Eli Lipman is a 9-year-old who, along with his father, has been suffering from COVID-19 symptoms for the past 6 months. They are among a growing population of COVID-19 sufferers dubbed long-haulers.
COVID-19 Long-Hauler is an individual who continues to experience symptoms months after recovery. Fatigue is one of the most common long-term symptoms of COVID-19. In the past, there have been multiple reports of people experiencing neurological and gastrointestinal symptoms months after recovering from the disease.
Unfortunately, sometimes the scar never goes away
Dr. Ali Gholamrezanezhad (clinical radiologist at University of Southern California)
A patient-led research team at Body Politic COVID-19 support group recently collected the experiences of over 600 patients suffering from prolonged symptoms.
Low-grade fever, fatigue, brain fog, shortness of breath, and trouble sleeping were the most common symptoms reported by the patients in the survey.
Eli Lipman – The 9-year-old COVID-19 Long-Hauler
Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer
Jonathan Lipman’s family contracted COVID-19 in mid-March. While his wife and daughter recovered within 2 weeks, he and his son joined the growing list of long haulers.
In an interview with CNN’s Chris Cuomo, Eli describes the predicament as feeling like he was about to die at any moment. Despite suffering from a low-grade fever every day for several months, doctors did not take Eli’s symptoms seriously.
Additionally, his father, Jonathan, also reported suffering from severe body aches, fatigue, and shortness of breath over the course of 6 months.
No one would really believe us that we were still sick, and when you keep being not believed you stop believing yourself.
Jonathan Lipman
6 months later, the father and son are still struggling with their symptoms. However, a regimen of acupuncture, vitamins, and rest has significantly helped them with their fatigue.
Half of the COVID-19 Patients Suffer Chronic Fatigue Despite Recovery
A recent study conducted by researchers at St. James’s Hospital investigated whether patients suffered from fatigue even after recovery from COVID-19. They also looked at the level of severity of the disease and whether the patients suffered from any pre-existing conditions. The Chalder Fatigue Scale (CFQ-11) assessed fatigue in patients.
A total of 128 participants, from St. James’s Hospital, were part of the study. These included both outpatients, hospital staff and, admitted patients.
52% of the patients reported persistent fatigue 10 weeks following recovery. Additionally, no association was seen between the severity of COVID-19 and the prevalence of fatigue in patients.
Fatigue was found to occur independent of admission to hospital, affecting both groups equally
Dr. Liam Townsend
Moreover, it is important that primary care physicians take notice of these symptoms early on and provide adequate treatment to those suffering.
Reference:
Holcombe, M. (2020, September 16). A 9-year-old who’s been battling coronavirus for 6 months says the illness is a big deal. Retrieved September 20, 2020, from https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/15/us/long-haul-coronavirus-father-son/index.html
Townsend, Liam, et al. “Persistent Fatigue Following SARS-CoV-2 Infection Is Common and Independent of Severity of Initial Infection.” MedRxiv , 30 July 2020, doi:10.1101/2020.07.29.20164293.
Assaf, G., Davis, H., Wei, H., Akrami, A., & McCorkell, L. (2020, May 11). Report: What Does COVID-19 Recovery Actually Look Like? Retrieved September 20, 2020, from https://patientresearchcovid19.com/research/report-1/
