More on long COVID

Twitter w link to the Gauntlet

in

this article aims to outline the basics of Long COVID. What the term refers to scientifically and colloquially, how it can present, hypotheses as to its pathogenesis/es, and where we go from here. It presents some broad definitions, explores some subcategories, and leaves you with the open questions and debates researchers and patients are asking, exploring and living out. There are still many things we don’t know yet. But what we do know, should be shared. 

Although a more severe infection increases your risk of Long COVID, most Long COVID cases- over 90%- began with a mild infection, due to the much larger number of mild infections. And recent studies have found that the risk of developing Long COVID is cumulative, meaning that three infections are more dangerous than one, five more dangerous than three, and so on. 

Immunity to SARS-COV-2 is short-term, and new variants are constantly arising because of our collective decision to continue spreading the virus. Since we must all expect, in the current “new normal” of recurrent SARS infections, to continue to be exposed to COVID, we must all learn the risks of exposure our government has failed to inform us about.