“As this is being studied, we’re finding out, yes, there are long-term symptoms of COVID-19”
Hospitalized cases and women more likely to experience long COVID
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Up to 30 percent of patients who contract the coronavirus can experience a range of long-term health ailments well after recovering from the virus, a condition that has come to be known as long COVID.
Prevalence in The Bahamas of long COVID has been on the rise nearly two years since the onset of the nation’s first infection last March.
In an interview with Eyewitness News, HIV/AIDS and Infection Disease Programme Director Dr Nikkiah Forbes said the issue is of serious concern and another impetus to maintain all health protocols and get vaccinated, including receiving third shots and boosters.
“As time progresses, we’re finding there could be long-term features of COVID-19 and we weren’t certain at the beginning of hearing of this new virus if there were going to be any long-term features,” she said.
“…As this is being studied, we’re finding out, yes, there are long-term [symptoms] and signs of COVID-19 and this now has a name. It could be called COVID long-hauler syndrome, long COVID or it can also be called post-acute COVID.”
Long COVID can cause heart palpations, sleeping difficulties, chronic fatigue, shortness of breath, difficulty with concentration, “brain fog”, chest pain, muscle pain and mental health issues such as anxiety and depression, among many other symptoms.
Some people are unable to go back to work because it is very, very hard for them to function with all of these symptoms, as you can imagine.
– Dr Nikkiah Forbes
Studies found more than 200 symptoms associated with long COVID, many of which impact multiple organs or systems within the body. Some patients experience issues with their nervous system, which is responsible for breathing, blood pressure and digestion.
Memory loss is another symptom of long COVID.
The impacts of long COVID can impact patients for many months after recovering from the virus.
In some cases, these ailments and symptoms last longer.
Forbes said long COVID is not getting enough attention and awareness appears to be limited.
“Some people are unable to go back to work because it is very, very hard for them to function with all of these symptoms, as you can imagine,” she said.
Accident & Emergency (A&E) Nurse Adrianne Scott, who spoke to Eyewitness News about her brush with near-death on the A&E hospital ward with severe COVID earlier this year, was having difficulty breathing and walking weeks after recovering from COVID.
Meanwhile, Forbes said more is being done in scientific centers to determine how best long COVID can be treated, but multidisciplinary teams of doctors with multi-specialties are needed to properly manage patients.
Forbes was unable to provide the exact number of patients in The Bahamas who have suffered long COVID, but underscored that up to 30 percent of the more than 22,000 people who have contracted the virus could have been impacted — nearly 7,000 people.
Researchers also found that patients who were hospitalized for COVID-19 were more likely to experience long COVID.
In one study, 70 percent of COVID patients hospitalized experienced COVID symptoms six months later and between 15 to 50 percent of those who experienced mild COVID were at increased risk of long COVID.
Studies also show women being disproportionally impacted by long COVID.
There is no specific diagnostic test for the conditions of long COVID, though there is a criterion for what it is.
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