The World Health Organization reported omicron鈥檚 emergence in , with the variant quickly becoming the dominant strain Texas and across the U.S. Its spread during December and January delayed school openings and strained hospital capacity.
At one point in mid-January, more than 60,000 Texans had the virus, the largest number of cases the state had ever seen since starting COVID-19 tracking.
But while North Texas physicians aren鈥檛 , they are concerned about a wide variety of lingering symptoms, like brain fog, nerve damage, fatigue, shortness of breath and irregular heartbeat.
, who sees patients from both Parkland Health and UT Southwestern as the director of the COVID Recover Clinic, says physicians need to be proactive in diagnosing lingering symptoms because .
鈥淭here鈥檚 no one test, there鈥檚 no simple exam that can diagnose long COVID,鈥� Barshikar said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 based on history, it鈥檚 based on detail assessments, and it鈥檚 basically a clinical diagnosis.鈥�
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who tested positive for COVID have developed long COVID symptoms. Symptoms can appear anywhere between four to 12 weeks after recovering from COVID, Barshikar said.
The COVID Recover Clinic helps patients identify and manage He says about two-thirds of patients in the clinic do improve, and for many it鈥檚 about symptom management over time.
鈥淏asically if you have lingering symptoms or you develop new symptom after the initial, acute infection is done, you have long COVID,鈥� he said.
There are post-viral symptoms from other diseases like Ebola that physicians can draw on to understand COVID-19, but Barshikar said it鈥檚 not an exact match.
鈥淲e knew certain post-viral conditions existed, but the magnitude of this one, and the symptoms and the systems that are involved in this one is like no other,鈥� he said.
says there鈥檚 a lot epidemiologists and health scientists still don鈥檛 know about the virus, according to Chief Medical Officer for Parkland Health.
鈥淚n the grand scheme of things, we are in our infancy in understanding a disease like COVID,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e still discover new things about HIV, year after year, and we鈥檝e been dealing with HIV as a major health problem, in at least this country, for three, four decades now. Science doesn鈥檛 move that fast, and it does take time to see some of these things.鈥�
The other challenge, says Chang, is that there isn鈥檛 a cure for long COVID.
鈥淭he example I鈥檝e used of people having residual lung damage that now need oxygen鈥e don鈥檛 know anything about making that need of oxygen go away,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 really know how to fix the root of the problem. Right now, identification is certainly possible, but effective treatments are still lagging.鈥�
Both Barshikar and Chang urge people to stay up to date with COVID vaccinations and boosters, as they鈥檙e . In Texas, .
鈥淧revention is really the only way of guaranteeing you won鈥檛 have some of these long-term symptoms,鈥� Chang said. 鈥淥nce you get them, it鈥檚 too late.鈥�
In addition, .
鈥淓ven now if we see the severity of acute COVID is low, I still recommend to some of my patients that never considered vaccinations in the beginning to get vaccinated,鈥� Barshikar said. 鈥淎nd not just to prevent acute disease, but to prevent long COVID.鈥�
Chang says he hopes COVID becomes just one of the many viruses health professionals diagnose and treat over the next few years, but doctors caution that even a mild case of the virus could lead to lifelong complications.
鈥淚t鈥檚 too late to regret it once you鈥檙e there,鈥� Chang said. 鈥淥nce it鈥檚 happened, it鈥檚 happened. So again, prevention, prevention, prevention.鈥�
Got a tip? Email Elena Rivera at erivera@kera.org. You can follow Elena on Twitter .
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