More than a year ago, Lisa Tarko took COVID-19 and ended up in the hospital for almost a month.
He still lives with the effects of the virus every day.
“It’s really a struggle,” said Tarko, 64, who is among tens of thousands of Canadians living with post-COVID, also known as long-term COVID.
Now, a team of researchers at the University of Manitoba is trying to better understand how long COVID is affecting Manitobans, and the health care providers here are working to help people with symptoms.
These symptoms can include fatigue and problems with breathing, memory and concentration, says the World Health Organization.
Tarko had to use an oxygen supply before COVID-19 due to symptoms of severe asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD. He also wore a walker, but only when he went out.
Now, he needs the walker even inside his house. He lives with chronic headaches, fatigue and brain fog.
“I’m no longer quick to make decisions,” Tarko said. “My thought process is very slow now … It’s from COVID, and I’m tired all the time. I’m tired all the time.”
Manitoba does not keep track of COVID cases
A recent report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that one in five COVID-19 survivors between the ages of 18 and 64 and one in four 65 or older experienced at least one condition. incident that could be attributable to his infection.
In Manitoba, a shared Health spokesman said the province does not track the number of people with long-term COVID, but that is what researchers are trying to learn now.
Dr. Alan Katz, a family physician and health services researcher at the Manitoba Health Policy Center, is part of a team that uses data from Manitoba health records to see if those with a positive PCR test (chain reaction of polymerase) for COVID-19 passed. to seek attention for symptoms that may be related to long-term COVID.
“We’ve really been working to understand the data available and to make sure we do it right,” Katz said. “We don’t want to overestimate or underestimate this because it has a significant impact on both patients … and health care providers.”
The team will also launch a survey in the coming weeks to collect data from people who tested positive for a rapid antigen test, as the province restricted access to the most sensitive PCR tests in Manitoba when infections began. by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. to increase.
“We can combine the two types of information and determine if there is a difference with or before Omicron.”
Katz hopes to begin sharing the results of the research in the fall.
You need to plan
He said during the pandemic he has focused on the availability of hospital beds and demands on emergency rooms, which are important considerations.
But it’s important to recognize that people with long-term COVID will also need care, and not enough is being done to prepare for it, he said.
“There are all sorts of factors that are important to understand so that we can plan and help … provide care to those people who probably have or have already developed these pretty serious symptoms.”
At this time, patients with long-term COVID or post-COVID-19 disease are usually managed by a primary care provider who can refer them to specialists when needed, according to Shared Health.
Esther Hawn is an occupational therapist at the Easy Street Rehabilitation Program at Misericordia Health Center. (Alana Cole / CBC)
At Misericordia Health Center in Winnipeg, patients with long-term COVID are being treated through the Lung Rehabilitation Program and Easy Street, a rehabilitation program focused on developing independent living skills after life-threatening incidents such as a brain injury or stroke.
“A lot of our clients come to us because they’ve had to stop working, they’ve had to stop going to school, their parenting duties are affected,” said Esther Hawn, an occupational therapist at Easy Street.
It helps patients develop tools and strategies to help them return to normalcy or adapt to a new normalcy.
Works with patients with significant fatigue and “brain fog” or cognitive impairment after VOCID. At one point, about 50 percent of their case load is people with long COVID.
“The system is working very hard to keep up with the demands, but the demand, I think, has exceeded anyone’s expectations. So more support for a long-term rehabilitation of COVID would be wonderful.”
Here I would like to see more understanding of how long COVID is affecting people and expects people with symptoms to come into contact with care.
Respiratory therapist Laura Zelcer, who works across the aisle of the MHC Lung Rehabilitation Program, agrees. It is estimated that post-COVID patients now account for 15 to 20 percent of clients in this program.
“I think the most important thing is to get the word out that there are programs,” Zelcer said. “A lot of people are referred pretty late after their diagnosis … The sooner we can treat, the better.”
Laura Zelcer is a respiratory therapist at MHC for Lungs at the Mercy Health Center. (Alana Cole / CBC)
Tarko hopes the research will provide more answers on how to deal with long-term COVID.
He went through the lung rehabilitation program at the Mercy Health Center and is still doing the exercises he learned. He has seen some improvement, he said.
“I work there all the time.”