International public health guru weighs in about ‘Long Covid’

One of the readers of my weekly column, an international public health expert based in Tanzania, wrote to me after the piece was published on December 26, 2021. It was on ‘long covid’, and his clarification is essential to the larger public. Some people who know me also asked about ‘long covid’. They asserted they had not heard it in public health announcements or discussions.

Yes, we have to learn to live with Covid-19. Renowned medical company Pfizer Inc chief executive Albert Bourla recently said he sees the Covid-19 vaccine administered annually.

Meaning it’s a vaccine-like no other; maybe we should look for another name to safeguard the meaning of traditional vaccines.

Bill Gates, one of the richest men in the world, recently said, after Covid’s Omicron variant, nations can expect to see “far fewer cases” and it will reach a point where Covid-19 most likely will be “like seasonal flu.” What does this tell us? We should expect the unexpected in the battle against Covid-19.

Today, my dear reader allows me to give my space to our international public health expert who shared his views. “……Let me let you know that I do read your weekly column in The Citizen with lots of interest and appreciation…As I have a medical and public health background serving Tanzania on and off over the last 35 years, I follow, in particular, the developmental health aspects you often address. Now to the ‘long covid’ article of the 26th December 2021 to which I have a few comments:

--Boosting to continuously challenge our defense mechanisms and bring them up to the mark, so to say, is a very common practice with vaccinations.

Remember our second measles jab and the 4 DPT’s all of us got during our first year. All is meant to boost our immune system, in particular the humoral immune system, through the immunoglobulins in our blood (IgG and IgM) and the cellular immune system through our B and killer T cells in our blood. When challenged, they fight and neutralize specific invaders like antigens of viruses or bacteria. Therefore also for Covid like and the same we do for the Influenza virus, it is good to have a booster 6 months or so after the earlier vaccination to fight all possible mutations (variants)

Nutritional support, steaming, herbal drinks are not boosters in the real sense as they are not specific against a particular invader but helps the human body, in general, to have the necessary building blocks to develop a general good immune system to fight any challenge which in the case of a respiratory illness making breathing more easier.

Long Covid is a rare but cumbersome complication of acute Covid-19 infections, in particular the earlier variants of 2020. It has been seen all over the world and no doubt it is here in Tanzania as well, although not widely reported. No specific treatment is known, but all cases get much better very slowly over time, which may take more than a year.

Now back to boosting as the news media could be very instrumental in advocating boosting for the vulnerable population groups such as the elderly, people with chronic underlying conditions like diabetes, hypertension, HIV/AIDS, cancers etc and those health care workers in daily close contact with patients.

As President Ms Samia Suluhu Hassan said so well in her New Year address, I quote from The Citizen: “Although vaccines do not prevent people from Covid-19 infections, rather they reduce the severity of disease once infected’ it follows that our vaccination campaigns could emphasize the important purpose of vaccination and focus on vulnerable groups as a priority and allow boosters for those groups as well like also WHO is propagating.”

Our expert concludes the input.