Thread by @beccyjanehealey

Doctors with #LongCovid 🧵.

I’m noticing increasingly vicious trolling in recent weeks, always when advocating for airborne precautions or calling out SARS2 misinformation.

Sadly, this is not a unique experience. ⬇️

Some thoughts:

1/

medpagetoday.com/opinion/second…

Yes, there are airborne pathogens other than SARS2. Yes, things were always ‘that way’ before. Yes, it would be easier if we could go back to doing things ‘that way’.

No, SARS2 is not like ‘other respiratory illnesses’. No, we can’t ignore reality.

2/

We can’t ignore growing disability & economic inactivity, and the role SARS2 plays in this.

We can’t turn a blind eye to the repeated mass infection of the population with SARS2 - a neurotropic, vascular damaging virus, known to cause widespread chronic sequelae. 3/

https://twitter.com/chiefscican/status/1733865086748414173

Many doctors with #LongCovid were in 2020 (& are still) the canaries in the mine.

Doctors are accustomed to playing the long game. They raise concerns when necessary. They were silenced about acute Covid; they are being silenced about chronic Covid. 4/

amp.theguardian.com/education/2020…

Doctors with #LongCovid are deeply concerned by the current picture. Some are sticking their head above the parapet & calling out ongoing injustices, despite their own struggles.

This is a concern shared by numerous experts globally.

Please listen. 5/

https://twitter.com/mvankerkhove/status/1741384947892441165

Doctors harmed by #LongCovid are no less:

knowledgeable
skilled
committed
caring

than their peers who so far have escaped observable harm.

They do understand, viscerally, how it feels to experience LC, & how swiftly all aspects of life can unravel thereafter. 6/

Doctors with #LongCovid know that there is little to no true support or treatment out there at present. They are aware of the urgency for research funding into potential treatments, & continue to push for this, alongside reinfection prevention. 7/

amp.theguardian.com/society/2022/o…

Some doctors developed #LongCovid just as they were embarking on their career. Some were approaching retirement. All experiences are valid. Not all have been supported. Many have been dropped by their trusts like hot potatoes. 8/

bma.org.uk/bma-media-cent…

Some doctors with #LongCovid have lost their jobs. Savings. Homes. Relationships. They may have had to pause their licence. This does not mean they’re ’not a Dr’. It means they aren’t currently able to work as they did, while they try to recover. 9/

news.sky.com/story/one-in-f…

That doctors with #LongCovid can be so swiftly abandoned by their employers, is a reflection on the lack of support & protection by their employing trusts, rather than a lack of ability or dedication on the part of the doctors affected. 10/

Doctors with #LongCovid may have suffered multiple losses to Covid, not least their jobs. Those that have, should not be ridiculed for attempting to earn from other roles for which they do have the spoons. They are likely struggling more than you realise. 11/

Many doctors with #LongCovid put their lives at risk, at a time when we had no clue what was happening. They were, and still are, much needed. The suffering witnessed was and still is haunting. Many now have PTSD. There have been suicides. 12/

No HCP expected or asked for claps in 2020. Humanity & empathy, on the other hand, could do with making an appearance right now. Along with it, greater curiosity for what the science is telling us.
#SARSCoV2 is an ongoing global health threat. 13/

I don’t do this for fun. I do this because I want to prevent happening to others, what happened to me. I do it because we’re supposed to ‘do no harm’.

Infecting each other with SARS2 ad infinitum, is not that. HCPs infecting patients with SARS2, is definitely not that. 14/

I can’t in good conscience stay silent while witnessing those in positions of power mislead the public about SARS2 mode of transmission & reinfection risks.

Covid conscious & #CV people are being excluded from safe participation in society.

This is not acceptable. 15/

https://twitter.com/cv_cev/status/1772709970506567822

Our collective health will be better safeguarded in the future, not by ignoring #SARSCoV2 as the global health threat that it still is, but by acknowledging it, & accepting that we have to *safely* live with it. 16/

#CovidIsAirborne #CleanAirNow #MasksInHealthcare

Whilst I have spoken about doctors affected here, the above applies to *any* employee who has suffered with Covid, & continues to lack employment protections & support. Or indeed any person who is struggling to survive after SARS2 infection.

17/

Airborne transmission means airborne precautions. This should not be up for debate. @TheBMA wrote to @NHSEngland on this in Dec 23. ⬇️

It’s staggering that 4 years in, we’re *still* having to fight for this.

#CovidIsAirborne #CleanAirNow

18/18

pslhub.org/learn/coronavi…