New research by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests that more than half of those who are suffering ‘from’ long Covid might not actually have it and could simply be suffering from normal bouts of ill health. The Telegraph has the story.
The ONS surveyed nearly 27,000 people, who tested positive for Covid, in the U.K. Coronavirus Infection Survey and used three different methods to estimate the prevalence of long Covid.
In one analysis, they found that 5% reported at least one symptom 12 to 16 weeks after their infection.
However, the study also found that 3.4% of people who had not been diagnosed with Covid also reported the same long Covid symptoms.
Kevin McConway, Emeritus Professor of Applied Statistics at the Open University, said: “That’s not all that much less than the 5.0% for the infected people, which does show that having one or more of these symptoms isn’t uncommon regardless of Covid.”
Long Covid symptoms are fever, headache, muscle ache, weakness/tiredness, nausea/vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, sore throat, cough, shortness of breath, loss of taste and loss of smell.
However, the ONS said that such conditions were experienced regularly within the general population.
A second analysis found that just 3% of people reported continuous symptoms for at least 12 weeks after an infection, compared to 0.5% of the control population.
However, in a third analysis, when the group was asked to self-identify as suffering from long Covid, 11.7% said that they believed they had the condition, with 7.5% saying the condition limited their day-to-day activities.
When confined to only people who had suffered symptomatic Covid, the number saying they suffered from the condition rose to 17.7%.
Previous studies have suggested up to a fifth of people catching Covid will suffer from long-term after-effects.
The ONS said that depending on which measure was used, the data showed between three and 11.7% of Covid cases still had symptoms 12 weeks after an infection.
Worth reading in full.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.
Research catching up to what we all sort of know already.
Symptoms of sitting around eating junk food and drinking yourself to death for 20 months.
plus employment and income worries for many.
Sure, and getting paid while sitting on the couch for the rest.
There’s also a possibility that in some cases there has been a reactivation of Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) which remains in the body after infection. Approximately 90%-95% of all adults are infected with EBV, the virus responsible for infective mononucleosis/glandular fever. Chen et al (2021), “Positive Epstein–Barr virus detection in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) patients”.
Interesting…
I had glandular fever when I was 19 and seriously as fit as fuck lol. Knocked me flat, tonsils and throat swelled, could barely eat or drink, brought up blood when I cleared my throat, what did go down went straight through me, soaked my bed with sweat every night, slept 20 hours a day for 3 months as I recovered. Took another 3 months before I was even close to my old (19!!!!) self.
At 50 I caught covid. Was ill for a week, high fever and aches here and there. A week after I was back to normal.
What a fucking joke.
Is it just me, or has the Covid thing given weak and lazy people an opportunity to feel sorry for themselves and bunk off going to the office, whilst society lauds them for ‘doing the right thing’?
Or suffer silently while continuing to work as always and being forced into social isolation as society though that was the right thing. I rarely whish people something bad as this doesn’t improve anything but I hope you’ll have the opportunity to find out how chronic diarrhea for months on end actually feels.
Spoiler alert: It will be painful. Physically.
I have a friend who suffered chronic diarrhea following his covid infection last March. He’s currently taking part in a clinical trial for a treatment in Germany. His bowel function is not yet normal but only going to the loo twice a day is a huge win for him! He can also walk for an hour without getting breathless. Huge, huge progress. But the treatment is knocking him about physically as he is the most serious case that has been treated in the trial.
I hope that once the study is published that NICE will consider approving it or at least some private providers doing so.
Ivermectin worth a shot? I’ve seen some stories about it helping some people who were said to have LC.
Ivermectin provides temporary relief once someone has been suffering for as long as he had been. He’d tried IVM, small improvements & relapse once no longer taking it. IVM is an early intervention treatment or prophylactic. The virus has long gone, it’s the spike protein which has attached itself to the ACE2 receptors everywhere which is causing the harm via micro clots.
I’m 18 months post covid infection myself, including covid induced pneumonia. I’ve been severely physically disabled by it as well as having very real cognitive dysfunction. Currently trying to find any research on hyperbaric oxygen therapy. There is anecdotal evidence that it has ‘cured’ folk who have long covid, though those individuals tend to be just a few months post infection & less severely affected.
IVM is brilliant at preventing long covid in the first place. But treatment is not what big pharma want…
Someone on the DS posted research a few months ago that indicated that nicotine could help in helping people recover from Covid-19 (and which correlated with the observations re smokers not been as badly effected by it).
“Long Lockdown” might be a more accurate description for many, I had one long term symptom for about three-four months afterwards but physically and mentally I felt very good after recovering from what was a rough three weeks, to the point where a relative wanted to ring the hospital but I insisted I could fight it off better at home. I’m probably not exaggerating to speculate that I might not have made it had I been in the hands of the NHS, having listened to some of the stories from nurses etc.
Just like all those people with “gluten intolerance”. So by “more than half” we can expect 95%
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT – Veritas To Release COVID-19 Vaccine Whistleblower Bombshell – Messages Pouring In. Big announcement Monday:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIs-PY_uYDs
Ivermectin .vs. Covid In A Poor, High-Density State
https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=243599
Most people had long covid long before covid was invented.
Ever since the start of the year (when I did have an encounter with what I can only assume was the rona) I have been feeling pretty bad, with brief periods of normalcy. Turns out I had a calcium and iron deficiency. Feeling much better now.
Well, I have been feeling pretty bad for 18 months (though I believe it has been creeping up for several decades). Long totalitarianism effects apparently, but, sadly, there seems to be no antidote.
Pretty sure it is depression.
Inflicted by the government.
Dont worry just uber something and you will feel happy, for a while.
Eye roll emoji.
Long Covid = Viral Fatigue Syndrome
They just rebranded it to make it sound scarier. Do keep up.
Absolutely right.
The problem with this story is that it comes from the ONS. Over the last couple of days evidence has appeared proving that the ONS are fiddling their stats in relation to C1984 big-time.
Once an organisation has undermined its own reputation it becomes difficult to treat any of their further pronouncements with any credulity.
As far as I am concerned the ONS are talking Bollox.
Just like Bozo and his gang of goons.
Long Covid gets you noticed.
Always a lure for brainless nonentities.
It gets you off work.
Always a lure for lazy zombies.
It stokes fear.
Always a lure for terrorist thugs.
They are probably suffering from a bad case of hypochondria.
I’m still waiting to get Short Covid.
Oh that’s sooooo last year!
Is that the Bercow variant?
Middle-class post covid despondency syndrome is REAL! I know it is because I saw a picture on the BBC website of a middle class woman lying on the sofa looking fatigued and despondent with her wrist to her forehead.
Middle class women reading too much Jane Austen can also get the same thing, except it was called ‘consumption’ back then!
Guy in my team has been signed off work with “long Covid symptoms”. Three weeks off…
Pathetic
I’ve got long scepticism.
It is as though mass hysteria is a new phenomenon.
Yet again a triumph for the MSM and those controlling it.
There’s no Long con-vid…more like long term depression and apathy. Its soul destroying being gas lit by this psychopathic government.
Most have hypochondria
The rest have bog standard post viral fatigue
Probably denying long Covid now because the nhs is broke. Yep, broke as in no money in the piggy bank. The most recent evidence of this, well let’s see, try to see a GP, get a hip or knee replacement, cataract op, hernia repair. 5 million and counting waiting list. Need a blood test? Too bad the country does not have any blood vials. No biggie. And this is just the start.
It’s called Post Viral Syndrome, it’s been around forever. My dad had it in the 80’s after a very nasty bought of flu. Now it’s been hijacked by the zealots and called long covid. This with the fact that a large portion of the UK public have no capacity for independent thought, hey presto, they all believe it.
I’ve just been diagnosed with LSC, it’s a condition that!.. (I’ll leave you to work that out).
Are we going to make a fuss of “Long Flu”? Isn’t it weird if you strap Covid onto an illness you can generate publications and funding for research. Long Covid clinics like the CJD research labs and clinics will burgeon until they gradually fade away when it’s recognised that they were not really of any value.
What we are actually seeing is malpractice from medical professionals on a huge scale, who simply confirm a diagnosis of “long-covid”.
People are being misdiagnosed massively across the country leading to people not getting the actual treatement they need, leading to further serious illness and complications that would otherwise be resolved.
People are suffering with the usual ailments too usually caused by bad habits such as smoking, drinking to much, garbage junk food, lack of nutrition and bad sleep patterns. They are also getting the usual viruses, bacterial infections and illness.
But now there is a really good excuse for it all as long you get a “positive” PCR test, to sit around at home even more.
The health sector is committing huge fraud and people will be getting a lot more ill and losing life years because of it.
Well, well, well – imagine my shock. IMHO ‘long COVID’ has far more to do with people and their doctors (and thus the media, government/civil servants):
a) pretending ordinary illness is COVID;
b) prentending that the lockdowns/pandemic restrictions, mask wearing and fearmongering doesn’t have a HUGE effect on the mental and physical health of people, and thus their susceptibility to illness in general (people who are under a great deal of stress constantly will be sick more often);
c) not getting actual ailments diagnosed early and correctly, and then properly treated. The whole pandemic response has indoctrinated medical professionals to think that almost any illness with symptoms that are also classed as being ‘of COVID’ (unlikely to be proved, given they STILL have yet to isolate and purify a COVID virus particle to get its sole DNA/RNA profile), which means almsot anything can be classed as ‘long COVID’.
It could be any number of respiratory, stress-related, etc ailments or a combination thereof, often exaccerated by the already poor health and/or age of the individual. I mean its odd how almost no-one has suffered from the flu in the last 2 years, and what about illnesses like ME/CFS, which also have similar symptoms to ‘long COVID’
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/chronic-fatigue-syndrome-cfs/symptoms/
Odd also how those countries like Sweden that generally stayed open don’t appear to be suffering from ‘long COVID’ in anywhere similar numbers (percentage wise) as the UK as per news reports, likely in my view because they haven’t endured the stress of lockdowns, fearmongering, not being able to work, see friends/family, etc, etc.
Save Our Rights UK – A Real Democracy
@saveourrightsuk
SATURDAY 25TH SEPT – 1PM – HYDE PARK CORNER
Do you want the Government to bring in Plan B? Vaccine passports, mandatory masks, working from home etc? Or even worse the secret option Plan C – lockdown?
If not join us with your feet on the street and vote for PLAN FREE
.
Some of us may have good reasons for dissing long-covid based on our particular life experiences. However, this video with 2 highly experienced US docs seems to me to convincingly explain the likely causes, symptoms & treatments for long covid:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2021/11/20/treating-long-haul-syndrome.aspx?ui=98ab59e8f8435dd535ffb55dbffac1b1de5e763f74eb0d78024387bd288a0067&sd=20210504&cid_source=dnl&cid_medium=email&cid_content=art1ReadMore&cid=20211120&mid=DM1037015&rid=1327285306