Long Covid is no different from the after-effects of viruses like flu and people should stop using the term, health experts have said. The Telegraph has more.
The Chief Health Officer of Queensland, Australia, said it was wrong to imply there was something unique about symptoms suffered by people following a bout of coronavirus. Instead, sufferers are simply experiencing the normal effects of recovering from a virus, which can include fatigue, brain fog and shortness of breath – known as post-viral syndrome.
The comments follow new research by Queensland’s public health department, which studied more than 5,000 people suffering Covid-like symptoms between May and June 2022.
Analysis found no evidence that COVID-19 positive adults were more likely to have symptoms a year after their diagnosis when compared to symptomatic adults who were negative for COVID-19.
When the results were compared with nearly 1,000 people who had flu, the numbers reporting issues were similar (3% vs 3.4%).
Dr. John Gerrard, Queensland’s Chief Health Officer, said: “In health systems with highly vaccinated populations, Long Covid may have appeared to be a distinct and severe illness because of high volumes of COVID-19 cases during the pandemic.
“However, we found that the rates of ongoing symptoms and functional impairment are indistinguishable from other post-viral illnesses.
“We believe it is time to stop using terms like ‘Long Covid’. They wrongly imply there is something unique and exceptional about longer-term symptoms associated with this virus.”
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