Abstract:
Since 2019, primary care has been under great pressure from Covid-19 patients and now from those affected by Long Covid. The issue of this new condition, its diagnosis and available treatments, were investigated on the occasion of an anecdotal and unexpected recovery of a patient with Long Covid.
A 48-year-old woman, a single mother of two and patient in our family practice for several years, became sick from Covid-19 in October 2020. She never recovered, and 9 months later was still showing signs of severe Long Covid with somatic, behavioral, cognitive and memory disorders.
After her two vaccinations by Comirnaty – Pfizer/BioNTech, she reported severe side effects, followed at day 12 after the first vaccine by an unexpected improvement still present at day 30 and 44 of the Long Covid symptoms from which she had suffered for several months. SARSCoV-2 antibodies were very high and although Magnetic Resonance Imaging were not very contributory, cerebral tomoscintigraphic examination was compatible with a cerebral pathology of vascular type.
While no conclusions can be drawn from an isolated case, this case allows us to show that post Covid patients, who may already be highly comorbid, should be accompanied on a long-term basis. The disease is not yet precisely defined and symptoms may be non-specific family practice or may vary depending on the organs affected. Diagnostic procedures are not always helpful. A post Covid heartsink patient with medically unexplained symptoms may well be a Covid long hauler. This makes listening to the patient‘s words and narrative medicine very powerful.
Source: Jamoulle M, Kazeneza-Mugisha G, Zayane A. Improvement of a Long Covid patient after vaccinations, a case report in The Permanente Journal. Accepted. Oct. 2021. In press. https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/267459/1/in_press_Long_Covid_revised_full_final_draft_20212610.pdf (Full text)