A longtime COVID-19 researcher from Ontario says she knows all too well the lasting effects of the disease, which she suffered for 18 months after becoming infected.
Manali Mukherjee is an assistant professor in the Division of Respirology at McMaster University and said she had COVID-19 in January 2021.
Usually, Mukherjee said, he recovers from an illness in about a week, but this is different. After the first 14 days of “very symptomatic,” problems with blood pressure, fatigue, brain fog, and headache persisted.
“Those 18 months? I wouldn’t need them again,” Mukherjee told CTV News Toronto in an interview.
“I’m very aware of the fact that I can’t concentrate, because I know the kind of paintings I do, I’m in academia. So one of the things we focus on is our concentration. So it’s a very threatening thing for us,” he said.
Mukherjee is one of 3. 5 million Canadians who have experienced “long-term symptoms,” also known as post-COVID-19 condition (CCP), as a result of a COVID-19 infection, which Statistics Canada defines as symptoms of 3 months or more. after an infection that can’t be explained by anything else.
What’s more, about 7 in 10 people with long COVID reported experiencing symptoms every day or nearly every day, the federal company said.
Long COVID symptoms come with more than two hundred variations, but the most common are shortness of breath, fatigue, and brain fog.
Friday is International COVID-19 Awareness Day, which Mukherjee says provides an opportunity to draw attention to a factor that many Canadians would possibly be unaware of, especially four years after COVID-19 declared a pandemic.
“First of all, it’s real. Second, other people are suffering,” he said. “There are a lot of other people who take care of it. Just because you’ve stepped up or haven’t become inflamed doesn’t mean another user hasn’t. We are all very unique beings. Our immune formula is exclusive.
Manali Mukherjee is seen in this undated image. Assistant Professor experienced long COVID symptoms 18 months after diagnosis (McMaster University/St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton).
Among all CCP patients in Canada, Statistics Canada reported that 66. 4 per cent reported not having received “adequate” treatment or service or for any of their symptoms.
According to a study conducted by Mukherjee, the majority of people (75%) who develop long COVID within a year. However, a portion of inflamed people (25%) will continue to experience at least one of the three most common. Symptoms beyond 12 months.
Now, Mukherjee is conducting a new trial with patients diagnosed with CCP to see if his team can identify biomarkers that can expect which patients are at risk for severe symptoms of long COVID and autoimmune diseases.
“What I’m looking to do is: find out if long COVID can lead to autoimmune diseases, if a subset or proportion of patients get it, and find a way to do a blood test that tells us who’s going to get it. that. She explained.
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