A health director who branded long Covid a “sinister” term that creates “unnecessary fear” has come under fire from patients who say the condition has drastically affected their health.
Queensland’s chief medical officer Dr John Gerrard claimed two weeks ago that the term long Covid was “misleading” and “harmful” after a study showed its symptoms were indistinguishable from the lingering effects of other respiratory viruses.
Victorian woman Miquette Abercrombie, from the group Australia Long Covid Community, said Dr Gerrard’s message undermined those suffering from the condition, which is still often ignored by doctors.
“This is real and many of us are suffering,” Mrs Abecrombie told ABC on the day of Dr Gerrard’s recommendation.
Victorian woman Miquette Abercrombie, a long-term Covid sufferer, says the Queensland CHO’s recommendation not to use the term takes away “her voice”.
“It’s taking away our identity, it’s our voice.”
she told him mail that the statement undermined those suffering from the condition.
“The level of anger and shock behind the CHO message was enormous,” said Mrs Abecrombie.
‘One of the biggest problems members face is being taken seriously by the medical community. It is necessary to believe in them and develop a treatment.”
Gary Macpherson, from Queensland, was in ICU for six weeks after contracting Covid in 2020, but he says that was just the start of his health nightmare.
‘I don’t have long Covid. I have Covid for life,’ he told Mail.
‘Is very real. While I am not as weakened as before, I only have 80 percent lung function and kidney problems. I have no buffer if I get sick again.’
Melissa Austin, 47, said she has struggled to get doctors to take her long Covid seriously and Dr Gerrard’s suggestion could make things worse.
‘Why do health personnel in queensland Take patients seriously when the primary doctor minimizes the very real condition that affects more and more people? said Ms Austin, who is a member of the 4700-strong Australia Long Covid Group.
Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr John Gerrard said the long-term symptoms of Covid were identical to the side effects of other respiratory viruses.
While Ms Austin said she does not deny that Covid has symptoms in common with other viruses, it remains vital that the condition is recognized as a separate disease to validate patients and receive specialist treatment.
In his own case, he said the condition made him feel as if his nervous system “was constantly being eaten by ants.”
‘My brain would freeze and I would have no idea where I was in my own house. I would get on a bus and sit there not knowing where I was going or why. It was so scary,’ she said.
“I had such intense chest pain that I ended up in the emergency department several times to be told they couldn’t find anything wrong.”
“I literally felt like I was going crazy and I was totally alone.”
Advising against using the term long Covid, Dr Gerrard did not rule it out as a condition but said it could be grouped with other post-viral symptoms.
‘Postviral syndromes occur. “We are absolutely saying that it does exist,” he said.
‘We see it with the Ross River virus. Clearly, we see it with influenza as well. Our evidence suggests that this is not the case, that it is no different from other viruses.
“That doesn’t mean you can’t have these lingering symptoms after Covid-19, but you’re no more likely to have them after Covid than with other respiratory viruses.”
Covid sufferers have long reacted with outrage to Dr Gerrard’s comments (pictured at a protest outside Victorian Parliament)
The conclusion was drawn from a Queensland study that monitored lasting effects in about 2,400 people who contracted Covid and about 2,700 people who contracted other viruses such as influenza.
One year after infection, around 16 percent of all respondents reported ongoing symptoms, regardless of whether they had Covid or other viruses.
Three percent of Covid patients reported moderate to severe deterioration, while 4.1 percent of those with other viruses reported more severe long-term effects.
Those symptoms were commonly fatigue, brain fog, and changes in taste and smell, all of which could intensify after exercise.
After controlling for factors such as age, sex and whether participants were indigenous, the researchers found that Covid did not have a longer lasting impairment than other respiratory viruses.