THERE are now an estimated two million people in the UK who are living with Long Covid.
Most people make a full recovery from coronavirus within four weeks but, for some, symptoms can last months or years after the infection has gone — and when that can’t be explained by any other condition it is termed “Long Covid”.
Danny Altmann, a Professor of Immunology at Imperial College London, told Sun on Sunday Health that it can attack those who have just had the mildest Covid symptoms.
He said: “Long Covid is huge, common, brutal and unfair — to me it looks like Russian roulette, you don’t know who’s going to get it because it could be severe, mild, you could be middle-aged or young. It’s so hard to know.
“The only real defence against Long Covid is to not get Covid, and if you’ve had Covid, to not get it again.”
Of those suffering Long Covid, 58 per cent are women and the remainder men.
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Sufferers can feel tired, have shortness of breath, brain fog and joint pains which leave them unable to work or enjoy a full social life. It can also affect children.
Professor Altmann said: “I can’t emphasise sufficiently the enormity of Long Covid for children in the UK and the massive price they are paying.
“From the last Office for National Statistics data, around 1.5 per cent of all secondary school children had it.
“This has huge ramifications for their schooling, exam performance, social development and family life. Unfortunately, this is to a large extent a consequence of poor vaccine take-up.”
A new report by medical journal The Lancet reveals the milder Omicron variant is less likely than Delta to lead to Long Covid.
But because Omicron is much more contagious, leading to more sufferers, Long Covid figures will rise too.
And now we are at the start of another wave — the third since December — with two new variants, BA.4 and BA.5, which are more transmissible than previous strains.
There is a trend across the world that shows people who do not rest properly after getting any degree of Covid may be more at risk.
Professor Altmann said: “Those who thought they were going to beat it by ignoring it tended to exacerbate things and have the worst outcome.
“The people who took the virus seriously and took it easy tended to do better. Powering through it is a bad thing to do.”
Ondine Sherwood, who is the co-founder of registered charity Long Covid SOS, has noticed the same pattern and says a lot of athletes have suffered.
She said: “Even if you get Covid mildly there’s no saying you won’t get Long Covid.
“Since the first wave we have found that a lot of people joining the groups are sporty, including a lot of keen runners.
“And there is one school of thought that says if you really rest and don’t rush back to exercise, maybe you won’t get Long Covid.
“The most important thing you can do is to not catch it. Primarily, make sure you get vaccinated.”
The booster programme is still operating for vulnerable people and those over 75. From September over-65s and other vulnerable people will be offered the jab.
It is currently being discussed at government level whether to include the over-50s.
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Professor Altmann added: “I can only reiterate the vital importance of getting vaccinated.
“Also wash hands, consider ventilation and wearing a mask to try and not catch Covid.”
