Long COVID
What is post viral illness? To put it very simply, it is something that happens once a person has had a viral infection, and then they never quite recover. Long COVID means that after getting COVID, you never recover, you get new symptoms, your existing chronic illness becomes worseā¦etc. The likelihood of that happening is somewhere around 8-30% for each singular infection, depending on which study you read. That is a lot. And COVID is not over! One canāt bullshit a virus. Pretending that it is not there wonāt make it go away.
Post viral illness is not new, and yet it is criminally understudied and frequently dismissed by doctors and ālay peopleā alike. Thing like long flu, long polio exist too.
https://www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/long-flu-long-covid-brief-history-postviral-illness
ME/CFS is one of the forms that long COVID can take. To put it in simple terms: It is a life crushing fatigue that can completely destroy a persons life. It limits the ability to think, sleep... Do literally anything if one wants to avoid PEM. Many people with it are completely bedbound. The life quality of people with ME/CFS is shit tier, lower than that of cancer patients:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jun/08/long-covid-impact-quality-of-life-cancer-study https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jun/08/long-covid-impact-quality-of-life-cancer-study https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0132421
I, for example, can no longer do most things. Period. Most things. Whatās it like? Imagine you are tired. Imagine the time you were the most tired in your entire life. The imagine this being your BASELINE. And frequently feeling WORSE than that. Being so tired you canāt talk, walk.. too tired to sleep. Too tired to perceive the light and sound of any kind, because it causes literal pain. Too tired to work.
Most doctors pretend the condition does not exist, or do not know about it. Those that know about it, frequently suggest harmful treatments based on poorly done science.
https://thesicktimes.org/2025/11/21/less-than-20-of-long-covid-trials-involving-exercise-even-mention-post-exertional-malaise/
There is no cure. It sucks hard. It means extreme isolation and loneliness, being gaslit by medical staff. Most people with ME/CFS recover from infections much slower, and can make our symptoms permanently worse. That meansany space without mask mandates in place is deathly dangerous for us. Covid reinfections are dangerous to everyone anyway, because each and every infection leaves damage in the body that lasts longer than the acute symptoms.
https://mastodon.social/@augieray/114128587304793254 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12VbMkvqUF9eSggJsdsFEjKs5x0ABxQJi5tvfzJIDd3U/edit?usp=sharing
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39842946/
We desperately need more widespread awareness about post viral illness and long covid, because it is a heavy burden on our society as a whole. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39842946/
We need concrete actions to make the lives of post viral illness sufferers better, and for us to be included in society. If nothing is done, our ranks will continue to grow.
https://joepajak.substack.com/p/covid-19-persistent-and-dangerous
Things you can do:
Wear a good mask in public spaces: FFP2/N95 or equivalent. It is the single best way to protect yourself, others, and the best, most practical way to show solidarity with your chronically ill friends.
Ask event organizers and organizations to take the public health pledge: https://publichealthpledge.com
Clean the air and ventilate.
Donāt forget about us. We tend to disappear, because we are tired just from the sheer fact of existing.
More resources: Long COVID primer: https://longcovidjustice.org/long-covid-essentials/ Good journalism about chronic illness and long covid: https://thesicktimes.org
Assorted articles: https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2023/07/20/Long-COVID-Disabling-Kids/ https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/shouldstorm/202403/long-covid-is-a-disabling-disease-and-its-not-rare
Links about safe indoor air recommendations and CO2 monitoring:
https://www.rehva.eu/rehva-journal/chapter/co2-monitoring-and-indoor-air-quality
https://ozsage.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Safe-Indoor-Air-advice.pdf
https://ozsage.org/media_releases/protecting-children-from-covid-19-and-making-schools-and-childcare-safer/
https://cleanairstars.com/steps/
Inclusion:
Practicing a Love Ethic in the Ongoing Pandemic Part 1: https://www.itsjiyounkim.com/blog/love-ethic-in-a-pandemic-1 Practicing a Love Ethic in the Ongoing Pandemic Part 2: https://www.itsjiyounkim.com/blog/love-ethic-in-a-pandemic-2
COVID Hasnāt Disappeared ā But Empathy, Care and Solidarity Have: https://truthout.org/articles/covid-hasnt-disappeared-but-empathy-care-and-solidarity-have
Practicing Inclusion in the Time of COVID: https://www.strategiesforhighimpact.org/covid-inclusion