Healing from the dreadful Covid-19 is just one thing; recovering is another.
Take the case of a 32-year-old nurse who works for a hospital in the National Capital Region and developed Covid-19 in August last year.
She was coughing for three days, had sore throat, lost her sense of smell and taste, had headaches and experienced difficulty in breathing. At that time, she was pregnant with her second baby (they already have a one-year-old).
She isolated herself and when the rest of the family were swabbed, her baby tested positive, which caused her a lot of stress and she became very emotional. She was not admitted to the hospital and after further checks, she was diagnosed with Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome (APS), an autoimmune condition where abnormal proteins are produced in the blood that can make it flow improperly, leading to dangerous clotting in the arteries and veins and can cause miscarriage.
She took a leave from work and fortunately was able to deliver her baby through C-section last February. She felt better already so she went back to work but noticed breathing difficulties.
‘Gagaling pa ba ako, Doc?’
In the recent webinar titled “Gagaling pa ba ako, Doc? Pangmatagalang Komplikasyon ng Covid,” which was organized by the University of the Philippines, together with UP Manila-National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Telehealth Center and UP Philippine General Hospital, Dr. Marishiel Samonte, Head, UP Health Service and Active Consultant, Department of Family and Community Medicine at the UP Philippine General Hospital, said more than 14,000 healthcare workers have been infected with Covid-19 in the Philippines, majority of them with mild infection, while 10 percent were moderate to critical.
She said recovery after Covid will have short- and long-term effects. Dr. Samonte explained that there are increasing reports of potential sequelae (consequences/effects after Covid-19) after recovery, where 23 percent reported one or more health issues at least 30 days post-Covid-19, even if they are technically recovered already.
She cited some hypothetical causes like non-specific effects of hospitalization or sudden hospitalization of a person even at the best of health; prolonged ventilation, especially those who stayed at the ICU for an extended period; social isolation, like being avoided by people or not being able to join social activities, or the impact of pre-existing conditions.
Post-Covid conditions
Dr. Samonte said there are a very wide range of new, returning or ongoing health problems that people can experience four weeks after their Covid-19 infection such as long-term complications or sequelae that include post-Covid syndrome, post-Covid asthenia (abnormal physical weakness or lack of energy) and issues related to mental health such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depression.
“These can happen to asymptomatic to severely symptomatic Covid-19 patients. However, there is no clear correlation between severity of infection and the long-term sequelae.”
She added that there is no definite criteria for diagnosis and assessment of severity, unlike other medical issues, so there is also no support or planning for appropriate services.
Long Covid patients
They are called “long haulers,” where the post-Covid effects can last weeks or months after first being infected, and there are also different types or combinations of health problems at varying severity for different lengths of time.
It is also unknown how multi-organ system effects (according to US CDC: tiredness or fatigue, difficulty in thinking or concentrating or “brain fog,” headaches, loss of smell or taste, dizziness when standing, fast-beating heart, chest pain, difficulty breathing, cough, joint or muscle pains, depression/anxiety, fever, symptoms that get worse after physical or mental activities), with difficulty in breathing and tiredness fatigue as the most common complaint, might last and whether the effects could lead to chronic health conditions.
Risk factors for long Covid
Based on a recent study by Raveendran, AV, a specialist in internal medicine, risk is twice more common in women versus men. It said the presence of more than five symptoms especially if there are so many at the onset, could be a risk factor for long Covid, the presence of comorbidities, and increasing age, which are present in the cited case.
Why do people develop long Covid? “The presence of the virus is not a pre-requisite to say that the patient will experience persistent disease, and there are many precedents for autoimmune and inflammatory responses by acute viral infection leading to long-term sequelae.”
She pointed to those hit by Chikungunya, a viral disease transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes, still experience pain even after recovering from the disease.
Among the symptoms that can lead to long Covid are respiratory symptoms, like difficulty in breathing (43 percent) due to residual pulmonary involvement; fatigue (53 percent); chest pain (22 percent).
Neurologic symptoms are also included like headaches, tremor, “brain fog” or difficulty in concentration and thinking clearly due to possible disruption in microstructural and functional brain integrity in recovered patients. Relatedly, the psychological impact, where one experiences a high level of emotional distress. “The announcement of the pandemic already made the stress level very high, what more if the person gets hit by Covid?”
There is also stigma from community, co-workers, changes in protocols, persistently positive PCR test, prolonged period of isolation from family/community, fear of survival while everyone else are dying, of infecting others, financial worries, risk of reinfection, fluctuating symptoms. Other symptoms can manifest as well like gastrointestinal symptoms, joint pains, and reduced quality of life.
Dr. Samonte said that with Covid, since multi-organ systems were affected, management of long Covid needs a multi-disciplinary approach, where 50 percent will need post-Covid rehabilitation such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, or psychological therapy.
‘So ‘yun nga, gagaling pa ba ako, Doc?’
Admittedly, Dr. Samonte said when she is asked if they will still recover or be healed of Covid and its effects, everything is still unanswerable by yes or no at the moment. She emphasized that it is difficult to answer because everyone is still learning about Covid, perhaps in the next few months there will be an answer to this question.
“Patients are still suffering. It’s good if their symptoms are mild but for those experiencing severe symptoms that affect their functionality with reduced quality of life, I hope we get an answer soon.”
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TIME AND AGAIN WE HEAR FROM MEDIA AND THE W.H.O., CDC, AND NIH AND USFDA THAT NO APPROPRIATE TREATMENT IS AVAILABLE FOR THE COVID DISEASE…OUR MEDICAL AUTHORITIES AND MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS FOLLOW THIS LINE OF THINKING AND THEY DO NOT MAKE RESEARCHERS ON THE SUCCESSFUL TREATMENTS OF “HONORABLE” DOCTORS AND MEDICAL EXPERTS IN OTHER COUNTRIES!! EVEN IVERMECTIN WHICH HAD BEEN USED BY “HONORABLE DOCTORS” WITH SUCCESS IN TREATING COVID PATIENTS ARE NOT BEING ACKNOWLEDGED…THERE ARE PREVENTIVE MEASURES RECOMMENDED BY MANY “HONORABLE DOCTORS” LIKE THE “MATH PROTOCOL” AND I-MATH PROTOCOL WHICH YOU CAN ACCESS AT mercola.com. THE W.H.O., CDC, NIH, AND USFDA HAVE VESTED INTERESTS IN VACCINES…THAT IS WHY THEY ARE PUSHING FOR “VACCINATION” FOR EVERYONE INCLUDING CHILDREN AND PREGNANT WOMEN…THE MEMBERS OF WHO AND CDC ARE NOW BECOMING MILLIONAIRES AND BILLIONAIRES BECOZ OF VACCINE SALES…. THAT IS WHY THEY DISAPPROVE ANY KIND OF TREATMENT TO COVID19!!! AND OUR GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES FOLLOW THE “MANDATES” OF THESE CORPORATIONS…HOPE THEY KNOW THAT THE W.H.O. IS A PRIVATE CORPORATION!!