Experts are warning the long-term impacts of COVID-19 could further burden Australia's health system, and leave many Australians with possibly debilitating side effects.
"It's much more prevalent than one would expect," Dr Stuart Tan, a Sydney physician in trauma and rehabilitation told SBS News.
"The actual term long COVID is a name being coined by people who are affected by COVID-19. I think it has been a condition that is quite hard to define, which has made it difficult to properly study," Professor Liu said. "But when you think about the size of the pandemic overall, even when you're talking about five per cent of people in Australia where we've had this extremely contained pandemic , you're still talking about thousands of people who potentially have long-term side effects."
'Long COVID' has also cast a spotlight on the experience of those with myalgic encephalitis, often referred to as chronic fatigue syndrome , with some researchers and patients noting a similarity of some symptoms. Professor Martin Hensher, from Deakin University's Institute for Health Transformation, said the most direct link is common symptoms of fatigue and debilitation, and associated mental health impacts.
"They believe they are quite debilitated and disabled by this, but their GPs and sometimes specialists are not taking them seriously, and are often limited in what they can do for them."
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