Long Covid Monitor-Pandemic Day 1,661: Reinfection Increases Risk of Long Covid, Cognitive Decline After Severe Covid Case Can Equal 20 Years of Cognitive Decline
A Long Covid patient in the waiting room of at a doctor’s office in New York City
FROM THE CHIEF LONG COVID OFFICER ON THE 1,661ST DAY OF THE PANDEMIC
The Lessons of Grenfell Towers: The Disabled Need to Be Able to Safely Evacuate in an Emergency
Much of Florida is under siege by Hurricane Helena as I write this. The tropical typhoon is gaining speed as it approaches landfall and is expected to be a Category 4 storm with 132 mph (212 km/h) winds and storm surge that could hit 20’ (6.1 m) as it nears the Tallahassee area and Florida’s Big Bend.
For the past several days, everyone from the state’s governor to local politicians have told people in areas expected to be the hardest hit – forecasters are talking about “unsurvivable” storm surge and “life-threatening winds” – is telling people living in these vulnerable areas to evacuate.
But for some, this is easier said than done. Specifically, I’m thinking about the disabled including those who have Long Covid. For people outside these areas, it sounds simple: Pack your bag and get in the car and keep driving. But for the disabled, who in some cases may not even own a car because their disability does not permit them to drive,
The simple exercise of going to the basement to find a suitcase may not even be possible and, for those who have limited mobility or are bedridden, just making it down a staircase is fraught with peril.
There’s one thing that is shocking to many people and that is the absence of social services organizations who can help the disabled evacuate safely. When people scream, “Run for your lives,” they often aren’t thinking that some who hear the cry can’t run and possibly cannot even walk.
It’s at times like this that it’s good to bring up this point so that we will be prepared to help such individuals next time around.
If you’re not certain how significant a problem this is to society at large, consider this: On June 14, 2017, 223people were able to escape the Grenfell Tower fire while 72 people lost their lives. Less well-known is the fact that almost half of that figure were disabled people. Moreover, there were additional fatalities comprised of non-disabled friends and family members and friends who stayed with the disabled, even though they could have been safely evacuated.
/s/ Jonathan
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If you currently suffer from Long Covid or know someone who does, you or that person can learn to use the expressive arts as a form of therapy by participating in the Long Covid Art Project.
Long Covid patients from all backgrounds are invited to share their unique perspectives and experiences with the virus by submitting their artistic creations. Be you a painter, photographer, musician, poet, or filmmaker, your creativity can help shed light on the challenges and triumphs of those affected by this condition.
For more information, go to www.longcovidartproject.com
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In news we cover today, people who had multiple Covid infections were significantly more likely to contract Long Covid, the cognitive decline after a patient is hospitalized with a severe case of SARS-CoV-2 can equal 20 years of normal aging, and California extends free coronavirus vaccine program even as federal program ends.
LONG COVID
SARS-CoV-2 reinfections increase the risk of Long Covid, new data shows. A new study suggests that people who had two Covid infections were more than twice as likely to contract Long Covid than those with one infection. Those who had had three or more Covid infections were almost four times more likely.
The study looked at data from 3,382 survey respondents from across the globe and was conducted by researchers with the Patient-Led Research Collaboration on Long Covid.
Entitled “Long Covid and Associated Outcomes Following Covid-19 Reinfections” and published on the preprint service of the Nature Portfolio, Research Square, the study was released earlier in the week.
A new study led by researchers at the University of Liverpool in conjunction with King’s College London and the University of Cambridge as part of the COVID-CNS Consortium found that patients hospitalized due to a severe case of SARS-CoV-2 had far worse cognitive function than those in a non-hospitalized control group.
The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine earlier in the week, found that the cognitive decline after these patients were hospitalized was the equivalent of 20 years of normal aging.
UNITED STATES
In Florida, the state’s controversial and apparently unqualified surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, issued guidance to physicians that “non-mRNA Covid-19 vaccines and treatment” should be prioritized.
“Any provider concerned about the health risks associated with Covid-19 for patients over the age of 65 or with underlying health conditions should prioritize patient access to non-mRNA Covid-19 vaccines and treatment,” the guidance read.
Free at-home coronavirus tests are now able to be ordered at no charge, following an earlier announcement of plans to do so. The action comes after weeks of increases in the number of new positive SARS-CoV-2 cases and just as the 2024-2025 coronavirus vaccination is becoming available in the United States.
The government has made at-home test kits available periodically since the first ones were approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
The tests can be ordered at CovidTests.gov now and shipments will begin on Monday, September 30.
After the federal government program that covered free coronavirus vaccines for the uninsured ended last month, California extended its own program that will cover the cost of such tests through the end of 2024.
OTHER HEALTHCARE NEWS
The Food and Drug Administration announced Friday it had broadened the approval of AstraZeneca’s FluMist nasal spray to become the first “self-administered” influenza vaccine. A delay in the move means that the new vaccine will not be available to ship to people’s homes until next year’s flu season at the earliest, however.
“Today’s approval of the first influenza vaccine for self- or caregiver-administration provides a new option for receiving a safe and effective seasonal influenza vaccine potentially with greater convenience, flexibility and accessibility” said Dr. Peter Marks, the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, in a statement.
PANDEMIC STATISTICS
GLOBAL FIGURES AT A GLANCE
The total number of coronavirus cases across the globe as of September 8, 2024 since the start of the pandemic stands at 776,205,140, an increase of 65,018 people in the preceding 7 days, according to data compiled by KFF, a non-partisan health research organization.
The cumulative death toll stands at 7,064,380, an increase of 1,116 deaths in the same period and a week-over-week increase of 236 deaths.
CURRENT U.S. COVID STATISTICS AT A GLANCE
In the United States, in the week ending September 7, 2024, the test positivity rate was, based on data released on September 16 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was 14.9%, a decrease of 1.4 percentage points in the most recent week. Meanwhile, as of September 14, 2024, the percentage of emergency room visits that were diagnosed as SARS-CoV-2 was 1.7%, a figure that is down 0.3 percentage point from the previous period when it was 2.0%.
As of August 31, 2024, the number of people admitted to hospital in the United States due to SARS-CoV-2 is now 4.4 per 100,000 members of the population, a figure that is up from 4.3 in the prior week.
Meanwhile, as of September 24, the percentage of deaths due to SARS-CoV-2 was 2.3, a figure that is unchanged since the prior week.
VACCINATION SPOTLIGHT
Some 70.6% of the world population has received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine at press time, according to Our World in Data, an online scientific publication that tracks such information. So far, 13.58 billion doses of the vaccine have been administered on a global basis and the seven-day-average of the number of daily doses of vaccine administrated was less than 0.01 doses per million members of the population as of August 12, 2024. Please note that the data provided by Our World in Data has not been updated since that date.
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Anna Breuer contributed reporting to this issue.
The Long Covid Monitor is a publication of the Center for Long Covid Research. www.longcov.org
If you have Long Covid and need to talk to someone, call the Long Covid Patient Peer Counseling Phone Line, or HOPELINE. The HOPELINE is our free, confidential support and information service.
☏ 844 LONGCOV (844 566-4268)
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
