Time to address the “long-term” consequences of Covid

Geneva: An official at the World Health Organization urged to start endeavoring to understand the mystery of “long-term Covid” that he suffers from, according to what data indicates millions of people with Covid-19 epidemic without knowing the causes.

A year after the start of the epidemic that killed more than 2.1 million people, attention is currently focused on vaccination campaigns and mutated versions of the emerging corona virus.

However, the official in charge of the team assigned to search for a cure for this phenomenon, Janet Diaz, explained that “long-term Covid” requires a similar amount of urgent attention by the scientific community, during an interview with Agence France-Presse in front of the headquarters of the World Health Organization in Geneva, in compliance with the health measures in force.

And she called for uniting efforts around the world in search of answers at a time when “we do not yet know what specifically the long-term COVID-19 is.”

Although some studies have begun to remove the mystery a little about this phenomenon, it is not yet known why some people with Covid-19 suffer over a period of months, sometimes severe symptoms, including fatigue, difficulty breathing, impaired nervous system and heart complications.

“We still have a lot to know.”

“We still have a lot to know, but I am confident in mobilizing the scientific teams,” Janet Diaz said reassured.

In an indication of the extent of the ambiguity surrounding this issue, no real name has been given to this phenomenon referred to as “long-term Covid”.

The World Health Organization talks about “post-Covid-19 syndrome” or “long-term Covid-19”, in a document in which it recently presented its new recommendations. The phrase most often used is “long-term Covid”.

On the ninth of February, the WHO is organizing the first webinar devoted to long-term Covid, with the participation of clinicians, researchers and experts, with the aim of identifying the disease, giving it an official name and coordinating the methods of its study.

“It is a disease that requires a better description, and we need to know the number of people infected with it and understand its cause, so that we can improve its prevention, treatment and means of treating it,” the 48-year-old American emergency doctor explained.

Available studies indicate that about 10% of patients suffer from symptoms a month after their infection, but it is not known at the present time how long these complications can last.

The surprising thing is that not all people with these long-term symptoms belong to the groups most at risk, such as the elderly and people with diseases that exacerbate the infection with Covid-19.

Janet Diaz explained that “long-term Covid” is monitored in patients who have been infected to varying degrees by the epidemic, and this “also includes younger people”, including children.

This proves that Covid-19 is not just influenza, as those who deny the existence of the epidemic say, but it also contradicts the opinion of those calling for the isolation of people with a vulnerable structure.Difficulty concentrating and physical exhaustionNever, in order to contain the outbreak of the epidemic.

And the most common symptom seems to be fatigue, but there are many other symptoms, including fatigue or malaise after physical exertion, difficulty thinking clearly, shortness of breath, heart palpitations and nervous system problems.

“What we don’t understand is how all of these things are interconnected,” explains the doctor. “Why would someone have this symptom, and another person with another symptom?” Noting that it is imperative that researchers uncover the disease mechanisms that cause these symptoms.

“Is this caused by the virus? Or from the immune response? If we know more, we will be able to start by identifying some interventions to alleviate the symptoms,” she asked, confirming that a “huge amount” of research is currently being conducted on the phenomenon.

What has given impetus to this research are the patients themselves who have gathered to demand their right to receive answers and treatment, in the face of doubts and ambiguities about their health status.

“It was a tremendous movement,” the doctor in charge of this file at WHO admitted in October.

The symposium next week will be the first in a series of scheduled seminars. “We probably now have enough data (on the long-standing Covid) to start painting an overall picture,” Diaz said.

And to establish a precise definition and name for long-term Covid, the symposium will allow consensus around criteria for collecting data from patient monitoring to begin to find means of treatment.

The symposium will also be attended by donors, given the need to find funding quickly. And Diaz sent a message to people with long-term Covid and sometimes feeling neglected, and she said, “Keep hope.”

“People sometimes have symptoms for a very long time, but we know that they are cured. It may take a lot of time, but they are cured,” she added. “We are by your side.”

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