Three years after the WHO declared the pandemic, this report plunges into the heart of the upset daily life of a Montreal family affected by…
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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID
Study of 1 million US kids shows vaccines tied to lower risk of long COVID
A study of 1,037,936 US children seen in 17 healthcare systems across the country shows that COVID-19 vaccines are moderately protective against long COVID: 35% to 45%, with higher rates in adolescents. The study was published today in Pediatrics.
The researchers estimated vaccine effectiveness (VE) against long COVID in children aged 5 to 17 years. Though severe COVID-19 cases are less common in children than in adults, persistent symptoms in children do occur.
“It is difficult to establish how much this results from differential reporting of symptoms at different ages, greater difficulty distinguishing long COVID from other childhood illnesses or effects of the pandemic (eg, disruption of seasonal viral patterns, or of school progress,” the authors wrote.
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Radio | New report fails to address Covid impacts for children
- A Public Health Agency investigation into the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on children’s health is facing criticism, as it does not address how Covid infections directly affected children and their families.
- Instead, the Swedish Covid Association says attention in the report has been focused on how school closures and other restrictions affected children’s well-being.
- Social Affairs and Public Health Minister Jakob Forssmed tells Swedish Radio News there are valid reasons for having a wide-ranging investigation.
Topic: cognitive declineView all posts for the topic: cognitive decline
Des déclins cognitifs constatés après une infection à la COVID-19
Scientific evidence about the long-term effects of COVID-19 continues to accumulate. Two new studies involving hundreds of thousands of people suggest that SARS-CoV-2 infections can cause cognitive decline.
Researchers at Imperial College, London recruited nearly 113,000 Britons previously infected with the COVID-19 virus for their study. These individuals engaged in various cognitive exercises to assess their memory and their faculties of concentration and attention. Their results were compared to those of people never infected.
The results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, show that the coronavirus is believed to impair cognitive abilities and the intelligence quotient (IQ).
Comments closedTopic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID
Even healthcare workers face difficulty accessing long-COVID care, review suggests
Healthcare workers (HCWs) with long-COVID symptoms reported that their physicians shrugged off their concerns and that they struggled to get the care they needed, a new systematic review suggests.
For the rapid review, published yesterday in PLOS One, researchers from the University of Aberdeen and Robert Gordon University in Scotland reviewed 30 studies published from December 2019 to December 2022 to evaluate the effects of long COVID on HCW health, working life, personal circumstances, and use of healthcare resources. Two of the studies provided qualitative evidence, and 28 survey studies offered quantitative evidence.
Comments closedTopic: advocacyView all posts for the topic: advocacy
Canadian Covid Society launches to address long-term effects, prevent further illness
A national non-profit group called the Canadian Covid Society launched on Wednesday, with co-founders saying the organization is needed as public health agencies have pulled back on COVID-19 prevention measures and awareness campaigns.
“I feel in some ways we’re filling a gap where public health has left open,” Dr. Joe Vipond, one of the society’s five co-founders, said at a news conference.
In his home province of Alberta, “there’s basically no mention of COVID. There’s no mention of long COVID. It’s really fallen off the radar for a lot of public health at this point,” said Vipond, who is an emergency physician in Calgary.
“While the acute phase of the pandemic has ended, the virus continues to cause significant chronic illness,” the Canadian Covid Society’s website says.
COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death across Canada in 2022, behind heart disease and cancer, it says.
“It still continues to be a stressor on our health system up to this present day. It is contributing to poor health and excess deaths,” said Dr. Kashif Pirzada, another co-founder of the society.
Comments closedTopic: United KingdomView all posts for the topic: United Kingdom
Long Covid: Health staff go to court for compensation
Nearly 70 healthcare workers with long Covid have taken their fight to the High Court to try to sue the NHS and other employers for compensation.
The staff, from England and Wales, believe they first caught Covid at work during the pandemic and say they were not properly protected from the virus.
Many of them say they are left with life-changing disabilities and are likely to lose income as a result.
The Department of Health said “there are lessons to be learnt” from Covid.
The group believe they were not provided with adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) at work, which includes eye protection, gloves, gowns and aprons.
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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID
Low iron levels resulting from infection could be key trigger of long COVID
Problems with iron levels in the blood and the body’s ability to regulate this important nutrient as a result of SARS-CoV-2 infection could be a key trigger for long COVID, new research has discovered.
The discovery not only points to possible ways to prevent or treat the condition, but could help explain why symptoms similar to those of long COVID are also commonly seen in a number of post-viral conditions and chronic inflammation.
Although estimates are highly variable, as many as three in 10 people infected with SARS-CoV-2 could go on to develop long COVID, with symptoms including fatigue, shortness of breath, muscle aches and problems with memory and concentration (‘brain fog’). An estimated 1.9 million people in the UK alone were experiencing self-reported long COVID as of March 2023, according to the Office of National Statistics.
Comments closedTopic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID
Atteinte de la COVID longue, une Néo-Écossaise désire que la maladie soit mieux reconnue
Two months after contracting COVID-19, Beth Wood found that she had trouble concentrating and was easily irritated and always tired. While it is among the 3.5 million Canadians with long COVID, according to Statistics Canada, access to disability benefits remains complex.
Beth Wood has been a social worker for 40 years. Although the boss of the community centre where she works in Halifax offered her support to resume her work, she feels that she is constantly swimming against the current.
She is now considering applying for a long-term disability benefit, but she is concerned that the road is long.
Comments closedTopic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID
Radio | Ontario Today – February 29, 2024: Is there hope for people living with long covid? Where have you turned for help?
Dr. Angela Cheung heads up a network of scientists and health practitioners studying long covid. She’s also a senior physician-scientist at University Health Network in…
Comments closedTopic: cognitive issuesView all posts for the topic: cognitive issues
Long covid may cause cognitive decline of about six IQ points, study finds
It’s more than four years since the first cases of covid-19 were identified — but many of its longer-term effects, including for those living with long covid, remain unclear.
Now, a new study has some worrying findings that suggest covid may have longer-term effects on cognition and memory — and that these lead to measurable differences in cognitive performance.
The study, published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that participants who recovered from covid symptoms had a cognitive deficit equivalent to three IQ points compared with those who were never infected, while participants suffering from unresolved covid symptoms lasting 12 weeks or more experienced a loss equivalent to six IQ points.
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