NHS long Covid mobile testing units could be rolled out in areas worst hit by pandemic

[Northerner]

The NHS is considering a rollout of mobile long Covid testing units in order to discover the effect on the future health of millions of people, i can reveal.

It comes after a trial scheme in Essex where the local NHS has joined forces with motor manufacturer Ford to test communities for respiratory illnesses and examine the effects of long Covid on the prevalence of other diseases.

The Essex trial is focusing on spirometry, a diagnostic test for lung conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other respiratory diseases. Patients breathe into a device which measures their lung capacity.

NHS long Covid mobile testing units could be rolled out in areas worst-hit by pandemic

A trial of the testing programme in Essex is focusing on spirometry, a diagnostic test for lung conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other respiratory diseases

inews.co.uk

 

[Eddy Edson]

On the big new study from the other day suggesting that Long COVID CV effects may be pretty bad: https://www.science.org/content/art...us-toll-heart-health-full-year-after-recovery

Now, the first large study to assess cardiovascular outcomes 1 year after SARS-CoV-2 infection has demonstrated that the virus’ impact is often lasting. In an analysis of more than 11 million U.S. veterans’ health records, researchers found the risk of 20 different heart and vessel maladies was substantially increased in veterans who had COVID-19 1 year earlier, compared with those who didn’t. The risk rose with severity of initial disease and extended to every outcome the team examined, including heart attacks, arrhythmias, strokes, cardiac arrest, and more. Even people who never went to the hospital had more cardiovascular disease than those who were never infected.

The results are “stunning … worse than I expected, for sure,” says Eric Topol, a cardiologist at Scripps Research. “All of these are very serious disorders. … If anybody ever thought that COVID was like the flu this should be one of the most powerful data sets to point out it’s not.” He adds that the new study “may be the most impressive Long Covid paper we have seen to date.”