As COVID cases continue to hit the area – and the country – the lasting impact of previous diagnosis remains.
A study conducted by the global data intelligence company Morning Consult on behalf of the de Beaumont Foundation found that 78 percent of the 806 U.S. physicians polled felt that long COVID was a genuine public health problem but only 7 percent were very confident diagnosing.
Even more: Only 4 percent were very confident treating the chronic condition.
How big of an issue is this: It has been estimated that more than 38 million people in the U.S. suffer from long COVID.
“Many of these people are disabled or highly compromised. Yet, because of lack of physician education, about 85 percent of them remain undiagnosed,” Board certified internist Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum said. Teitelbaum is an expert in treating chronic fatigue syndrome, and said the issue needs to be addressed. “As clearly stated in the international, peer-reviewed journal, Infection & Chemotherapy, if somebody has persistent symptoms 3 months after a COVID infection, they have long COVID. Yet only 7 percent of doctors feel confident in their ability to make the diagnosis,” he noted.
“To put this in perspective, 38 million Americans also have diabetes. It would be unimaginable if doctors would not be familiar with this disease, its treatment, or how to make the diagnosis. However, that is the case for long COVID.”
Teitelbaum said more needs to be done.
“We’re dealing with a major magnitude post-pandemic public health emergency and yet 4+ years after the outbreak we’re still seriously deficient in physician education,” he said. “Unfortunately, we’ve seen these kinds of problems in the past, specifically in our lackluster efforts to find effective therapies for chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. Like long COVID, these are complex illnesses that deplete the body’s core energy reserves.”
