Venu Menon
Wellington, March 27,2024
Long Covid, which describes the long-term effects of Covid-19, is posing a threat to public health four years after the pandemic hit New Zealand, new research shows.
Long Covid has no cure, and the stress now is on preventive action.
From 4 to 14% of people infected by Covid-19 suffer lingering, debilitating symptoms, says a study authored by a team of researchers led by Amanda Kvalsvig of Otago University.
Kvalsvig warns that Long Covid is not being taken seriously enough.
“The cost of inaction is going to be very high and that’s going to be a human cost and a financial cost.”
With the Covid-19 virus constantly evolving, and the existence of multiple variants, the “prevalence of Long Covid is more likely to increase than to decrease,” the study notes.
Occupations most at risk include “educators, healthcare workers, prison workers, airline pilots, electricians, truck drivers, and first responders.”
Maori and Pacific peoples, as well as people with disabilities or underlying chronic conditions, face “profound health-equity implications,” the study observes.
Long Covid straddles a spectrum of symptoms from mild to serious, which includes conditions such as heart attacks, strokes and diabetes. More commonly, people with Long Covid experience fatigue and “cognitive dysfunction.”
The study recommends the use of vaccinations to counter Long Covid. It says there is an urgent need to revise the eligibility criteria to make vaccines “available and accessible” to younger age groups.
The study notes “a high proportion of the New Zealand population has had Covid-19 at least once, and exposure to reinfection is continuing.”
A key finding is that past Covid-19 variants can still cause future Long Covid cases.
Th evidence suggests Long Covid is a major threat to public health and economic output, if left unchecked.
The coalition Government is cognizant of the prevalence of Long Covid.
The Briefing, a flagship publication of the Public Health Communication Centre (PHCC), an independent organisation hosted by the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago, has urged the government to undertake a comprehensive Long Covid “risk assessment to estimate the current and future size of this threat and the scale of an appropriate multisectoral response.”
The government is also urged to “reduce infection and reinfection rates using well-established public health and social measures to ensure that public settings are safer to access.”
Last but not least, vaccine eligibility must be expanded to younger age groups along with measures to raise coverage levels, “particularly among underserved groups and those at increased risk of infection.”
National Party deputy leader Nicola Willis points to the programme set up by the Ministry of Health to support those affected by Long Covid.
“I would just say to everyone who’s got Long Covid, we recognise that that can be really difficult and it sits alongside a number of those chronic health conditions we seek to manage through our public health system.”
Venu Menon is an Indian Newslink reporter based in Wellington
