Individuals do not need to have tested positive for the coronavirus to be considered for a diagnosis of long COVID, a , fresh report , from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine concludes.
The report, which was put together by a council of researchers at the request of the U.S. Social Security Administration, aims to explain what is known about long COVID, a difficult problem estimated to affect more than 9 million Americans in the United States in 2022.
One of its conclusions is that many COVID- 19 sufferers not received proper paperwork of their illness because testing has not always been available to those with the disease and some who tested themselves at home previously reported the results to care systems.
Some long COVID cases “have arisen from the first weeks of the incident, before testing was also frequently available”, said Dr. Paul Volberding, professor professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco, who served as chair of the committee. Some “people live in areas where they might not include easy access to testing” as the pandemic has developed.
According to the report,” only rely on a documented history of SARS-CoV-2 infection will miss these people,” so signs and” self-reported due infection” are typically sufficient evidence that someone has been infected. As it stands, no medical exam for longer COVID is attainable.
Signs differ
Long COVID may impact people in many ways, the report found. Experts tallied up more than 200 symptoms that can be caused by the illness, which is wreak havoc on the cardio, hormonal, breathing, nervous and digestive systems, among different effects.
Even though some frequently reported health problems, such as chronic fatigue, can have a significant impact on one’s ability to work or attend school, they are not included in the impairments listed by the Social Security Administration. According to the report, “it’s likely that the majority of Long COVID applicants will do so based on health effects not covered” in those listings.
Volberding claimed that the Social Security Administration can still determine whether a person’s symptoms do not fall under one of the listed impairments, but that finding a determination of disability is” a little more challenging” if a person’s condition does n’t fit one of the written listings.
Risk rises with severity of infection
According to the report, those who were hospitalized for COVID-19 are 2 to 3 times more likely to have long COVID than those who were n’t.
However, long COVID can also be developed in people with mild illnesses, and because there are so many more of them, they account for the majority of those who do so, according to the report.
No known cure
There is no known cure for long COVID, according to the report. Recovery can vary significantly from one person to the next. Long COVID “appears to be a chronic illness”, the report found,” with few patients achieving full remission”.
Some research indicates that many people who experience persistent symptoms for three months after the initial infection have recovered by the 12-month mark. Although there are only limited data on longer-running illnesses, the report stated that “preliminary data suggests that recovery may slow down or accelerate over the course of a year.”
Patients struggle for care and resources
Long COVID patients are in longer waiting lists because demand for specialty care has outstripped capacity. In addition, some patients may have skepticism about their symptoms, which deter them from seeking medical attention and can particularly affect those who are disadvantaged in other ways.
Similar ailments exist
Long COVID shares many features with other chronic conditions, such as myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS. More research is required to understand how to treat such illnesses.
The Social Security Administration sought the report to learn more about how COVID might impact the organization’s need for its disability programs. The National Academies ‘ committee included former ExxonMobil’s global medical director, physicians with specialties in infectious diseases, neuropsychology, and pediatrics, as well as the chief medical officer of Kaiser Permanente.
Volberding claimed that many other COVID-related issues are still unsolved.
As we continue to learn more, social security and society will need to be vigilant about this.
” These people with long COVID really are suffering, “he added”. Even if we’d rather, as a society, ignore the pandemic altogether, you ca n’t ignore the challenge that these people are facing.”
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