‘Long Covid’ sufferers slam top doctor for saying people should stop using the term – after study showed it’s no worse than other post-viral conditions
A Chief Health Officer who branded long Covid as a ‘sinister’ term that creates ‘unnecessary fear’ has come under fire from patients who say the condition has drastically impacted their health.
Queensland’s top medical officer Dr John Gerrard stated two weeks ago that the term long Covid was ‘misleading’ and ‘harmful’ after a study showed its symptoms were indistinguishable from the lingering effects of other respiratory viruses.
Victorian woman Miquette Abercrombie from the Australia Long Covid Community group said Dr Gerrard’s message undermined those suffering from the condition, which is still often being dismissed by doctors.
‘This is real and there are many of us suffering,’ Ms Abecrombie told the ABC on the day of Dr Gerrard’s recommendation.
Victorian woman Miquette Abercrombie, a long Covid sufferer, says the recommendation by Queensland’s CHO not to use the term takes away ‘her voice’
‘It’s taking away our identity, it’s our voice.’
She told the Courier Mail that the statement undermined those who suffered the condition.
‘The level of anger and astonishment after the CHO’s message was huge,’ Ms Abecrombie said.
‘One of the biggest problems facing members is being taken seriously by the medical community. They need to be believed and treatment developed.’
Queenslander Gary Macpherson was put in ICU for six weeks after he contracted Covid in 2020 but he says that was only beginning of his health nightmare.
‘I don’t have long Covid. I have Covid for life,’ he told the Courier Mail.
‘It is very real. While I am not as debilitated as I was I still only have only 80 per cent lung function and kidney problems. I don’t have any buffer if I get sick again.’
Melissa Austin, 47, said she has struggled to get doctors to take her long Covid seriously and Dr Gerrard’s suggestion could make that worse.
‘Why would healthcare staff in Queensland take patients seriously when the leading doctor diminishes the very real condition that is impacting more and more people?’ Ms Austin, who is a member of the 4700-strong Australia Long Covid Group, said.
Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr John Gerrard said the symptoms for long Covid were identical to the after effects of other respiratory viruses
While Ms Austin said that she doesn’t deny long Covid has symptoms in common with other viruses it is still vital the condition is recognised as a separate sickness to validate patients and get specialist treatment.
In her own case she said the condition made her feel like her nervous system ‘was constantly being eaten away by ants’.
‘My brain would seize and I would have no idea where I was in my own home. I’d get on a bus and would be sitting there clueless as to where I was going or why. It was so frightening,’ she said.
‘I would have such severe chest pain I’d end up in the emergency department multiple times to be told they could find nothing wrong.
‘I literally felt I was going mad and was totally alone.’
In recommending against using the term long Covid, Dr Gerrard did not dismiss it as a condition but said it could grouped in with other post-viral symptoms.
‘Post-viral syndromes do occur. We’re absolutely saying that it does exist,’ he said.
‘We see it with Ross River virus. Clearly, we see it with influenza as well. Our evidence suggests that there isn’t, that it is not dissimilar to other viruses.
‘That does not mean that you can’t get these persistent symptoms following Covid-19, but you’re no more likely to get it after Covid than with other respiratory viruses.’
Long Covid sufferers have reacted in outrage at Dr Gerrard’s comments (pictured a protest outside Victoria’s Parliament)
The conclusion was drawn from a Queensland study which monitored the lasting effects on about 2,400 people who caught Covid and about 2,700 people who caught other viruses such as influenza.
A year after infection around 16 per cent of all respondents reported ongoing symptoms regardless of whether they had Covid or other viruses.
Three per cent of Covid patients reported moderate to severe impairment while for those who had other viruses, 4.1 per cent reported more serious long-term effects.
Those symptoms were commonly fatigue, brain fog and changes to taste and smell, all of which could intensify after exercise.
After controlling for factors including age, sex and whether participants were Indigenous, the researchers found that Covid had no longer lasting impairment than other respiratory viruses.
