Long covid skepticism

[Ohalrightthen]

According to my doctor father, "long covid" is basically nonexistent in under 18s and over 65s. He was amused by the coincidence that the only people who seem to be experiencing extended symptoms and effects of the disease are those who are "likely to want a decent reason to call in sick to work"

Not sure how much i believe that, but it does seem weird that kids (who've been off school anyway) and retired people don't seem to be getting long covid. Is there a medical reason that it's only affecting people 20ish-60ish?

As your DDad is a doctor, you couid ask him to pass on his copies of the BMJ - they have had a lot of articles and discussion about long Covid in recent weeks

Your dad's a doctor? He's heard of xrays and other tests?

Long covid only between 18 and 65? Prove it.

@scaevola

As your DDad is a doctor, you couid ask him to pass on his copies of the BMJ - they have had a lot of articles and discussion about long Covid in recent weeks

What's the verdict?

Is your father Dr No, Dr Who or Dr Dolittle?

Or you could try BMJ Online

Maybe with this article

www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3026

and from that you can navigate to others

Another goady post. What the hell is wrong with people.

Is he a medical doctor?

Maybe children & teens are unlikely to suffer from it.
Perhaps older people do get it, but they either a) are less likely to pull through if they get covid that badly in the first place, or b) if they are not working, there's no particular reason for them to call in sick anywhere, is there. I'm sure there are lots of people just struggling on, the best they can. Same as usual.

In any case, why does he believe that it's only people of working age that are getting this long term aftereffects. Does he have any statistics to back that up?

Is your dad the same Dr Bananas who signed the Barrington declaration, along with a whole load of other fake "experts"?

I only know one person with long covid. He owns his own business and is really unwell but still struggling into work because otherwise he will lose everything that he has worked so hard to build up. I don't think he would think much of your dad's theory tbh.

I don't know anyone who has had COVID never mind king COVID. Doesn't mean I don't think it's there.

What's your dad a doctor of?

This is the attitude I’ve had to deal with my entire life, having had a severe respiratory diseases in childhood and having ME and a heart condition as a result. I was in a wheelchair by the time I was in my mind twenties and bought a stair lift at the age of 27. My whole life, career and every relationship I’ve ever had have been blighted by my disability and now I’m a mother to a 3 year old and it just gets harder. I hoped that these attitudes were a thing of the past, that the ignorance in my childhood in the 90s was a distant memory. But no, it seems it’s still happening now. Why can’t people believe that if the body goes through a huge trauma as a result of a virus that there are lifelong consequences sometimes? It’s not that remarkable!

Is he the same twattish doctor that declared my 10 year life ruining battle with ME a "middle class fad"?

He's amused at people suffering? Pretty shitty doctor, isn't he?

I think @SisyphusAndTheRockOfUntidiness has it.

Isn't post viral fatigue a recognised thing? I assumed long covid was just the same as that.

Glad to know that someone out their is using other people’s misery to justify their own nasty breed of politics. I hope he doesn’t get it himself, presumably he is no longer in the 18-65 “shirker” age group.

I really could say a lot worse

Those of us with fatigue causing conditions get this all the time. Someone will say it's all in your head, you're skiving etc. This GP is very unhelpful, but I hear there are clinics being set up for long covid so clearly it's widely accepted and the NHS are doing something about it.

Let’s hope you get your medical advice elsewhere. And don’t catch Covid and get left with debilitating issues

Glad your dad finds it hilarious that my 16 year old had long term breathing problems as a direct result of having contracted covid back in March.

So nice to know my child’s suffering and pain is providing him with amusement.

Let’s hope he doesn’t catch it as badly as my child did what with him being such a learned doctor and all.

My post viral fatigue was diagnosed when I was at uni, so not shirking work, just unable to have a normal uni life. I'm not sure how I benefitted from that

So he’s a Doctor that has never heard of Post Viral Syndrome?

I can understand the skepticism of Long COVID being entirely separate from post-viral (fatigue) syndrome or post-infectious fatigue syndrome, or at sources that only talk about Long COVID without mention of those as research I've seen for months has been talking about this as at most a variant of it, and most that this is simply a situation of being able to study post-viral syndrome in a way that hasn't happened before with our current level of technology.

I can understand the frustration of those who have conditions linked to post-viral syndrome over the years, both in this being dismissed as a thing and in this being taken more seriously, and tht may be fueling some skepticism.

I don't think we have enough information to know an age range, so I suspect this is just going off anecdotes combined with how how many of the conditions work. One of the most typically conditions connected to post-viral syndrome is Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome which mostly commonly starts I think in the 40s-60s, fibromyalgia has been connected and is most likely to be diagnosed something like 35-40, but both of these can take so long to get a diagnosis that those age ranges aren't clear, and some variants of POTS that are linked and affects people from about 12 or so. We're complicated creatures and our knowledge of these things is still developing.

I WFH and very much need my income, so my continuing symptoms are nothing to do with that.

I don't know if I could be described as having 'long covid', but I do know I've never got my energy back, I still get out of breath walking to the post box, and I can't play my musical instrument (brass) without taking a breath every few seconds. I can't play it with anywhere near the power I used to be able to.

I'm 30, and have no reason to say any of this, as I need to work as mentioned.

I can understand the skepticism of Long COVID being entirely separate from post-viral (fatigue) syndrome or post-infectious fatigue syndrome

These are nasty things to get anyway even if it is the same. With Covid being a new virus, the after effects are still unknown.