Dr Paula Lorgelly

New Zealand researchers are launching a long-Covid registry to get an accurate picture of the country’s post-pandemic burden.

The registry, Mātauranga Raranga, will guide participants through a confidential survey covering demographics, symptoms and their duration, vaccine status, impacts on employment or ability to carry out caring duties, expenses involved and impacts on whānau. According to the team behind Mātauranga Raranga, 10-20% of people infected by Covid-19 may develop long Covid. “This means there may be some 200,000 individuals impacted by long Covid in Aotearoa New Zealand.” The project is being led by Auckland University professor of health economics Dr Paula Lorgelly in collaboration with business director Jenene Crossan, who has lived experience of long Covid. Crossan said she hopes the registry’s hard data will facilitate meaningful support and show that disabilities from persistent illness impact not just the individual but the community, whānau and the economy too. “Even if people are ‘bored’ of Covid and want to move on, it’s going to keep taking until we say ‘enough is enough,’” she said.

Jenene Crossan

In related news, a 2022 letter to the Taiwan Journal of Ophthalmology from Tehran’s Dr Zohreh Jadali and Babylon’s Abduladheem Turki Jalil noted increased risks of several ophthalmological effects following Covid-19 infection, including optic neuritis and retinal vascular occlusion, uveitis and central serous chorioretinopathy. They also cited reports indicating eye movement alterations and surface abnormalities, including dry eye disease and tear osmolarity changes following infection.

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