Faces in the fog of the “long COVID” | The widest image

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Teresa Domínguez, 55, was shopping weekly near her home in Collado Villalba, north of Madrid, when she realized she was wandering aimlessly, feeling lost in the corridors and having no idea what she needed.

He paid for what he had already chosen and left.

The “mental fog,” as described by his inability to concentrate, and permanent fatigue after performing the simplest daily tasks have restricted his life over the past year, since the March 2020 coronavirus infection became what doctors call post-COVID syndrome, or “long COVID.”

“I feel physically like my 91-year-old mother,” says Dominguez, a mother of two and a social worker who specializes in disabilities, who has been on sick leave since November.

. Pamplona, ​​SPAIN. Reuters / Susana Vera

Permanent fatigue, daily fever, muscle and joint pain, insomnia and constant mental slippage have prevented Amaia Artica, 42, from doing the job she enjoys in a nursery school since she became infected with the coronavirus during the first wave of the disease. He suffers from low-grade daily fever. “My family doctor has given me a lot of support throughout this test, but not all doctors have understood it. A specialist doctor told me to stop taking the temperature, that if I didn’t pay attention to it, it would disappear because everything was in my mind “.

A recent survey by the Spanish Society of General and Family Physicians (SEMG), which interviewed 2,120 people of whom 1,834 had symptoms compatible with the disease, found that the typical profile of a patient with post-COVID syndrome was a 43-year-old woman with 36 symptoms on average.

. Madrid, SPAIN. Reuters / Susana Vera

Pedro Sanchez-Vicente, a 56-year-old event organizer, spent 100 days intubated in an ICU unit after becoming infected with COVID in March 2020. But after his discharge from hospital he begin to develop many of the symptoms associated with long COVID. . “I’m not your typical long case of COVID, because most of these patients have been hospitalized or not for too long, unlike me. But I share with them mental fog, paresthesia, hearing problems, conjunctivitis , ocular herpes You could say I’m a hybrid, “he said. “When I got home, I saw as a surprise the armchair my family had bought me. I’ve been living in that armchair for the last year. Even now I find myself sleeping in it for hours every night because I have difficulty breathing in bed. ”

Although severe COVID-19 infections are more common in men, long-term COVID appears to affect women more: they accounted for about 80% of the cases in the SEMG study.

Eight women and two men spoke to Reuters about their long COVID experience, and sat down with a photographer to take portraits through a blue plastic “fog” to visualize how the condition made them feel.

. Madrid, SPAIN. Reuters / Susana Vera

Susana Matarranz, a 44-year-old primary school teacher, is thrilled when she explains how much she misses her students. Matarranz became infected on March 1, 2020. At first, he only noticed a loss of smell and taste, but soon after he began to suffer from severe stomach problems and acute joint pain. “My right neck is swollen, I can barely lift my arm, I feel like I’ve aged prematurely,” he said. Matarranz returned to work in September, but became infected a second time in November and has since been unable to continue teaching. “The part of me that is my profession is empty, like that blackboard. A piece of my heart, which is my students, whom I love very much, feels empty and I feel that at this moment I can do nothing to fill it. lo. ”

Like Domínguez, they often report that they cannot do routine tasks such as shopping or cleaning. For some, even watching a movie can be exhausting.

The World Health Organization stated in February that understanding post-COVID conditions was “a clear priority,” while noting that “unfortunately, some (patients) had disbelief or lack of understanding.”

. Madrid, SPAIN. Reuters / Susana Vera

Arias resorted to relying on his support network. “They don’t judge me and they have helped me learn to live with it in the best way possible,” he said. Arias got a friend to design a tattoo for her to remind her of the importance of her network of family, friends, and colleagues. “It means growth and love, the love and support I feel from all the people who help me get through these difficult times.”

Several women who spoke to Reuters, including 23-year-old anthropologist Shalini Arias, said doctors initially put their symptoms aside, while bosses or colleagues sometimes thought they were exaggerating.

“I felt doubly misunderstood, as if I were a hypochondriac and as if I were a high-maintenance woman visiting the doctor because I have nothing else to do,” Arias said.

. Ansoain, SPAIN. Reuters / Susana Vera

Jorge Martin, 44, head of a higher education association, has been out of work for more than a year due to a long COVID. He developed double pneumonia when he became infected with coronavirus during the first wave of the disease. Since then he has been struggling with cognitive difficulties and a long list of physical problems. “I wouldn’t have imagined at my age using rehabilitation tools, but I received them because they help me suffer from physical ailments and provide me with some relief from the anguish of looking at the calendar and realizing that it’s over. a year and I’m still not recovered “.

The WHO says that about one in 10 coronavirus patients stays ill after 12 weeks and many for much longer.

Two other studies, conducted by the University of Leicester in Britain and the International Consortium for Emerging Respiratory and Emerging Infections, have suggested that women in their forties and fifties are at higher risk for long-term problems after COVID- 19.

. Chiloeches, SPAIN. Reuters / Susana Vera

Sometimes Diez feels like a novice at work despite his 20 years of experience and has invented routines to remember the tasks he used to do automatically. He feels he has lost some of his identity, but tries to stay positive. “The first time I tried to swim in the pool, thinking that water would help me improve my symptoms, it was very distressing. I started to feel breathless as I submerged myself in the water. I had to to sit on the steps and let the water not surround me higher than my waist to catch my breath. ”

Symptoms throughout the year have caused Maria Eugenia Diez, a 43-year-old nurse, to stop exercising and give up medical conferences, where she has trouble concentrating.

At times, she feels like a novice at work, despite her 20 years of experience, and has invented routines to remember the tasks she did automatically.

“It happens to me when I drive. I’m much more clumsy. I have to think every day how many gears the car has, where the mirrors are, the cleaner and the water, or the pedals,” he said.

. Madrid, SPAIN. Reuters / Susana Vera

Kemp had to stop dancing, swimming and his long daily walks due to the permanent fatigue he experiences. “The first time I managed to walk to the park of my house, I felt it flying. It was a few feet away, and I had to sit down to rest, but I felt like everyone was opening up to me. I was walking. everywhere and it was like I was on my way to somewhere else. I had the idea that my recovery was ahead, I later realized that was not the case. ”

Anna Kemp, a 51-year-old British woman who has lived in Spain for almost 30 years, claims that the disease affected her ability to communicate in Spanish and that she stopped watching complex television programs because she could not follow the plot.

SEMG Vice President Pilar Rodriguez Ledo said her research team was in the early stages of studying whether hormones could be a factor in long-term COVID, as pregnant women appear to be less susceptible or if the response is found in a gender-specific response. immune system.

. Fuenlabrada, SPAIN. Reuters / Susana Vera

Perez runs a daily full-attention class online with other people who suffer from a long COVID. “If it weren’t for meditation, maybe they would have put me on antidepressants already.” “One day I tried to at least go down the stairs and I don’t even think I could go down two floors, I was in so much pain. I was very disappointed. Will I ever be able to live a normal life? Again?”

Beatriz Perez, a 51-year-old computer engineer, used to go hiking on the weekends, but is now rarely able to complete her personal challenge of walking down the stairs from her eighth-floor floor, if not to the floor. height.

Permanent fatigue and forgetfulness have kept him out of work and he says “the worst thing is to live with the uncertainty” of not knowing when or if he will recover.

These fears bother many, but Nurse Diez tries to stay positive.

“I’m adapting to what I have, I’ll enjoy what I have now and I can’t keep thinking about what I had before,” he said. “It’s hard because I miss him so much.”

PHOTO EDITION Gabrielle Fonseca Johnson; TEXT EDITION ANDREI KHALIP AND ALEX RICHARDSON; Design by Julia Dalrymple

. Pamplona, ​​SPAIN. Reuters / Susana Vera

Nuria Sepulveda, a 44-year-old self-employed worker who owns a courier franchise, fell ill on March 12, 2020 and had to visit emergency rooms on several occasions for symptoms that ended up being diagnosed as double pneumonia. intestinal bleeding and urinary tract infection, among others. He tried to return to work in November, but the fatigue was so overwhelming that “3 hours of work seemed like a 12-hour workday.” “When I felt that the fatigue that had been dragging me for months was getting a little better, I took off my bike. It was September 28. I’ll never forget it, it was the first day I was able to play sports again. I couldn’t stop crying, ”he said. Sepulveda believes we have two lives, the second begins when we realize we only have one.

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