2024-01-28 18:00:25
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From lockdowns to mandatory masks: Many are happy to be able to leave the corona pandemic behind them. Others don’t succeed. Because long-term consequences persist.
Bradford/London – When the previously unknown and highly contagious corona virus broke out, they were on the front line treating sick people. They are now in need of help themselves; their work in the healthcare system has turned them into patients during the pandemic.
While worrying research results from China about corona-like viruses are making their way to the West, hundreds of doctors in Great Britain are reporting long Covid illnesses. And make sharp accusations against the health authorities. They were forced to work with infected people without appropriate protection, ended up falling ill themselves and are now being abandoned.
Cramps, hallucinations, encephalitis: British doctor on her Long Covid symptoms
In an interview with Sky News UK tells Dr. Kelly Fearnley about her current situation, her illness that made her need nursing care and her experience as a young doctor during the corona pandemic. The 37-year-old does not mince her words when speaking to the British health authority, the National Health Service (NHS).
Protective suit, gloves, double mask and plastic visor: the safety measures for medical staff who come into contact with corona sufferers are high. Hundreds of doctors criticize this was not the case in Great Britain, especially at the beginning. (Symbolic photo) © Vitaly Timkiv/Imago
In November 2020, she worked on a coronavirus ward at Bradford Royal Infirmary, an NHS teaching and general hospital. She worked with dozens of infected people every day before she herself became infected with the virus, which was still largely new at the time. More than three years later, she continues to report debilitating long-term effects.
After episodes of violent shaking, skin rashes, hallucinations, and a resting heart rate that was more than twice what it should be average for a woman her age, even after 18 months of infection, she was diagnosed with limbic encephalitis. This is an inflammation of the central nervous system in the brain. According to the study, a total of 62 symptoms are among the officially recognized ones of Long Covid.
“Traumatic brain injury”: Former Corona doctor requires care after infection
She is now making progress in her health. “However, I still encounter symptoms every day in everyday life, my brain still feels infected,” says Dr. Fearnley in a video addressing the public. “It feels like I have suffered a traumatic brain injury.” Studies have recently shown that the coronavirus can cause brain damage.
She was bedridden for a long time and had thoughts of suicide. “At 37, I live with my 70-year-old father and am dependent on his care,” she tells me Sky News UK. Without her father’s support, she would have become homeless, as she explains.
The background to Long Covid still raises questions; A research team from Switzerland may have now achieved a breakthrough.
Without appropriate protection: On the ward it was like a “big Corona soup”.
Many others in her profession are like her. Hundreds can be found in the Kampagne Long COVID Doctors for Action (LCD4A) together, the Dr. Fearnley co-founded. As a group of those affected, they hold the NHS responsible and are now taking legal action against the UK’s national health authority. The accusation: you were negligently exposed to the dangerous corona virus at work. This led to health consequences and financial losses.
Like Dr. Kelly Fearnley in the medical journal in September 2023 The BMJ writes, the NHS downgraded guidance for medical staff at the start of the pandemic. “When I entered the Corona ward, there was only a small box with blue fabric masks,” she remembers. When she was asked where FFP2 protective masks were, she was told that she didn’t need to worry about that.
“I was surrounded by people infected with corona for around twelve hours a day, for five days in a row; without the necessary protective measures,” she says. “Basically it was a big corona soup there.”
Unable to work due to Corona: Many sick doctors are alone in the countryside
There is no official number of people suffering from Long Covid, but it is estimated that 1.9 million people in Great Britain are affected (as of March 2023); worldwide they are estimated at 10 percent of the world’s population. Of the approximately 1.27 million employees in the British healthcare system, almost five percent are, according to the BMJ Article emerges.
The information provided in this article does not replace seeing a doctor. Only professionals can make the correct diagnosis and initiate appropriate therapy. The use of medication or nutritional supplements should be discussed with a doctor beforehand.
Many complain about a lack of help from the health authorities and health insurance companies. Although the illness made her unable to work, there was no financial support. The LCD4A has therefore formulated the following five specific demands on the NHS:
- Financial support for doctors and health workers with post-acute Covid illness.
- Post-acute Covid should be recognized as an occupational disease among healthcare workers.
- Improved access to physical and mental health services to receive comprehensive assessment and appropriate treatment.
- Better protection in the workplace for healthcare workers who risk their lives for others.
- Better support for post-acute Covid sufferers to return to work safely.
The authorities have little information about the allegations. Following a public inquiry into the UK’s handling of the pandemic, officials admitted “mistakes were made”. The provision of appropriate protective measures for healthcare workers was “hopelessly inadequate”. Meanwhile, authorities in Germany are examining the extent to which the corona vaccination has had long-term consequences. (rku)
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