor.
For more information:
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Centers for Disaster Control and Prevention
National Institutes of Health launch new study
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