Dr David Strain on M.E. & long term impact of Long Covid
July 09, 2021
With Covid-19 restrictions lifting later this month, our medical advisor Dr. David Strain warns about the long-term threat Long Covid poses to young people - drawing comparations with the devastating impact of M.E.
In a radio interview with LBC, Dr. Strain said: “The nearest condition to this [M.E./CFS] has got people affected by these symptoms for up to 30 or 40 years.”
Watch the interview.
Cases of Covid-19 are now highest among younger people, leaving medical professionals worried about the impact of Long Covid on this generation. A majority of young people have only had one vaccine dose, meaning they are lesser protected from the virus.
We're pleased to see Dr. Strain using the media spotlight on Long Covid to draw attention to the long-term suffering faced by M.E. patients.
Dr. Strain joined Action For M.E. as our new Medical Advisor this month. He brings a wealth of clinical and academic experience to our charity, as Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Exeter Medical School and as a consultant to the Devon M.E./CFS specialist service. He leads the British Medical Association’s Covid-19 response team and has repeatedly drawn parallels between Long Covid and M.E./CFS, calling for research to benefit all post-viral illnesses.
He said: "[M.E.] continues to be misunderstood by some in the medical community. By working with Action for M.E. I will continue to address the stigma and misinformation that exists and offer advice and guidance to enhance their work.”
You might recognise Dr Strain from our second Learn about M.E. podcast, published in May, or the BBC Horizon long Covid special from February, where he said: “If we develop a treatment for Long Covid that can be carried over, we can start treating people who’ve had M.E./CFS for the last twenty years and have been left with what is a life-changing physical illness that they’ve struggled to even have accepted as a disease in its own right."
