Three years of imprisonment: a long Covid, the “time bomb” of the pandemic

Emmanuel Macron spoke about “war” against Covid-19, some scientists are now talking about “time bomb”. Almost three years after the start of the first confinement, the associations organized an international long Covid awareness day on Wednesday. A way to shed light on the forgotten effects of the pandemic, which nonetheless affect many patients.

It is difficult, moreover, to summarize the long Covid in a few lines. “Expression of pain or disabling symptoms”, tries Professor Antoine Flahaud, Director of the Institute for Global Health in Geneva (Switzerland), with TF1info. A few weeks after being infected with the virus – four to twelve – and while patients think they are completely cured, “10 to 20% of them have been ill with Covid for a long time”he explains. The figure is similar to that recently announced by the World Health Organization (WHO), which estimated that 17 million Europeans are affected by the disease, or 16% of those infected on the continent.

Its manifestations are varied: fatigue, fever, mental, pulmonary, neurological disorders… “We remember well those who lost their sense of taste and smell for several months”, Professor Flao recalls. And they do not necessarily apply to fragile people, as well as those who have been hospitalized. “Long Covid usually occurs after moderate infection, not at all after severe symptoms”the epidemiologist continues.

It can last for weeks, months, or even a whole year. The study found that after a year, most of the symptoms were just distant (and bad) memories. “This is quite reassuring, even if we also know that people complain of symptoms for much longer than a year, for example, after contracting Covid from the first wave.”three years ago, Professor Flao warns.

He also cites other illnesses that are difficult to link to Covid but are no less important, such as diabetes, kidney failure or heart problems that show up weeks after a positive test. Any symptom can be “qualified as long-term Covid if there was a previous Covid infection, but also when no other explanation is given”. Therefore, this disease is always surrounded by ambiguity with many gray areas. Even after three years of a pandemic “we are still at the beginning of understanding what long Covid is”Antoine Flahaud says. “There are many unknowns.”

First, knowing if you are affected by long-term Covid is not so obvious. “For Covid infection, a blood test or PCR test can tell if you are infected or not. However, there is no biological test for long-term Covid today.”Professor Flao insists. “It’s just a set of arguments that will encourage diagnosis and then trying to take care of it.”

Many French people probably feel “fatigue or musculoskeletal pain, not directly related to the Covid episode”. This understates the number of people involved.

Another difficulty in long-term Covid: care, both symptoms and duration vary. “This is a public health issue”the expert continues. “Athletes can no longer compete in their sport, adults can no longer go to work, children can no longer go to school… These violations are very serious.”

And it doesn’t always heal. “It is difficult to find a universal treatment for protracted Covid, there are so many symptoms”concludes Professor Flao. “But we need to capitalize on all of our research efforts.” Otherwise ? “Some scientists talk about the Covid time bomb.” Only that.