“Being physically active has always been incredibly important to me. It’s a big part of my well-being and sense of self.”
As a younger man, Chris Allan, 46, cycled from London to Kathmandu. He has run marathons and, not long before COVID-19 struck in 2020, he climbed a 7000-metre mountain in central Asia.
He contracted COVID-19 in March 2020, probably on a commuter train to London, where he works as a civil servant. He had a relatively mild experience of the illness, with some breathlessness and coughing, and after a couple of weeks he felt well enough
to resume his job online. Not long afterwards, however, he was hit by waves of fatigue so strong that he could not work through them.
“It was a body and mind tiredness that I’d never experienced before,” he says.
About 10–20% of people who develop COVID-19 will experience a variety of mid- and long-term effects after they recover from their initial illness. Fatigue is just one of a raft of symptoms; others report nausea, brain fog, and skin and neurological
conditions.
Chris continued to work online, trying to pace his activity levels, but was still coughing a lot and developed pleurisy – painful inflammation of the tissue between the lungs and ribcage.
“Even going for a short walk could send my pulse rate shooting up, and if I slightly overdid it, I’d be hit with days of crippling tiredness.”
Chest X-rays and heart monitoring showed nothing unusual. Long COVID was only just becoming recognized and his doctors could not offer much apart from advice to rest. He stopped work altogether to try to recover, but even though the pacing techniques
recommended by his GP helped him to avoid big relapses, they did nothing to improve the underlying symptoms.
“It was a time of enormous uncertainty. It was hard on the family. I couldn’t work, couldn’t exercise, and had to sleep every afternoon. I couldn’t play with my kids like I used to, which made me really sad. I had to develop all
sorts of techniques and behaviours that were very unfamiliar to me to control my mood and lack of energy, such as mindfulness and breathing exercises.”
A year after contracting COVID-19, Chris returned to part-time work, but was not feeling any better.
“I was very frustrated. Luckily, having a supportive workplace and family meant that I didn't lapse into serious depression, but I understand why people in that situation would, given the lack of any prognosis or clear understanding of what was
causing the illness, and the fear of not knowing whether I would ever get better. Looking back, it was probably the worst period of my life.”
Fortunately, in the summer of 2021, a friend shared a webinar by a private cardiologist reporting success treating people with similar symptoms. Chris contacted him and received a cardiac MRI, which revealed previously undiagnosed myocarditis –
an inflammation of the heart muscle.
“It was such a relief to get a diagnosis. And better still, to feel that there might be treatments that could help.”
Over the next few months, he was prescribed two commonly available drugs, and by the autumn, his symptoms improved dramatically. After physical check-ups, another MRI and a slow introduction to exercise while monitoring his heart rate, he is now back
to running, cycling and playing football.
However, Chris is one of the lucky ones. Many people with long COVID are still struggling to get a clear diagnosis of their health issues, and few find a treatment that resolves their symptoms.
“I feel powerfully for the millions of people still suffering with long COVID. I sincerely hope that awareness of the severity and prevalence of the condition provides a wake-up call that drives much more investigation into treatments for post-viral
illness.”
He urges people to keep their guard up against COVID-19.
“I wear my mask on the train, and I am much more cautious about going into the office if I have a cough or cold. For 18 months I experienced what even a mild case of COVID-19 can do. I wouldn’t want anyone else to go through what I did.”
Increasing recognition, research and rehabilitation for post COVID-19 condition
The scale of post COVID-19 condition (long COVID) and the long-term burden it is likely to have on health systems are only starting to become evident. Studies show that approximately 10–20% of individuals who contracted COVID-19 may experience continued
symptoms for weeks to months or even years after their original infection, equating to millions of people worldwide.
WHO/Europe is in the process of partnering with Long COVID Europe, a network of patient-led associations that has been gathering information on the condition and sharing it with interested stakeholders since its founding last year.
WHO/Europe has also been working with patient groups to define priority areas where action is needed. It is now calling upon governments and authorities to focus attention on long COVID and its sufferers through greater:
- recognition: all services must be adequately equipped, and no patient should be left alone or have to struggle to navigate a system that is not prepared or not able to recognize this very debilitating condition;
- research and reporting: data gathering and reporting of cases and well-coordinated research with full participation of patients are needed to advance understanding of the prevalence, causes and costs of long COVID; and
- rehabilitation: this cost–effective intervention is an investment in building back healthy and productive societies.