Along with claiming the lives of 1.2 million Americans, the covid-19 pandemic has been described as a mass disabling event.
Estimates of prevalence range considerably, depending on how researchers define long covid in a given study, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts it at 17 million adults.
Despite long covid’s vast reach, the federal government’s investment in researching the disease — to the tune of $1.15 billion as of December — has so far failed to bring any new treatments to market.
Can we channel Hideki Kamiya and wish they “will be cursed for the rest of their lives to always have poop on the soles of their shoes when they get home.”