Brisbane’s Debbie Kilroy still suffering two years after Covid-19

Doctors in Queensland are starting to see a surge in patients presenting with Long Covid-19 symptoms, with predictions of extra pressure on the health system within months.

Doctors are starting to see a surge in Queensland patients presenting with long-Covid symptoms and predict the health system will be under pressure in coming months.

Fatigue and breathlessness are the most common complaints but “long haulers” can have trouble with brain fog, heart problems and even mood swings.

Dr Bruce Willett, Queensland chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said the state had been lucky to have mostly kept Delta at bay as this strain causes the most long-term problems.

“Queensland didn’t really see a flood of cases until after the borders opened so we are still braced to see the level of long-term problems the virus will cause, but I expect there will be a flood of cases. We are still learning of the extended impacts of the virus. But I think Queensland did a good job keeping Delta out of the state for so long as that strain seems to be linked more to long haul symptoms than Omicron,” Dr Willett said

Brisbane’s Debbie Kilroy is still feeling the effects of Covid-19 two years after she was diagnosed. File picture: Liam Kidston.

“We are starting to see some issues with tiredness and shortness of breath the most common complaints. Research shows that heart problems can occur within a year after a Covid-19 diagnosis and these problems can be varied and are different for different people. Heart checks are important,” he said.

A study from Monash University found six months after recovering from critical Covid-19, 20 per cent of people had died and almost 40 per cent of survivors had a new disability.

The researchers revealed 71.3 per cent of surviving patients had shortness of breath, loss of strength, fatigue, headaches and loss of sense of smell and taste after a serious bout of Covid-19.

Brisbane’s Debbie Kilroy was diagnosed with Covid-19 in the first wave of the virus to hit Queensland and is one of pandemic’s long haulers.

“It has been two years this week since I got Covid-19 and my health has not been the same since. I used to be fit and healthy and went to the gym, now I’m on steroids to help me breathe, heart medications and have been to specialists in nearly all areas of health looking for a way out of the Covid-19 nightmare,” she said.

“Sometimes I will start to talk and completely lose my train of thought thanks to brain fog. It is hard to get doctors to acknowledge that my long list of problems are Covid-19 related and many are not taking in the research that is gradually appearing showing that long Covid-19 is a real problem,” Ms Kilroy said.

Research published in the journal Nature showed that even a mild case of Covid-19 can increase a person’s risk of cardiovascular problems for at least a year after diagnosis.

The study found that rates of many conditions, such as heart failure and stroke, were substantially higher in people who had recovered from the virus than in similar people who hadn’t had the disease.

Surprisingly the risk was elevated for under 65s and those without risk factors, such as obesity or diabetes.

And research from the University of Oxford, University College London, and Imperial College (UK), National Institutes of Health (US) has found that Covid-19 has caused brain damage and shrinkage in patients who had mild doses of the virus