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SALT LAKE CITY – When Jennifer Hansen, a special education teacher, meets the parents of her students, she often finds herself unable to remember certain words.
“I’m in the middle of a sentence and it’s a word I’ve used a hundred times before, and it just won’t come to me,” Hansen said.
It’s just one of the most frustrating effects she still faces – making her feel incompetent when she knows she really isn’t – six months after her coronavirus infection.
As Utah continues to confirm a high number of new cases of COVID-19 every day, researchers at the University of Utah Health remain concerned about the long-term effects that many like Hansen will face in the months to come. and redouble their efforts to help them.
The university on Tuesday announced a campaign to raise funds to fund research into “long-haul” COVID-19, those who face symptoms for weeks and months after contracting the virus.
In June, Hansen had a headache. Then the fever started and the difficulty in breathing. On the seventh day, she ended up in the intensive care unit with pneumonia and pulmonary embolisms, which are blood clots in the lungs.
Months later, she still faces extreme fatigue every day even as she continues to work. But she relates to the nearly 1,000 other people in similar situations on the Utah COVID-19 Long-Hauler Facebook page.
Many of them, according to Hansen, “are just trying to find the limits of what we can do without pushing ourselves too far and being outside for a few days, and just shortness of breath, low oxygen saturation, especially after exercised.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Utah health officials reported 2,510 more cases of COVID-19 and 19 more deaths. The seven-day moving average for new cases is 2,292 per day and the average positive test rate is 22.1%.
“We want to help people who are already infected, but this is something from COVID that will last longer than the vaccine,” said Nicole Frank, associate director of the Immunology, Inflammation and Disease Initiative infectious diseases from the University of Utah, also known as the 3i Initiative.
Although Hansen has an autoimmune disease, she says she was in good health before her diagnosis of COVID-19 while training for a half marathon. She controlled her autoimmune disease with one pill a day. Now she needs 20.
“I don’t know if I will ever come back to what I was, but I hope I will. I’m trying to stay optimistic with this, ”Hansen said.
Experts estimate that between 10% and 25% of those who recover from active COVID-19 infections – including asymptomatic infections – could suffer from lingering effects for months. Common long-haul complaints include heart and lung problems, decreased energy and exercise capacity, and psychological issues, including brain fog. But the answers, including the duration of symptoms, remain elusive so soon from a research standpoint.
The long-term effects of the coronavirus also add more to doctors’ plaques. While hospitals are already dealing with an influx of current infections, they are also seeing an increasing number of patients with long-term symptoms.
“I see patients very frequently in clinics over and over again, new patients – they have lung problems from chronic COVID,” Dr. Dixie Harris, pulmonary physician at Intermountain Healthcare, recently told Deseret News.
Frank noted that in Utah, when 4,000 cases are confirmed in a single day – like in a recent spike – it means up to 1,000 more people could be suffering from these symptoms in the long term.
“We have no clue of how best to treat them and how to prevent these symptoms from continuing to occur. And so this is a very big question that touches an increasing number of people, ”Frank said.
Recently, the 3i Initiative received an anonymous donation of $ 50,000 for long-haul study work. Although several studies took place at the university, the work progressed “at a somewhat slower pace,” Frank said.
The initiative is seeking another donation of $ 25,000 to hire a clinical coordinator to speak to patients and collect samples.
“Having someone dedicated to that and hired for this role would speed up the search,” Frank said.
Hansen described the research effort as “really exciting. I think this is encouraging for us long haulers, but not just for us. I think it might be good for others who have had long term post-viral illnesses, ”she said.
There are others, Hansen noted, who have faced long-haul COVID-19-like conditions for years after other serious viral infections go unanswered.
Those interested in helping researchers can donate at ustarter.utah.edu.
New cases, deaths
Tuesday’s cases were confirmed from 9,146 people tested, with a positive rate of 27.4%, according to the Utah Department of Health.
On Tuesday, 575 patients were hospitalized for the disease in Utah, 15 more than what had been hospitalized the day before. Intensive care units statewide were 79.1% full overall, and intensive care units capable of treating the most serious patients were 85.7% full.
To date, 198,216 cases have been confirmed out of 1,432,225 people tested for the disease in Utah. Hospitalizations since the start of the epidemic total 8,279.
The deaths reported on Tuesday – marking the second highest number of new confirmed deaths in a day – bring the state’s toll to 890. The death toll was on November 25, when 26 were reported.
- Female from Weber County, 45-64, not hospitalized.
- Woman from Salt Lake County, over 85, resident in long-term care facility.
- Female from Salt Lake County, aged 65 to 84, out of hospital.
- Woman from Utah County, 65-84, hospitalized.
- Woman from Utah County, over 85, resident in long-term care facility.
- Woman from Salt Lake County, over 85, hospitalized.
- Woman from Weber County, 65-84, hospitalized.
- Washington County male, 65 to 84, out of hospital.
- Male from Utah County, over 85, resident in long-term care facility.
- Male from Utah County, 65-84, resident in long-term care facility.
- Male from Utah County, 65-84, resident in long-term care facility.
- Male from Salt Lake County, 65 to 84, hospitalized.
- Male from Utah County, over 85, resident in long-term care facility.
- Male from Salt Lake County, 45 to 64, hospitalized.
- Male from Cache County, over 85, not hospitalized.
- Box Elder County, male, 45 to 64, hospitalized.
- Male from Utah County, over 85, hospitalized.
- Male from Utah County, 25-44, hospitalized.
- Washington County man, over 85, hospitalized.
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