The Problems With Covid-19 Nobody Is Talking About

Public discourse surrounding Covid-19 has largely centered around deaths, hospitalizations, treatments, and the efficacy of vaccines in its prevention. Despite these important issues, there are equally impactful aspects of this virus that deserve just as much attention. Below are three that you should consider.

1- Disability And The Workforce

According to CDC data, nearly 8% of US Adults have long Covid, defined as experiencing symptoms 3 or more months after contracting Covid-19, without symptoms being present prior to infection. Many of these symptoms, such as fatigue, memory loss, disordered sleep, and cardiac impairment are debilitating; and are contributing to disability in ways we have not seen previously. According to research in Nature Reviews Microbiology, a significant proportion of Americans with long Covid cannot return to work, leading to unprecedented labor shortages. In fact, with nearly 10.6 million unfilled jobs throughout the country, disability from long Covid could account for 15% of unfilled jobs, meaning approximately 1.59 million jobs will remain unfilled due to long Covid. This will almost certainly have profound implications for American families who continue to struggle to cope with inflation in the post-pandemic era. Furthermore, needed services in medicine, engineering, tech, finance, education, and retail will all be curtailed due to decreased personnel that are required to provide such services. As disability from long Covid is swiftly becoming a reality, the US Census Bureau must explicitly ask about disability from long Covid as a routine question to American citizens to inform future public health policy.

2- Effects On Fertility And The Reproductive System

Covid-19 can affect a multitude of organ systems, include the reproductive system in males and females. The virus can result in declined ovarian reserve in females, as well as impairments in sperm count, motility, and morphology in males. While this may be well known, the effect of this on fertility rates in America is seldom spoken about. According to the US Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics, fertility rates in America have gradually declined for the last 30 years. In 1990, there were about 71 births per 1000 women ages 15-44. In 2019, there were about 58 births per 1000 women in that same age group. Currently, the US fertility rate is 1.7 births per female, well below the replacement rate of 2.1 required for the US population to remain steady without increases in immigration. Covid and its impact on fertility will have a real effect on American family planning, and this must become part of media discourse to raise awareness and prevent potential anxiety and stress surrounding increasing infertility rates.

3- Testing Concerns

There are many different types of test to clinically detect Covid-19 infection, including antigen tests and nucleic acid amplification tests such as PCR. The latter is known to be the most reliable test for those with or without symptoms. Despite this, PCR false negative rates are still high, especially in those with low viral loads such as children. This means that for some children, even a PCR test for Covid may be negative, but the child still may be infected with the virus. Many skeptics for childhood vaccinations against Covid often cite the relatively low number of infections in children as a reason that it is not necessary to vaccinate the pediatric population. Although patients between the ages of 0-18 account for about 17% of all Covid cases in America, this data may not be entirely accurate as many cases are likely not accounted for given the high false negative rates of testing. It is imperative that data be used appropriately in the correct context when informing public health policy and decisions.

A New Focus

Topics such as disability, infertility, and inadequate testing for Covid-19 deserve the spotlight in popular and mass media. Without awareness, the American people can never more forward.