7 Out of 10 Hospitalized COVID Patients Will Have Long-Haul Symptoms https://www.usnews.com/news/health-...d-covid-patients-will-have-long-haul-symptoms If you land in the hospital with a COVID-19 infection, there's a good chance you'll still be suffering symptoms months later, researchers report. A wide swath of lingering health issues plagued more than 70% of these patients, investigators found. "Early on, we completely ignored the long-term consequences of getting sick with this virus," said study senior author Dr. Steven Goodman, a professor of epidemiology and population health and medicine at Stanford University. "People were being told this was all in their heads. The question now isn't is this real, but how big is the problem." To determine that, his team analyzed 45 studies that were published between January 2020 and March 2021. The studies included more than 9,700 COVID-19 patients. Of those, 83% had been hospitalized. They found that 72.5% of study participants reported still having at least one of 84 persistent symptoms or clinical signs, with the most common being fatigue (40%), shortness of breath (36%), sleep disorders (29%), inability to concentrate (25%), depression and anxiety (20%), and general pain and discomfort (20%). Other problems reported by patients included loss of taste and smell, memory loss, chest pain and fevers. Persistent symptoms were defined as those lasting at least 60 days after diagnosis, symptom onset or hospital admission, or at least 30 days after recovery from acute illness or hospital discharge. If even a portion of these patients require continuing care, they could pose an immense public health burden, said Goodman. "If something on the order of 70% of those coming out of moderate to serious COVID-19 are showing persisting symptoms, that is a huge number," Goodman said in a Stanford news release. "It's astonishing how many symptoms are part of what's now being referred to as long COVID." The study was published May 26 in the journal JAMA Network Open. "We did this study because there have been a lot of news commentaries and scientific articles talking about long-term COVID symptoms," said study lead author Tahmina Nasserie, a graduate student in epidemiology at Stanford. "But few had dug into the scientific evidence deeply enough to show the full range, how long they lasted and whom they affected," she noted in the release. "The numbers are very shocking, especially for fatigue and shortness of breath," Nasserie said. "These were pretty debilitating symptoms, with some people reporting difficulty walking up a flight of stairs." More information The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on post-COVID conditions. SOURCE: Stanford University, news release, May 26, 2021
Long COVID extends well beyond the hospital stay... Nearly half of COVID-19 patients leave hospitals in ‘worse condition’ than they arrived https://www.studyfinds.org/covid-patients-leave-hospital-worse-condition/ It’s safe to say most people can agree hospitals are places where people go to feel better. During the coronavirus pandemic however, a new study reveals about half of all COVID patients are actually leaving hospitals in worse shape than when they entered. In another case of COVID “long-hauler” side-effects, a team from Michigan Medicine says around 45 percent of patients who survive the virus exit the hospital with significantly less physical function. “Rehabilitation needs were really, really common for these patients,” says pediatric physiatrist Alecia K. Daunter, M.D., in a university release. “They survived, but these people left the hospital in worse physical condition than they started. If they needed outpatient therapy or are now walking with a cane, something happened that impacted their discharge plan.” Researchers reviewed the health data of almost 300 adults hospitalized with COVID-19 between March and April 2020. This information included discharge data, each patient’s therapy needs, and whether they needed special medical equipment or services after leaving the hospital. The findings reveal doctors prescribed additional therapy for a staggering 80 percent of COVID-19 patients. Concerningly, nearly one in five patients lost so much of their physical ability they could no longer live independently after leaving the hospital. “These patients may have needed to move to a subacute facility, or they might have needed to move in with a family member, but they were not able to go home,” Daunter adds. “This has a massive impact on patients and their families – emotionally and physically.” The problem may be worse than the study shows Researchers note their data comes from the pandemic’s first two months, at the very start of the first wave. At that time, not only did doctors not have a full picture of COVID’s effects, study authors say hospitals had to prioritize treating and releasing patients in order to free up bed space. With this in mind, Dr. Daunter believes the study is actually underreporting the number of COVID survivors who are losing their ability to live a normal life. “Physicians and others in the health care system were working appropriately to discharge patients,” the lead author says. “They needed to keep patients safe while maximizing available beds and minimizing exposure to staff. I think that contributed to many people not being assessed by a therapist or PM&R physician. So, the things we do to in the hospital to maximize functioning, like mobility interventions and assessing activities of daily living were, not happening as often.” Moving from COVID treatment to COVID rehabilitation Study authors note that COVID-19 can systematically damage several organs throughout the human body. This trauma can result in neurological and musculoskeletal impairments which lasts for months after the infection clears. Michigan Medicine has even opened two new clinics to specifically address the issues COVID long haulers are facing. Michigan Medicine physiatrist Edward Claflin says, even as the death toll drops and vaccinations continue, more and more people are now living with debilitating side-effects of their infection. “These results help to highlight the true impact of the COVID-19 disease on our patients,” Claflin says. “They fill in that gap in knowledge about how patients with COVID recover and what kind of rehabilitation needs they have.” “These problems are frequent, and the stakes are pretty high if we miss them, or allow them to progress during hospitalization,” Daunter concludes. “Some of these people were working and many were living independently. To lose that level of function is meaningful. We want to make sure we’re addressing those needs, not just looking at the black and white, survival or death.” The study appears in the journal PM&R.
Kirk Herbstreit says he 'still can't taste or smell' five months after testing positive for COVID-19 https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...bstreit-covid-19-loss-smell-taste/5289743001/ ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit said Tuesday that he hasn't been able to taste or smell since he tested positive for COVID-19 back in late December. Herbstreit tweeted on Tuesday: "Been 5 months since I tested positive for Covid. Still can’t taste or smell. Anyone else experience this?? Did it ever come back?? Haven’t tasted a meal since late December. After 5 months...is this my new normal or will taste and smell come back???" Herbstreit notably covered last season's College Football Playoff semifinal between Clemson and Ohio State during his diagnosis. According to the Yale School of Medicine, as many as a third of people diagnosed with COVID-19 reported losing their sense of smell The 51-year-old Herbstreit joined ESPN in 1996 and has been a main analyst for the network on College GameDay, major game broadcasts and College Football Playoff coverage. He's won five Sports Emmy Awards in various categories. Herbstreit was a quarterback for the Ohio State football team from 1989-93.
This is a terrible Long-COVID side effect... Woman now smells rotting meat when she eats after Covid 'turned life upside down' NHS chief Sally McCreith has been tormented by the lingering effects of the virus which has plagued her with sinister phantom smells like rancid food and ashes https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/woman-now-smells-rotting-meat-24239638
Why are women more prone to long Covid? https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jun/13/why-are-women-more-prone-to-long-covid
Guess we need to take a tougher stance on China. You know, the country that released the virus and has more to do with it than anyone else.
So you accept there was a virus, and that it sickened, killed, and apparently maimed people. Baby steps. China's role to be determined.