A bit about long Covid
And a fun story about sailors who helped scientists, because we all need escapism right now.
This one isn’t fun, but there are plenty of countries in, or heading back into, confinement, and vaccines are being deployed so slowly, and it’s all so very frustrating, so we need a reminder of why governments are so scared and why we need to hold fast right now. I promise the second part is sweet, though.
🕰 A couple of things about long Covid
Have you noticed that we’ve been measuring how well a country does in this pandemic by the number of deaths they record? I’ve seen this time and time again. “Yeah, our number of cases is higher than in X, but we’ve been keeping a lid on hospitalisations and deaths!”
Fact is, many scientists pull their hair out when they hear this argument, for a variety of reasons. First, letting a virus run amok WILL increase the number of hospitalisations and deaths, it’s just the nature of the beast. Second, as we’ve seen, this makes it more likely for the virus to, ahem, TRY NEW THINGS, and GET MORE AGILE, and INFECT MORE PEOPLE (hello variants)!
Third, and just as importantly, I’ve seen some argue that the worst outcome may not be death. Many experts are now concerned that this virus is creating a large cohort of patients with long-lasting physical and mental impairment. This, in turn, might cause unforeseen, long-term costs in any society that made the (really fucking stupid, I hope it’s clear by now) choice of “herd immunity” by laissez-faire.
1. 🤒 Long-term effects vs 🤕 sequelae
This is a bit technical but worth keeping in mind. When we talk about long Covid, we could be talking about two different things: symptoms caused by the illness that last a long time, and the sequelae, which are the consequences that remain after the illness ends.
Click on the two links above for how the CDC make that distinction, but to say it simply, Covid can cause fatigue, intermittent breathlessness, brain fog, headaches, heart racing. Those would be symptoms.
And it can cause damage to your heart, veins, blood, lungs, kidneys, skin, or brain. This damage may or may not go away with time. Those would be sequelae.
2. 📊 Long Covid in numbers
This is where it gets scary. The number of Covid patients with longer-term problems is not small. Various studies from different countries have shown that from 5% (U.K.) to as much as 32% of patients (Switzerland) with Covid, regardless of severity, could end up with symptoms past 6 weeks after infection. Another study (U.S.) showed that one in five patients ended up with mental illness (depression, anxiety, insomnia, all the way up to dementia).
I’ll say this again: regardless of severity. This means that you could’ve just experienced the sniffles, stayed home without the need for hospitalisation, and you might still deal with the aftermath of this beast months and months later.
I want to share the recording of a seminar the CDC held yesterday on this topic (it won’t let me embed it, so please click through for the whole thing), but I swiped a couple of their slides:
As for hospitalised patients, three-quarters of them reported at least one symptom six months after their bout of Covid:
3. 😖 Severity of long Covid
I am sure many of you saw the New York Times article last month about Covid patients who developed psychosis:
The patient described one of her children being run over by a truck and another decapitated. “It’s a horrifying thing that here’s this well-accomplished woman and she’s like ‘I love my kids, and I don’t know why I feel this way that I want to decapitate them,’” he said.
The only notable thing about her medical history was that the woman, who declined to be interviewed but allowed Dr. Goueli to describe her case, had become infected with the coronavirus in the spring. She had experienced only mild physical symptoms from the virus, but, months later, she heard a voice that first told her to kill herself and then told her to kill her children.
This is dramatic and wouldn’t affect too many people, but it’s terrifying to envision. More commonly, though, a large number of previously healthy, active people are now dealing with incapacitating fatigue, cardiovascular damage, breathlessness, or cognitive impairment. What’s harder about this is that sometimes the symptoms subside, and then they return, so long haulers never know what kind of day or week they’ll be having. The uncertainty itself is hell to live with.
How to use this: if you’re reading this, I am certain you’re of the mindful sort. But if you, like me, are regularly confronted with people who argue that Covid “isn’t that bad” or “certainly not worth all these dictatorial measures in place,” you might pull out an anecdote or two. If they’re sensitive to government spending, let them know it’s another expensive health crisis in the making with a growing number of people on disability, and we may be paying for it for a very long time.
⛵️ Sailboats for science
Congratulations to the skippers who are now arriving from an 80-day regatta around the world. The Vendée Globe, which starts and ends at the Sables d’Olonne in the area of Vendée (France), happens every four years. The rules are that each participant must race solo, without stopping and without assistance. It is hands-down the hardest regatta in the world, so tough it has earned the title of the Everest of the Seas. This year, due to less-than-clement weather and extra choppy southern seas, a major wreck that could’ve ended a contestant’s life, numerous damages on several boats, it was particularly difficult. We are so very grateful and proud to see them all return safe and sound. It was a wild, emotional adventure for my father (who has followed every single edition of the Vendée Globe since it began in 1989), the kids, me, and thousands of others.
Here’s the arrival of the winner, Yannick Bestaven, which took place early yesterday morning (French time, obvs):
The reason this is relevant to this newsletter is that before departure, 13 of the 33 skippers agreed to help scientists gather more data about oceans as ecosystems. The route they take razes the Antarctic ice zone, going through areas that are inaccessible for research ships. So, as part of the “Sail and Science” partnership, signed within the frame of the Paris Agreement with the support of UNESCO and the global ocean observation programme OceanOPS, they’ve been dropping instruments and collecting samples along the way, an effort that would otherwise have been wildly costly to research.
Here are the instruments:
Drifter buoys: these are equipped with satellite communication tools and will be transmitting information about composition, temperature, pressure, as well as speed and direction of currents;
Argo floats: these are far more elaborate pieces of equipment. They’re able to sink down 1000 metres and resurface, bringing back data about the temperature of the water and its salinity.
Meanwhile, two of the skippers carried with them oceanographic sensors that measured levels of CO2 at the oceans’ surface, as well as their temperature and salinity. This was, obviously, to quantify the effects of climate change. One of them also collected water samples to be analysed for microplastics.
Finishing this regatta is a feat in and of itself. Accepting to slow down for a greater purpose when speed is of the essence… That’s remarkable. Join me in appreciating the strength and courage it took to make us dream, and the generosity 13 of them displayed in helping science along.
How to use this: watch the full story of the past 3 months in 25-minute episodes.
Thank you all for reading! Do get in touch with ideas of stuff you’d like to read about or to comment on all or any of this.