The long Covid still and always: “My life is on hold”

Since the onset of symptoms in 2021, Andrea Vanek has spent most of her days in front of the window in her Viennese apartment observing the outside world.

Her long Covid was diagnosed after a long therapeutic wandering, and even today this 33-year-old Austrian makes as little effort as possible, terrified of the idea of ​​suffering a new episode of debilitating muscular weakness.

“My life is on hold, because I don’t know how long this illness will last,” she says, opening a simple bottle of water becoming impossible when the attacks occur.

The ailment initially manifested itself as dizziness and heart palpitations, which suddenly began to prevent him from taking short walks before derailing his life. In the midst of a career change, she had to abandon her studies to become a professor of applied arts.

Just five years ago, the disease emerged in China. Since then, it has officially killed more than seven million people worldwide, but the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that these figures are largely underestimated.

Among the 777 million cases recorded, millions suffer from prolonged symptoms, the most common being severe fatigue, shortness of breath, muscle pain, brain fog.

Around 6% of people infected with the coronavirus develop a long form. “A serious problem, affecting many people,” according to Anita Jain, of the WHO health emergencies program, with reinfections increasing the risks.

Chantal Britt, who lives in Bern, contracted Covid in March 2020. Her life was “turned upside down”, forcing her to “reinvent” herself. “I was really an early riser… Now it takes me at least two hours to get out of bed because I hurt everywhere,” she explains.

“I stopped hoping to wake up feeling good, but feeling so old and so broken still surprises me,” says the 56-year-old woman as she describes herself as a former “workaholic”.

Sport was “therapy” for this ex-marathoner and she misses moving. She now has to plan her daily life down to the minute, for example by planning places to sit when she goes shopping.

Claiming to have lost her job in communications two years ago after asking to reduce her hours, she obtained part-time work in university research, particularly on long Covid.

The lack of understanding in those around her weighs on her: “it’s an invisible illness and therefore stigmatized,” regrets Chantal Britt.

“Even seriously ill people, who are at home, in a dark room, who can no longer be touched, who collapse at the slightest sound, do not look sick.”

Women are more affected than men according to the WHO, such as those who already have health problems. And around 15% of affected people have persistent symptoms for more than a year – more than 200 have been recorded.

Heterogeneous, more or less severe, they can fluctuate over time, leaving the medical community helpless. Establishing a diagnosis can also involve the stations of the cross.

“Today, we must redouble our efforts to help patients and doctors with the necessary tools for detection at an early stage,” said the WHO expert.

Their financial support also raises questions as many patients fall into precariousness. Andrea Vanek has filed two lawsuits to hope to get more than the 800 euros per month she currently receives.

The sum is insufficient in Austria to cover his expenses, weighed down by medical bills and the purchase of dozens of tablets. But both cases remain pending.

“For those who are studying or in training, it is a very difficult situation because we fall through the cracks” of social security, she laments.

Chantal Britt would like research to advance on post-infectious syndromes, “which we need to know better”, she judges. “Because there will be another pandemic and we will still be just as helpless.”