PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Every COVID-19 patient is different. Some recover quickly. Others endure lingering health problems for weeks or even months after.
These “long-haulers,” as Dr. Annette C. Reboli calls them, make up an estimated 10% of all COVID-19 infections.
“It’s mystifying,” said Reboli, a professor of medicine and dean of the Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. “It’s not just very elderly people or very, very sick people. (It’s) people with mild disease.
“No one seems to know why this is happening.”
Reboli said fatigue is one of the leading symptoms that linger for long-haulers. Others include a residual cough, chest pains, muscle aches and a sensation of brain fog, where focus and memory can be affected.
“We anxiously await more studies of (long-haulers),” she said. “We’re starting to see them coming up out of other countries. But nobody has yet to be able to really give a good case definition to define it, to say it’s caused by this or that. And I think it’s an issue of supporting patients through their illness.”
Reboli advised long-haulers to reach out to their doctors because if there are causes besides COVID-19, they can be treated or addressed over time. She pointed to possible heart, lung or kidney issues, as well as nutritional imbalances.
“All of these are things that prevent people from pursuing their previous state of good health,” she added. “Many people cannot work, so it brings up an issue of disability from (COVID-19). Many people become profoundly depressed or anxious about their symptoms.”
The unknown can also lead to fear, “especially if someone goes to their physician and they say, ‘We don’t know,’ ” Reboli said.
“It’s enough to get COVID and survive it, but then to have to deal with this, it adds another layer of concern for people.”
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