AI Tool Detects Long-COVID Healthcare Symptoms

In November 2019, healthcare services across Wuhan, China, began to notice an influx of patients suffering from cases of a virus similar to Sars. Dr Li Wenliang, an eye doctor, warned his colleagues about the virus and was reported to local police for ‘spreading rumours’. He later contracted COVID-19 himself and died on 7th February 2020. The public outcry on Chinese social media forced the Chinese government to exonerate Dr Li. The COVID-19 pandemic has since then claimed seven million lives, according to Worldometer. 

Five years later, many have resigned themselves to facing COVID-19 as they would with the usual winter cold, comfortably living alongside the wider public and all the potential germs, with a bottle of anti-bacterial gel to hand.

Yet some people still feel the impact of COVID-19 - from those who faced the legal ramifications of lockdown to those living with long-COVID. 

AI tool detects long-COVID symptoms in new research from Mass General Brigham

After any illness has gone, the unpleasant symptoms can remain. Long COVID refers to symptoms that persist or develop weeks after the initial COVID-19 infection. It also goes by ‘post-COVID conditions’, ‘post-COVID-19 syndrome’ and ‘long-haul COVID’.

The World Health Organization estimates that up to 20% of people infected by SARS-CoV-2 may develop long-COVID.

It is more common in those who had severe initial COVID-19 symptoms, people over the age of 50 and those with underlying chronic conditions. As a result, vaccination reduces the risk of developing long COVID, by lowering the chances of infection.

Long-COVID has an intense impact on daily life, preventing people from returning to work or participating in normal activities. 

Researchers at Mass General Brigham in Boston have been developing an AI tool which can sort through electronic health records, to find the symptoms related to long-COVID.

The AI looks for symptoms that can't be explained by a person's medical history and occur after a COVID infection. The AI tool can spot whether shortness of breath might be explained by pre-existing heart failure or asthma, rather than long-COVID.

"Questions about the true burden of long COVID -- questions that have thus far remained elusive -- now seem more within reach," said Senior Researcher Hossein Estiri, Head of AI research at Mass General Brigham in Boston. "Our AI tool could turn a foggy diagnostic process into something sharp and focused, giving clinicians the power to make sense of a challenging condition.”

"Physicians are often faced with having to wade through a tangled web of symptoms and medical histories, unsure of which threads to pull, while balancing busy caseloads. Having a tool powered by AI that can methodically do it for them could be a game-changer," added Lead Researcher Dr. Alaleh Azhir, an internal medicine resident at Brigham and Women's.

Researchers hope to release the AI tool publicly, allowing other healthcare systems to test it.

Religious discrimination case tied to COVID-19 vaccine policy

Despite the potential of long-COVID, many still stand by their decision to reject the vaccine.

A federal jury in Michigan has ruled in favour of Lisa Domski, a former employee of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM), awarding her US$13m in a lawsuit over religious discrimination. Lisa Domski claimed she was wrongfully terminated in 2021, after working for the company for nearly 38 years, for refusing to comply with the company's COVID-19 vaccination mandate, citing her religious beliefs. 

"Our forefathers fought and died for the freedom for each American to practise his or her own religion. Neither the government nor a corporation has a right to force an individual to choose between his or her career and conscience," said her attorney, John Marko. 

"Throughout the pandemic, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, together with its employees, worked to promote the health and safety of our colleagues, stakeholders and communities,” said the company in a statement. “As part of that shared work, in October 2021, Blue Cross, and its subsidiaries, enacted a vaccine policy requiring all of its employees to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 or obtain a religious or medical accommodation.”

Blue Cross is now reviewing its legal options.

These ongoing legal and healthcare challenges prove that COVID-19 was and remains, far more than just a regular winter cold. 

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