United States: The idea of Long Covid, a condition where people experience ongoing health problems after a Covid-19 infection, is controversial across United States.
However, some of the patient groups have reported a variety of symptoms they believe are linked to Covid ofcourse, but it’s possible these might just be coincidences.
Scientific Perspective and Historical Comparisons
As reported by the Telegraph, Current science suggests that not all of these symptoms are clearly caused by Covid. Just like with HIV/AIDS in the 1980s, patient activism helps get in the spotlight from researchers and also the funds. However, it’s important to remember that these patient reports are not the same as solid scientific proof.\
This matters for the two reasons only. This could be two faced like fear and uncertainty around the Long Covid attracts many people with other motives and these may be political and trying to discredit the political choices made by the Conservative government in the pandemic management and they may be mercenary.
Risks of Misinformation and Exploitation
Probably like HIV/AIDS and the long COVID appears to have attracted many snake oil and the merchants and some of whom may even have a medical license and the government have a proper role in the consumer’s protection and there have been bans on the advertising cancer treatments for example to prevent the quacks from taking the advantage of sick vulnerable and the desperate people.
It would be extraordinary if Covid were the only viral infection not to have an associate post-viral syndrome.
Focus on Evidence-Based Treatments
As a custodian of the taxpayers’ money the NHS also has a duty to focus on its efforts where there is good evidence of likely benefit for its use of resources and the treatments should never be offered simply because patients would like to have them.
In a consumerist age there are already some expectations that medical Interventions should be provided just because some activists group would like them to be and during the pandemic many social interventions were introduced based on the flimsy or non-existent evident but the standards of the evidences established in the medical practice of the last seventy years must be revised to fit.
