the “secondary burden” of long covid is taking a heavy toll on families, according to a new study that says a support system is desperately needed to deal with the frightening fallout.
the study,
published in bmj open
, found the quality of family life has been “severely affected” in households where covid-19 never really went away. more than 700 people who recovered from the virus — as well as their partners and close relatives — opened up to researchers about their ongoing struggles.
“everything has changed,”
said billie-jo redman
, a 27-year-old mother from essex who tested positive for the virus on jan. 9. “my life feels like it’s over. i used to go on adventures with my son roman — now i have days where i can’t even get him to school.”
redman said she felt fine 10 days after contracting covid-19 but by the end of the january, she could barely get out bed. her symptoms — brain fog, daily bouts of pins and needles and a spontaneously accelerating heart rate — have mystified her doctors and strained her relationship with her son. “the hospital just doesn’t know what to do with me,” she said. “they can see my heart rate is way too high but they don’t know why.”
roughly one in five people experience enduring symptoms of long covid — including fatigue, breathlessness, anxiety, heart palpitations or brain fog — five weeks after being infected by the virus, according to the u.k.’s office for national statistics. while the rate decreases to one in seven after 12 weeks, during a four-week period earlier this year, over 1.1 million people in the u.k. were believed to be affected by the phenomenon.
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