U.S. Senator Kaine introduces bill to research and combat long covid, after suffering it himself

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Thu, 2022-03-03 12:24 — mike kraft

Kaine introduces bill to research and combat long covid, after suffering it himself Sen. Tim Kaine got covid-19 in the spring of 2020, and like potentially millions of Americans, he says his body has never felt the same since. Meagan Flynn Washington Post

Sen. Tim Kaine got covid-19 in the spring of 2020, and nearly two years later he still has mild symptoms.

“I tell people it feels like all my nerves have had like five cups of coffee,” Kaine said Wednesday of his “24/7” tingling sensation, just after introducing legislation intended to expand understanding of long covid.

The Virginia Democrat is one of the thousands or even millions of Americans who could have long covid, the little-understood phenomenon in which symptoms linger for weeks or months after a coronavirus infection. There is no agreed-upon understanding of its root causes, or even its official name, making treatment of the long-term symptoms difficult — including for Kaine.

That’s why on Wednesday, Kaine joined Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) in introducing a bill to fund research into the long-term effects of the disease and expand treatment resources for people experiencing them.

The bill tracks with the pandemic road map President Biden released Wednesday, which calls for funding research into long covid. Kaine — a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee who has often asked federal health officials about long covid in hearings — said his office has been working on the legislation knowing the administration wants to prioritize the research.

White House unveils new plan to move America past covid crisis, says shutdowns, school closures no longer necessary

The Comprehensive Access to Resources and Education (CARE) for Long COVID Act would centralize data about the experiences of people who have long covid, fund research into the effectiveness of treatments, and expand educational and community resources so people experiencing lingering symptoms know how to get help. ...

Kaine developed flu-like symptoms in March 2020 in the earliest wave of the pandemic in the United States, when coronavirus tests were not even widely available, and then tested positive for coronavirus antibodies in May 2020. Most of his symptoms, “very mild,” went away within weeks. But the nerve tingling never stopped.

He went to see a neurologist and got an MRI, but the doctor told him everything looked fine. In a way, Kaine was relieved — but left baffled. “I know how my body felt before I got covid, I know how it felt when I got covid, and it’s not gone back to where it was before,” he said. “That gives me an understanding for people who talk about these long covid symptoms.” ...

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