Long haul for sufferers
The images coming out of Covid-ravaged India are apocalyptic. This is the nightmare scenario most countries feared a year ago, but which has arrived belatedly and most severely for India. We also know that Covid survivors don’t all bounce back to full health immediately. Reddit threads and Facebook groups are full of the stories of Covid longhaulers – people still suffering debilitating health effects up to a year after being infected.
The official figures have about 150 million people globally infected with Covid-19 to date. The real numbers are likely to be much higher and we will see a long tail of suffering as the physical impacts of the disease linger. The British immunologist Professor Danny Altmann estimated at the end of last year that there were probably more than 5 million Covid longhaulers worldwide. Their symptoms are frustratingly varied, exacerbated by underlying conditions, and are hard to treat.
‘‘Long Covid’’ bears many traits common to chronic fatigue syndrome (myalgic encephalomyelitis), a condition that can be diagnosed by a doctor observing symptoms in a patient over a period of six months or longer.
CFS symptoms include brain fog, problems with memory and cognition, and a sort of malaise that sets in after physical or mental exertion. Some CFS sufferers struggle to get out of bed, such is its energy-sapping nature.
Viral infections take a toll on the body, which can lead to a temporary period of fatigue as a patient recovers. But scientists don’t yet understand exactly why this persists long term in Covid patients. ‘‘Many long Covid patients suffering from post-viral fatigue may now meet the diagnostic criteria for CFS,’’ says the CFS expert, University of Otago emeritus professor, Warren Tate. He adds that long Covid could also be a lifelong disease for sufferers.
Our low Covid-19 infection rate, just 2254 cases, means our cohort of Covid longhaulers is tiny. One of the most prominent is the entrepreneur Jenene Crossan, who contracted Covid-19 in March last year and has been plagued with lingering symptoms ever since.
‘‘I’d be happy with just one doc listening and not telling me that I’m not dying right this second so there’s not an issue,’’ she tweeted in frustration last week after another stint in hospital.
Frontline health workers are puzzled by long Covid. Sufferers, like Crossan, feel isolated and misunderstood. It’s like the early days of CFS awareness all over again. ‘‘I hope the greater international focus on long Covid means there will be more understanding given to New Zealand patients with long Covid, and that this will also extend to CFS patients,’’ says Tate.
So do I, because long after we see the back of this virus, millions of people around the world will still be struggling to escape its grasp.
Long Covid bears many traits common to chronic fatigue syndrome.