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Thought of the Day - October 4 2021 - Years Into Long COVID

Updated: Oct 8, 2021

We have talked about Long Hauling before. It is estimated (extrapolating from figures from other countries) that now over 100,000 Canadians may be suffering from ongoing medical issues due to COVID infection ( Thought of the Day - August 6 2021 - Along With Long-COVID ). The reason I did an estimate based on data from other countries is Health Canada has yet to publish any real figures on the subject (the term they are using is post-COVID and imply it is largely PTSD), and, as we saw announced in BC last week concerning "recovered patients", I am not surprised. The provinces, on which they rely for data, are not serious about the subject in the first place ( Thought of the Day - May 20 - What Does Recovered Mean? ).


You need to remember that long-term medical issues arising from viral infections, while uncommon, have been recognized as a consequence for decades. Indeed, it was back in the '60s when the long-term chronic fatigue effects of things like Epstein Barr were being studied.


I have a friend who, due to a misdiagnosed case of Shingles, developed chronic fatigue a decade ago. Therefore, as it is likely either he will get a side-effect or no effect from COVID vaccines, has chosen not to go that route just to get a passport. As a consequence, he now also needs to leave the country.


What I am saying is we need to get serious about Long COVID as:

  1. Long COVID is probably already affecting the lives of over a hundred of thousand Canadians.

  2. Long COVID is and will continue to have a significant long-term burden on our already stretched medical system.

  3. Long COVID means the search for additional solutions to this pandemic, in addition to vaccines (that seem to reduce the likelihood of Long COVID by 50% according to the director of VGH), really need to be pursued.

  4. The story of Long COVID is a very compelling reason to avoid being infected with SARS-CoV-2 in the first place More tenable than stupid incentives ( Thought of the Day - June 3 2021 - Vaccine Bribes ) or heavy-handed social pressures ( Thought of the Day - September 2 2021 - Who's Been Vaccinated? ) to get vaccinated.

Cheers

Cliff

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