B.C.'s COVID long haulers: Some paying for treatment, all looking for answers

Some British Columbians who were among the first to become infected with a mysterious global virus that didn’t yet have a name are marking two years of lingering symptoms.

Some British Columbians who were among the first to become infected with a mysterious global virus that didn’t yet have a name are marking two years of lingering symptoms.

In March 2020, the idea that COVID-19 symptoms could last long after the acute, infectious phase of the illness was approached with skepticism by many medical professionals. Now, researchers and clinicians have learned much about the virus and what it can do to the human body.

“Long COVID syndrome is more and more clearly (involving) almost every system in the body, including the nervous system,” said Dr. Chris Carlsten, UBC’s head of respiratory medicine and one of the first doctors to treat patients with ongoing symptoms. 

“This not in their head. This is not something that they're making up and scientists and biologists and those that are spending time doing this are seeing real effects in the body that can explain it, even if we haven't come up with a treatment yet."

Carlsten says researchers now believe that the inflammation and damage different parts of the body could be due to the virus continuing to be active in those patients, that the immune system’s response plays a role, or that the antibodies generated could be responsible.

He emphasized that the approved COVID-19 vaccines are dramatically reducing the likelihood of developing long COVID, even if someone is infected, and that long-haulers who are vaccinated often see an improvement in their symptoms; time and targeted treatment are also helping. 

“On average, the patients that come through the (provincially-funded COVID-19) clinics do seem improved and while we will analyze that statistically, formally, I am confident that we're seeing that," said Carlsten.