Brianne Dressen has never been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. After she was given the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine in a clinical trial, she developed symptoms similar to those of long COVID. Her vision became blurry, she started to experience tinnitus, and “I felt like I had two seashells on my ears,” she said.
Her symptoms quickly worsened, with fluctuating heart rates, severe muscle weakness, and debilitating internal electric shocks. And she was also diagnosed by a doctor as having anxiety.
Dressen, who lives in Utah, used to be a kindergarten teacher and rock climber. However, after falling ill, she now spends most of her time in a dark room.
An article in the journal Science documents Dressen’s experience. The article suggests that vaccines may cause rare symptoms similar to those of a long COVID.
Long COVID Affects Multiple Organs, Requiring a Long Recovery Time
What does the term “long COVID” mean?
Generally speaking, the first 3 to 4 weeks of COVID-19 infection are the acute infection period, after which the symptoms gradually alleviate. However, some patients continue to suffer from old or new symptoms after this acute period, which can last for months or even over a year.
According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), an average of 32 percent of the patients still have one or two symptoms and 55 percent have three or more symptoms 60 days after the first onset of COVID-19 symptoms.
These are known as post-COVID conditions, commonly called “long COVID.” It may affect multiple organs in the body and may cause systemic symptoms such as fatigue and fever. Statistics show that the most common symptoms of the long COVID are fatigue, difficulty breathing, joint pain, and chest pain. The chronic fatigue and lack of concentration that many people experience after a COVID-19 infection may also be the symptoms of the long COVID.
By Dr. Yuhong Dong and HEALTH 1+1
