Millions to Be Spent on Long COVID Study

Medics take a patient from an ambulance into the Royal London Hospital in London on Jan. 19, 2021. (Tolga Akmen /AFP via Getty Images)

Research into long COVID will get a significant boost from Australia following the federal government’s announcement it will provide $50 million (US$33.5 million) from the Medical Research Future Fund towards the study of the disease.

This comes after a national inquiry into the condition called for the establishment of a nationally coordinated research program for long COVID and COVID-19.

“Long COVID is an emerging health issue, both in Australia and internationally,“ Health Minister Mark Butler said. “The Australian Government will invest $50 million into research into Long COVID—as an initial response to the inquiry.”

Currently, in Australia, long COVID symptoms are those that persist for more than three months and can include breathlessness, a cough, heart palpitations, headaches, and severe fatigue.

The aim of the funding will be to improve Australia’s understanding of long COVID and generate data that can help the government create “policy and clinical guidance, improve health outcomes, and increase awareness of the condition in the community.”

Butler has tasked the federal health department with developing a national plan to respond to the growing health issue.

Senate Inquiry Finds Long COVID Poorly Understood

The funding boost comes after the chair of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport inquiry into Long COVID and Repeated COVID Infections noted the condition saw sufferers getting little support because it was poorly understood.

“It is clear that the emergence of long COVID has created challenges for patients and health care professionals alike,” said Committee Chair Dr Mike Freelander.

“People with long COVID suffer from a lack of information and treatment options. Healthcare professionals, who worked tirelessly over the acute phase of the pandemic, are now in a difficult situation trying to support patients with this new and poorly understood condition.”

Meanwhile, the Deputy Chair of the Committee, Melissa McIntosh MP, said the Committee was particularly concerned about the poor mental health outcomes of long COVID sufferers after the inquiry had received hundreds of submissions from Australians living with long COVID, who felt their condition made them feel “isolated, disbelieved, anxious or depressed.”

The inquiry made nine recommendations to the government regarding the management of long COVID in Australia, which included establishing a definitive clinical definition for the condition, creating living guidelines for sufferers, and establishing a nationally coordinated research program for long COVID and COVID-19.

They also recommended creating support structures for primary health carers of sufferers, access to anti-viral treatments for COVID-19 and a COVID-19 vaccination communication strategy.

Studies Find Long COVID No More Severe Than Flu and Resolves After a Year

The grant comes after a landmark study by Queensland health authorities claim that the effects of long COVID were no more severe than influenza in a highly vaccinated population.

Queensland’s Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said that reports around COVID-19 had implied that it was uniquely able to severely impact patients many weeks after the initial infection despite vaccination.

However, that is not what the study found.

“Longer-than-expected recovery after a viral illness is not unusual and occurs with other diseases like influenza,” Gerrard said. “Simply put–long term symptoms are not unique to COVID-19.”

Meanwhile, a study by a team of Israeli scientists from Maccabi Healthcare Services, a nationwide healthcare organization in Israel, found those who developed long COVID after a mild case of COVID-19 were found to have a significantly increased risk of conditions throughout the year of follow-up, including loss of smell and taste, breathing difficulties, weakness, palpitations, strep throat, dizziness, and concentration and memory impairment popularly dubbed “brain fog.”

But for most of the patients, according to the findings, all long-COVID issues were resolved by the end of one year.

Records also showed that children had fewer post-COVID symptoms than adults and recovered from most of them in months.

In addition, the researchers found that vaccinated patients were less likely to develop breathing problems after breakthrough infections than those who didn’t get the vaccine, although the risk for other conditions was similar in both vaccinated and unvaccinated groups.

Maytal Bivas-Benita, a researcher at Israel’s KI Research Institute and the study’s co-author, told Agence France-Presse that she was “encouraged” by the findings, particularly after fears over long-lasting post-COVID symptoms.

“The vast majority of patients will be OK after a year,” Bivas-Benita said.

Bill Pan contributed to this report.