Minneapolis – St. Paul Evening News Lead Report on LC & ME

[Dakota15]

Hey all,

This evening, on KSTP News (ABC Affiliate) in Minneapolis - St. Paul, the lead story on our evening news broadcast was a report centered on Long COVID & ME/CFS.

The report ran about 2 minutes and highlighted the ongoing impacts of long COVID, the connection to ME/CFS, and reinforced that increased research funding is sorely needed for this patient population from our federal government.

I was able to help contribute some insight from my patient perspective. Andy Flosdorf, Long COVID & ME/CFS patient from Minnesota, and Treasurer of Minnesota ME/CFS Alliance, also offered his patient voice.

Kate Murray, Program Manager & Unit Supervisor for Long COVID & Post-COVID Conditions (in the Health Promotion & Chronic Disease Division) for Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) is also featured. When I receive the external link & write-up from KSTP, I will share out.

In the meantime, I will share out screenshots below in my Twitter / X thread, showing myself, Andy, and Kate. KSTP has indicated to us that they plan to continue to cover this important issue and will keep the community monitored as such for any further reporting that comes out.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1736541754021625897

 

[Dakota15]

Sharing KSTP's write-up: "No treatment, no cure: Patients await answers about debilitating disease related to long COVID"

'ME/CFS can be contracted after a range of viral infections. It’s been around far longer than COVID-19, but its symptoms, in recent years, have been recognized as one of the more severe cases of long COVID.'

“We know the chronic consequences of infectious disease has been in the scientific literature for over 100 years. But for a variety of reasons, unfortunately, they’ve been very under-resourced, very underfunded, very under researched and highly overlooked,” Hanlon said."ME/CFS “has been relegated to the margins of medicine when you don’t have money and funding allocated for it,” he added.

"Hanlon and Flosdorf say if there’s a “silver lining” to the pandemic, it’s an increased effort to understand the disease which has become intertwined with long COVID."

"Earlier this year, the Minnesota Legislature invested an ongoing $3.146 million a year to address the post-COVID illnesses that have affected about 12% of Minnesotans since 2020, she said.""Hanlon and Flosdorf said they hope progress in Minnesota spurs more at the federal level as funding for research wanes."

"Hanlon invited anyone suffering from potential ME/CFS symptoms to get connected with the Minnesota ME/CFS Alliance and associated resources."