As anecdotal as it can be, I also know people in their mid-thirties workout complicating pathologies and in good shape that ended up being treated in ICUs and on ventilation (one with a collapsed lung, pneumonia and a bacterial infection).
One of the most unfortunate aspects of containment-type policies (or the type of mitigation-but-with-all-the-downsides-of-containment like in my state of California), is that they put people into a physiological (and psychological) state where they are more vulnerable to disease:
- Vitamin D is a critical pro-hormone for immunoregulatory function in general and respiratory pathology specifically. In many ways severe COVID-19 is a disorder of immunoregulation. Vitamin D deficiency is already very widespread, and telling people to stay inside / not go out, and when going out to cover some exposed skin with a mask, is very obviously going to negatively impact Vitamin D as well as nitric oxide production/release respectively. Both are really important for respiratory pathology although Vitamin D is by far more important
- Decreased sleep, increased stress/fear, decreased exercise: all of these put the body into a pro-inflammatory state as well as a state in which immunoregulatory processes start to break down. Some stress/fear/sleep is unavoidable during a pandemic or epidemic but the vast majority of it is disproportionate to the reality of the situation and is a direct result of fear-based messaging from public health "experts", politicians, and the media.
(Remember when beaches were closed down? In many places gyms are still closed, etc)
- Improper wearing of masks (read: how literally every community member wears a mask) very plausibly increases the risk of bacterial pneumonia due to having a warm, moist cloth bacterial reservoir attached to both of one's breathing holes for long periods of time. This was a concern which was identified after the "Spanish" Flu of 1918 where the scientific consensus after the fact was that such usage of masking was both completely unfounded and likely contributed to bacterial pneumonia and other worsened outcomes. So many of the interventions (universal masking) we're advised or mandated to undertake increase a lot of these risks, which is doubly ironic when the wealth of research literature around masking for community transmission of respiratory viruses is at best inconclusive.
As someone who suffered long haul, I don’t know anyone in my social circle who came down with long symptoms besides me. So maybe it’s not as common as the medical journals describe?
Basically any viral infection bears the risk of extended symptoms of fatigue/malaise - see the whole ME/CFS literature (note: there's considerable controversy as to whether it's "real" or not - I don't take a side in that fight).
Almost all "research" I've seen of so-called "long COVID" has been self-reported surveys from self-select internet populations; hopefully it's obvious why such "research" will end up dramatically overstating the prevalence. (Edit: Re-reading this the tone doesn't come across quite how I want it so to be clear I'm criticizing the research itself not denying that anyone experiences these symptoms)
Lastly, I do very much worry that the widespread culture of fear and stress - which has been actively encouraged rather than calmed down by health "experts" around the globe - is contributing to a type of psychogenic / psychosomatic illness. To be explicit, psychosomatic illness is a real illness, but it does mean that the underlying mechanism is not of physiological origin but rather psychoemotional stress/belief systems that ultimately culminate in physical symptoms.
Very sorry to hear that you're actively suffering from long COVID. I hope things get better for you. I struggle with a sort of chronic fatigue myself (not anywhere as severe as the ME/CFS type horror stories I hear about, but still) so I know how shitty it can be. I've always got a bunch of ideas bouncing around my head of new research directions, articles I want to write, etc, and it many times feels out of my control whether I'm going to have the energy to pursue those goals or not.
My social circle seems to be similar to what the research says about covid long haul.
Which claims that 1/3rd who got it has covid-19 long term problems ( WHO ), my circle doesn't seem to be needing an differentiator for age. Since I don't know any elderly who got it.
So my perception is more pessimistic about the research, but I could have a more pessimistic circle, while you had a more optimistic one.
( Except for you ofc, that sucks. I wish you a speedy recovery)
The "mild respiratory flu" description is utter bullshit.
There was an analysis a couple of days ago about a very high percentage of people having to return to ICU 3 months after going in for covid. And another high percentage dying after the 3 months.
