Young adults make up many of the long-haul patients at Northwestern’s Neuro COVID-19 clinic
CHICAGO — When the coronavirus pandemic began, Patrick Malia was an energetic, 37-year-old father of two.
In March 2020, coughing sent him to an Illinois emergency room. Two years later, the West Dundee, Illinois resident is still suffering from COVID-19 symptoms he never could have imagined persisting so long after he first walked into a hospital to figure out what was wrong.
Still experiencing shortness of breath, headaches, fatigue and brain fog, Malia is one of many people under age 40 who have what experts call long COVID, or long-haul COVID, generally described as a chronic state with symptoms 30 days or more after infection.
Stubborn symptoms range from loss of smell or taste to heart or kidney conditions; commonly, people experience excessive fatigue and brain fog. For young adults beginning careers and becoming parents, these chip away at their quality of life.
Nearly two years into the pandemic, an assumption persists that all young people bounce back from COVID-19. No. Although older patients are more
