A person still affected more than three months following being infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus suffers from a long Covid. More than a hundred different symptoms have been identified, sometimes very disabling, not all of them necessarily directly linked to the virus or to the inflammation.
“Ultimately, whatever the origin of the symptoms, what matters is the difficulty of living with a disease”, says a member of the cabinet of the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran. Some 130 “coordination cells”, supposed to guide care, have already been implemented by the Regional Health Agencies. But the ministry recognizes knowledge and devices that are still heterogeneous in the territory. A “roadmap”, endowed with 20 million euros over three years, aims to harmonize, train and inform.
70,000 people very affected
« Progress has been made, recognizes Pauline Oustric, president of the association AprèsJ20. We know that it is a scientific reality, with fluctuating and persistent symptoms. Which can be disabling in social and professional life. Job losses, dropouts… There is still a lot to do. »
How many people involved? For the time being, there are only estimates: 700,000 people, of whom 70,000 would need specific care. No method specially adapted to this disease, but depending on the case, physiotherapy, rehabilitation, speech therapy…. At the beginning of 2022, only 600 people, the most complex cases, benefited from very reinforced follow-up.
4,000 recognized long-term conditions
For the most affected patients, the recognition of long-term Covid in long-term illness has however evolved, according to Social Security. Due to the variability of symptoms and their severity, the disease is one of the “off-list” long-term illnesses (ALD). But 4,000 people benefit from it and “90% of files are accepted”, if they are well framed by the attending physician and the second opinion of a health insurance medical adviser.
ten million euros had been released at the beginning of 2022 for ten research projects, ten others are to be awarded in April, in conjunction with the ANRS/Emerging Diseases. The field is enormous: from the biological mechanism of the disease (we only have hypotheses) to its consequences on society, through the search for possible specific interventions.
