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 | | Daily reported coronavirus cases in the United States, seven-day average.The New York Times |
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As Omicron continues to push case counts to sky-high levels, hundreds of thousands of people are getting breakthrough infections. That leaves many of us wondering: Can Omicron give me long Covid? |
Omicron tends to cause less severe illness, especially among the vaccinated. But it's still too early to know a great deal about the relationship between Omicron and long Covid. Doctors, researchers and patient-led groups have cautioned that milder initial illness does not necessarily mean that Omicron is less likely to lead to long Covid than previous variants. |
"You might have mild symptoms because your immune system has managed to fend off the virus in certain parts of your body," my colleague Apoorva Mandavilli said. "For example, you may not feel a lot of respiratory symptoms. But that doesn't mean that the virus is not slowly causing damage to some other parts of your body." |
Studies from earlier waves of the pandemic suggest that many people who had mild or asymptomatic reactions later developed long Covid that persisted for months. Omicron symptoms are, for the most part, similar to those of other variants, suggesting that long-term effects could also be similar. |
But what about the vaccines — can they help prevent long Covid? |
Two large studies found that vaccinated people who had breakthrough infections were two to 10 times less likely to report symptoms weeks after their infections. But another study that analyzed 10,000 patient medical records in the U.S. found that being vaccinated before an infection did not reduce the risk of most symptoms of long Covid. |
That said, Apoorva told me that most virologists she had spoken to thought it was unlikely that long Covid would be as common in breakthrough infections. |
"I would say don't be overly anxious," Apoorva said, referring to vaccinated individuals. "I wouldn't worry as much with a breakthrough infection, because you have immunity that kicks in at some point and gets rid of the virus." |
"One of the predominant theories is that there is persistent viral material in your body, and that's what's causing this long-term inflammation," Apoorva added. "But if that's the case, then having your immune system get rid of the virus fairly quickly is not going to make you very sick. It's also maybe why some people with long Covid feel better after they are vaccinated." |
Our understanding of long Covid is also shifting, and some new research suggests that the symptoms may resolve over time in many people. A recent study out of the Britain, where a large portion of the population has been infected, found that only about two percent of residents reported long Covid symptoms. |
"We now have more people who are postinfection over a longer period of time, and as you go along, the percentage of people reporting long Covid symptoms gets smaller and smaller," Apoorva said. "So the final percentage of people who have persistent symptoms for years, that's not a huge number — we hope. The problem is we still just know so very little about long Covid." |
- Letting loose. After a breakthrough infection, can vaccinated people start living like it's 2019? Experts weigh in.
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Hana Horka, 57, refused to get vaccinated, despite what her son described as her family's strong encouragement, my colleague Hana de Goeij reports. She publicly rejoiced once her husband and her son, both vaccinated, contracted Covid over the Christmas holiday. |
Instead of isolating herself, she deliberately exposed herself to the virus, said her son, Jak Rek. She was ill for a couple of days but then appeared to be recovering. |
In a Facebook post, she celebrated her apparent recovery and naturally acquired immunity, saying she looked forward to "sauna, swimming, cultural life" — all denied to her under virus regulations because of her refusal to be vaccinated, but potentially available once she could present proof of recovery from infection. |
Two days later, her condition swiftly declined and she died. The only warning the family had that something was wrong, her son said, was her complaining about an aching back. |
"We rubbed it with an ointment, and she went to rest for a little while," he told the Czech news media, adding that she had died within minutes. "This is how fast it was." |
Rek said her death should serve as a warning to those resisting vaccination, and he blamed people who spread lies about vaccines for his mother's death. |
"You took away my mom, who based her arguments on your convictions," he said. "I despise you." |
What else we're following |
I am a dentist, and with Omicron there seem to be two new troubling trends: bending the rules of isolation and not fully informing us when there has been a known exposure or illness. Even when asked, sometimes people don't tell us when they've been exposed or if they themselves have it. We obviously find out about it in other ways, and when we bring it their attention, they come clean and we reschedule. Hopefully, this is just a blip. — Sam Wright, Arkansas |
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