Long Covid in the media and social media 2022

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At 9.13 minutes there's the subtitle "Long Covid and post-acute infection syndromes" where prof. Iwasaki says:

I believe that the ME/CFS is probably of the same disease that people with Long Covid are suffering from, but were caused by other infections. Prior to Long Covid there have been a number of infections, many many viruses, but sometimes bacteria and parasitic infection, that leads to long term consequences. It's only with the sheer number of people with Long Covid that really now is highlighting these other diseases such as ME/CFS that's been triggered by numerous other pathogens. But the symptoms are very similar to Long Covid such as chronic fatigue as well as some of these dysautonomia-like syndromes, cardiac issues, GI issues, many vasculature issues and just inability to control these heart rates or blood pressure or things that are very similar to what we are seeing in Long Covid. It's a wakeup call really for the society to start looking into other post acute infection syndromes, because we are going to be dealing with this going forward. Some of these Long Covid patients might develop in to ME/CFS if they cannot recover from the Long Covid stage of the disease.

 
At 9.13 minutes there's the subtitle "Long Covid and post-acute infection syndromes" where prof. Iwasaki says:

I believe that the ME/CFS is probably of the same disease that people with Long Covid are suffering from, but were caused by other infections. Prior to Long Covid there have been a number of infections, many many viruses, but sometimes bacteria and parasitic infection, that leads to long term consequences. It's only with the sheer number of people with Long Covid that really now is highlighting these other diseases such as ME/CFS that's been triggered by numerous other pathogens. But the symptoms are very similar to Long Covid such as chronic fatigue as well as some of these dysautonomia-like syndromes, cardiac issues, GI issues, many vasculature issues and just inability to control these heart rates or blood pressure or things that are very similar to what we are seeing in Long Covid. It's a wakeup call really for the society to start looking into other post acute infection syndromes, because we are going to be dealing with this going forward. Some of these Long Covid patients might develop in to ME/CFS if they cannot recover from the Long Covid stage of the disease.


In addition to the video, there's also the article
Knowable Magazine How long will it take to understand long Covid?

quote:
Some evidence suggests that prior infection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which causes mononucleosis, puts people at higher risk for developing long Covid. The reactivation of dormant EBV has been linked to myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), an illness with striking similarities to long Covid.

Michael VanElzakker, a neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, has hypothesized that viruses may cause ME/CFS and long Covid by triggering a malfunction in the almighty vagus nerve. This bundle of nerve fibers induces the “sickness response,” signaling the body to rest when it senses an infection somewhere in the body. VanElzakker contends that when the infection is located on the vagus nerve itself, this response is exaggerated, causing many of the debilitating symptoms seen in both conditions.
 
Sweden continues to close down postcovid clinics, despite very long waiting lists.

Postcovidmottagningar stängs – trots kritik
https://www.svd.se/a/nW3Xgd/mottagningar-for-postcovid-stangs-besluten-kritiseras
Auto-translate said:
Postcovid clinics closed - despite criticism

[...] Judith Bruchfeld is an associate professor at Karolinska Institutet and a senior physician and infection specialist at Karolinska University Hospital. She is critical of the closure of the special post-covid clinics.

- Post-covid care should be developed. I would like to see what the National Board of Health and Welfare recommended a year and a half ago actually done. That special care units are actually set up at a higher level of care. And that there is a national coordination of knowledge transfer, but also research and development of treatment methods.

- We are not at a stage where we can say that we have understood the mechanisms and can treat patients with moderate and severe post-covid. We know from studies that the more times you get covid, the higher the risk of developing long-term effects.

Bruchfeld is convinced that dismantling dedicated postcovid clinics will weaken multidisciplinary skills. She believes that the patient group suffers from very complex symptoms and conditions, and that the situation is not right for this type of reorganisation. Existing resources also do not meet the needs of the country, she adds.

- In Sweden, there are still patients who are on full-time sick leave and have never been able to access a higher level of care. A lot of time is lost, and the individual patient suffers unnecessarily.

- From a socio-economic point of view, this is a ticking time bomb. These are often relatively young people. [...]

Tove Lundberg, president of the Swedish Covid Association, also does not believe in closing the clinics.

- It would be great if we could get there, but based on all the testimonies and based on the experts who have been following post-covid patients, it is far too early to make such efforts.

Lundberg stresses that post-covid is a new condition where care must both treat patients and generate new knowledge in parallel. In addition, the spread of infection is still happening in waves and is currently increasing. More people are therefore at risk of developing long-term symptoms, and those already affected may also deteriorate, she says.

- Postcovid can go in and out of remission, and there is no evidence-based prognosis for this condition. It's a challenge. Then there are many people with the condition who testify that they get significantly worse when they relapse into covid-19. The WHO also warns that the risk of developing postcovid increases the more times you are infected.

- I think we will soon be in a situation where we will have even more people with these symptoms, but where there is no organisation to take care of them with significant disabilities.

Specialmottagningar för postcovid avvecklas
https://www.svd.se/a/nW3On5/specialmottagningar-for-postcovid-avvecklas
Auto-translate said:
Special clinics for post-covid are being phased out

[...] - I think that's the wrong way to go. And I find it difficult to imagine how primary care could keep up to date on the research front, which is currently moving very quickly,' says Tove Lundberg, chair of the Swedish Covid Association.

Twelve of the country's 21 regions tell Ekot that they have special clinics for post-covid patients. But now many of these clinics are starting to get closed down.

Trots högt söktryck – regioner stänger postcovid-mottagningar
https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/postcovidmottagningar-lagger-ner
Auto-translate said:
Despite high demand - regions close post-covid clinics

Three regions are closing their post-covid clinics and handing over responsibility to primary care, according to a survey by the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation.

The Swedish Covid Association criticises the decisions and believes that primary care is not up to the task.

"I find it difficult to see how a primary care can keep up to date with the research that is now moving forward very quickly," says Tove Lundberg, president of the Swedish Covid Association.

Allt fler regioner lägger ner postcovidmottagningar
https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/allt-fler-regioner-lagger-ner-postcovidmottagningar
Auto-translate said:
More and more regions are closing down post-covid clinics

The spread of Covid-19 is currently increasing and the World Health Organisation (WHO) warns that the more times you are infected, the greater your risk of developing long-term symptoms.

At the same time, a survey conducted by Ekot shows that several regions are closing down their specialised clinics for post-Covid patients and referring them to primary care instead. But the Swedish Covid Association does not believe that primary care will be able to cope with the task.

Listen to the report by Anna Landelius. Also listen to a follow-up conversation with Judith Bruchfeld, senior physician and infection specialist at Karolinska University Hospital.
 
JAMA The US Now Has a Research Plan for Long COVID - Is It Enough?

Quote:

Meriquez Vázquez said that many primary care physicians, particularly those who serve the Medicaid population, aren’t aware that Long COVID can manifest as diagnosable conditions such as postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).

“There’s definitely growing frustration that the information that does exist on these conditions is not being readily disseminated by public health out to clinicians, especially primary care,” she said. She noted that scientific efforts are also lagging: “For the most part big investments like the RECOVER Initiative are largely observational and not necessarily driving new research on ME/CFS, or POTS, or MCAS, which is really where I think the patient community wants the research to go in a much bigger way.”
 
On the subject of circulating spike protein which has been seen in a couple studies of LC patients and potential impacts:
Here's a press release about a conference presentation on how SARS-2 spike protein causes inflammation in the heart in mice, while spike protein from NL63, another coronavirus, does not.

"To investigate the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein on the heart, researchers cloned the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and the NL63 spike protein into the AAV9 viral vector. The AAV9 viral vector was delivered into lab mice to activate the spike protein in the heart muscle cells. They found that the AAV9-mediated the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, and not the NL63 spike protein, caused heart dysfunction, hypertrophic remodeling (enlargement) and cardiac inflammation.

In lab testing of heart cells cultured in dishes, researchers also observed that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein made heart muscle cells much larger compared to cells without either spike protein. “We found direct evidence that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein is toxic to heart muscle cells,” Lin said."
 
It’s Not Just Long COVID
Society has been underestimating the long-term consequences of viruses, bacterial infections, and parasites for ages.

in the Atlantic by Hank Balfour and William Hoffman

Bizarre to talk about "long mono/EBV" and not mention ME/CFS.

"Most patients recover from mono in a few weeks, but some continue to have mono-like symptoms for years—or get over the initial illness only to suffer recurring bouts of sickness later on. This condition could be called “long mono/EBV” or “chronic mono.” Two prominent symptoms it shares with long COVID are brain fog and fatigue. And just as doctors didn’t believe long-COVID patients at first, chronic mono isn’t a widely accepted diagnosis among health-care professionals. That’s a shame. The similarities between long COVID and long mono/EBV, and the purported interactions between the two viruses during acute COVID or after COVID vaccination, demand further investigation."
 
Bizarre to talk about "long mono/EBV" and not mention ME/CFS.
...and to specifically talk of post-accute infection syndrome without making it clear that this was originally described as a specific subset of CFS cases in which prior infection could be proved by laboratory test, but which might otherwise be indistinguishable.

One sometimes wonders about the extent to which these lapses are deliberate.
 
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