Long Covid could create a generation affected by disability, expert warns

A leading expert has warned that long Covid could create a generation affected by disability, with people forced out of their homes and work, and some even driven to suicide.

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Prof Danny Altmann said that the UK's current approach to Covid fails to take the impact of infections sufficiently seriously.

We have thrown in the towel on control of Omicron wave infections, and we don't. There are new people joining the support groups. It's heartbreaking, and it's really not OK.

According to data from the Office for National Statistics, by the end of January this year 1.5 million people in the UK were experiencing ongoing symptoms after their first suspected Covid infections.

A recent UK study found that only around one in three patients who were hospitalized with Covid symptoms were completely recovered a year later.

He agreed that long Covid could lead to a generation affected by disability.

He said that long Covid is not limited to the UK. They have a wide array of problems and they are big problems. It will drive people out of housing, out of work and into suicide.

The Long Covid Handbook, which is set to be published later this year, will be written by Gez Medinger, who is an expert on T-cells and autoimmunity.

The decision to become involved in research into Covid was a no-brainer for Altmann.

We were people with a lot of viral immunology and autoimmunity. He said, "So, you know, what else we've been training for?"

Covid is not simple. One study suggests that the condition is associated with more than 200 symptoms, from brain fog to heart palpitations, while experts suggest that the condition is linked to a number of mechanisms.

The problem is that different groups of researchers are following their own favourite hypotheses.

He said that all the scientists and medics working in this mean really, really well. He said we have to put our egos to one side and get out of our silos.

Altmann believes his field could play an important role.

I think that some of the immunological hypotheses can form a kind of unifying umbrella for a lot of those things, in the same way that lupus is a very diverse disease that is all at the end downstream of a relatively focused autoimmune assault.

Data shows that long Covid is more common in women.

It is not difficult to see how sex hormones could be involved in immune regulation.

The long Covid can bring, among those in power, a lack of urgency or appreciation.

A report published by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on coronaviruses found that the UK government has failed to take long Covid into account.

We have kind of paid lip service to it, and not really took it seriously, said Altmann, adding that Covid clinics in the UK vary enormously in terms of service.

Some people who were exposed to the earlier Sars coronaviruses were still experiencing symptoms eight years later.

The rising Covid infections in the UK should be tackled, but the debate should not be used to polarise it.

He said that we need to be joined up on our efforts to work out what long Covid is and how we are going to diagnose and treat it.

Many people living with long Covid feel frustrated by the slow pace of research. Although he maintains standards must be kept, Altmann appreciates the issue.

Research projects around the world have been put in place. It is hard to imagine that they will deliver the big answers in less than a year.

When asked what has surprised him the most about Covid, he said it was ghastly and pervasive.

The current Covid situation in countries from Scotland to Hong Kong is no reason to be optimistic.

He said that it was not a problem to him if he shut his eyes and turned away.