What is long Covid?

Long Covid is when a month or longer after having Covid-19, you still experience headaches, difficulty breathing, extreme fatigue, loss of taste, and/or smell. If you have long Covid, you are not contagious and there is no test to figure out if you have long Covid. Some people’s symptoms of long Covid disappear after a few weeks, but some people still show symptoms months later. NBC News says that “it’s been estimated that one-third of Covid patients may experience symptoms for at least a month.”

Who is more likely to contract long Covid?

Our immune systems have antibodies that help fight viruses, two of which are IgM and IgG3. According to NBC News, when you are healthy these levels of antibodies rise to help fight infections. However, in many long Covid patients’ researchers found that these levels decreased instead. Many individuals also were middle-aged and had a history of asthma or allergy-related illnesses. Having asthma or a history of asthma can cause the person’s body to react differently to viruses which may explain long Covid. This information doesn’t mean that only middle-aged people can contract long Covid, in fact, many children have experienced long Covid.  According to AMA, doctors estimate that anywhere from 15% to 80% of people who have had Covid can have had long Covid.

How do you treat long Covid?

Unfortunately, doctors and scientists alike don’t have any idea on how to treat long Covid since it is slightly different for every person. 

Are you still able to spread Covid if you have long Covid?

No, if you have long Covid you are not able to spread Covid to other people. This is because long Covid is your bodies’ reaction to the virus rather than the virus itself causing the symptoms.