More than three months after being infected, 30% of adults still show symptoms of a post-COVID-19 condition, i.e. more than 2 million French people, estimates a survey published by Public Health France on Thursday.
Updated at 0:00
The prevalence was higher in women (33%), in working people (32%) and in people who reported having been hospitalized for COVID-19 (38%), notes the French public health agency.
These results come from the responses of 3,663 French adults infected more than three months before the survey, which was carried out from March 22 to April 8 among more than 27,500 people. They should be interpreted with caution, since they are based on a sample of volunteers, but the proportion of people infected is comparable to estimates from surveillance systems, the agency reports.
No Quebec equivalent
The National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ) does not have data on the prevalence of long COVID in the Quebec population.
An INSPQ study of healthcare workers infected during the early waves, most before the vaccine became available, found that 40% still had symptoms more than 12 weeks after infection.
About 800 network employees are absent due to long COVID, said the Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé, last month.
A pilot project of about fifteen clinics specializing in post-infectious symptoms of COVID-19 and Lyme disease should start “over the next few months”.
Quebec has already estimated that around 23,000 people would need the services of the pilot project, but that was in December 2021, before the fifth wave and its new variants.
Disadvantaged patients
“There is a very big demand, especially with the pandemic which never ends”, testifies the DD Thao Huynh, researcher at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center (RI-MUHC) and epidemiologist-cardiologist at the MUHC.
“These patients are helpless! Even though I am a cardiologist, I take care of their other health problems,” says the researcher, referring to claims with insurers, financial difficulties, breakups. “The patient is crying, we have tears in our eyes, it’s emotionally draining. »
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE MUHC
DD Thao Huynh
The DD Huynh is leading a study of some 200 long-term COVID patients with cardiovascular symptoms. Almost all of them also suffer from fatigue and difficulty concentrating.
It will take training, and more resources, she believes.
Quebec and Canada have invested a lot of resources in acute COVID, but there are not enough funds for long COVID.
DD Thao Huynh, researcher at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center
Many of the participants in his study contracted the virus during the first wave, so before vaccination. Others don’t want the vaccine or have dropped out after the second dose.
“You have to go take the booster doses, it protects you against the long COVID. It’s not just me who says it, there is international research that confirms it, ”pleads the DD Huynh.
His study, called IMPACT QUEBEC COVID-19 long term, received a grant from Pfizer after an international competition, but the pharmaceutical “has no influence on this research project. She was not involved at all, ”she assures.
“If you don’t want the vaccine from Pfizer, get the vaccine from Moderna, from Medicago, any vaccine that is proven to work, but go protect yourself! »
Decline in hospitalizations and increase in deaths on Friday
Quebec reports Friday a drop in the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19, but deplores 15 additional deaths.
The 15 deaths bring the daily average calculated over seven days to 16. The trend is up 51% over one week.
And despite a drop of 22 hospitalizations, the 2,088 people hospitalized represent an increase of 11% over one week. In intensive care, the 54 patients represent an increase of 29% over one week.
The number of people in hospital is likely to continue to rise in the coming days, with the number of admissions still outpacing discharges, by an average of 29 patients per day.
The number of workers absent due to the pandemic has increased slightly since last week. They were 7397 Friday to have to isolate themselves.
The 1,898 new cases reported on Friday bring the daily average to 1,926. The trend is thus up 11% over one week, but tends to stabilize. These figures only reflect a portion of total infections, due to limited access to PCR screening tests. The positivity rate of the latter remains high, at 14.3%.
Quebec administers an average of 11,300 doses of vaccine per day, especially the fourth doses in people 55 years and older. The pace is likely to pick up next week, when little ones 6 months to 4 years old will become eligible for vaccination.
