Risk Management Snapshot

Current issues and hot topics
in healthcare risk management.

Long COVID: A new pandemic?

One in five people infected with COVID-19 is struggling with long COVID. Is long COVID a new pandemic? One physician, who describes herself as a healthy athlete with no comorbidities, chronicles her journey to diagnosis and treatment of her long COVID.

Dr. Monica Verduzco Gutierrez describes how she contracted what seemed to be a mild case of COVID-19. However, two weeks later, she began to have hives after physical exertion, lightheadedness and a rapid heartbeat, and severe worsening of her migraines.

She recognized these symptoms, as she had developed a post-COVID recovery clinic at the University of Texas Health Science Center. In the article, she describes her difficulties while trying to get a diagnosis and treatment. Because long COVID is a new diagnosis, many providers do not know what symptoms might point to that diagnosis. Dr. Verduzco Gutierrez says it is crucial for healthcare providers to learn some of the manifestations of long COVID and how to manage the disease.