Featured photo by Quinten Braem on Unsplash
Written by Tanya Terry
The results of a poll taken during a previous Flint Community Webinar on Coronavirus showed although most participants were comfortable talking about COVID, there were concerns with contracting COVID and long haul, according to the webinar’s moderator, E. Yvonne Lewis.
During the most recent Flint Community Webinar on Coronavirus sponsored by the Healthy Flint Research Coordinating Center, the Flint Center for Health Equity Solutions and the University of Michigan Prevention Research Center, Dr. Susan Woolford answered Lewis’ question about what long haul really means.
Woolford is an associate professor of pediatrics for the University of Michigan.
“My perspective on long haul really is that we never know who will get it,” she stated. “…You could have really very mild symptoms and still get long haul.”
Woolford said it is more likely you will get long haulers if you have a severe case of COVID.
“There’s no guarantee if you have a mild case, whether or not you’ll get long haulers,” she added.
“So, I think it’s a reason to definitely (be) protecting ourselves so that we don’t run the risk-because we don’t know what will happen to these patients who get long haulers years from now. Will it ever go away? Will it not? Is it doing ongoing damage to the heart and to the other organs that might be impacted? Certainly it’s affecting quality of life!”
According to Woolford, in some cases, people who have long haulers, then get the vaccine, actually “do better.”
“Many people would say ‘Well, I got COVID; so, I don’t need to get the vaccine.’ But, it turns out it depends on what variant or subvariant you were infected by, it impacts how well your immune system protects you against future variants or subvariants. (And) studies recently have shown that if you get infected with one of the more recent variants, your protection doesn’t last very long and that the better way to be protected is by what’s called a hybrid approach-which is if you got infected, also get the vaccine. That hybrid protection is actually much better moving forward.”
Woolford said the only other suggestion she had on coping with long haulers is to be part of a multidisciplinary program. In long COVID programs or centers, patients can get care from doctors from different specialties.
“So, you’ll get lung doctors, and heart doctors..and those who focus on neurology all available to help deal with these very concerning symptoms.”
Dr. Lawrence Reynolds said long haul refers to new symptoms that occur weeks after having a COVID-19 infection. According to Reynolds, this could last one to two months or longer.
“It could go away and come back,” he added.
Reynolds pointed out the medical community would continue having to figure out how long haul is defined and how types are subdivided in order to provide effective treatment, detection and giving of a prognosis.
“Sometimes it’s a confusion and mental fog that continues,” he stated. “Sometimes it’s muscle weakness that continues. There may be five to ten other symptoms that we attribute to long haul…”
Reynolds also said, through his eyes, we’re not turning the corner on the pandemic.
“We’re turning the corner on our behavior, and we’re turning the corner on the tools that we have-the layers of protection that we have to prevent serious complications from COVID.”
Reynolds noted we now have antiviral medications and we had monoclonal antibodies.
“But because this virus keeps changing, we still have to go back to our toolbox of wear masks when you’re in a crowd, get vaccinated and….get boosters, and also if you have symptoms get tested, or if you’ve been in a situation where you think it’s possible to become infected-get tested and put on a mask until you get your result.”
