The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the conclusion of the federal COVID-19 public health emergency in mid-May. This change slightly limits the data reporting of COVID-19 cases, and insurance providers are no longer required to cover COVID-19 testing, though telehealth flexibilities and access to vaccine and treatments will remain.
The Department of Health and Human Services reports that COVID-19 deaths have declined by 95 percent since January 2021, and hospitalizations are down nearly 91 percent. Even so, people are still catching COVID-19, and according to 2022 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around one-fifth of them will develop symptoms of long COVID.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Adult Post-Acute COVID Clinic is booked well into the summer. Sara Martin, assistant professor of medicine and one of the founders of the clinic, anticipates that demand will continue to rise.
Sara Martin
“The data shows that there were not as many long COVID cases from Omicron,” Martin says, referencing the COVID variant that proliferated from late 2021 until subvariant BA.5 took over in summer 2022. “However, there's still a high frequency of COVID cases weekly. In the end, we know that a certain percentage of those patients will likely go on to develop long COVID. We have not seen a slow-down in volume.”
The first federal study defining symptoms of long COVID (medically known as Postacute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection) was also released in May.
The study measured long COVID symptoms in nearly 10,000 participants and found the following 12 to be most prevalent: post-exertional malaise (worsening of symptoms following even minor physical or mental exertion), fatigue, brain fog, dizziness, gastrointestinal issues, palpitations, changes in sexual desire or capacity, loss of or change in smell or taste, thirst, chronic cough, chest pain and abnormal movements.
Martin says physicians cannot yet identify long COVID through blood tests or other laboratory tests, so they rely on other clinical measurements. She adds that the most common symptoms seen at the VUMC long COVID clinic are included in the list, but shortness of breath is one frequent symptom that did not make the top 12.
“There are certain conditions and certain presentations that would still be consistent with long COVID that aren't captured within this list, but it's a nice start,” Martin says. “It's a nice way to be able to at least have some baseline criteria to look for that are highly associated with long COVID, but it's certainly not the end-all, be-all of a diagnosis at this time.”
The study was a part of the national RECOVER initiative, in which VUMC is participating. VUMC is also looking into long COVID effects on the heart through an American Heart Association grant. Long COVID research has plenty of funding, Martin says, but she sees gaps in public health outreach. Long COVID can be considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act if it substantially limits one or more major life activities, though Martin often sees patients experience difficulty accessing federal disability benefits.
“The gap I see truly seems to be in how we manage people that have ongoing chronic disability and help them access resources that are needed,” she says.
For those who think they may have long COVID, Martin suggests starting with a primary care doctor.
“We know that vaccination reduces your risk of developing long COVID, for sure,” Martin says. “That has been studied and proven. We also know that in a certain percentage of patients, if you have not been vaccinated and have long COVID, actually getting vaccinated can improve your symptoms of long COVID.”
This article first ran via our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
