Covid-19 Omicron outbreak: How to do a RAT (rapid antigen test). Video / Gary Payinda
Long Covid is a "terrible condition", with some Bay patients suffering debilitating brain fog, fatigue, shortness of breath and exercise intolerance.
That's the concern being expressed by worried health experts as the country approaches the tail end of the Omicron outbreak peak.
A Lakes District Health Board spokesperson told theRotorua Daily Post that people with long Covid symptoms needed to talk to their GP for management and treatment but hospital specialists would always be available for referred patients.
"More practical advice and guidance about a rehabilitation framework for long Covid is also being developed by the Ministry for doctors and other health service providers," the spokesperson said.
This comes amid warnings from experts that New Zealand will face a "tsunami" of long Covid after the Omicron outbreak subsides.
Yesterday , the Ministry of Health reported 34 New Zealanders had died from Covid-19. One of those deaths was a patient in the Lakes District Health Board.
Toi Te Ora Public Health also reported 319 new cases in Rotorua and 1981 active Covid-19 cases in the city overall.
One Auckland-based cardiologist has also said even "mild" initial Covid-19 infections can lead to serious long Covid symptoms, including a higher risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Long Covid is a condition where Covid-19 symptoms persist for more than 12 weeks after a person has been diagnosed.
Te Runanga o Ngati Pikiao Trust general practitioner Dr Grace Malcolm. Photo / Andrew Warner
Te Runanga o Ngati Pikiao Trust general practitioner Dr Grace Malcolm said Omicron has not been around for enough time to confirm cases of long Covid.
Malcolm said her patients were normally showing Covid-19 symptoms for periods of between seven days and three weeks.
"There are maybe a dozen or so patients who have had symptoms for longer, past the normal time."
Bay of Plenty GP Tony Farrell. Photo / NZME
Bay of Plenty general practitioner Tony Farrell said he had seen patients whose Covid-19 symptoms could persist for long enough to meet the long Covid criteria.
"Some studies say about 10 per cent of Covid-19 cases will have it and some say even higher," Farrell said.
"So if there are 600,000 cases we could have 60,000 people with long Covid and that would have an effect on people's work."
What Farrell has seen has convinced him long Covid is a "terrible" condition.
"One of my patients feels fine for three hours and then crashes for three hours," Farrell said.
"It's really intermittent and comes in a variable range of intensity.
"You don't know where it's going to get you."
Farrell said the key messages were to rest physically and mentally while continuing to follow public health advice.
Tauranga's Fifth Avenue Medical Centre GP Dr Luke Bradford said it was quite common for people to have symptoms for a couple of weeks after diagnosis.
However, he'd seen a handful of cases that have lasted longer.
"It's a bit early to tell. It's only around now that we're coming into the Omicron peak," Bradford said.
"I expect to see more decent numbers around the end of April. Then we'll see what we're up against."
Bradford said the most common lingering symptoms he saw in patients were fatigue and exercise intolerance.
"Respiratory symptoms are less likely to linger," Bradford said.
"The other thing we've known to linger in post-viral syndromes is POTS, or postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome."
Bradford said this syndrome affected blood flow in a way that could cause a person's heart to race when they changed position, such as from lying down to standing up.
Otago University researcher and molecular biologist Professor Warren Tate. Photo / Supplied
Otago University researcher and molecular biologist Professor Warren Tate said there were overlaps between post-viral fatigue syndrome and long Covid.
"To put it simply, long Covid is what happens when someone's immune system has responded to Covid-19 by putting the body into a kind of shutdown mode and then it got stuck in that mode," Tate explained.
"It's really about the individual and their immune-system response."
Tate said not much was known about the factors which could contribute to long Covid but research into the condition and the lingering effects of Covid-19 infection in some patients is underway.
In the meantime, Tate's advice to anyone who has tested positive for Covid-19 is not to rush the recovery process.
"One shouldn't put too much stress on the body trying to rush out of a recovery from the initial infection."
Tate recommended Covid-19 patients should rest and build up to their normal activities slowly. Taking antioxidants, supplements and antihistamines could also be helpful, depending on the person.
Toi Te Ora Bay of Plenty manukura-executive director Marama Tauranga said while most people recover completely from Covid, the long-term effects were "common".
"About 10 per cent of people may find that their symptoms persist for 12 weeks or longer," Tauranga said.
"This appears to be more likely if you were admitted to hospital. These symptoms can persist for weeks, months or even longer."
Tauranga said research into long Covid was ongoing and important but vaccinated individuals seemed "less likely" to develop the condition.
Some of the most commonly reported symptoms include: • Fatigue • Shortness of breath • Cough • Low mood • Headaches • Difficulty concentrating, cognitive impairment or 'brain fog' • Chest pain (clinical assessment may be required to investigate the specific cause) • Joint pain • Muscle aches and pains • Muscle weakness (this can be a reported symptom, and may also be clinically measured) • Ongoing changes to smell or taste • Fast-beating or a 'pounding' heart • Sleep disturbances Source: Ministry of Health
