Faced with long Covid, there is “a real interest in vaccinating”, assures an infectious disease specialist

In the videos published on Instagram and TikTok in which he encourages the population to be vaccinated, Emmanuel Macron notably mentioned the risks of long Covid, a kind of crisis in the crisis that could affect hundreds of thousands of French people, but who, for the moment, still passes too often under the radars. But what is it all about? Guest from Europe 1, Saturday, Benjamin Davido, infectious disease specialist and Covid referent at Raymond Poincaré hospital in Garches, tells us more.

About 300,000 people suffer from it

“It is often an anthology of symptoms that can range from headaches to great fatigue on exertion, or pain in the muscles”, lists Benjamin Davido, specifying that it is extremely complicated to establish a precise and exhaustive list of symptoms of long Covid. “Most of the time, people will complain of shortness of breath on exertion, which is evidence of what is called dysautonomia”, explains the doctor. “That is to say probably a desynchronization between the brain which automatically controls the function of which you will breathe, whose heart will accelerate, which is extremely annoying for individuals who suffer from these symptoms.”

Today, the High Health Authority estimates that 300,000 people in France suffer from these symptoms which persist six months after contamination. At Garches hospital, Benjamin Davido saw a lot of them, especially after the first wave, at a time when only severe forms were detected in the hospital. In fact, many young people had not been able to consult and could not be taken care of. Now, the situation is different, in particular because the tests – PCR or antigen – are accessible to all. “Above all, the recognition of this entity after the successive waves makes it possible to take charge earlier and to have symptoms which are often less dragging, even people who heal,” says the infectious disease specialist.

“A real interest in vaccinating” to avoid long Covid

If we talk little about the long Covid, it remains a real ordeal for people whose symptoms persist despite time. Some even wonder if they will ever be able to cure it. “It is very difficult to answer this question”, answers Benjamin Davido. “But we have recent data which are reassuring”, he continues, referring in particular to the famous loss of taste and smell, which we now know that it generally disappears after a year. “Which makes us think that overall, we should find ourselves in situations where, from the moment the diagnosis is made and people are taken care of, things should improve after a year”, says it again.

Fatigability, shortness of breath … Benjamin Davido finds in the symptoms of long Covid, many analogies with a chronic disease whose origin we did not know well: chronic fatigue syndrome. “We have the impression, finally, that the Covid is rewriting the history of something old, which existed, but which we had difficulty in touching with the finger and naming correctly”.

Another recent example: the chikungunya epidemic in Reunion, in the 2000s. “We have seen long forms of this disease appear for a disease known to be viral and acute,” recalls the infectious disease specialist. “It means that there is a real interest in widely vaccinating everyone today. Firstly because we see younger and younger people arriving at the hospital, and that among these young people, even if they are lucky enough not to be hospitalized, we know that they can have a long form of Covid, and that the vaccine protects individuals from that “, he concludes, referring to American and English studies, demonstrating some efficacy of vaccination in patients with long Covid. “It would allow ‘clearance’, meaning to clean up traces of this RNA due to Sars-Cov2 and provide a sufficient immune response to ensure that it rids patients of symptoms.”