The lingering devastation of Long Covid
Warning over dire illness that goes on for months
LONG Covid could become a more serious public health problem than excess deaths caused by coronavirus, a leading academic has warned.
Prof Tim Spector, of King’s College London, said that the illness behaves like an autoimmune disease, affecting multiple systems even after the virus had been beaten.
Around one in 50 infected people still have symptoms such as breathlessness and chronic fatigue three months later, according to data gathered from four million patients via an app. Prof Spector, whose team launched the app with health-science firm Zoe in March, said: “This is the other side of Covid: the longhaulers that could turn out to be a bigger public health problem than excess deaths from Covid-19.”
An increasing number of sufferers find the virus they thought they had beaten is still affecting their health months on.
They include Paul Garner, ner, professor in infectious diseases at the Liverpool School of Trop - ical Medicine.
He tested positive in midM-arch but symptoms including sweats, exhaustion and severe headaches lasted until September – and he still experiences debilitating bouts of fatigue.
He said: “I had these bouts of illness that lasted about three days with a few days in between when I felt like a ragdoll. And it just didn’t stop. It was like being possessed by a demon.
“One day my speech went and I lost my vision for a minute. It was terrifying. I’ll be happy if I’m fully recovered by April.”
1 in 50 coronavirus patients still suffer symptoms such as chronic fatigue three months later
The long-haulers could turn out to be the bigger public health problem
PROF TIM SPECTOR RAISES THE ALARM OVER LONG COVID