Although COVID-19 and hospitalizations have declined, COVID has long remained a constant presence in the lives of many Americans.
Prolonged COVID has affected millions of other people around the world, with Americans reporting a variety of symptoms including fatigue, lung problems, and neurological situations like brain fog.
While evidence indicates that most Americans, particularly within a year, recent CDC data showed that it played a role in more than 3500 deaths in the United States from January 2020 to the end of June 2022.
Treva Taylor has faced an uphill war since her coronavirus diagnosis in January 2021, which nearly claimed the 57-year-old’s life.
“It was scary because my eyes were open, but everything was black,” Taylor said. “The nurse would tell me, ‘You have to fight. The user next to you is dying. And if you don’t, ‘You’re going to end up in that bag of pictures. You have to fight. ‘”
Now there are others who are suffering knowing that the long COVID is “very real”.
“It’s nothing that’s in your head. Believe me, I would do anything not to be like that. Every day, getting up is a struggle. Every day, breathing is a struggle,” he said. “But it’s worth it” because I love other people and other people give me energy. And as long as I can fight, I know there’s a chance. “
Taylor’s case is so serious that he wants oxygen to flow. For the past two years, he has gained treatment in NYU Langone’s post-COVID care program, along with 1,000 other patients who are under the care of pulmonologists like Dr. Rany Condos, who said 25% of patients may end up with prolonged COVID.
“And if you’re talking about millions and millions of patients, you can think it’s a giant number,” Condos said.
According to Condos, Taylor’s case is a fairly typical representation of patients who have had a severe case of COVID. In Taylor’s case, the disease ruptured her lungs and lately she is being evaluated for a possible lung transplant.
Some other patients with prolonged COVID did not have severe COVID, but no blood that eventually subsided. A few months later, however, they were unable to get out of their beds.
“Most of the long-term COVID patients we’re seeing are the ones who were healthy and now have persistent symptoms,” Condos said.
Last week, an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, a peer-reviewed medical journal, indicated that COVID vaccination reduces the threat of long-term COVID by at least 50%, offering encouraging news for some patients.
At the time of his hospitalization, Taylor had not received the COVID-19 vaccine. She was scheduled to receive her first dose the same day she went to the hospital. Now he can’t work.
She describes her condition as a roller coaster, with breathing one minute and difficulty the next. If you have an active day, you can stay in bed for up to 48 hours.
Taylor undergoes breath tests every six weeks that measure her lung function and monitor her progress. According to Condos, systems like this make the curative procedure less difficult and help patients regain some sense of normalcy.
Many patients were told through their number one care doctors that they were crazy and there was nothing with them, he said.
“And they felt very ignored,” Condos said. And I think what we need to do is provide them with a position where they can be heard. “