Some former COVID-19 patients who continue to suffer from long-term health problems have reported that their symptoms temporarily abated after receiving the coronavirus vaccine, according to a UK report.
Anecdotal reports show that between 20 and 50 percent of patients feel their symptoms – which primarily include fatigue, headaches, and brain fog – facilitate post-vaccination vaccination, the Telegraph said.
“We get people reporting improvements, and it’s pretty widespread, about half the people we ask,” said Dr. David Strain, an associate clinical professor at the University of Exeter.
Lou Barnes, who leads a support group of 4,000 people called Post Covid Syndrome, estimated that about 20 percent of the members reported some improvement after receiving their injection.
But many people said the improvements were temporary and lasted for about three weeks, and others also reported feeling worse for a short while, Barnes noted.
Strain, who runs a long-term COVID clinic and is a member of a National Health Service task force on condition, said research was being set up to look at the reports.
“This offers a little bit of hope for people who have been struggling with this for 12 months or more, just to feel a little bit better,” he told the paper.
“But it also tells us as researchers a lot of information: does this give us clues on how to treat it? We have to look very carefully, ”said Strain.
The doctor also noted that “there is a big bias in the reporting,” since “the people who notice something remarkable are the ones who are shouting about it.”
Like Strain, Professor Danny Altmann, an immunologist at Imperial College London, said he was also setting up research on the topic.
“It’s very interesting because we still have no idea of the mechanisms in long COVID and what to do for patients, and also because many patients are very concerned about their immune status,” said Altmann.
Professor Eleanor Riley, an immunologist at the University of Edinburgh, said the anecdotal reports were “interesting,” but warned against taking them as fact before researching the topic.
“I think it’s something that should be followed by scientific research,” Riley said. ‘I think we should not jump to conclusions. It is possible that it turns out to be random. “