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Before being contaminated, Christel was athletic, even hyperactive. Disabled by the after-effects of a Covid contracted two years ago, she is struggling to move around today. Excerpt from an investigation carried out for “Special Envoy” by a journalist herself suffering from a long Covid.
His life changed on October 12, 2020, after a positive PCR test. “On Friday evening, I leave work, I collect my things… On Saturday, I start coughing. On Sunday, I lose my taste, my sense of smell… And on Monday, I am positive. It’s been eighteen months since I didn’t go back to work. What happened?” wonders Christel Peres again, incredulous.
She, who was borderline hyperactive before being affected by the coronavirus, now has difficulty bending down, getting up… to perform the ordinary gestures of her daily life as a childcare assistant. Today, at 51, she cannot regain control of her body, which sometimes shakes her whole body, and is unable to return to her work… and even to walk normally. Doctors found no abnormalities in the functioning of his nerves and leg muscles. So why is his approach now disarticulated? It is one of the many mysteries of a pathology that the World Health Organization only officially recognized in October 2021.
The long Covid would affect more than 2 million French people
Its Covid long, Christel calls it “Monsieur Méchant: he’s vicious, he hit where it hurts. It’s a whole life that’s gone. It’s another life, that’s it. I’m another Christel, and the other, she is gone”. Anaïs Bard, the journalist who met her for this report, also suffers from this syndrome characterized by symptoms (chronic fatigue, pain and/or multiple disorders) which persist for more than four weeks after contracting Covid-19. . For eleven months, she also fears that she will never regain a satisfactory state of health. The long Covid is an insidious disease, and a test of patience. It would now affect more than 2 million French people. Only 3% of patients are fully recovered after one year.
Excerpt from “Survey on my Covid long”, a report to see in “Special Envoy” on October 13, 2022.
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