Long COVID is why I still mask up in public. My body has failed me enough times already so I don’t want to give it any more opportunities.
Long COVID absolutely terrifies me. I already have a similar condition, that I eventually managed to learn to live with during the pandemic.
If I get long COVID I don’t think I’ll want to continue living, there’s only so much uncontrollable pain and fatigue I can take.
Eventually there are going to be two people: Those deeply afraid of COVID and those suffering it’s permanent long-term effects.
Or both. Like me. Having long covid has made me even more afraid of reinfection. I can’t afford to live like this, let alone potentially worsen it.
On the upside, perma-masking on the rare occasion I’m not at home has prevented me from getting all upper respiratory viruses for a few years now.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Many people now view covid-19 as an almost routine inconvenience, much like flu, RSV and other seasonal infections.
But four years after reports surfaced of a new respiratory illness, prompting a massive response among researchers, the disease’s aftereffects — commonly called long covid — continue to confound doctors and patients alike.
“We know a lot about this particular coronavirus,” said Francesca Beaudoin, chair of the department of epidemiology at Brown University.
“That does not translate into an understanding of the long-term consequences of infection.”
As many as 7 percent of Americans report having suffered from a slew of lingering symptoms after enduring covid-19, including fatigue, difficulty breathing, brain fog, joint pain and ongoing loss of taste and smell, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The costs of our lack of understanding are vast, Beaudoin and others say, creating a huge new burden on the health-care system, as people report limitations in their daily activities including being able to work.
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