‘Don’t call it long Covid’: Scientists say its just flu

An Australian study has found that there’s no such thing as long Covid. The new researcher from Queensland Health suggests that long Covid might not be different from other post-viral conditions, like those you might get after having the flu.

The study, led by Dr John Gerrard, Queensland’s chief health officer, challenged the idea that long Covid is unique.

Dr Gerrard said it’s time to rethink the term “long Covid” because it might cause unnecessary worry and focus on symptoms that might not be as unusual as we think.

The study found that long Covid is a syndrome “indistinguishable from seasonal influenza and other respiratory illnesses, with no evidence of increased moderate-to-severe functional limitations a year after infection,” the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) said.

Dr Gerrard said it’s time to rethink the term “long Covid” because it might cause unnecessary worry and focus on symptoms that might not be as unusual as we think. (Photo: Getty Images)
In a press conference, as quoted by The Guardian, Dr Gerrard said, “I want to make it clear that the symptoms that some patients described after having Covid-19 are real, and we believe they are real.

What we are saying is that the incidence of these symptoms is no greater in Covid-19 than it is with other respiratory viruses, and that to use this term ‘long Covid’ is misleading and I believe harmful.”

The study looked at 5,112 adults who had symptoms of a respiratory illness and got tested between May and June 2022. About half had Covid-19, while others had the flu or neither.

A year later, researchers asked these participants about any ongoing symptoms and how it affected their daily lives.

They found that about 16% still had symptoms, but only 3.6% had moderate-to-severe problems with their daily activities.

Surprisingly, they found that those who had Covid-19 were not more likely to have long-term issues compared to those who had the flu. Both groups had similar rates of ongoing symptoms and impairment.

Even more interestingly, most people with ongoing symptoms reported common long Covid symptoms like tiredness, brain fog, and changes to taste and smell, regardless of whether they had Covid-19 or not.

“What we are saying is that the incidence of these symptoms is no greater in Covid-19 than it is with other respiratory viruses,” said expert. (Photo: Getty Images)
Dr Gerrard highlighted that while these symptoms are real, they’re not unique to Covid-19. He believed using the term “long Covid” might cause unnecessary fear and might not be helpful in understanding these symptoms.

The researchers admitted their study has limitations, like not being able to identify participants who had been hospitalised or had previous illnesses. They also noted that the lower severity of long Covid in Queensland could be due to high vaccination rates and the Omicron variant.

Overall, this research suggests that while some people may experience ongoing symptoms after Covid-19, it might not be as different from other post-viral conditions as we once thought.

Dr Gerrard concluded: “Furthermore, we believe it is time to stop using terms like ‘long Covid.’ They wrongly imply there is something unique and exceptional about longer term symptoms associated with this virus. This terminology can cause unnecessary fear, and in some cases, hypervigilance to longer symptoms that can impede recovery.”

The results of the study will be presented next month at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Barcelona, Spain.