There is no singular profile that can help doctors predict which COVID-19 patients may see symptoms that linger for months, according to a new study from the University of California.
Unlocking the Mysteries of Long COVID Meghan O Rourke
Photographs by Jonno Rattman
Image above: Nearly a year after she was infected with the coronavirus, Caitlin Barber still uses a wheelchair outside.
This article was published online on March 8, 2021.
The quest at Mount Sinai began with a mystery. During the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in New York City, Zijian Chen, an endocrinologist, had been appointed medical director of the hospital’s new Center for Post-COVID Care, dedicated both to research and to helping recovering patients “transition from hospital to home,” as Mount Sinai put it. One day last spring, he turned to an online survey of COVID‑19 patients who were more than a month past their initial infection but still experiencing symptoms. Because COVID‑19 was thought to be a two-week respiratory illness, Chen anticipated that he would find only a small number of people who were still sick. That’s not what he saw.
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Some people suffering from long COVID have found significant symptom relief after the first dose of their COVID-19 vaccine, though the jury s still out as to whether that s the case for the majority of so-called long-haulers.
Last week,
New York Times editorial board member Mara Gay tweeted that she felt significantly better after her first vaccine dose.
She acknowledged that her report was both anecdotal and early, but that many other long COVID survivors had described a similar experience.
Several commenters responded to Gay that they, too, had significant symptom relief after their first dose, including Sharon MacMillan, MD, an ob/gyn in Massachusetts, who said she s been symptom-free for 6 weeks after her vaccine.
Some people with long COVID say that they feel better after they get vaccinated. If that’s the case, it could help scientists understand why symptoms persist.
CRANSTON When Deb Crabtree contracted COVID-19 in November, she experienced several of the telltale afflictions of coronavirus disease: shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, headaches and what she describes as “vague confusion” a feeling of being “foggy.”
Crabtree, 60, a registered nurse, did not require hospitalization, but she did miss several weeks of work. She returned at the end of December. Her symptoms had cleared.
All but the headaches.
She was not prone to them before, but now they are with her daily. And that places her among the so-called long haulers people who have recovered from the acute phase of the disease, but who for weeks or months afterward continue to have symptoms.