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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has finalized new guidelines to help clinicians diagnose and manage long-term COVID, or the acute sequelae of SARS-CoV2 infection.
Dr. John Brooks, MD, Medical Epidemiologist in the CDC Division, at a Parliamentary Hearing all day Thursday HIV/ AIDS prevention testified that the guidelines have gone through customs clearance at the agency but will be announced shortly.
“They should come out soon,” Brooks said.
The guidelines, co-developed with the newly established Long COVID Clinic and patient support groups, “begin to show how to diagnose and summarize what we know about management” for complex conditions, he said.
For many doctors and patients who struggle to understand the symptoms that last months after the first virus infection, guidelines do not come immediately.
Francis Collins, MD, director of the National Institutes of Health, who also testified at a hearing, estimated that as many as 3 million people could have chronic health problems even after a mild COVID infection. ..
“We can’t exaggerate how serious this problem is for the health of our country,” he said.
Collins said about 10% of people infected with COVID could be affected by this, based on studies showing that “the long-term course is uncertain.” To date, more than 32 million Americans are known to be infected with the new coronavirus.
Congressman Anna Eshoo, a Democrat in California who chairs the Health Subcommittee, said:
Jennifer Posic, MD, who directs the post-COVID recovery program at Yale New Haven Hospital in Connecticut, testified that the patient’s tsunami seen by her and her colleagues was overwhelming.
“We are a well-resourced program at the Academic Medical Center, but overwhelmed by the needs of our community. This year, our clinic alone has more after covid-19 than new cases. A patient with the condition was seen. asthma And COPD “In combination, the magnitude of the challenge is daunting,” she said.
Possick estimated that there were “more than 60” clinics in the United States that began treating long-term COVID patients, but said they were grassroots efforts and were all very different from each other.
“Anyone who has the resources and has the time, [and] Most of them are interdisciplinary, so we were able to take the initiative and build relationships. “
Patient testifies
Some representatives shared inspiring personal stories of loved ones and staff who remained ill for several months after the COVID diagnosis.
Congressman Anne Kuster of New Hampshire was infected with COVID over a year ago and is a 34-year-old member of the U.S. ski team who “continues to struggle with everything, even the simplest activities of daily living.” I talked about my niece. She said. “She has to choose between taking a shower or having a supper. I’m very proud that she’s hanging there.”
A long COVID patient invited to testify by the subcommittee explained to them the rising medical costs and the months of disability that left them capable of working to pay.
“I’m now a poor black woman with a disability and have lived on a long COVID,” said Chimere Smith, who was a teacher at a school in Baltimore. “Aloud, it’s not easy anymore.[y] To accept. “
She said COVID affected her clear thinking ability and caused debilitating fatigue, which hindered her work. She said she had lost sight for almost five months because her doctor misdiagnosed a cataract caused by a long COVID as follows: Dry eye..
“If I didn’t have a loved one, I would [would] Talk to you today [from] My car is the only property I own now. “
Smith said the Long COVID Clinic, mostly located within the Academic Medical Center, is not available to all long-haul carriers, who are disproportionately colored women. Based in her church, she started a clinic to help other patients in the area.
“No one wants to hear that a long COVID has destroyed my life and the lives of other black women in less than a year,” Smith said. “We were waiting for compassionate doctors and politicians to recognize us.”
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