While
some medical professionals argue that prolonged non-specific symptoms after acute COVID-19 are psychogenic and that “Long COVID” as a presumed clinical entity was concocted by a cabal of queers and feminists, others are getting on with efforts to disseminate more appropriate information to their colleagues. These efforts often involve drawing parallels with the pathophysiology of ME/CFS.
In the US, where states are generally responsible for regulating health care practitioners, the Medical Board of California licenses and disciplines physicians in my state. The agency also publishes an online newsletter, the
Medical Board of California News, four times a year. The
July issue includes a focus on Long COVID, which is also called Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC). It features an account of a nurse suffering from Long COVID and an article—attributed to ME Action–called
“Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Long COVID: What Every Physician Needs to Know.”
This professional partnership with a patient group seems significant. Maybe that often happens with the
Medical Board of California News—I haven’t checked back issues. In any event, this certainly seems a long way from when the US Centers for Disease Control was still citing the discredited PACE trial as an authoritative and credible source of treatment guidance.
Here’s a key passage from the article:
“A recent survey of nearly 4,000 self-described COVID long-haulers indicates that 78 percent are experiencing persistent fatigue, 72 percent are experiencing post-exertional malaise, and 55 percent are experiencing cognitive dysfunction six months or longer after acute infection. These symptoms are the three most common among surveyed long-haulers, and all three are primary diagnostic criteria for ME/CFS.”
And here’s a prediction that COVID-19 could lead to a tripling of US ME/CFS cases:.........
