Dr Elisa Perego Profile picture
#LongCovid | Covid || researcher || inequality, health, disability in present | past || patient-led research || medicine history || MA PhD | ≠ MD || views own
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Dec 18 6 tweets 2 min read
About poliovirus: it's not that polio was taken more seriously than Covid/LC. On the contrary (lockdowns, vaccine at warp speed, etc.). It's that more effective vaccines could be developed for polio than Covid. There is zero cure and almost no awareness for post polio syndrome People basically could be vaccinated for polio and forget about it in most countries. Many people have taken so far 4-7 Covid vaccine doses. This could have eliminated Covid, like polio, in countries where there is such coverage. But the pathogen/vaccine features doesn't allow it
Dec 15 4 tweets 1 min read
Covid-induced acute pancreatitis presenting after discharge for Covid pneumonia. A case report. SARS-CoV-2 infection can trigger pancreatitis presenting in a delayed manner from acute lung pathology

#LongCovid

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC87… Study published in 2022. Team "report a case of a 71-years-old male with multiple comorbidities that was admitted as a case of COVID-19 pneumonia for 10 days."
Dec 6 16 tweets 7 min read
Ongoing examination is suggesting a link with post Covid myocarditis from 2020 for football star Edoardo Bove's cardiac arrest

Bove, 22, collapsed on the pit after an arrhythmia left him unconscious a few days ago against Inter Milan

#LongCovid

cdt.ch/sport/calcio/e… The news has been available on Italian media for days. I have thought a lot about sharing as the information was more speculative before today. It's also sensitive news about a young person. News has been consolidating today with more concrete information

cdt.ch/sport/calcio/e…
Dec 2 7 tweets 2 min read
"Long Covid has dramatically changed my life”
Actor Matt McGorry developed LC after Covid infections in 2020 and 2023, with symptoms of dysautonomia, "brain fog" and debilitating" fatigue that doesn't go away even after "sleeping for 10-12 hours a night"
theguardian.com/wellness/ng-in… "Memorizing lines was becoming hard. Or doing cold reads, where you get handed the script, which requires a lot of multitasking: you’re looking at the script, engaging with the person, hitting the marks." McGorry said
Nov 15 4 tweets 1 min read
Myasthenia gravis (MG) as a complication of #LongCovid. Case report of MG emerging four months after acute Covid. MG is an autoimmune neuromuscular disorder, which could be triggered in the context of immune dysregulation post SARS-CoV-2 infection
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39479090/ "This case illustrates the intricate link between post-viral states and autoimmune responses, particularly in geriatric patients." [The patient in the case study was 81]
Nov 13 9 tweets 2 min read
"I'm getting tired a bit more quicker. 25% of my lungs weren't working after pneumonia"

Tennis star and world number 2 Alexander Zverev, 27, about not being 100% after being hospitalized with pneumonia in late September 2024

sports.yahoo.com/zverev-25-lung… "I ended up in hospital before the Laver Cup [in September] when I had a fever of 40 degrees Celsius for three days in a row and at some point I felt like I couldn't breathe," [tennis star Zverev] said after his win in the ATP Finals opener [in Turin] on Monday.
Nov 12 8 tweets 3 min read
Yes, #LongCovid can kill, for example in view of cardiovascular events. This is shown by the scientific evidence, which has been growing since 2020. Even the US's CDC reported thousands of deaths due to Long Covid. The press must be more careful in dealing with this topic Image This are research and reports of research showing #LongCovid can kill just as examples. Note how it was/is scientifically and publicly accepted LC can be fatal. From 2023

cnn.com/2023/03/03/hea…
Nov 5 8 tweets 2 min read
Yet another study indicates COVID-19 could lead to "significant increase in the risk of dyslipidemia, a condition characterized by abnormal lipid levels in the blood."

#LongCovid

insideprecisionmedicine.com/topics/patient… "The research, which analyzed data from more than 200,000 adults, found that the risk of developing dyslipidemia rose by 29% during the pandemic." [given what we know about Covid and sequelae, SARS-CoV-2 infection must be scrutinised in depth in relation to dyslipidaemia]
Oct 26 19 tweets 3 min read
"A blood clot had travelled to Micah’s lungs, causing a pulmonary embolism. His heart had stopped beating and they couldn’t revive him."

A little boy caught Covid in 2022 and never recovered, with his mother fighting in vain for care

#LongCovid

theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2… "Micah’s story casts light on how parents, especially mothers, are frequently patronised and dismissed by the medical profession. “I can’t think of any other way to describe it besides gaslighting,” Keri-Sue says when [she speaks with the journalist].
Oct 17 7 tweets 2 min read
"Adverse sequelae [in #LongCovid] may range from chest pain, arrhythmias to heart failure (HF), myocardial infarction or sudden cardiac death. The potential for cardiac injury secondary to [LC] must be considered in the preoperative cardiac examination"
degruyter.com/document/doi/1… The paper is a literature review that adds "to the growing body of literature exploring postacute cardiovascular outcomes of COVID-19, with a focus on presurgical cardiac clearance in the adult patient."
The cardiovascular risk of #LongCovid should be considered pre-surgery
Oct 16 7 tweets 1 min read
SARS-CoV-2 infection has significant and long-term impacts on the thyroid in both acute and #LongCovid. A review

cureus.com/articles/29382… "COVID-19 affects the thyroid gland multifacetedly and includes direct viral invasion, immune-mediated damage, and hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis disruption."
Oct 10 5 tweets 2 min read
We know scientifically that, potentially, everyone could be at risk of severe disease in acute Covid and #LongCovid. It might not happen to everyone, of course. Some demographics might be more at risk. But you never know if it's you when you're infected. It's Russian roulette Sportspeople are glaring evidence of the potential severe consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection across ages and prior health statuses: among the fittest people on earth, often young and healthy, elite sportspeople are nonetheless at risk from Covid e.g.

Oct 10 13 tweets 4 min read
Manchester United defender Noussair Mazraoui has had a minor procedure after experiencing palpitations

To note, Mazraoui experienced inflammation of cardiac tissue post Covid in January 2023, and couldn't play until March same year

#LongCovid
bbc.com/sport/football… The Manch. United football star "was substituted at half-time against Aston Villa on Sunday with coach Erik ten Hag later explaining that he had to be taken off and would be sent to be examined. He subsequently withdrew from the Morocco team this week"

goal.com/en/lists/man-u…
Oct 9 7 tweets 2 min read
"There's no sign of attenuation of that risk"

"People who caught Covid in 2020, had twice the risk of a major cardiac event like a heart attack or stroke or death for almost 3 years after their illness, compared with the people who didn’t test positive"
edition.cnn.com/2024/10/09/hea… The study is based on a large database called the UK biobank. There, the team identified 11,000+ people who had a positive test for Covid in their 2020 medical records, nearly 3,000 hospitalized. They compared these groups with 222,000+ people with no history of Covid
Oct 8 5 tweets 2 min read
Repeating once again. #LongCovid is a multi-system disease. It's not a "brain" disease, although the central nervous system (CNS) is one of the affected body systems.
This is proven by thousands of scientific publications as well as patient testimonies

allaboutlongcovid.uk/2023/03/22/lon… My tweet comes from journalist reporting such as this, which highlight damage to only one organ or body system (the brain in this case) as the cause of #LongCovid symptoms. While such studies have merit, the entire body of science available shows the multi-system nature of LC Image
Oct 7 9 tweets 2 min read
Study shows "ongoing influx of pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic immune cells from blood into lungs even one year after the COVID infection"

Research could provide insights into fibrosis formation in #LongCovid. Two study patients needed lung transplant
news.feinberg.northwestern.edu/2024/10/07/lon… Easy to read report above. Key findings as shared in the report:

CT scans were done an average of 145 days after COVID infection and showed 39% pulmonary fibrosis and 22% inflammatory changes in the 35 patients tested.
Oct 6 7 tweets 1 min read
In a sample of 130,010 🇺🇸 children diagnosed with COVID, 43,645 (33.6%) exhibited at least one Long COVID symptom/condition 30—180 days after their Covid diagnosis. Children with LC had significant increase in healthcare utilisation (e.g. emergency)
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39369205/ "Children with Long COVID symptoms/conditions had 152% higher odds of ED visits, while those with specific symptoms including "chest pain" had 255% higher odds and "fluid and electrolyte disturbances" had 229% higher odds compared to those without those symptoms/conditions."
Sep 30 6 tweets 2 min read
A kind reminder #LongCovid as a disease entity was identified/named/defined in spring to summer 2020, and openly recognised by @WHO in August 2020. By autumn 2020, papers/preprints were coming out on putative disease mechanisms and organ damage. LC was widely in the press, too It was also known before the current pandemic that SARS survivors were ill for years or had never recovered. SARS-CoV-2, the pathogen responsible for Covid, is a close "cousin" of SARS-Cov- (SARS). We all saw what Covid did in Bergamo, Italy, in 2020

globalnews.ca/news/404562/sa…
Sep 28 7 tweets 2 min read
A review of 54 cardiac tissue samples showed "SARS-CoV-2 infects cardiomyocytes by the TNF-NF-κB pathway, potentially triggering acute cardiovascular complications and increasing the long-term cardiovascular risk in COVID-19 patients."

#LongCovid

nature.com/articles/s4159… "SARS-CoV-2 infection induced significant changes in gene expression within cardiomyocytes [in the cardiac tissue samples under study]"

Cardiomyocytes are primary cells in the heart myocardium
.sciencedirect.com/topics/enginee…
Sep 27 24 tweets 7 min read
I had the pleasure to present (virtually) at @winslow_la conference on Covid activism today. My talk "Canaries in the coal mines. Patient activism in early Covid epicenters" offered snapshots of survivors' advocacy leading to #LongCovid recognition

A thread

#ConfWinslowCovid24 Image Pandemics are history making events. The way we record pandemic history has huge implications for public health, public safety, preparedness, prevention, justice, patient rights. A key historical aspect of this pandemic is patient activism, which redefined how Covid is understood
Sep 23 6 tweets 2 min read
We have known Covid can cause prolonged disease affecting the brain and central nervous system for years. This is including after asymptomatic/pauci-symptomatic and so-called mild acute cases. Many of the first reports came from first-wave survivors themselves e.g. one important study that gained much attention in 2021 to 2022 (UK Biobank)