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Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director)
Convinced of suffering from the effects of a long covid, some patients simply do not think of consulting their doctor for persistent disorders and symptoms… However, it may be another pathology, as explained by Dr Gérald Kierzek, medical director of Doctissimo.
“He thought he had long covid, he actually had leukemia”. The shock title, published by The Independent in England is terrifying. But this extreme case illustrates the need to consult in case of persistent symptoms. After his infection with covid-19, this 30-year-old continued to feel immense fatigue, night sweats and fever, attributing this to a long covid. But after consulting a medical team, the verdict is in: it’s leukemia, affecting his central nervous system. Beyond this extreme and fortunately rare case, it should be remembered that after covid, if one or more symptoms persist, do not hesitate to check the origin with your doctor.
The long covid, a still mysterious phenomenon
It must be said that this long covid often confuses the tracks. Without really knowing whyto date, 10 to 20% of people affected by covid continue to suffer from fatigue and other symptoms for several months according to the World Health Organization.
Why are some people affected? What are the main symptoms? The answers are not simple. Asked about the subject last September, Olivier Robineau, infectious disease specialist at the Tourcoing hospital center replied: “There are no symptoms really specific to long Covid, but they still have certain characteristics: they are fluctuating with fatigue that remains in the background, they seem to be exacerbated after intellectual or physical effort and become rare during course of time”.
Recently, a new study, which Doctissimo had echoed, affirmed it however: the vast majority of the symptoms of covid long would stop before 12 months. It would therefore be a question of taking one’s evil patiently. But also not to put everything on the back of the long covid.
“Long covid is a diagnosis of elimination”
Also, in the face of persistent symptoms, such as fatigue, sweating, lymph nodes, or any other unusual signs that persist over time, it is better to consult your doctor first for routine checks. For Dr. Kierzek, medical director of Doctissimo, appointments are a priority:
“We probably put things in the nosographic framework of covid long that are not. Before saying yourself, “it’s a long case of covid that I’m dragging” with fever, neurological disorders, lymph nodes… You must consult your doctor for a certain number of basic additional examinations, called de-scrambling, to eliminate other causes”.
So, this long covid you think you are suffering from could well delay you in taking care of another health concern.
“Long covid is a diagnosis of elimination. That is to say that it is put after having eliminated other diagnoses by simple additional examinations (blood test, imaging, etc.) to be able to say that there is nothing else, such as a disorder of the thyroid, a neurological pathology, a respiratory pathology, or psychological… We must not conclude too quickly to long covid”.
As the doctor reminds us, it would be all the more unfortunate to delay this consultation, as the vast majority of other causes are curable with appropriate treatment. And sometimes even faster than the long covid you think you have.