Global News: University of Manitoba team receives $202,000 grant to study ‘long COVID’
A team of researchers at the University of Manitoba has received a $202,000 grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to study what’s become known as “long-haul COVID.”
Research into the loosely defined condition is still in its infancy, with the World Health Organization (WHO) only recently settling on a definition.
“Post COVID-19 condition,” the WHO says, “occurs in individuals with a history of probable or confirmed SARS CoV-2 infection, usually three months from the onset of COVID-19 with symptoms and that last for at least two months and cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis.”
The WHO says common symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, and cognitive dysfunction, but can include other issues that generally impact a person’s everyday life.
The lead researcher at the University of Manitoba is Alan Katz, the director of the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, and a professor of family medicine and community health sciences.
“My concern is that the impact of COVID is currently being considered primarily in the context of hospital beds being occupied and ICU beds being occupied,” Katz says.
“This (study) is about understanding what’s coming in the next six months to years around what our health system will face the more these people who have had COVID infection may go on to long COVID.”
Katz says their research has three primary goals.
The team wants to understand what proportion of people who had COVID-19 ultimately end up with “long COVID,” who is most likely to be affected, and what symptoms people are experiencing exactly.
Read the full Global News story here.