There is a good chance that you, or someone you know has had Covid-19 or Coronavirus. It has many different effects ranging from person to person. Some people may only have felt like they had a cold while others may have even died from it. Others are still suffering with something they call “Long Covid”. Long Covid is defined as when a person has experienced their symptoms longer than the average person and it causes a wide range of health issues. It occurs more often when people have experienced severe Covid and their body isn’t fighting off the infection. These conditions can last weeks, months, or even years!
People who haven’t been vaccinated are at a higher risk for having long Covid compared to those who have received the vaccine. People also have a chance of being reinfected with the SARS virus which is the virus that causes Covid. And each time a person is infected they have that chance of getting Long Covid. I know of people who have lost their vision and needed to walk with canes due to the illness. My mom also had Covid, but she was lucky enough to just lose her sense of smell and taste but got it back after a short few weeks. With long Covid people have been known to have high fevers, tiredness, cough, shortness of breath, chest pains, racing heart, difficulty thinking, sleep problems, change in smell or taste, stomach pains, joint and muscle pains, and many, many more symptoms.
While most people with long Covid have the symptoms of infections, in some cases they may not have tested positive for the virus. Unfortunately there is no test to determine if a person does in fact have a long Covid, or when it will go away. The CDC is currently working to understand more about the virus and about long Covid. I think that Covid-19 will continue to affect us and the world around us for many years to come.
