Long covid more common in Leinster, survey finds

Long covid is experienced when symptoms of coronavirus such as fatigue, muscle aches, and shortness of breath are experienced for months after the initial infection subsides.

Long covid is more than twice as common in Leinster than other areas in Ireland, causing delays in specialist clinics, a survey has found.

Patients in Leinster can wait up to a year to see a long covid specialist amid lengthy wait times in clinics.

Long covid is experienced when symptoms of coronavirus such as fatigue, muscle aches, and shortness of breath are experienced for months after the initial infection subsides.

A poll by Ireland Thinks last November of more than 1,300 people found the self-declared incidence of long covid was 6.3% in Dublin, 9.36% in Leinster, 5.4% in Munster, and 3.78% in Connacht and Ulster. Six percent of adults in Ireland reported symptoms of long covid for more than 12 weeks and a further 3% had symptoms for less than 12 weeks.

Wait times at long covid clinics are higher in Dublin, standing at 42 weeks at St Vincent’s Hospital compared to 20 weeks at Cork University Hospital.

Some 84% of respondents said their ability to conduct daily activities has been reduced by the disease.

Independent TD Denis Naughten, who commissioned the survey, said as GPs wait to refer patients to long covid clinics until symptoms have persisted beyond 12 weeks, some in Dublin and Leinster can wait for more than a year to see a specialist.

Symptoms

The most common symptoms are fatigue (86%), shortness of breath (59%), sleep problems (44%), memory problems (43%), and muscle ache (39%), and women are twice as likely to experience shortness of breath and muscle ache than men.

Mr Naughten said: “The findings released from the first comprehensive survey on the prevalence of long Covid in Ireland, show the need to urgently address the care requirements of those who are suffering with this illness.

“We need to take a full-scale approach to treating long covid — multidisciplinary clinics with involvement from respiratory specialists, infectious disease physicians, neurologists, cardiologists, and psychologists who can provide patients with a comprehensive assessment and a holistic treatment plan.” 

The HSE has said hospital groups are struggling to attract staff for long covid clinics, and a Health Information and Quality Authority report last month said Ireland’s model for long covid care lacks standardised assessment and structured patient follow-up.

The HSE is working on its own analysis of long covid in Ireland, aiming to more accurately understand the scale of the problem and the symptoms affecting patients.