“COVID-19 is still here, and so is persistent COVID-19“At least 700,000 Spaniards have suffered from this disease in three years,” Pilar Rodríguez Ledo, president of Spain’s Continuous Coronavirus Research Network, told REiCOP. Today, the disease has become a chronic disease.”
One year after the creation of REiCOP, Rodriguez Ledo reports The network he hosts will launch a campaign in October to make the ongoing coronavirus pandemic visibleThis disease has been “downplayed” in the context of the pandemic, but due to lack of awareness it is very disabling and has a huge impact on the world of work, affecting an estimated 6-8% of people infected with SARS-CoV -2 people.
At a time when most countries have stopped providing data due to the end of the international emergency, The World Health Organization this week warned of rising deaths in Asia and hospitalizations in Europe.
In Spain, the latest coronavirus figures record There were 137 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in SeptemberWhile hospital admissions have remained stable, they are still up fourfold from the end of June.
Persistent infection rate dropped by 2-3 percentage points
The president of the Spanish Society of General Practitioners and Family Doctors (SEMG) also admitted that the incidence of ongoing coronavirus infections may have dropped by “two to three points”, estimated at 6-8% of total infections. Coronavirus.
However, he emphasized that “youAmong them, 6-8%, this is a total number that cannot be ignored“.
Regarding chronic diseases, Rodríguez Ledo leaves the door open for the emergence of curative treatments, as with other viral diseases such as hepatitis C, which went from being fatal to being treated with medication.
The campaign by REiCOP, a network of 66 scientific and professional associations and patient associations, will be launched in a few weeks to the entire population, health professionals and authorities to collaborate to quantify the number of people affected.
It involves patients identifying the center they are going to attend for procedures, professionals indicating the number of patients and reference populations they serve to make more precise estimates, and management providing transparent information.
“Make me visible, code me, diagnose me”
“If you know how many people there are, you can put in the necessary resources,” he said. In a nutshell, the three pillars of the campaign are: Visibility, coding and diagnostics.
“We are caught in the paradox of wanting to forget the pandemic, but there are patients who still have COVID and we need to remember them,” the SEMG president warned.
Rodríguez Ledo does not believe that current mutations and mutations are more likely to produce persistent new coronaviruses: “This has less to do with mutations and more to do with the immune status of the population and the vaccines they have received, ” he explained.
Of these symptoms, he insists there are dozens, and they hinder quality of life and greatly affect the workplace. However, the most common are lack of focus and concentration, mental fog, and extreme fatigue, which can prevent you from performing daily activities.
Faced with this disabling disease, Rodriguez Ledo warns Some patients think they have recoveredthis is because they show milder symptoms, It is also related to human adaptabilitywhich internalizes inattention, weakness, or mental fog as normal.
In Spain, he said, the “biggest surprise” was the lack of recognition and difficulties in the workplace. A study by SEMG confirmed that 27% of people with ongoing coronavirus infection are on sick leave, 19% face “many restrictions” in their daily work and 10% have lost their jobs.