Long Covid

Health
Written By Alysha Rashid

30% of Southerners who previously had Covid currently suffer from Long Covid symptoms. In Mississippi, it’s 37%.

Long Covid estimates, Dec 9-19, 2022

Percent of adults who previously had Covid, with symptoms lasting 3 months or longer

Among those who previously had Covid, 30% of Southerners (and 27% of non-Southerners) are currently experiencing prolonged symptoms, known as Long Covid.1 Long Covid largely affects immune and circulatory systems, as well as the brain and lungs.2,3,4,5 Consistent with the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey results, experts find that one-third of Covid patients continue to become Long Covid patients.6,7 A new study finds that most Long Covid patients experienced a mild initial Covid infection, yet still developed prolonged symptoms that affected their daily lives.8,9 It also found that women were more likely to develop Long Covid, though scientific evidence as to why remains outstanding.

While new studies aimed at understanding Long Covid have provided more awareness, developing new medical treatments for patients with Long Covid has been slow for a condition that is likely to become very widespread.10,11,12 Many Long Covid patients face challenges finding health care plans that cover the extensive testing and doctors visits, and many are denied short- and long-term disability.13,14,15,16 For those with insurance, some patients turn to clinical trials to explore the newest safe and efficient treatments. Long Covid patients from Alabama, Florida, and Georgia were part of a recent study that created four subcategories of Long Covid, allowing doctors to route patients towards the best possible treatment.17,18 Safe and effective treatments for Long Covid patients are crucial to the nation’s economic recovery, as symptoms have sidelined an estimated 1.3 to 4.3 million workers from the workforce (Total jobs).19

  1. “Long COVID: Household Pulse Survey”. CDC. June, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/covid19/pulse/long-covid.htm 

  2. “Immunological dysfunction persists for 8 months following initial mild-to-moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection”. Phetsouphanh, Darley, Wilson, Howe, Munier, Patel, Juno, Burrell, Kent, Dore, Kelleher, and Matthews. Nature Immunology. January, 2022. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41590-021-01113-x

  3. “Persistent Exertional Intolerance After COVID-19, Insights From Invasive Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing”. Singh, Joseph, Heerdt, Cullinan, Lutchmansingh, Gulati,  Possick, Systrom, and Waxman. January, 2022. https://journal.chestnet.org/article/S0012-3692(21)03635-7/fulltext

  4. “Nervous system consequences of COVID-19”. Spudich, Nath. Science.org. January, 2022. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abm2052

  5. “The Investigation of Pulmonary Abnormalities using Hyperpolarised Xenon Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Patients with Long-COVID”. Grist, Collier, Walters, Chen, Eid, Laws, Matthews, Jacob, Cross, Eves, Durant, Mcintyre, Thompson, Schulte, Raman, Robbins, Wild, Fraser, and Gleeson. MedRxiv. February, 2022. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.02.01.22269999v1

  6. “Incidence, co-occurence, and evolution of long-COVID features: A 6-month retrospective cohort study of 273,618 survivors of COVID-19”. Taquet, Dercon, Luciano, Geddes, Husain, and Harrison. PLoS Medicine.  September, 2021. https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003773#pmed.1003773.s003

  7. “What Causes Long COVID Symptoms? NYU Langone Researchers Net $52 Million Federal Grant to Find Out”. Katz, Horwitz, and Troxel. NYU Langone. https://nyulangone.org/news/what-causes-long-covid-symptoms-nyu-langone-reSearchers-net-52-million-federal-grant-find-out#:~:text=Studies%20show%20that%20up%20to,issues%2C%20anxiety%2C%20and%20depression.

  8. “Estimated Global Proportions of Individuals With Persistent Fatigue, Cognitive, and Respiratory Symptom Clusters Following Symptomatic COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021”. JAMA Network. October, 2022. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2797443

  9. “Long COVID stemmed from mild cases of COVID-19 in most people, according to new multicountry study”. Hanson, Vos. The Conversation. January, 2023. https://theconversation.com/long-covid-stemmed-from-mild-cases-of-covid-19-in-most-people-according-to-a-new-multicountry-study-195707

  10. “Years into the pandemic, scientists are still trying to understand long COVID”. Tanner. PBS. December, 2022. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/years-into-the-pandemic-scientists-are-still-trying-to-understand-long-covid

  11. “Scientists Find Key Reason Why Loss of Smell Occurs in Long COVID-19”. Duke Health. December, 2022. https://corporate.dukehealth.org/news/scientists-find-key-reason-why-loss-smell-occurs-long-covid-19#:~:text=DURHAM%2C%20N.C.%20%E2%80%93%20The%20reason%20some,led%20by%20Duke%20Health%20report.

  12. “Apparent risks of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome diagnoses after COVID-19 vaccination and SARS-Cov-2 Infection”. Kwan, Ebinger, Wei, et al. Nature Cardiovascular Research. December, 2022. https://www.nature.com/articles/s44161-022-00177-8

  13. “Millions suffer from long Covid – and it costs them $9,000 a year in healthcare expenses, on average”. Iacurci. CNBC. December, 2022. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/01/long-covid-costs-patients-an-average-9000-a-year-in-medical-expenses.html

  14.  “What are the Implications of Long COVID for Employment and Health Coverage?” Burns. Kaiser Family Foundation. August, 2022. https://www.kff.org/policy-watch/what-are-the-implications-of-long-covid-for-employment-and-health-coverage/

  15. “How is treatment for long COVID covered by health insurance?” Norris. HealthInsurance.Org. September, 2022. https://www.healthinsurance.org/faqs/how-is-treatment-for-long-covid-covered-by-health-insurance/

  16. “People With Long Covid Face Barriers to Government Disability Benefits”. Ladyzhets. Kaiser Health News. November, 2022. https://khn.org/news/article/long-covid-barriers-government-disability-benefits/

  17.  “Data-driven identification of post-acute SARS-CoV-2 infection subphenotypes”. Zhang, Zang, Xu, et al. Nature Medicine. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-02116-3 

  18. “New study involving Alabama patients sorts long COVID into four types”. Whites-Koditschek. Alabama.com. January, 2023. https://www.al.com/news/2023/01/new-study-involving-alabama-patients-sorts-long-covid-into-four-types.html 

  19. “One billion days lost: How COVID-19 is hurting the US workforce”. Berdan, Charumilind, Craven, Lamb, and Singhal. McKinsey & Company. January, 2023. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare-systems-and-services/our-insights/one-billion-days-lost-how-covid-19-is-hurting-the-us-workforce

Alysha Rashid
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