When the pandemic was still in its infancy, the Ministry of Health promoted a survey to assess, among other aspects, the prevalence of persistent Covid in the country. In February 2022, the results were presented and 35 people were diagnosed with this outcome of the virus, which involves suffering from symptoms for a long time after overcoming it. In addition to collecting data on the epidemiological situation, the aim was also to be able to work on the design of the healthcare circuit or contribute to pathological research. More than two years later, with the pandemic over and the impact of the virus minimized, the disease has fallen out of the spotlight, but persistent Covid still causes a small number of cases. SAAS has a data registry, with the number of cases so far this year standing at 7. In 2021 there were 14; 52, in 2022; and 14 in 2023. There is no unified circuit for treatment, because different specialties can intervene due to the diversity of symptoms, but due to the design of the healthcare system, the referring physician must have control. The difficulty lies in the lack of knowledge we still have about the disease, which means difficulties in dealing with and treating the disease.
“There is no analytical marker that indicates you have persistent coronavirus, not even in the case of chronic fatigue.”
“It is a diagnostic challenge, but also for insurance or social security systems.”
What constitutes persistent Covid is the continuation of symptoms after infection or their disappearance only to reappear months later. “Symptoms that are not necessarily related to the severity” of those who suffered during the course of the disease, notes the president of the College of Physicians and primary care practitioner Albert Durka. In short, someone who had a mild infection can also suffer from it. Fatigue, shortness of breath, memory problems, a persistent cough, muscle aches, but also mental health consequences such as depression or anxiety are among the pictures a patient can present with. There are persistent Covid cases that go away, but there are also others that last a long time. The more persistent ones “can be equated or assimilated to chronic fatigue syndrome.” In fact, Durka notes, some studies have pinpointed the origin of chronic fatigue in the immune system’s response to a virus, such as infectious mononucleosis.
The problem is also understood in terms of diagnosis. Because “there is no analytical marker that indicates that you have persistent Covid, not even chronic fatigue”, which we proceed to rule out, once all other possible causes of the symptoms have been evaluated and ruled out. But the result is that patients are often in a state of limbo, suffering from a poorly understood disease and with consequences that are often difficult to diagnose, such as fatigue, which is clearly not what anyone would suffer after excessive exertion. “Excessive fatigue compared to activity”, the doctor points out. Which prevents you from leading a normal life. That is why “it is a diagnostic challenge, but also for the insurance or social security systems”, which have to assess the degrees of disability.
A disease that mostly affects women.
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