Professor Jason Kovacic,a cardiologist and executive director at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute,described the long COVID projections as “sobering,staggering numbers”.
Associate Professor Nada Hamad,who has long COVID,at her home.Brook Mitchell
Researchers investigating long COVID cases in Australia say 5 per cent of people infected with COVID-19 will develop the condition. The prevalence of long COVID before vaccinations were available was an estimated 10 per cent.
“The 55,000 people in Australia who tested positive today ... equates to 2000 to 3000 new cases of long COVID,” Kovacic said. To date,Australia has recorded almost 9 million COVID-19 cases.
Even after accounting for reinfection “we’re looking at almost half a million people who are going to be suffering long-term symptoms in the coming months”,Kovacic said.
He urged Australians to reframe their reasons to take precautions to reduce their chances of infection and make sure they were up-to-date with their vaccinations.
“It’s no longer about our ICUs being overwhelmed with acutely unwell cases,but the very serious impacts long COVID is going to have on our community,on our hospitals,airlines,public transport,right across the board,” he said.
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said the individual risk of serious illness is now much lower for the vaccinated population compared with pre-vaccinated COVID-19 waves,but “when you have so many people infected wave after wave,even a small[proportion] of people with long COVID is going to have a profound impact”.
“The sheer volume of cases impacts every walk of our lives … education,our hospitals,our workplaces,” Chant said.
At St Vincent’s Hospital’s long COVID clinic – which has a waitlist exceeding four months – the majority of patients are young,previously fit people,with women outnumbering men.
A leading virus expert has issued a "call to action" as hospitalisations and deaths approach levels seen in January.
Studies in Australia and overseas have found women are at than men. One study involving 1.3 million people suggested women were 22 per cent more likely than men to be diagnosed with the condition.
“This is hitting women in their prime,their childbearing years,their 40s and 50s,” said Associate Professor Nada Hamad,haematologist and senior staff specialist in bone marrow transplant. “They dominate the education and healthcare workforce,performing jobs that are critical for our community. How can we not pay attention to that?”
In 2020 female healthcare professionals outnumbered males 2.9 to one (476,500 versus 166,000),the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare said. The latest Australian Teacher Workforce Report found women accounted for 78 per cent of classroom teachers in 2018.
“Will people just dismiss long COVID as another illness that just affects women? That they’re just complaining about being tired and there’s nothing to worry about?” Hamad said.
What is long COVID?
The World Health Organisation formally recognised long COVID in October 2020.
To meet the WHO definition for“Post COVID-19 Condition” a person must have symptoms three months after a confirmed COVID infection,with those symptoms lasting for at least two months and not able to be explained by an alternative diagnosis.
Common symptoms include fatigue,shortness of breath,cognitive dysfunction,and generally have an impact on everyday functioning.
These symptoms may come on after a person has initially recovered from their acute COVID-19 infection or persist from the initial illness. They may also fluctuate or relapse over time.
Hamad minimised her own COVID symptoms after her second infection in June,when she developed autonomic nerve dysfunction culminating in a two-week hospital admission.
“I gaslit myself into thinking that there was nothing wrong with me because there is this sense in the community that ‘oh this is just a mild wave’ and we all just want it to go away,” she said.
Her body could no longer regulate her heart rate and blood pressure,and she fainted twice before she realised she couldn’t stand for more than a couple of minutes without collapsing.
“But I told myself:‘No,we have patients waiting,the healthcare system is exhausted. We’re desperate and I don’t want to be a burden on my colleagues’,” she said.
Hamad is still experiencing cardiac and respiratory symptoms,headaches and brain fog.
“Roughly 75 per cent of people living with long COVID will have cognitive impairment. That is insane,” she said. “Think of the burden this alone will be having on the global economy.”
In the United States,long COVID is recognised as a disability if it substantially limits one or more major activities.
Hamad wants long COVID added to the list of high-risk groups to expedite access to preventative therapies,antivirals and treatment.
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