Friday, April 2, 2021

Something Called 'Long-Covid'?

 Focus brought this up in the AM today, and it goes this way.

You come down with a serious bout of Covid (the type that requires you to visit the hospital, get entry, and probably spend 10 to 14 days in intensive care with a ICU bed deal).  You get better, get tested negative, and leave.  In your mind and under previous 'logic'....you were in a better state of health.

Well....the Brits have done a study, and found that of this 'visitor-to-hospital' group...about one-third of them end back at the hospital within four months.  And out of this 2nd-time guest deal....around one-in-eight dies eventually.  Age isn't discussed in this piece, and you just have to wonder about this statistic. 

What they are hinting at...the initial bout and the initial visit to the hospital...have triggered some type of damage to organs (infections probably), and this second visit is a 'ticket' of sorts....meaning getting over Covid isn't the end of the story.  

My interpretation?  As rough and tough as our bodies are....they are fairly fragile. 

More science and investigation required?  No doubt.  Now I should point this out....it's a Brit study...NOT a German study.  The Germans haven't suggested that return-trips have bumped up.  

Some of this going to hygiene issues?  No factual evidence to support that.  But anyone who has watched German public TV over the past five years (before Covid came along) will tell you that hygiene is a massive issue for hospital consumers, and certain hospitals do a crappy job.  Back around 2018, you started to notice a national trend where German hospitals were hiring up hygiene experts, training nurses and staff on the topic, and spending more on cleaning efforts.  

Maybe this 'long-Covid' has more connected to hygiene than Covid itself.  

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