While COVID-19 continues to circulate extensively, an INSPQ report warns that the risk of suffering from long COVID increases with each reinfection and notes that the Quebec health system is failing to help the growing number of people who have had persistent symptoms for months or even years.
The report from the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (New window) (INSPQ), which surveyed thousands of health workers in Quebec infected between the start of the pandemic and the summer of 2023, was released without much fanfare on Monday. Yet this report warns that post-COVID illness, commonly known as long COVID, is affecting more and more people.
This is an important and real problem. We want there to be awareness among the public and public health authorities, says Sara Carazo, one of the authors of the report.
According to the INSPQ, approximately 16% of healthcare workers surveyed reported symptoms for more than 12 weeks after a COVID-19 infection. For some, symptoms resolved after a few months, but 6% of all health care workers in Quebec still had persistent symptoms of COVID-19 in the summer of 2023, or about 24,000 people.
According to Sara Carazo, this data paints a good picture of the prevalence of long COVID at the provincial level and is consistent with many other studies, including theCanadian COVID-19 Antibody and Health Survey (New window)which show that the prevalence rate of long COVID is around 15%.
Reinfections are not trivial
The report also indicates that the risk of developing long COVID increases with the number of infections.
The risk of long COVID is estimated at :
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13% after infection;
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23% during a second infection;
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37% during a third infection.
Source : INSPQ
We do not know if the level of risk will peak with [plus de trois] reinfections, but at the moment, we see that the risk increases with each reinfection, specifies Sara Carazo.
The number of Quebec adults affected by [COVID longue] is already high. This number could increase with persistent transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and a risk of long COVID that progresses with the number of infections.
A quote from the INSPQ report
It should be remembered that the number of COVID-19 cases remains high. The INSPQ estimates that there were 100,000 new cases of COVID-19 in Quebec in the week of October 20.
In addition, the positivity rate – which indicates whether the level of virus transmission is high in the community – exceeded 20% in September. It has fallen slightly since then, but it hovers around 15%. During one of the biggest waves, in December 2021, this rate almost reached 30%.
Furthermore, if the risk of suffering from long COVID was twice as high in the case of the ancestral strain of the virus, more than 75% of cases of long COVID are associated with the numerous Omicron sub-variants, which appeared in winter 2020-2021. The risk of long COVID appears to be similar between the different Omicron subvariants.
The Ministry of Health reminds that vaccination could also prevent long COVID and that the vaccine is offered free of charge to anyone aged six months and over who wants to receive it.
Disabling symptoms for many
It was during her second infection that Mélanie Champagne developed long COVID. After being bedridden for two weeks, she noticed that her symptoms did not go away. Mélanie, who previously ran four times a week, now lives with a range of debilitating symptoms: extreme fatigue, congestion, mental fog, difficulty concentrating, sensitivity to noise.
Today, she cannot work and has to take two naps a day just to be able to complete her daily tasks.
It’s like I’m an old cell phone that won’t charge. If I do absolutely nothing during my day, my battery recharges to 20-25% maximum. If I have the misfortune of not resting, it takes me a week to recover.
A quote from Mélanie Champagne, suffering from long COVID
Mélanie Champagne’s symptoms are similar to those experienced by thousands of other people with long COVID. A third of people surveyed by the INSPQ with long COVID reported at least one serious symptom.
Among the most frequently reported symptoms in the INSPQ survey are: :
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fatigue (72 %)
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shortness of breath (53%)
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concentration problems (50%)
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memory problems (48%)
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mental fog (44%)
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muscle pain (38%)
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anxiety or nervousness (38%)
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discomfort after physical exertion (38%)
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headaches (37%)
The INSPQ also observes that among people who still have long COVID, more than half have symptoms that have persisted for more than a year.
Among those whose illness resolved, the average duration of their symptoms was seven months.
Impacts on the labor shortage and the health system
The authors of the report warn that the high number of people with long COVID poses great challenges to the health system and to Quebec society more generally.
The report notes that the labor shortage would be exacerbated by a high number of people with long COVID who can no longer work or who have had to reduce their workload.
A Canadian review revealed that nearly 20% of people with long COVID were absent from work for a period of more than six months.
Persistent symptoms of [la COVID longue] are linked to significant absenteeism from work which could require adjustments by insurers and the CNESST, we can read in the report, which adds that limited access to rapid self-tests complicates long-term compensation claims.
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When she read the INSPQ report, Mélanie Champagne got angry. She calls on the Minister of Health: why is long COVID not more of a priority? Why not do awareness campaigns? Why are services so difficult to obtain?
We can’t go faster than science, but what do we do with people like me, who are suffering? We don’t feel the desire to support us better.
A quote from Mélanie Champagne, suffering from long COVID
If the Quebec government prides itself on having opened 15 post-COVID and Lyme disease clinics, INSPQ data shows that resources are insufficient.
Affected people perceive that access to care does not meet their needs, write the authors of the report.
Among the people surveyed by the INSPQ :
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67% wanted medical care, but 48% received it;
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35% wanted to receive rehabilitation and occupational therapy services, but 12% received them;
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32% wanted to receive psychological follow-up, but 12% obtained one;
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32% wanted to receive services for memory, concentration and attention, but 2% received them.
In an email to Radio-Canada, the Ministry of Health admits that recruiting and retaining staff in these specialized clinics is difficult. The ministry, which allocates $5.9 million annually to detect this disease, promises to launch other initiatives, including training so that people with long COVID are taken care of by front-line clinicians.
According to the Ministry of Health, as of August 31, 2024, nearly 2,000 people were being followed in one of the 15 post-COVID clinics in Quebec. Approximately 1,700 people are on a waiting list and the average delay provincially is 186 days, specifies the Ministry of Health. Around 100 new people are added to these lists every month.
As for Mélanie Champagne, she was told that the wait would be 14 to 16 months. In the meantime, she scours online discussion forums for advice. It’s self-care. Nobody guides us.
If she tries to keep her spirits up, she still has the impression that she and the thousands of other people affected by long COVID have been forgotten by the government.
We are told to trust time, but it is difficult. It is the present that is flying away. These are the projects that fly away.
