(WXYZ) — Michigan Medicine will be opening two clinics for COVID-19 long-haul patients, with the goal of providing care to both adults and children who are experiencing long-term complications after contracting COVID-19.
According to Michigan Medicine, there have been more than 1,500 adult patients with severe cases of COVID-19 at the health system, and doctors at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital have seen more than a dozen cases of kids and teens with persistent COVID-19 symptoms, including respiratory issues and fatigue, months after even mild cases.
“There is an urgent need to better understand the long-term complications of COVID-19 and provide specialized care for high-risk groups of patients,” Michigan Medicine endocrinologist Dr. Rodica Pop-Busui, the director of the adult clinic, said.
The adult clinic will offer in-person and virtual care, and patients must be 18 and older with a lab-confirmed case of COVID-19, be referred by their primary care provider, and also have comorbid diabetes, prediabetes, obesity or another diagnosis with symptoms of post COVID-19 including fatigue, shortness of breath, joint and muscle pain and more.
“While our goal is to offer our clinic services to all patients hospitalized with COVID-19, we’re initially targeting patients with diabetes or obesity given their high-risk status and the significant disturbances in blood glucose attributed to COVID-19,” says Pop-Busui.
The pediatric clinic will open at Mott and assist children, adolescents and teens dealing with long-term COVID-19 effects.
Eligible clinic patients must:
- Be under the age of 21 with a history of lab-confirmed COVID-19.
- Be referred by a primary care provider.
- Have a continuation of symptoms, including fatigue, shortness of breath, joint pain, chest pain, and cough that persist for more than two months (60 days) post COVID-19.
- Have no other exposures or explanations for the new or worsening symptoms.
“We’ve seen many children who have breathing issues and other lingering symptoms long after an initial infection,” Dr. Carey Lumeng, a Mott pediatric pulmonologist who leads the Mott post-COVID clinic, said in a release. “Most of these initial infections were mild and didn’t require hospitalization or even outpatient care. Our goal is to better understand this phenomenon in young people and ensure that patients see the right group of specialists to address their specific symptoms.”
Patients who consent will also participate in research as doctors try to learn more about COVID-19 long-haul patients.
To learn more or make an appointment at the adult Multidisciplinary Post COVID-19 Clinic, visit michmed.org/postCOVIDclinic. To learn more about the pediatric Post-COVID Syndrome Clinic, visit mottchildren.org/postCOVIDclinic.
Additional Coronavirus information and resources:
View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.
See complete coverage on our Coronavirus Continuing Coverage page.
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