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Tag: long COVID

Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

New imaging shows virus invading the body and lingering for years, potentially explaining Long COVID

Published December 7, 2024

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Published by: The West Australian
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By John Flint

Next time you think of dismissing COVID as just another annoying common cold it may pay to visualise what you see so starkly in this paper, the virus moving freely around your body and finding a long-term home in all sorts of places where it can really cause trouble, including the brain and the heart.

This work further emphasises the need for individuals, and societies as a whole to take this infection more seriously and try and reduce the amount of transmission using the tools we currently have, most especially vaccination, clean indoor air approaches and well-fitted masks in crowded and poorly ventilated indoor settings.

— Professor Brendan Crabb, director and CEO of the Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health
Continue readingNew imaging shows virus invading the body and lingering for years, potentially explaining Long COVID
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Topic: the pandemic is not overView all posts for the topic: the pandemic is not over

Opinion: This holiday season, let’s spread kindness, not COVID

Published December 5, 2024

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Published by: Montreal Gazette
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By Emily Oelberg

It can be surprisingly simple to protect our health and the health of others — by masking in public with high-quality masks (such as KN95 or N95), testing before gatherings, increasing ventilation, and staying home if sick.

Continue readingOpinion: This holiday season, let’s spread kindness, not COVID
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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

Almost a third of preteens, teens with long COVID still not recovered at 2 years, study shows

Published December 4, 2024

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Published by: CIDRAP
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By Stephanie Soucheray

A new study from UK investigators shows that — while most COVID-19 patients ages 11 to 17 who reported long-COVID symptoms 3 months after the initial infection no longer experienced lingering symptoms at 2 years — 29% still did.

The findings, published in the journal Communications Medicine, come from the National Long COVID in Children and Young People cohort study, which followed up on thousands of young people after their COVID-19 diagnoses.

Continue readingAlmost a third of preteens, teens with long COVID still not recovered at 2 years, study shows
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Topic: vision lossView all posts for the topic: vision loss

Experimental study shows connection between COVID infection and age-related blindness

Published December 3, 2024

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Published by: Medical Xpress
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By PNAS Nexus

An experimental study in mice shows that SARS-CoV-2 infection can damage the retinas, with long-term implications for vision. Post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection include various neurocognitive symptoms, suggesting the virus can affect the central nervous system. The eyes are also part of the central nervous system, but little is known about the virus’s effects on these organs.

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Topic: ColoradoView all posts for the topic: Colorado

A young Coloradan learning to live with long COVID turns to TikTok to educate about chronic illness

Published December 1, 2024

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Published by: The Denver Post
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By Jessica Seaman

Lilly Downs rolled out of bed in her new apartment and began setting up her morning’s IV fluids, which flow from a tube in her chest into her bloodstream to keep the 20-year-old hydrated.

Next, she crushed and dissolved pills so they could run through a separate tube into her intestines, which absorb the medicine better than her stomach.

The steps Lilly took that October morning are necessary because her stomach stopped working properly following her first bout with COVID-19 four years ago. But her routine also served another purpose: It was content she filmed for a video that she later posted on TikTok, where she has amassed nearly 470,000 followers.

Continue readingA young Coloradan learning to live with long COVID turns to TikTok to educate about chronic illness
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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

Long COVID: SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Accumulation Linked to Long-Lasting Brain Effects

Published November 29, 2024

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Published by: Helmholtz Munich
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Researchers from Helmholtz Munich and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) have identified a mechanism that may explain the neurological symptoms of Long COVID. The study shows that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein remains in the brain’s protective layers, the meninges, and the skull’s bone marrow for up to four years after infection. This persistent presence of the spike protein could trigger chronic inflammation in affected individuals and increase the risk of neurodegenerative diseases. The team, led by Prof. Ali Ertürk, Director at the Institute for Intelligent Biotechnologies at Helmholtz Munich, also found that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines significantly reduce the accumulation of the spike protein in the brain. However, the persistence of spike protein after infection in the skull and meninges offers a target for new therapeutic strategies.

Continue readingLong COVID: SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Accumulation Linked to Long-Lasting Brain Effects
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Topic: pro-virus policiesView all posts for the topic: pro-virus policies

Stanford Doctor Tapped for Key Post by Trump Advocated for Letting COVID Spread

Published November 28, 2024

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Published by: KQED
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By Jared Servantez

President-elect Donald Trump’s choice this week to lead the National Institutes of Health is a controversial Stanford researcher who was highly critical of the COVID-19 pandemic response, drawing pushback from the medical community and some still suffering from the long-term effects of the disease.

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a professor of health policy and senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, was one of three co-authors of a 2020 letter that challenged policies like lockdowns and mask mandates, and called for speeding up herd immunity.

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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

Analysis of 25 studies shows reduced risk of long COVID after vaccination

Published November 27, 2024

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Published by: CIDRAP
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By Stephanie Soucheray

A new meta-analysis of studies involving more than 14 million people published in the Journal of Infection shows that COVID-19 vaccination is associated with a lower risk of developing long COVID, with two doses reducing the odds by 24% and one dose reducing the odds by 15%.

In the 25 studies published up to February 2024 that were included for analysis, long COVID was defined as persistent symptoms at 3 months or beyond, and all studies compared long-COVID symptoms between vaccinated and unvaccinated groups, with the number of doses received by participants specified. All studies included were observational trials and included in total 14,128,260 participants.

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Everything Wrong with Canada’s Proposed Long COVID RecommendationsPhoto of a doctor. She is wearing an obsolete blue medical mask, a blue cap and a white gown. Photo: Bermix Studio / Unsplash.
Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

Everything Wrong with Canada’s Proposed Long COVID Recommendations

Published November 25, 2024

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Published by: Canadian Health Sentinel
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By Simon Spichak

Researchers involved in the organizations Cochrane Canada and the McMaster GRADE Centre at McMaster University are developing guidelines to prevent and treat Long COVID in Canada. Their effort is supported by the Public Health Agency of Canada and their recommendations would likely have major sway in the way Long COVID is treated if adopted.

Every month, they release new recommendations and provide an opportunity for public comment. On November 20th, the group released a new set of Canadian Post-COVID Condition (CAN-PCC) recommendations which propose harmful and ineffective treatments: Exercise to prevent Long COVID and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to treat post-exertional malaise (PEM).

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Topic: AlbertaView all posts for the topic: Alberta

The story of Alberta’s rural long COVID program that never was

Published November 24, 2024

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Published by: St. Albert Gazette
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By Brett McKay

As better diagnosis and symptom management emerged for people with long COVID, researchers in Alberta set to work creating a program that could remotely connect urban specialists and rural patients. Between development and clinical implementation, the project was shelved.

With the province closing its clinics dedicated to treating people with long COVID, the story of Alberta’s innovative rural outreach program appears destined to remain incomplete.

Long COVID, or post COVID syndrome, refers to patients who are still experiencing symptoms twelve weeks after the initial infection. According to Health Canada, the condition affects about 1 in 9 adults who have had COVID.

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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

Many long COVID patients adjust to slim recovery odds as world moves on

Published November 14, 2024

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Published by: CTV News / Reuters
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By Jennifer Rigby, Julie Steenhuysen

There are certain phrases that Wachuka Gichohi finds difficult to hear after enduring four years of living with long COVID, marked by debilitating fatigue, pain,…

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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

Long Covid could cost the economy billions every year

Published November 14, 2024

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Published by: University College London
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Working days lost to long Covid could be costing the economy billions of pounds every year as patients struggle to cope with symptoms and return to work, finds a new study led by UCL researchers.

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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

What It’s Like to Have Long COVID As a Kid

Published November 4, 2024

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Published by: Time
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By Alana Kaufman

It started when my brain gave out on me in algebra class one January day in 2022. I couldn’t figure out a simple math problem; all I saw were numbers and symbols. My eyelids drooped, my head hurt, I could barely stay awake. Something wasn’t right.

I hadn’t felt like myself since getting COVID-19 a couple weeks earlier. Simple tasks like reading a text or standing up were draining. But what happened in that classroom scared me. At age 14, my life became a state of constant exhaustion, punctuated by doctors’ visits that, months later, would lead to a Long COVID diagnosis. Still, in those early weeks, I felt determined. I was a high-achieving student athlete always eager to accept a challenge—and I felt confident that I could get past whatever this was quickly.

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Topic: QuebecView all posts for the topic: Quebec

About 2,000 patients are on the long COVID clinic waiting list

Published November 1, 2024

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Published by: La Presse / The Canadian Press
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By Katrine Desautels

(Montreal) The rehabilitation process is long for patients with long COVID, which can limit professionals in their acceptance of new patients. This issue, added to the other ills of the healthcare system, means that some 4,000 patients end up in the network of long COVID clinics, half of whom are on the waiting list.

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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

Difficulty in accessing care for healthcare workers who have contracted long COVID

Published November 1, 2024

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: La Presse / The Canadian Press
Published on:
By Katrine Desautels

While on the front line at the height of the COVID-19 health crisis, many healthcare workers are struggling to access care after contracting long COVID. Only 12% of healthcare workers who suffer from it have received rehabilitation care, according to a research report by the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ).

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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

The risk of long COVID reaches 37% after three infections, according to the INSPQ

Published October 30, 2024

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Published by: Radio-Canada
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By Mélanie Meloche-Holubowski

As COVID-19 continues to circulate widely, a report from the INSPQ warns that the risk of getting long COVID increases with each reinfection, and notes that the Quebec health system is failing to help the growing number of people who have had persistent symptoms for months or even years.

The report by the Institut national de la santé publique du Québec (INSPQ), which surveyed thousands of health workers in Quebec who were infected between the beginning of the pandemic and summer 2023, was released quietly on Monday. Yet, this report warns that post COVID-19 condition, commonly known as long COVID, is affecting more and more people.

« This is an important and real issue. We want to raise awareness among the public and public health authorities,” says Sara Carazo, one of the authors of the report.

Continue readingThe risk of long COVID reaches 37% after three infections, according to the INSPQ
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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

‘Long COVID has really mystified’: Western University researchers take steps to unravel long COVID mysteries

Published October 29, 2024

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Published by: CTV News
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By Gerry Dewan

Long COVID can have wide-ranging impacts, but is most commonly associated with brain fog, breathing difficulties and debilitating fatigue.

“Long COVID has really mystified a lot of physicians and scientists,” according to Dr. Douglas Fraser. Fraser is a researcher with Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, based in London, Ont.

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Topic: PaxlovidView all posts for the topic: Paxlovid

Paxlovid tied to fewer COVID-19 hospitalizations, reduced risk of long COVID

Published October 29, 2024

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Published by: CIDRAP
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By Stephanie Soucheray

A new retrospective cohort study conducted in Dubai shows that the antiviral nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir, sold as Paxlovid, is tied to a 61% reduction in COVID-19 hospitalization and a 58% lower rate of long COVID.

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