<
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/11/opinion/long-covid-reporting-lessons.html>
"In the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, when many people who are now
still sick were first infected, the common wisdom was that the coronavirus
either sent you to an intensive care unit or, more commonly, caused mild
symptoms that resolved after two weeks. But when my sister-in-law got infected
in March 2020, she was still burning with fever after three weeks, then six,
then more. In this newspaper and elsewhere, young and formerly healthy people
shared stories about surviving but not recovering. When I interviewed
scientists and clinicians about these lingering symptoms in May, most expressed
surprise. “That’s unusual,” one said.
It wasn’t. By May 2020, affected patients had already formed support groups
thousands strong, coined terms like long Covid and long-hauler and even
conducted research on their own communities. Even that March, people with
similar illnesses like myalgic encephalomyelitis (also known as chronic fatigue
syndrome or M.E./C.F.S.) had warned that the new pathogen would trigger a wave
of disability. They knew then what is clear now: People infected by Covid can
be pummeled by months or years of debilitating symptoms, including extreme
fatigue, cognitive impairment, chest pain, shortness of breath and
postexertional malaise — a state in which existing symptoms worsen after even
minor physical or mental exertion.
I wrote about long Covid in June 2020. In the following days, I got more than
100 emails from people who thought they were going mad — or had been told as
much — and felt validated to see their reality reflected. That story was the
first of an octet; those responses were the vanguards of thousands more.
Long-haulers have told me that through those pieces, they better understood
what was happening to them, found community and medical care, and felt the
relief of recognition at a time when friends, family members and health care
professionals brushed off their ordeal as imaginary. As a science writer, I
have written about many topics throughout my career. None have affected me more
than long Covid. None have more profoundly changed my view about what
journalism can achieve and how it can do so."
Via Violet Blue’s
Pandemic Roundup: December 14, 2023
https://www.patreon.com/posts/pandemic-roundup-94652305
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
