For the fortunate among us, the Covid-19 pandemic seems like nothing but a bizarre, distant fever dream.
Wearing masks in public, 9pm curfews and staying inside all day are things of the past, and the vast majority of the world has since moved on.
However, for some children who are suffering from Long Covid, the painful nightmare is still in full swing.
Rolling Stone has spent two years investigating the impact of 'Long Covid' on kids, including the 'debilitating' symptoms they're still experiencing to this day - from extreme fatigue to constant stomach pain.
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As per the NHS website, Long Covid, sometimes called post-Covid syndrome, happens when the symptoms of Covid-19 last longer than 12 weeks.
The most common symptoms are listed as being:
- feeling extremely tired (fatigue)
- shortness of breath
- joint pain and aching muscles
- problems with your memory and concentration, also called brain fog
However, there is a very long and varied list of other symptoms, including everything from hair loss to skin rashes.
One of the case studies in the publication's investigation, Joy Corbitt's then-14-year-old daughter, Lia, came home from school with what she described as a 'very minor sore throat' in January 2021.
As per school policy, she isolated for 10 days; however, on her first day back, her throat was sore all morning, and she threw up at lunch.
Lia told the publication: “I was very confused. I thought, ‘Am I still sick? I thought it would go away quickly."
For the next three years, she developed a set of 'debilitating symptoms' including extreme fatigue, brain fog and incessant vomiting, which kept her out of class and caused her grades to slip.
Joy said: "When you have a disability people can’t see, you don’t get the same level of empathy. It feels like the world has moved on."
As reported by Rolling Stone, in September, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) held two roundtables with the purpose of bringing long Covid 'out of the shadows,' which included launching a 'public awareness and education campaign'.
However, allegedly, little has actually happened since then and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reportedly lost nearly $2 billion that was invested in the RECOVER (Researching Covid to Enhance Recovery) initiative.
And a lot of the children who are diagnosed are reportedly denied accommodations at school, being told 'Covid is over' and 'we have great teachers here'.
Virginia Senator Tim Kaine said in response to Rolling Stone: "Millions of Americans are impacted by Long Covid, and they deserve a federal government that will have their back. The Trump administration is not only failing to achieve those goals, but actively taking us in the wrong direction.”
According to the World Health Organisation, approximately 6 in every 100 people who have Covid-19 develop post-Covid-19 condition, and millions of people have been affected.
As we say, over 200 different symptoms have been reported by people with post-Covid-19 condition, and the illness can affect the ability to work and may lead to loss of productivity, and a reduction in income and quality of life.
There's currently no cure, and the condition is still being researched.
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Madison Burgess