Long Covid sufferers have called for greater recognition from general practitioners, employers and the general public of the condition, as they have described painful symptoms to MPs.
Dr Nathalie MacDermot, a clinical doctor specializing in infectious diseases in children, appeared at the APPG on coronavirus, saying that although awareness had improved in recent months, it was “still not good” among the general public.
The 38-year-old told MPs that she was showing symptoms of the virus in May before she got nerve pain and a ‘slight weakness’ in her legs.
During the summer months she experienced a “significant deterioration” and can now walk only 200 meters without any form of help, adding that the condition affected her bladder and bowel, while also experiencing pain in her arms and a has poor grip.
“I think we need to be much more aware of primary care for the recognition of people when they first come to their GPs,” Ms MacDermott said.
She added: ‘We need better recognition by employers. I think there are many people who have struggled with employment issues and support from their employers and acknowledge that this is a real condition.
‘I think we need better recognition in the public, especially the younger public who think they are invincible. I’m 38 and I wonder if I’ll ever be able to walk properly again without crutches. Will it continue to get worse? Will I end up in a wheelchair?
‘I think when people think of Covid as not just a mild illness … people think softly or seriously, and when you’m old you’ll get serious and end up in the hospital, and when you’m young you should have it. overcome and ‘It’s going well with me. I think they should realize that there is in between: yes, you may not die, but you may have long-term problems following it. ‘
Geraint Jones, an advanced pharmacist specializing in HIV, said he initially became ill over the Easter weekend after working on Covid-positive wards. Despite feeling better after ten days, he developed intense stomach pain and ‘brain fog’ in July.
He added: ‘There is very little awareness of long-covid in the communities, the media, the public, and that was kind of my motivation to share my story with the public professional media.
“I’m a 30-year-old man, I literally cried on the floor because I did not know what to do, who to turn around without support,” he said.
‘For me, I would not think that there are other people who are going or going to go through something similar to myself. It’s just such a complex disease, it varies, it changes without any real underlying pathology.
Dr Linn Jarte, a 33-year-old anesthetist, also told MPs that even taking a few steps would make her feel ‘absolutely horrible’ at the start of her experience with Covid.
“I felt like my whole body was just filled with lead, but at the same time I was in this kind of painful burning situation, and it also just made my heart beat through the roof,” she said, adding that she was in pain. needles and pins.
Dr Jarte was affected by brain fog and described it as a ‘thick cloud that only fills the brain’, adding: ‘I just stopped being able to think.’
Danny Altmann, a professor of immunology at Imperial College London, also appeared during the session. His calculations suggest that the UK currently has around 300,000 cases of long Covid.
He emphasizes: ‘Every time I go to TV or radio, I come across the devil’s reaction:’ Well, I’m not an old man, I’m not in a nursing home, I should pay attention. , do I need a vaccine, do I have social distance? I’m not really concerned ‘.
‘I think the kind of evidence we’re showing here … means it’s a real Russian roulette, because you do not know if you’re going to be one of the people who’s better in two weeks or one of the people who’s going to be better in years, or forever, be in crutches or in a wheelchair. How many of us want to take the risk? ‘