The Truth About Long Covid: Dispatches (Channel 4 UK)

[godlovesatrier]

New documentary episode here from Dispatches in the UK on 4OD (On Demand)

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-truth-about-long-covid-dispatches/on-demand/72027-001

Basically shows a series of long covid patients who essentially are mild ME patients. Feels so strange though to see a mainstream piece of news showing patients who have mild versions of what we've hade for decades. It also examines some research showing that many long covid patients now have MCAS (Mast Cell Activation Syndrome).

 

[Hip]

Long COVID is a term which includes patients with post-viral fatigue / myalgic encephalomyelitis after catching coronavirus, but also includes patients with organ damage to the lungs or heart from coronavirus, which may result in some fatigue, but is not ME/CFS. Ref: here.

Long COVID can also mean patients with ongoing coronavirus infection which they have not yet cleared.

So I just wonder what sort of long COVID patients they had in the program. I have not watched it.

 

[godlovesatrier]

Yep, this is the issue isn't it. So there were a variety of patients. About 5 in total. Sadly it focusses primarily on those with physical long covid, as opposed to immune long covid, or a ME-like subset.

It mentions mitochondrial disease and dysfunction, it mentions the fact that some patients just look like CFS patients and have all the hallmarks of that. But I did think the program could have had a wider array of subsets, as to not lead down the "physical symptoms are the only manifestation of long covid" garden path.

Still it ended by saying that the government have only funded the clinics until the end of March and that this is woefully inadequate as they will be treating some patients for years at these specialist centres. Nothing we didn't already know!

It said diagnostic criteria for long covid, is where a patient still has symptoms after 12 weeks. So yes could still be PVFS at that point.

One lady out of the 5 goes on to make a full recovery, one is housebound in her thirties, another is very severe housebound in his late thirties to forties, another are a couple in their 50's who are suffering physical scarring in the lungs and a complete breakdown of physical autonomy.

Interestingly they chalked how they felt (depression/anxiety) up to PTSD/depression, instead of what it could actually be, brain damage, side effects of physical symptoms or a dormant virus replicating like hhv-6 etc.

Lots of questions as ever. I couldn't find a decent picture to post with this vid either.

 

[bensmith]

Yes it seems they like to focus on physical damage long covid, which is rarely seen in my groups! But i guess it makes for better television or print media.