The winter holidays brought about a national surge in respiratory illnesses, like RSV, COVID-19 and the flu. According (CDC), Texas, along with 20 other states, has a 鈥渧ery high鈥� level of respiratory illness activity.
While many people recover from COVID-19, more than a quarter of Texans who contracted the virus have experienced long COVID, according to . Long COVID is the name for the physical and neurological symptoms that stick around after recovering from the virus.
Doctors who treat COVID-19 locally, like physicians at UT Health Austin鈥檚 and UT Southwestern Medical Center鈥檚 program, are still helping people months and even years after they鈥檝e been infected.
Dr. Surendra Barshikar, an associate and the medical director for the center鈥檚 COVID Recover Program, said about two-thirds of patients seen in the clinic for long COVID had 鈥渧ery mild disease.鈥�
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter whether you had mild, moderate or severe disease, there鈥檚 still a chance of having long COVID,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n fact, [a] majority of long COVID patients were never hospitalized. Though the severity of acute disease has significantly lowered, you can still develop long COVID.鈥�
According to a , including UT Austin, people who are female, were hospitalized for a longer period of time for COVID, and people with risk factors like 鈥渃hronic heart, lung or neurologic disease鈥� were at higher risk of developing long COVID. Risk factors included things like mental health conditions, hypertension, and asthma.
often include fatigue, forgetfulness or brain fog, and difficulty concentrating, which can make treating the disease complicated.
鈥淚nitially, we were completely clueless,鈥� said Barshikar. 鈥淏ut I think over [the] years, we鈥檝e learned a little more, we know a little more, and I think we at least know how to manage some of the symptoms.鈥�
said when patients present with long COVID, he encourages them to slow down.
鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing in the research over and over the more they try to push through and exert themselves, the worse they feel,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing that even on a cellular level their body doesn鈥檛 have the energy it needs.鈥�
Dr. Esther Melamed, the director of research for the Post-COVID-19 Program, said people鈥檚 chances at developing long COVID increase the more times they鈥檝e had the virus.
鈥淲hile we鈥檙e still learning how to treat long COVID, the best way to treat it is really to prevent it,鈥� she said.
She encourages people to stay up to date on vaccinations for COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses like the flu, as that prevents people from developing worse symptoms in the future.
Got a tip? Email Elena Rivera at erivera@kera.org
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