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Showing results for tags 'Long Covid'.
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Content ArticleIn this study, Tsampasian et al. looked at what the risk factors were for developing post−COVID-19 condition (also known as Long Covid). The systematic review and meta-analysis of 41 studies, including 860 783 patients, found that female sex, older age, higher body mass index, smoking, preexisting comorbidities, and previous hospitalisation or ICU admission were risk factors significantly associated with developing Long Covid, and that SARS-CoV-2 vaccination with two doses was associated with lower risk of Long Covid. The findings of this systematic review and meta-analysis provide a profile of the characteristics associated with increased risk of developing Long Covid and suggest that vaccination may be protective against Long Covid.
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News Article
‘We are struggling’: US doctors faced with vacuum of information on Long Covid
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
More than three years into the Covid pandemic, there are a host of important unanswered questions about Long Covid, which significantly limit healthcare providers’ ability to treat patients with the condition, according to US physicians and scientists. That vacuum of information remains as much of the US has moved on from the pandemic, while Covid long-haulers continue to face stigma and questions over whether their symptoms are real, providers say. “We don’t quite have our finger on the pulse of what’s wrong, what biologically is causing it, and that’s a big problem,” said Dr Marc Sala, co-director of the Northwestern Medicine Comprehensive Covid-19 Center. “It’s hard to direct drugs or treatments without having the biological underpinnings for why someone is feeling so fatigued with exercise.” In addition to the ambiguity around the root causes of Long Covid, there are also challenges in research because of how Covid can produce so many different symptoms. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention list includes fatigue, respiratory issues and difficulty thinking or concentrating but also states that “post-Covid conditions may not affect everyone the same way”. “Everyone has a different constellation of symptoms,” said Dr Steven Deeks, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco. “Some people get better over time, some people wax and wane, some people get worse,” and so it is difficult for researchers to determine when a study should end and compare a drug versus a placebo. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 6 March 2023 -
Content ArticlePatients with Long Covid—defined by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as signs and symptoms that persist for more than four weeks following acute Covid-19—may present in primary care with symptoms of palpitations (tachycardia) triggered by standing or minimal exertion. These may be accompanied by dizziness, breathlessness, chest pain, sweating, bloating, fatigue and other symptoms which may be caused by a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system (dysautonomia). This practice pointer in the BMJ outlines: how tachycardia present in patients with Long Covid. what clinical assessment should involve. how to test for postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome in primary care. drug and non-drug treatments that are available. what patients can do for themselves. when patients should be referred to a specialist.
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Content ArticleThe UK Covid-19 Inquiry is the independent public inquiry set up to examine the UK’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, assess the impact of the pandemic and learn lessons for the future. The Inquiry is Chaired by Baroness Heather Hallett, a former Court of Appeal judge. This is a recording of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry's preliminary hearing for its third investigation looking at the impact of the pandemic on healthcare. The agenda includes: introductory remarks from the Chair update from Counsel to the Inquiry including designation submissions from core participants. Read the transcript of the hearing.
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Content ArticleThis study in Brain, Behaviour & Immunity - Health aimed to examine associations between symptomatic Covid-19 history, neurocognitive function and psychiatric symptoms. The authors used cognitive task performance, functional brain imaging and a prospective population survey to conduct the study. Converging findings from laboratory and population survey data support the conclusion that symptomatic Covid-19 infection is associated with task-related, functional imaging and self-reported indices of cognitive dysfunction as well as psychiatric symptoms. In some cases, these findings appear to be more amplified among women than men, and among older women than younger.
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Content ArticleStephanie Longe first arrived in the UK from Switzerland in 2019 to work at the High Consequence Emerging Viruses Group at what is now the UK Health Security Agency. At the time, her project was focused on Ebola virus disease survivors. But Covid quickly changed plans. Stephanie and her colleagues had to use their skills to develop Covid treatments and new antivirals. Stephanie was involved in early research to study the Sars-CoV-2 infection, and test vaccine candidates. Then in June 2022, Stephanie had Covid and she is now one of the 2 million people who experience self-reported Long Covid symptoms in the UK. She shares her experience of Long Covid and the research she is doing in this Guardian article.
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Content ArticleThis document offers advice and guidance for people with Long Covid who are having difficulties communicating with others as a result of their symptoms. It explains how Long Covid can impair communication by affecting speech, language and voice. It also outlines how many people are affected by Long Covid-related communication issues, explains how speech and language therapists can help and offers simple tips on how to improve communication with Long Covid.
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Content Article
The haunting brain science of Long Covid (Stat,16 February 2023)
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Blogs
In this article for Stat, E. Wesley Ely, Professor of Medicine and Critical Care at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, looks at the impact Covid-19 and Long Covid can have on people's brains. He speaks to people with Long Covid who have experienced a sharp decline in brain function, leading to them losing their jobs, struggling to hold a conversation and in some cases developing early-onset dementia. He also highlights biomedical research that has shown changes to the brain in people with confirmed Covid-19 infections, including a reduction in grey matter, problems in the cells lining the blood vessels and impaired cellular metabolism in the frontal lobe six months following acute Covid. -
Content ArticleThe Covid-19 pandemic has thrown a spotlight on the treatment of NHS staff and their perceived value to their employers. An estimated two million people in the UK have Long Covid, including many thousands of NHS workers, so why do we hear so little about it? In this BMJ article, a doctor in the NHS who has Long Covid explains why he is disappointed by the collective silence and the lack of protections and support mechanisms in place.
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Content ArticleIn this blog, US family doctor Lisa Baron highlights the role that social media has played in exposing how patients, particularly women, are dismissed and gaslighted by healthcare professionals, resulting in delayed diagnosis, deterioration and trauma. She talks about her own experience of having her symptoms and concerns dismissed by her GP, which led to a two-year delay in being diagnosed with coeliac disease, rheumatoid arthritis and Sjogren's syndrome. She goes on to talk about her experience of Long Covid and how her symptoms were dismissed and not taken seriously in spite of the life-limiting nature of her condition. She raises concerns that Long Covid patients are turning to unqualified practitioners offering untested, ineffective and expensive treatments as they are not being taken seriously by mainstream healthcare systems.
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Content ArticleHealth workers, hailed as heroes during the pandemic, say they’re being abandoned by the NHS and the government. Some are living with Long Covid and say it’s having a devastating impact on both their personal and professional lives. For Panorama, the BBC’s health correspondent, Catherine Burns, meets staff struggling to return to work and reveals how some are now facing financial hardship and the prospect of having to retire early or, worse, being sacked.
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Content ArticleYoung people from across the UK reflect on how the pandemic is still affecting their lives and their plans for the future, 18 months after the end of the third national lockdown.
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Content ArticleThis study in the journal Acta Neuropathologica Communications examined neuropathological findings of patients who died following hospitalisation in an intensive care unit with Covid-19. The researchers conducted brain autopsy on 20 people who had died, followed by ex-vivo imaging and dissection. They found that acute tissue injuries and microglial activation were the most common abnormalities discovered in Covid-19 brains. They also found evidence of encephalitis-like changes despite the lack of detectable virus. The majority of older subjects showed age-related brain conditions even in the absence of known neurologic disease. The findings of this study suggest that acute brain injury alongside common pre-existing brain disease may put older subjects at higher risk of post-Covid neurological issues.
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News Article
Thousands of NHS staff with long Covid risk losing their pay
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Thousands of NHS staff across the UK are facing pay cuts because of a change in Covid sickness policy. Analysis by BBC Panorama suggests that between 5,000 and 10,000 NHS workers could be off sick with Long Covid. Unions are accusing the government of failing to support health staff who worked during the coronavirus pandemic. The government says the Covid-19 public inquiry will examine these issues when it begins taking evidence in May. Changes to special sick pay rules introduced during the pandemic mean that some NHS staff unable to work due to Long Covid may soon no longer receive full pay. Enhanced provision ended last year. Many had a six-month transition, so expect their wages to go down soon. Some face losing their jobs. Professor David Strain is the chair of the Board of Science at the British Medical Association (BMA) and says this makes him "genuinely angry". He explains: "We've got a group of people that have put themselves forward to look after the population, they've been left with an illness and they're not being supported. "They're just in a no man's land." He believes that health workers with long Covid should be allowed to focus on their recovery without money worries. Read full story Source: BBC News, 30 January 2023 -
Content ArticleThis article in iNews looks at a major new study in The BMJ by researchers in Israel which suggests that symptoms of Long Covid end within a year in most people with the condition. The study looked at information on a number of symptoms linked to Long Covid, including loss of taste and smell, breathing problems, concentration and memory issues, weakness, palpitations and dizziness. The research also demonstrated the role of Covid vaccines in improving outcomes for people with Long Covid. However, the article also highlights cautions from experts who note that people who got Long Covid after a more serious case of the virus were not included in the study, and their symptoms typically last longer than for those who got the condition after a mild infection. The authors also highlight that these results do not match up with the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). According to the ONS, 57% people reporting symptoms in December 2022 said that they had had long Covid symptoms for at least one year, with 30 per cent reporting that symptoms had lasted for at least two years.
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Content ArticleIt is estimated that at least 65 million people worldwide have Long Covid. This research paper, published by Nature Reviews Microbiology, explores the current knowledge base of Long COVID as well as misconceptions surrounding long COVID and areas where additional research is needed.
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News Article
The targets the NHS no longer has to meet
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
NHS England has shelved priorities on Long Covid and diversity and inclusion – as well as a wide range of other areas – in its latest slimmed down operational planning guidance, HSJ analysis shows. NHSE published its planning guidance for 2023-24, which sets the national “must do” asks of trust and integrated care systems, shortly before Christmas. HSJ has analysed objectives, targets and asks from the 2022-23 planning guidance which do not appear in the 2023-24 document. The measures on which trusts and systems will no longer be held accountable for include improving the service’s black, Asian and minority ethnic disparity ratio by “delivering the six high-impact actions to overhaul recruitment and promotion practices”. Another omission from the 2023-24 guidance compared to 2022-23 is a target to increase the number of patients referred to post-Covid services, who are then seen within six weeks of their referral. Several requirements on staff have been removed, including to ”continue to support the health and wellbeing of our staff, including through effective health and wellbeing conversations” and ”continued funding of mental health hubs to enable staff access to enhanced occupational health and wellbeing and psychological support”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 4 January 2022 -
Content ArticleNHS England has published its planning guidance for 2023/2023. The 2023/24 priorities and operational planning guidance reconfirms the ongoing need to recover our core services and improve productivity, making progress in delivering the key NHS Long Term Plan ambitions and continuing to transform the NHS for the future.
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Content ArticleRoughly 16 million Americans are living with Long Covid, but many are not getting the right medical care. In this article in Popular Science, Miles Griffis argues that one way to improve the system is by letting patients lead. He describes his own disabling case of Long Covid, the issues he has faced in gaining access to Long Covid clinics and the lack of treatment options available to him. He argues that at some point, the demand from patients for treatment will force progress in Long Covid research.
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Content ArticleThis blog focuses on a poster presented at the World Congress on Pain that recently took place in Toronto and discusses the connection between Long Covid and fibromyalgia.
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Content ArticleThis article in Science News looks at the impact of the growing global burden of Long Covid during 2022. It describes "a tidal wave of people with lingering symptoms—some mild, some profoundly disabling" which has commanded the attention of researchers and doctors, who are still looking for answers on how to diagnose and treat Long Covid. The article also highlights risk factors, symptoms and the need to focus on people whose lives are most severely restricted by the condition.
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Content ArticleA Channel 5 News investigation has found nearly three quarters of people getting help for Long Covid weren't given a face-to-face appointment. It's estimated 2.1 million UK people have the condition. A Long Covid hauler herself, 5 News reporter Ruth Liptrot looks at where we're at with finding a treatment.
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News Article
NHS lost a million working days to Long Covid last year
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
NHS trusts in England lost more than a million working days to long-Covid absences last year, analysis suggests. Thousands of doctors, nurses and other health professionals have been forced to take long periods off work because of the lingering effects of coronavirus infection. Data released to the all-party parliamentary group on coronavirus suggests that long-Covid absences are now higher than they were a year ago. Layla Moran, who chairs the group, said: “Long Covid has upended the lives of millions and these figures suggest that the deeply damaging impact it is having on our economy and public services is only getting worse.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 19 December 2022 -
Content ArticleThis blog is written by David Osborn, a health and safety consultant, reflecting on the blog written by Anna Carey regarding her guilt about not being able to return to work because of her Long Covid.
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Content ArticleThis study in eClinicalMedicine aimed to bring together the global evidence on the prevalence of persistent symptoms in people who had experienced Covid-19 infection. The authors found, across the 194 studies included in the systematic review, that 45% of Covid-19 survivors, regardless of hospitalisation status, were experiencing a range of unresolved symptoms at around four months after infection. The authors state that current understanding is limited by heterogeneous study design, follow-up durations and measurement methods, and highlight that definition of subtypes of Long Covid is unclear, which hampers effective treatment and management strategies.
