ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — More than a year after bouts with COVID-19, many people in the Bay area, as well as worldwide, are still suffering from brain fog, fatigue and a lack of taste or smell as they cope with trying to recover their health.
Many people continue to have lingering symptoms months, and in some cases a year or more, after recovering from COVID.
It’s known as long COVID and people still experiencing symptoms are long haulers.
On this episode of To The Point Already, Spectrum Bay News 9 anchors Rick Elmhorst and Roy De Jesus talk with Bay area residents still dealing with COVID symptoms, some minor and others not, months after recovering from the virus.
Kristin Tafelski was diagnosed with COVID more than a year ago but is still dealing with a myriad of symptoms she can’t shake.
“I’m now 16 months out and I’m still dealing with a laundry list of side effects,” said Tafelski, who described bouts with brain fog and even brief vision loss and an elevated heart rate. “I’ve been to many doctors and they are just not sure what to do.
“(They’ve) been treating the symptoms but not really knowing what the root cause is at this moment.”
More than a third of COVID-19 survivors by some estimates will develop such lingering problems. Now, with omicron sweeping across the globe, scientists are racing to pinpoint the cause of the bedeviling condition and find treatments before a potential explosion in long COVID cases.
Long COVID affects adults of all ages, as well as children. Research shows it is more prevalent among those who were hospitalized, but also strikes a significant portion who weren’t.
Dr. Debabrata Bandyopadhyay, a pulmonologist at USF Health, said the school has created a clinic to study COVID long haulers.
“Patients kept calling us,” Bandyopadhyay said of patients after they were treated and released from the hospital. “(Many patients) kept having lingering symptoms. It’s really a mystery why this is happening. “We are still working, still doing research (on it).
ABOUT THE SHOW
Spectrum Bay News 9 anchor Rick Elmhorst sits down with the people that represent you, the people fighting for change and the people with fascinating stories to ask the hard questions.