MORE THAN 200 people have been treated for long covid at the North Central Regional Health Authority’s (NCRHA) Executive Wellness Clinic.
That is a sobering statistic and the State should make efforts to tabulate known cases of this lingering version of covid19 symptoms to effectively provide support to those with these often-debilitating symptoms as they reintegrate into society.
International studies suggest the number of patients reporting long covid symptoms is reduced by at least half among those fully vaccinated before primary infection.
Long covid, formally described as Post-Acute Sequelae of Sars-Cov-2 (PASC), commonly presents as symptoms that cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis, which continue at least two months after recovery.
Patients with persistent symptoms 12 weeks after primary infection are identified as potential long covid patients.
Common symptoms include intense fatigue, cognitive impairment (brain fog) and difficulty breathing.
The rate at which long covid follows primary infection is still being analysed, with some studies registering less than 25 per cent of those infected and others rising as high as 75 per cent.
Long covid has been reported in children and adolescents and has afflicted patients who had a mild reaction to primary infection. It is not a contagious condition.
Treatment for any illness follows an improved understanding of the problem, and scientists are still working to understand what causes long covid, so there is no treatment as yet, only the prophylactic protection of full vaccination.
The NCRHA’s Executive Wellness Clinic at the Arima General Hospital is a welcome acknowledgement of the challenges that hundreds of long covid patients are already dealing with and a support infrastructure needs to be designed to manage the progress of patients to come.
There have been more than 100,000 identified cases of covid19 in TT and the country is currently managing more than 20,000 active cases.
With more than 600,000 people still not fully vaccinated, there is a concern – even as TT currently has a low rate of long covid cases – that the current numbers will rise.
The proactive process undertaken by the NCRHA must continue with a programme that ensures general medical practitioners can recognise the symptoms and prescribe suitable rehabilitation regimes for patients.
Establishing a multi-disciplinary response to the challenges that long covid patients will face at facilities they can access will be critical in managing the condition.
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