Thread by @MEActNet

"To understand why long Covid represents a looming catastrophe, we need look no further than the historical antecedents: similar postinfection syndromes. Experience with conditions such as myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)..." 🧵
nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…

".. fibromyalgia, post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, chronic Epstein–Barr virus, and even the 19th-century diagnosis of neurasthenia could foreshadow the suffering of patients with long Covid in the months and years after infection." #LongCovid #MECFS #pwME

"The health care community, the media, and most people with long Covid have treated this syndrome as an unexpected new phenomenon. But given the long arc and enigmatic history of “new” postinfection syndromes, the emergence of long Covid should not be surprising."

"If the past is any guide, they will be disbelieved, marginalized, and shunned by many members of the medical community... Because of a lack of support from the medical community, patients with long Covid & activists have already formed online support groups." @itsbodypolitic

"Unless we proactively develop a health care framework & strategy based on unified, patient-centric, supportive principles, we will leave millions of patients in the turbulent breach. The majority will be women; many will have chronic, incapacitating conditions.." #LongCovid

"The relationship of long Covid to ME/CFS has been brought into focus by the CDC, the NIH, the WHO, & Anthony Fauci, the chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden & director of NIAID.."
Learn more about #LongCovid & #MECFS meaction.net/long-covid-me-…