3 ms·

Even ignoring deaths, "long COVID" is still a very real unknown: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/04/harvard-medical-school-expert-explains-long-covi

by patcon 5y ago

Even ignoring deaths, "long COVID" is still a very real unknown: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/04/harvard-medical-school-expert-explains-long-covid/ https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/04/harvard-medic... As I understand, we don't know much about whether omicron has worse, same, or better outcomes in relation to long-term consequences and persistent symptoms. Pls do share if you've heard otherwise

tdrdt 5y ago
Every virus infection can turn into a long recovery. There is no proof this is longer for Covid-19. The Epstein-Barr virus for example can make you tired for months or years. I am not saying long Covid isn't a thing, but it is not 'special' in any way. Virus infections can cause damage. Years ago I had an infection that damaged a nerve. So virus infections can leave marks. But most of the time, as with Covid, you will recover from it.
- patcon 5y ago
  Thanks! That's a fresh angle for me. But isn't COVID novel in the damage it poses to microvascular systems (importantly brain and lungs), compared to other viruses? E.g., https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7556303/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7556303/ My understanding is that this is still different from other viruses. So if large swaths of a country get that damage from delta vs omicron vs some future weaker variant, that could have very different public health consequences in the coming decades... Disclaimer: In tech for over a decade, but once upon a time I did an honours degree in biochemistry, so I'm only maybe half-capable of musing my way through some of these papers :)
  - bsder 5y ago
    > But isn't COVID novel in the damage it poses to microvascular systems (importantly brain and lungs), compared to other viruses? Maybe. But I suspect actually the reverse is true. "Normal" viruses (virii?) are probably far more damaging than we have ever credited. The fact that we can vaccinate against a cancer (cervical cancer) and the fact that asthma went down more than expected during lockdowns, suggests that we are significantly underestimating the risks that "normal" pathogens incur.
nsainsbury 5y ago
From what I've seen there seems to be a growing body of evidence that "long COVID" is very much overblown. Eg. See this recent meta-analysis which found that when you actually add a control group, most of the symptoms disappear. A higher study quality was associated with lower prevalence of almost all symptoms. Original tweet: https://twitter.com/ShamezLadhani/status/1472622893154639876 https://twitter.com/ShamezLadhani/status/1472622893154639876 Link to study: https://www.journalofinfection.com/article/S0163-4453(21)00555-7/fulltext https://www.journalofinfection.com/article/S0163-4453(21)005...
- loeg 5y ago
  Those with severe respiratory symptoms (ARDS) sometimes have very long recoveries. But this is distinct from vague, self-diagnosed “long covid” in the absence of ARDS, which seems to mostly be hysteria.
- coolgeek 5y ago
  That study only analyzed pediatric cases

by patcon 5y ago

tdrdt 5y ago

Every virus infection can turn into a long recovery. There is no proof this is longer for Covid-19. The Epstein-Barr virus for example can make you tired for months or years. I am not saying long Covid isn't a thing, but it is not 'special' in any way. Virus infections can cause damage. Years ago I had an infection that damaged a nerve. So virus infections can leave marks. But most of the time, as with Covid, you will recover from it.

patcon 5y ago
Thanks! That's a fresh angle for me. But isn't COVID novel in the damage it poses to microvascular systems (importantly brain and lungs), compared to other viruses? E.g., https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7556303/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7556303/ My understanding is that this is still different from other viruses. So if large swaths of a country get that damage from delta vs omicron vs some future weaker variant, that could have very different public health consequences in the coming decades... Disclaimer: In tech for over a decade, but once upon a time I did an honours degree in biochemistry, so I'm only maybe half-capable of musing my way through some of these papers :)
- bsder 5y ago
  > But isn't COVID novel in the damage it poses to microvascular systems (importantly brain and lungs), compared to other viruses? Maybe. But I suspect actually the reverse is true. "Normal" viruses (virii?) are probably far more damaging than we have ever credited. The fact that we can vaccinate against a cancer (cervical cancer) and the fact that asthma went down more than expected during lockdowns, suggests that we are significantly underestimating the risks that "normal" pathogens incur.

nsainsbury 5y ago

From what I've seen there seems to be a growing body of evidence that "long COVID" is very much overblown. Eg. See this recent meta-analysis which found that when you actually add a control group, most of the symptoms disappear. A higher study quality was associated with lower prevalence of almost all symptoms. Original tweet: https://twitter.com/ShamezLadhani/status/1472622893154639876 https://twitter.com/ShamezLadhani/status/1472622893154639876 Link to study: https://www.journalofinfection.com/article/S0163-4453(21)00555-7/fulltext https://www.journalofinfection.com/article/S0163-4453(21)005...

loeg 5y ago
Those with severe respiratory symptoms (ARDS) sometimes have very long recoveries. But this is distinct from vague, self-diagnosed “long covid” in the absence of ARDS, which seems to mostly be hysteria.
coolgeek 5y ago
That study only analyzed pediatric cases