Long Covid could amount to the next public health crisis now the immediate threat of the pandemic is receding. The term has interchangeable definitions, but in general it has come to mean symptoms that stretch on indefinitely after the initial Covid infection has been shedded. The phenomenon has puzzled the medical community but progress in finding a treatment is afoot.
Two new case studies reported in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners suggest antihistamines could deal a decisive blow to long Covid symptoms.
Antihistamines are medicines often used to relieve symptoms of allergies, such as hay fever, hives, conjunctivitis and reactions to insect bites or stings.
Two patients with long Covid reported “rapid symptom resolution” with antihistamine use, the researchers in the study summarised.
While the evidence is anecdotal, it builds on previous findings and the authors hope the stories they have detailed can give patients hope and open the door to future treatment options.
The first case detailed by researchers at UCI involves a healthcare worker in her 40s, who would have been one of the first COVID-19 patients in the United States.
The patient was probably infected sometime in January of 2020, although testing at this time was scarce.
Three days after falling ill, the patient says she was hit by a headache and a wall of severe fatigue.
Days later, she broke out in a rash and began experiencing chest pain, fevers, and night sweats. The worst of the infection lasted 24 days, but many of the symptoms lingered on. In March of the same year, she started reporting a new symptom: brain fog.