Doctors should stop using the term long Covid as it creates ‘unnecessary fear’ in patients and hinders recovery, research suggests.
Experts said the long-term symptoms some patients experience after infection are no different from those caused by other viruses, such as the flu.
Giving it this label ‘falsely suggests that there is something unique and unusual about prolonged symptoms’ after a bout of Covid, they say.
Often self-diagnosed, the term was coined for a range of symptoms following Covid infection, which can persist for months or even years after the initial infection.
Around 1.9 million people in the UK are reported to suffer with it, with the term covering everything from fatigue and breathlessness to muscle and joint pain.
Often self-diagnosed, the term ‘long Covid’ was coined for a range of post-Covid symptoms that can persist for months or even years after the initial infection. Around 1.9 million people in the UK are reported to suffer with it, and the term covers everything from fatigue and breathlessness to muscle and joint pain
But Queensland Health researchers say it has only come to people’s attention because of the sheer number infected with Covid, rather than the severity of long-term Covid symptoms or disability.
Dr. John Gerrard, Queensland’s Chief Health Officer said: ‘We think it’s time to stop using terms like ‘long Covid’.
“They falsely suggest that there is something unique and unusual about prolonged symptoms associated with this virus.
“This terminology can cause unnecessary fear and, in some cases, vigilance about prolonged symptoms that can impede healing.”
To understand more about the impact of prolonged Covid on the Australian state of Queensland, researchers surveyed 5,112 adults who had either Covid or influenza between May 29 and June 25, 2022.
One year later, participants were asked about ongoing symptoms and the degree of functional impairment using a questionnaire.
Overall, 16 percent of all respondents reported persistent symptoms one year later, and 3.6 percent reported moderate to severe impairment in their daily activities.
The analysis found no evidence that those who had Covid were more likely to have moderate to severe functional limitations a year after their diagnosis than those with other viral infections, including influenza.
Those who were more likely to be aged 50 or older and those who had symptoms of dizziness, muscle pain, shortness of breath, malaise after exertion and fatigue.
The results will be presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Barcelona next month.
Dr. Gerrard added: ‘In health systems with highly vaccinated populations, long Covid may have been shown to be a distinct and serious disease due to high numbers of Covid cases during the pandemic.
‘However, we found that the frequency of persistent symptoms and functional impairment is indistinguishable from other post-viral diseases.
“These results emphasize the importance of comparing post-Covid outcomes with those after other respiratory infections and of further research into post-viral syndromes.”
A&E consultant Dr. Rob Galloway has previously expressed his concern over diagnoses of the condition.
Writing to the Mail, he said he had been “frustrated by the number of patients labeled with it, often for no compelling reason beyond a collection of persistent symptoms”.
He wrote: ‘The consequences of this label can be significant and affect their mental well-being. Many of those I have been involved in treating seem defeated by the assumption that they are unlikely to get better.
‘But also because it means that clinicians may not be looking for other causes of their symptoms.’
Dr. Janet Scott, Clinical Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases, University of Glasgow, who was not involved in the study, said yesterday: ‘Many infections cause post-infection syndromes and it may be that ‘long Covid’ is not actually markedly different from other post-respiratory viruses syndromes.
‘However, it is important not to minimize the enormous personal and financial impact that the long Covid has on individuals.
‘The big difference with long Covid is the large number of people infected with the same virus in a short time – which has facilitated more coordinated research in the field – which I hope will benefit everyone suffering from post-infection syndromes.’