As COVID-19 restrictions are gradually eased in Australia, health professionals have expressed concern about a “very big wave” of people with long COVID.
“We can simply ignore this problem, but even if you say that five per cent of Australians will have significant symptoms of long COVID. You are talking about almost half a million people in Australia,” said Peter Wark, breathing specialist and joint professor. . at the University of Newcastle and the Hunter Institute for Medical Research.
Wark told Xinhua on Friday that while many issues related to the long COVID are still unclear, the impact could be significant.
According to a statement from Health Minister Mark Butler in June, Australia can expect a “very big wave” of people with long COVID over the next few years. It is estimated that the number of people living with COVID for a long time could be up to 1.4 million with possible symptoms such as brain fog, fatigue or headaches.
Wark said this multitude of complex symptoms makes COVID-19 a difficult condition to track, study, and treat, and there is no single test that can diagnose it. But vaccination reduces the risk of long-term COVID.
He also suggested that health professionals should be updated and trained on the long-term management of COVID, and a coordinated response is also needed to address the symptoms of mild to severely debilitating.
Wark’s attitude is widely shared by researchers at the University of Sydney, as a university research article this week warned that COVID could long become Australia’s leading cause. of long-term disability.
“While doctors are familiar with postviral or post-infectious syndromes, COVID is new. In reality, it is a mixture of different conditions with different underlying causes,” said the authors of the article from the Institute of Infectious Diseases of the University of Sydney.
The article cited recent data from Britain’s National Statistics Office, which suggests that triple vaccination appears to reduce the chance of long-term COVID, and the Australian government should also provide more specialized long-term COVID clinics to prepare for is for potential load in the future.
“While we may not know the best ways to deal with all aspects of it, we certainly can’t ignore it,” Wark added.