Almost a quarter of a million people in Ireland are suffering from Long Covid, a new survey has found.
It has also been revealed that many of those with the condition are presenting to the already overstretched hospitals putting additional strain on the health service. The research carried out on behalf of Independent TD Denis Naughten found there are 230,559 people in Ireland suffering with conditions associated with Long Covid.
The study also revealed 36,889 of that number are impacted in their daily activities because of it. Dublin is by far the worst affected county, with 68,972 found to be suffering from the condition and more than 11,000 saying it impacted on their daily lives.
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The survey by Ireland Thinks found Cork had the second highest number of sufferers with 23,471 while 12,502 people in Galway had been found to be affected. Mr Naughten said this is the first exploratory survey of its kind to be conducted in Ireland.
He said it offers a stark perspective on the community prevalence of Long Covid, which does not currently have a defined treatment pathway. Mr Naughten added: “The reality is that such a large number of Long Covid patients presenting to our hospitals with complex health conditions at a time when the system is already overwhelmed could lead to the collapse of health service.
“We cannot just sleepwalk into a crisis of chronic illness which will push people waiting on treatments since before the pandemic even further down already horrendous waiting lists. We need to see this surge of long Covid patients managed with a co-ordinated Government response.”
Mr Naughten, who has for years campaigned for better health services, recently called for Long Covid to be recognised as an occupational hazard for frontline workers. He urged the Government to treat patients presenting with ongoing symptoms with the same urgency as the initial wave of infections.
Mr Naughten said that the findings correlate with previous figures based on research published last summer in the medical journal The Lancet by researchers in the Netherlands. He added: “The findings released from the first comprehensive survey on the prevalence of Long Covid in Ireland show the need to urgently address the care requirements of those who are suffering with this illness.
“While the mechanism behind the disease has yet to be fully defined, given the proportion of the population in Ireland living with Long Covid, it is imperative that evidence-based treatment pathways be explored as a priority.
“It is also interesting to point out that The Lancet paper published last summer described Long Covid as ‘the next public health disaster in the making’, which clearly indicates that the Government must now treat this illness and the patients with it as a matter of the utmost priority.”
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