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As if contracting COVID-19 wasn’t bad enough, in some cases, the virus seems to leave behind a little memento which stays in your body, even after you’ve technically ‘recovered’.

Many who were infected in the early stages of the pandemic are still struggling with symptoms, which some are calling “long COVID”.

The physical effects range from mild to severe and have been experienced by both adults and children.

The frequency is enough that there are now calls for the condition to be classified as an “occupational disease” for frontline workers.

According to Sky News, the symptoms could include fatigue and “brain fog”, and in some rare cases, nerve pain and paralysis.

There is also concern about the long-term effects on some children.

Sammie McFarland, from Dorset in the UK, runs the Long COVID Kids Support group, which maintains contact with over 1 000 families, including around 1 500 children affected by the condition:

The group gathers data anonymously in an attempt to understand the post-virus effects, with a recent study of more than 300 members showing over 100 reported symptoms.

Commonly reported symptoms included:

• Fatigue
• Headaches
• Stomach pain
• Dizziness
• Muscle pain

“Frightening” long-term effects also included:

• Paralysis
• Electric shock-like pain
• Nerve pain. testicular pain
• Appendicitis
• Liver damage
• New-onset seizures

Anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and volatile mood changes were also recorded, although these symptoms have, in other studies, been attributed to the toll on mental health that comes with living through a pandemic.

There’s also the Long COVID Support group which has upwards of 35 000 members.

Participants have also reported some of the above symptoms, with some adding heart palpitations and shortness of breath to the list.

According to a study by the National Institute for Health Research, long COVID could be caused by a combination of four different syndromes affecting the body at the same time: post-viral fatigue syndrome, post-intensive care syndrome, permanent organ damage, and long-term COVID-19 syndrome.

Dr Elaine Maxwell, the author of the review, told Sky News: “The problem with the term long COVID is it covers such a very wide range of experiences that it’s difficult to understand a common thread between all of them. The only thing between them is an initial COVID infection.”

The most common symptom is “brain fog”, which they believe could be caused by “ongoing inflammation” in the brain following a COVID-19 infection.

Surveys have suggested that long COVID is more prevalent in women and younger people. It also appears to be unrelated to the severity of the infection.

Many have described the long-term effects as being worse than the actual virus, which is unsettling. There is no data at the moment which provides a timeline that might indicate whether or when the symptoms could subside.

You can read personal stories from people living with long COVID here.

Or, watch this video that Sky News made towards the end of last year, with interviews:

[source:skynews]