Long-term COVID-19 can affect millions, especially young adults.news

As COVID-19 infections decline in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, medical professionals are addressing another aspect of the disease. The mysterious symptoms that researchers say can last for months.

This syndrome, called “Long COVID-19,” can cause a range of symptoms, including dyspnea, headaches, debilitating malaise, brain fog, and organ damage.

At a special hearing of the Santa Clara County Health Hospital Commission on Tuesday, October 26, a group of medical professionals and researchers to understand whether a long COVID-19 will last for months, years, or even a lifetime. He said it would take time. .. Many COVID-19 long haul carriers are unable to attend work or school. It is unclear how the young population, including children, will be successful in the long run, or whether they will develop learning abilities and health problems with social impact.

To truly treat those suffering from illness, local governments and national governments have developed an interdisciplinary team of policies and physicians to address the physical, cognitive and psychological challenges posed by the long COVID-19. Researchers told the Health Hospital Commission that it needed to be developed.

What is Long COVID?

A long COVID-19 can be a lot. It is not easy to define where the line between recovery from persistent COVID-19 symptoms and long COVID-19 syndrome lies.

Dr. Brian Brock, assistant professor of lung, allergy and critical care at the University of California, San Francisco, said it is not uncommon for COVID-19 patients to persist for two weeks to two months after an acute infection. Deputy Director of Sleep Medicine and Medical ICU. But it’s not long COVID-19.

Long COVID-19 is a persistent symptomatic syndrome that lasts at least a few months after the initial infection. People usually have respiratory problems and cognitive dysfunction, which often affects organs, Brock said. He added that doctors should first rule out other diseases with similar symptoms, such as cancer and hypothyroidism, before making a long COVID-19 diagnosis.

The long COVID-19 mainly affects those who are hospitalized. People who are obese or who have more than 5 symptoms at the time of initial infection are at increased risk of developing long-term COVID-19. 19 Syndrome Clinic said.

However, long COVID-19 can affect people with mild symptoms of COVID-19. The patient may recover completely, after which long COVID symptoms appear.

Researchers say that people and women between the ages of 25 and 50 are most likely to have long-term complications from the virus. According to Bonilla, many young people with long-term COVID-19 were presumed to have an underlying disorder such as diabetes or asthma, but it turned out not to be. Studies have shown that long COVID-19 affects healthy people. A survey of Italian and German soccer players found that the population is usually strong and that previous possession of COVID-19 would result in poor performance in soccer games.

Concerns about social impact and development of strategies for care

Researchers said they were particularly interested in younger populations, including children with long-term COVID-19 development. It remains unclear whether it will affect their ability to learn and retain work throughout life. According to Bonilla, it will take time to see what will happen five years from now and how it will affect high school and college youth and the next generation of workers.

Currently, about 20% of patients are infected with long-term COVID-19.

“They are having a hard time getting back to work, going back to school and completing their work at home,” said Emily Huff, a Harkness Fellow in Healthcare Policy and Practice at the Commonwealth Fund. Policymakers and health professionals will need to understand how to create support systems for those people at the local and national levels, she said.

With 125 million people infected with COVID-19 in the United States, the number of people in this country who have the potential to deal with long-term COVID-19 is staggering. There are 15 to 25 million people.

“Ten millions of people are at risk for this. We don’t have an interdisciplinary team that can be needed,” he added.

Doctor Jeff Smith, executive of Santa Clara County, said the county is considering developing a clinic to deal with the particularly long COVID-19.

According to Bonilla and Brock, medical professionals also need to develop criteria to help doctors identify long COVID-19 cases and how they can be treated. Some patients have been dismissed and many doctors do not yet understand the syndrome.

According to a survey of doctors at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, only 5% of respondents referred long suspicious COVID-19s, most of them related to lung problems, said the primary care medical director. Said Dr. Angelus Ares.

Long COVID-19 can affect multiple parts of the body, requiring an interdisciplinary team to address physical and other effects such as patient cognition, mood, and well-being. .. It is important for patients to see the clinicians they trust and have relationships with. Having the therapist work with a doctor can help deal with the symptoms, Brock added.

Medical professionals have not yet developed criteria for diagnosing long COVIDs. Its complexity makes it difficult to understand. The Santa Clara Valley Medical Center recently added a diagnostic code for long-term COVID, said Dr. Supriya Narasimhan, Head of Infectious Diseases.

According to Narasimhan, early treatment with steroids, monoclonal antibodies, and, if approved by the federal government, Merck oral medications to reduce the effects of the virus reduces the inflammatory response that causes the risk of severe COVID-19 and long COVID. can do.

She said the best strategy to prevent long COVID is not to get COVID-19 at all. The best way to prevent COVID-19 infection is to get vaccinated. Vaccination can prevent 50% of long COVID cases, she said.