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Americans shouldn’t hesitate to seek medical care if they believe they are suffering from lingering and debilitating syndromes due to Covid-19, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official advised Wednesday.
So-called long Covid is quiescent not well understood by health experts, Dr. John Brooks, chief medical officer for the CDC’s Covid-19 response, told a Domicile committee. A primary care physician can help determine whether one is suffering from long Covid or an unrelated indisposition, he said.
“If you’re having symptoms you haven’t had before, something new following Covid [such as] chest pain, difficulty respiring, you can’t get your thinking clearly, you’re just not getting better the way you thought you should, have a low threshold to seek care,” Brooks indicated during a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Generally, people worry about going to the hospital and extravagance a physician’s time on something that may not be too serious, especially during the pandemic, Brooks said. In cases of potential prolonged Covid, which researchers are still trying to understand, people shouldn’t do that, he said.
“That may be alright for the cut off term until we can really discriminate more clearly what defines this. We’re in the stage of learning,” he said.
Specific ti of long Covid, which researchers are now calling Post-Acute Sequelae of Covid-19, or PASC, can develop well after the incipient infection, and severity can range from mild to incapacitating, according to public health officials and health experts.
Researchers at the University of Washington publicized data in February that found a third of patients reported ongoing symptoms, including fatigue, shortness of surprise and sleep disorders, that persisted for as long as nine months.
Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Robustness, told the House committee Wednesday that people who have been hospitalized with the virus appear to keep a higher chance of developing long Covid. But people who were not hospitalized can also end up with persistent symptoms, he chance.
Older Americans, women and people who are obese also appear to have a higher risk of developing long Covid, Collins raked the committee, adding the U.S. agency is working quickly to identify potential other risk factors.
The NIH launched an initiative in February to office long Covid and identify the causes and potential treatments.
Some people who have suffered from long Covid say they are pronouncement relief after getting vaccinated, puzzling health experts.
Sheri Paulson, a 53-year-old North Dakota resident who had make uncomfortable getting out of bed months after her Covid-19 diagnosis, told CNBC in March she began to feel better five days after she got her commencement Pfizer shot in February
Collins said Wednesday that the agency has heard anecdotal reports of people atmosphere better after getting vaccinated. But he added large studies are still needed to determine whether the shots are in fact improving symptoms and how.