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Since mid-March, more than 3,800 Hoosiers who tested positive for COVID-19 have died. More than half of those deaths were patients age 80 or older.

In Monroe County, all 38 COVID-19-related deaths have been in patients age 50 or older. Younger patients, though less likely to die after suffering from COVID-19, may face continuing symptoms even several months after diagnoses. Those include fatigue, weakness, cognitive impairment and difficulty breathing, among other lingering effects.

In many online support groups, individuals with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 have connected to discuss their continued illness. Lingering symptoms of COVID-19 have been given various nicknames, including “Long COVID” and “Slowvid.” Doctors aren’t yet sure how long the effects can last, or what lasting damage may be done to the body.

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Dr MacDermott is one of a growing number of previously healthy people who identify as having 'long COVID', a bewildering array of symptoms that continue months after the initial, acute signs of infection.

"The concept of long COVID has been dismissed ... even in the medical sphere," she says.

But now Dr MacDermott is part of a group of UK doctors affected by persistent symptoms of suspected or confirmed COVID-19, who are calling for more research, better monitoring, and medical support.

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It’s called post-intensive care unit syndrome, or PICU and prior to the pandemic, many of us may never have heard of it. But patients who survive an extended stay in an intensive care unit on a ventilator may have a number of unique health challenges to overcome. More on how hospitals are rethinking recovery for COVID patients.

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COVID-19 may lead to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome requiring intensive care unit (ICU) support. Patients surviving respiratory distress could develop post-intensive care syndrome (PICS) that includes ICU-acquired weakness (ICUAW). Nearly 66% of COVID-19 patients have clinically important muscle weakness following discharge [1]. Therefore, communication between the critical care and rehabilitation physician is important to evaluate the physical function of COVID-19 survivors to start rehabilitation timely.

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Surviving severe COVID-19 means surviving viral sepsis. And while there is little published data on long-term outcomes of severe COVID-19, what is known is that recovering from sepsis caused by other pathogens is a long and difficult process that includes, among other things, increased odds of cognitive impairment and functional limitations—even down to inability to bathe, toilet or dress independently.

A recent Viewpoint essay published in JAMA, “Recovery From Severe COVID-19: Leveraging the Lessons of Survival From Sepsis,” calls out the lessons physicians should take from sepsis cases generally to prevent overly intensive ICU practices and promote speedier recovery for COVID-19 patients.

The AMA is closely monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more at the AMA COVID-19 resource center. Also check out pandemic resources available from the AMA Code of Medical Ethics, JAMA Network™ and AMA Journal of Ethics, and consult the AMA’s physician guide to COVID-19.

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COVID-19 had the potential to create a perfect storm in the realm where Butcher and his colleague Tammy Eaton, C.R.N.P., specialize: Post-Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS). PICS is a set of conditions that have been around as long as critical care medicine, but it received a name only a decade ago. Addressing PICS is the mission of the UPMC Critical Illness Recovery Center (CIRC), which Butcher and Eaton founded at UPMC Mercy.

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For those recovering from COVID-19 illness and the even larger number of individuals whose lives have been significantly impacted indirectly by the pandemic, the key issues that can be addressed by mental health providers include the following:

Informed and reasonable information about the virus and preventative measures, such as personal protective equipment (PPE), social distancing and hand-washing;
Providing strategies to improve coping and stress tolerance, such as mindfulness and meditation exercises, sleep hygiene and ways to maintain social connections;
Return-to-work readiness determinations from a mental health point of view with appropriate work-restrictions and accommodations based on an individual's job demands and work environment conditions;
Grief and loss counseling;
Telemed-based, trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or other evidence-based treatment approaches for treatment of COVID-19 related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD);
Increased intensity of treatment, by frequency or duration of therapy sessions, for acute exacerbations of pre-existing mental health issues (e.g. depression, PTSD, social anxiety, agoraphobia, generalized anxiety, major depression, etc).

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BATON ROUGE – According to Louisiana's Department of Health, about 149,640 residents have recovered from novel coronavirus since the outbreak began this year.

While reports of physical recovery are encouraging, for many survivors, this physical recovery is only the initial step in a journey to fully restored health.

After successfully battling the virus so as to move out of quarantine and return to work, a number of patients report that their battle continues emotionally.

This is often the case for the sickest of the sick who required time in the ICU and intubation. These patients may face "post-intensive care syndrome" (PICS) that could manifest as a combination of physical, cognitive, and mental health impairments following an ICU stay for a critical illness.

This is why Baton Rouge General (BRG) has started a 'Coping After COVID' support group for survivors who are struggling to get back to normal life, as lingering symptoms and months of illness can contribute to anxiety and depression.

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People after a stay in an intensive Care Unit (ICU) often have Post Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS) this is a combination of physical disorders and limitations such as muscle weakness, reduced stamina, shortness of breath, pain and stiffness in the joints. The physical consequences after an ICU are usually known, but there may also be psychological and cognitive problems. These residual symptoms lead to long-term limitations in daily functioning and reduced quality of life.

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COVID-19 is not a hoax, it’s deadly. Hope we’re over that idea by now. COVID-19 is now the second-leading cause of death in the United States, after heart disease.

Even those who survive the virus might have after-effects. Those who go into intensive care might be adversely affected with Post-Intensive Care Syndrome causing physical, mental and emotional symptoms. Don’t be inflexible about the threat. You are only encouraging others to ignore it.

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DALLAS, Oct. 5, 2020 -- Having a spouse in a hospital's intensive care unit (ICU) may make a person more likely to have a heart attack or cardiac-related hospitalization themselves within a few weeks of the ICU admission, according to new research published today in the American Heart Association's flagship journal Circulation.

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Although most people with COVID-19 get better within weeks of illness, some people experience post-COVID conditions. Post-COVID conditions are a wide range of new, returning, or ongoing health problems people can experience more than four weeks after first being infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. Even people who did not have symptoms when they were infected can have post-COVID conditions. These conditions can have different types and combinations of health problems for different lengths of time.

CDC and experts around the world are working to learn more about short- and long-term health effects associated with COVID-19, who gets them, and why.