Time to stop using term ‘long Covid’ symptoms are no worse than those after flu study finds

[Social Media]

 

The term "long Covid" has been widely used to describe the lingering symptoms experienced by some individuals after a Covid-19 infection. However, new research from Queensland Health suggests that these symptoms may not be unique to Covid-19 and are comparable to those experienced after influenza or other respiratory illnesses.

 

Dr. John Gerrard, the state's chief health officer and lead author of the study, argues that it's time to reconsider the use of the term "long Covid" as it may create unnecessary fear and hypervigilance. The study surveyed over 5,000 adults who had symptoms of a respiratory illness and found that a year after testing positive for Covid-19, 16% reported ongoing symptoms, with 3.6% experiencing moderate-to-severe impairment in their daily activities.

 

Surprisingly, the study found no significant difference in the prevalence of ongoing impairments between those who had Covid-19 and those who did not. Additionally, the percentage of patients reporting common long Covid symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog, and changes in taste and smell was similar among Covid-positive and Covid-negative individuals with moderate-to-severe impairment.

 

According to Gerrard, the perception of long Covid as a distinct and severe illness may be influenced by the large number of Covid-19 infections within a short period, rather than the severity of the symptoms themselves. He emphasizes that while the symptoms reported by patients are real, using the term "long Covid" may be misleading and harmful.

 

However, some experts caution against dismissing the term altogether. Prof. Philip Britton from the University of Sydney suggests that the conclusion to stop using terms like long Covid may be overstated and potentially unhelpful, considering the global recognition of long Covid by the World Health Organization (WHO).

 

Similarly, Prof. Jeremy Nicholson from Murdoch University notes that the study's observational nature and lack of detailed physiological data make it difficult to conclude whether long Covid is truly indistinguishable from other post-viral syndromes.

 

Overall, while the study sheds light on the prevalence of ongoing symptoms after Covid-19 infection, further research is needed to fully understand the nature and uniqueness of long Covid compared to other respiratory illnesses.

 

16.03.24

Source

 

[save the frogs]

what a joke

[stoner]

 

this is not going to sit well with the fear mongers. 

[Red Phoenix]

But, but, but what about the covid-jabs that were supposed to also significantly reduce the risk of getting this 'long covid'...

[stevenl]

I just wish people would understand what they're talking about. Looking at the previous posts in this thread my hopes are shattered.

[Chetzee]

pretty much farmed as disorder by Woke UK civil servants on index linked pension so that they can stay at home and discuss gender issues and critical race theory .......   yawn !!!

[300sd]

The climate agenda has nothing to do with the climate. Oh I must be on the wrong thread. Sorry.

[Dolf]

4 hours ago, Social Media said:

long Covid" as it may create unnecessary fear and hypervigilance

3 years too late. Scaremongering was extreme in 2021.

[scubascuba3]

The spongers back home love these extra conditions, the more comorbidities the better to get the benefits

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Quote

The 3% of the study participants who had ongoing impairments after Covid-19 infection was similar to the 3.4% with ongoing impairments after influenza.

 

And meanwhile from the same media outlet one day after the OP report here:

‘Alarming’ rise in Americans with long Covid symptoms

CDC data shows nearly 18m people could be living with long Covid even as health agency relaxes isolation recommendations

 

Fri 15 Mar 2024

 

Some 6.8% of American adults are currently experiencing long Covid symptoms, according to a new survey from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), revealing an “alarming” increase in recent months even as the health agency relaxes Covid isolation recommendations, experts say.

...

When the same survey was conducted in October, 5.3% of respondents were experiencing long Covid symptoms at the time.

...

More than three-quarters of the people with long Covid right now say the illness limits their day-to-day activity, and about one in five say it significantly affects their activities [emphasis added] – an estimated 3.8 million Americans who are now experiencing debilitating illness after Covid infection.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/15/long-covid-symptoms-cdc

 

From the U.S. CDC survey data cited in the above Guardian report:

 

The percentage of significant activity limitations (‘yes, a lot’ response) from long COVID, among adults who are currently experiencing long COVID

 

 

Source:

 

The above U.S. survey used the definition of long COVID as symptoms lasting 3 months or longer, whereas the OP Australia survey asked about symptoms one year after infection.

 

[stoner]

39 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

And meanwhile from the same media outlet one day after the OP report here:

‘Alarming’ rise in Americans with long Covid symptoms

CDC data shows nearly 18m people could be living with long Covid even as health agency relaxes isolation recommendations

 

Fri 15 Mar 2024

 

Some 6.8% of American adults are currently experiencing long Covid symptoms, according to a new survey from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), revealing an “alarming” increase in recent months even as the health agency relaxes Covid isolation recommendations, experts say.

...

When the same survey was conducted in October, 5.3% of respondents were experiencing long Covid symptoms at the time.

...

More than three-quarters of the people with long Covid right now say the illness limits their day-to-day activity, and about one in five say it significantly affects their activities [emphasis added] – an estimated 3.8 million Americans who are now experiencing debilitating illness after Covid infection.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/15/long-covid-symptoms-cdc

 

From the U.S. CDC survey data cited in the above Guardian report:

 

The percentage of significant activity limitations (‘yes, a lot’ response) from long COVID, among adults who are currently experiencing long COVID

 

 

Source:

 

The above U.S. survey used the definition of long COVID as symptoms lasting 3 months or longer, whereas the OP Australia survey asked about symptoms one year after infection.

 

 

so what ?

 

6 hours ago, Social Media said:

Surprisingly, the study found no significant difference in the prevalence of ongoing impairments between those who had Covid-19 and those who did not.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The Australia survey says about 3% of those with long COVID reported significant impairments a year later.

 

The U.S. CDC survey says about 20% of those with Long COVID (defined as systems lasting at least 3 months post infection) reported "significant activity limitations" when surveyed.

 

That's quite a big difference between those two data points.

 

Also worth noting the closing comment in the OP report from the Guardian re the Queensland survey:

 

"Prof Jeremy Nicholson, the director of the Australian National Phenome Centre at Murdoch University, said the question of whether long Covid is unique “cannot be simply answered in this work”.

 

“The study is observational, based on reported symptoms with no physiological or detailed functional follow-up data. Without laboratory pathophysiological assessment of individual patients, it is impossible to say that this is indistinguishable from flu-related or any other post-viral syndrome,” Nicholson said."

 

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/mar/15/long-covid-symptoms-flu-cold

 

Let's see what happens when this guy presents the findings of his survey and what kind of responses ensue from other professionals in the field.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Also worth noting, as the Guardian article did, that the Queensland survey on long COVID symptoms occurred in the following context:

 

"They also said because 90% of people in Queensland were vaccinated when Omicron emerged, the lower severity of long Covid could be due to vaccination and the variant."

 

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/mar/15/long-covid-symptoms-flu-cold

 

along with:

 

 

"A new study based on 4,605 participants in the Michigan COVID-19 Recovery Surveillance Study shows that the prevalence of long COVID symptoms at 30 and 90 days post-infection was 43% to 58% lower among adults who were fully vaccinated before infection."

 

 

[Dolf]

17 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

The Australia survey says about 3% of those with long COVID reported significant impairments a year later.

 

The U.S. CDC survey says about 20% of those with Long COVID (defined as systems lasting at least 3 months post infection) reported "significant activity limitations" when surveyed.

 

That's quite a big difference between those two data points.

 

Also worth noting the closing comment in the OP report from the Guardian re the Queensland survey:

 

"Prof Jeremy Nicholson, the director of the Australian National Phenome Centre at Murdoch University, said the question of whether long Covid is unique “cannot be simply answered in this work”.

 

“The study is observational, based on reported symptoms with no physiological or detailed functional follow-up data. Without laboratory pathophysiological assessment of individual patients, it is impossible to say that this is indistinguishable from flu-related or any other post-viral syndrome,” Nicholson said."

 

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/mar/15/long-covid-symptoms-flu-cold

 

Let's see what happens when this guy presents the findings of his survey and what kind of responses ensue from other professionals in the field.

 

Probably placebo or to get benefits.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

What the OP report here should have said is...

 

‘long Covid’ symptoms are no worse than those after flu...in a setting where 90% of the population had already been double vaccinated against COVID.

 

The same Queensland public health folks behind the OP report have done prior research on the same topic, including an August 2023 journal article that begins with the following:

 

"In a highly vaccinated Australian population, we aimed to compare ongoing symptoms and functional impairment 12 weeks after PCR-confirmed COVID-19 infection with PCR-confirmed influenza infection."

 

And then goes on to add:

 

"We do not dismiss the validity of long COVID but recommend an appropriate comparator group when researching this condition."

 

and

 

"In Australia, the first wave of the Omicron variant commenced in late 2021 when over 90% of the population was double vaccinated against COVID-19."

 

https://bmjpublichealth.bmj.com/content/1/1/e000060

 

In other words, as other prior research has already shown:

More evidence vaccination reduces risk of long COVID

January 13, 2024

 

A large staggered cohort study from primary care patients in the UK, Spain, and Estonia finds that COVID-19 vaccination consistently reduced the risk of long-COVID symptoms. The study is published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

...

"We defined long COVID as having at least one record of any of the pre-defined symptoms between 90 and 365 days after the date of a PCR-positive test or clinical diagnosis of COVID-19, with no record of that symptom 180 days before SARS-CoV-2 infection."

...

Across all four staggered cohorts in all three countries, vaccination was associated with a lowered risk of developing long COVID. And a slightly stronger preventative effect was seen for the first dose of BNT162b2 than for ChAdOx1, the authors said. Vaccine efficacy (VE) against long COVID ranged from 29% to 52%.

 

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/more-evidence-vaccination-reduces-risk-long-covid

 

Talking about comparing comparable groups, there's no mention in the OP study what portion of those surveyed about lingering flu symptoms had or had not received flu vaccinations prior.

 

And likewise, there's no detail in the OP study comparing the self-reported rates of disabling COVID symptoms among the UNvaccinated with the same for unvaccinated flu cases.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

And a timely reminder on this topic:

 

 

International Long COVID Awareness Day

 

March 15 is International Long COVID Awareness Day. This year's theme is "Confront Long COVID." It is important to recognize and raise awareness of Long COVID as a real and serious infection-associated chronic condition that has affected millions of people across the United States. CDC and other federal partners and stakeholders are actively working to address gaps in the understanding of Long COVID and the needs of people with Long COVID.

 

Source:

 

[Dolf]

7 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

And a timely reminder on this topic:

 

 

International Long COVID Awareness Day

 

March 15 is International Long COVID Awareness Day. This year's theme is "Confront Long COVID." It is important to recognize and raise awareness of Long COVID as a real and serious infection-associated chronic condition that has affected millions of people across the United States. CDC and other federal partners and stakeholders are actively working to address gaps in the understanding of Long COVID and the needs of people with Long COVID.

 

Source:

 

Scaremongering day