Here’s a look at the latest Long COVID research and the reemergence of a therapy whose efficacy has yet to be proven.
Long COVID is, in short, COVID-19 that just won’t go away. It appears to affect millions of people, isn’t well understood and effective treatments are hard to find.
Here’s a look at the latest Long COVID research and the recurrence of a therapy whose efficacy has yet to be proven.
New Symptoms of Long Covid
Long COVID, whose technical name is post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), describes symptoms of COVID-19 that persist at least four weeks after infection. Symptoms are extremely broad and varied, including tiredness or fatigue, difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, cough, chest pain, headache, difficulty thinking or concentrating (brain fog), sleep problems, change in smell or taste, depression or anxiety, diarrhea, stomach pain, joint pain, rash, and others.
Newly described symptoms also include hair loss and reduced sex drive, according to new research. Broadly, Long Covid symptoms are grouped into respiratory symptoms, mental health/cognitive problems and broader symptoms, including gastrointestinal issues.
The study, out of the University of Birmingham, suggests that females, younger people, and Black, mixed race or other non-white ethnic groups are at greater risk of Long Covid. In addition, lower-income people, smokers and those who are overweight or obese are more likely to report persistent symptoms.
Dr. Shamil Haroon, M.D., associate clinical professor in public health at the University of Birmingham, said, “This research validates what patients have been telling clinicians and policy makers throughout the pandemic — that the symptoms of Long Covid are extremely broad and cannot be fully accounted for by other factors such as lifestyle risk factors or chronic health conditions. The symptoms we identified should help clinicians and clinical guideline developers to improve the assessment of patients with long-term effects from COVID-19, and to subsequently consider how this symptom burden can be best managed.”
The data was collected between January 2020 and April 2021. The study included 486,149 people with previous infection and 1.9 million people with no known COVID-19 infection after matching for other clinical diagnoses. The research was published in Nature Medicine.
Some Doctors Push Long COVID Patients to Try Ivermectin
Many studies have indicated that ivermectin, a horse dewormer and treatment for some human parasites, is ineffective at preventing or treating COVID-19. A STAT News report found that, despite this, people suffering from Long Covid are taking it anyway, encouraged by some physicians charging a minimum of $90 and up to $1650 to meet for online appointments to get prescriptions for the drug. Specifically, two physician-led groups, America’s Frontline Doctors (AFLDS) and Front Line Covid-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC), have been profiting from this trend.
James Heathers, Ph.D., chief scientific officer at Cipher Skin who focuses on scientific integrity research, told STAT that “some are true believers” in ivermectin, even if the evidence doesn’t support it, and that it’s also profitable. “The last thing you want is for the con to end. You already have all these marks, you need to keep going. It’s easy to get addicted to easy money,” Heathers said.
These two organizations have ties to established right-wing political groups, including the Tea Party Patriots and Trump administration officials. They were promoted on right-wing media, including Steve Bannon’s podcast, Fox News, Breitbart and others.
Dr. Simone Gold, MD, JD, founder of America’s Frontline Doctors, was sentenced to 60 days in prison last month and fined $9,500 for storming the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection attempt.
A good example of the problem is an article published yesterday by The Desert Review, titled, “Studies reveal Ivermectin greatly reduces COVID mortality.” The article describes a study out of Brazil that demonstrated ivermectin as prevention for COVID-19 led to a 92% reduction in COVID-19 mortality rate. However, there is no citation or link to where the study was published.
Media Bias/Fact Check described the statements by The Desert Review by writing, “Overall, we rate The Desert Review Right-Center Biased and Questionable based on the frequent promotion of pseudoscience, conspiracy theories, and misinformation regarding COVID-19.”
It appears that The Desert Review article is an uncredited reprint of an article published on Jan. 20, 2022 by The FLCCC Alliance Community. Per PolitiFact, the article was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to fight false news and misinformation. One of the study’s co-authors also told PolitiFact that he could not say that the research ‘proved’ ivermectin is effective. And he said nothing replaces vaccines. Rather, the manuscript urges ivermectin as an additional tool.
A search on PubMed found 171 citations in 2022 for ivermectin and COVID-19. A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine for early treatment with the drug in COVID-19 concluded, “Treatment with ivermectin did not result in a lower incidence of medical admission to a hospital due to progression of COVID-19 or of prolonged emergency department observation among outpatients with an early diagnosis of Covid-19.”
A review article on the use of ivermectin in managing COVID-19 that evaluated 23 peer-reviewed published articles, 13 of them clinical trials, concluded, “Despite accumulating evidence suggesting the possible use of ivermectin, the final call to incorporate ivermectin in the management of COVID-19 is still inconclusive.”
