Midmorning With Aundrea - December 9, 2020 (Part 1)

Many people are concerned about the longterm health consequences of COVID-19 long after suffering from the illness.

Now a new study takes a look at the neurological damage of some coronavirus survivors.

That will do it for doctors are still learning about the long term effects patients can face weeks and months after having the coronavirus.

Now a first of its kind study highlights the neurological problems for many covid survivors.

Laura podesta has more.

Maria manfredini and her fiance were planning their dream wedding in italy when the pandemic hit.

Forced to cancel, they took a quick trip to arizona in june, and came home with covid-19.

No smell, no taste, horrible body aches.

And it really attacked my legs.

Horrible leg pains.

Six months later, the 35 year old is still not feeling well.

Her worst symptoms ..

Leg pain and brain fog.

It's extremely frustrating because everybody, the first thing they tell me is, well, you look great.

You can't be sick// at the end of the day, i'm exhausted, i'm in pain neurological symptoms can be common with covid- 19.

New research from a northwestern medicine study looked at more than 500 hospitalized patients and found 82 percent had neurological issues while they were sick.

Muscle pain, headache, encephalopathy, which means alteration of mental function, going from mild confusion all the way to coma, dizziness, disorder of smell and taste dr. igor koralnik oversees the neuro covid-19 clinic at northwestern.

Most patients are long haulers like maria: young, previously healthy, had less severe covid and still..

Suffering with issues.

Lingering and fluctuating over time, sometime lasting months.

// the general trend is for people to improve in time they think i'll fully recover, which is, you know, fantastic.

But at the end of my appointment with him, i just broke down again, and, and thanked him maria and her husband were married in september.

She's trying alternative treatments like vitamin infusions and diet and says some of her symptoms are improving.

Laura podesta, cbs news the study also found hospitalized patients had more serious neurological problems such as stroke, seizures, and movement disorders, but they were less common.

Images of long lines of people waiting hours for covid tests have been a staple of newscasts these past few weeks.

But now, an innovative company in a somewhat out-of- the-way place could be about to change all that.

Here's n-p-r's alison aubrey: the town of bethlehem, pennsylvania was famous for producing steel.

But these smokestacks are relics -- now a very different kind of industry is thriving in the leighigh valley... sot #1 11:10:46 this company was actually founded in the shadows of the-- old bethlehem steel stephen tang is the ceo of orasure technologies -a biotech company- that produces diagnostic tests you can do at home.

As millions of americans lost their jobs last spring,Á orasure started hiring.

Aubrey: 13:05:44 and you've had to keep all of this open all through the pandemic?

Stephen tang: 13:05:47 that's right.

We've added more people, too orsaure pioneered the first over the counter hiv test kit-which gives a positive or negative to a user in just minutes.

It's sold everywhere from walmart to cvs stephen tang: 11:12:24 our experience in looking at pandemics-- particularly hiv, around the world where the only way to test people was to develop a self-test seemed to be-- ultimately-- the right answer for this pandemic.

We can't have people circulating in public-- waiting to get tested.

The best way to test people is for-- to have the ability for anybody, anywhere, any time to test themself the at home hiv test was a big success for a small scrappy company based far away from traditional centers of innovation& sot 11:35:18 .

I know the community well-- here in lehigh valley.

I raised my family here./ this is-- an in-- interesting part of the country where i think you get the best of being-- a mid-atlantic northeast-- population with a-- good dose of midwest values.

And it's a good fit- with his own values 11:34:12 /having-- parents, immigrant parents-- as scientists-- who taught me to love science-- and find ways to-- to help people.

And now tang and his company are trying to do for covid what they did for hiv&amid long waiting times for covid-19 testing and on- going supply shortages -the fda granted emergency use authorization for its self-collection devices in late october sot #5 stephen tang: 11:22:35 and so we have products in the marketplace right now-- that allow you to-sample yourself.

This is a saliva collection tube and you- question: 11:22:48 so you just spit into that?

Stephen tang: 11:22:49 you spit into this.

You send it in the mail safely.

These kits still need to be mailed off to a lab.

So they haven't yet solved the biggest challenge: the need for instant results.

Michael joseph mina: this is a very fast moving virus when somebody gets infected with the coronavirus often by the time they are symptomatic///00:03: 06.360 they have probably already begun transmitting dr. michael mina is assistant professor of epidemiology at the harvard school of public health - as airports filled up over holiday -and cases and deaths continue to surge he says the country would be safer if we had prioritized the kinds of tests that orasure and its competitors are developing 00:03:17.400 -- 00:03:31.170 michael joseph mina: / if people are waiting more than just a few days to get their results, .three days, pretty much starts to make these tests almost useless for that individual-- one day is already pushing it.

The first covid-19 test --that can be done completely at home - was approved in november bu its not yet available nationwide and it requires a prescription.

Orasure will be submitting its test on the market by the quarter of next year sot #7 tang 11:14;38 so you look at a test strip.

It has a control line.

It has a test line.

And within an hour, you know the result.

So you're no waiting in line, no waiting for labs, no waiting for the results to come back.

You own the result yourself.

// tang knows timing is key-the company had hoped to have this test on the market by now -but as scientist, he also knows the importance of getting it right.

Stephen tang: 11:36:54 /it's not an instant gratification-- approach you can take to developing new products.

The science takes time to happen he showed us their hiv test which is very similar to the covid test they've developed.

11:26:10 so it means that you can test yourself anywhere, any time-- and under any circumstance-- to get your result.

Question: 11:26:20 you don't need to call your doctor and ask for them to write you a prescription orsen-- send a note to be tested.

Is that right?

Stephen tang: 11:26:28 ultimately, we-- we are hoping this leads to people empowering themselvesto find out more about themselves question: 11:49:40 what if your test is not 100% sensitive?

What if it's something a little less than that?

Is it still helpful?

Stephen tang: 11:49:49 the test will be helpful-x//.

And the reason is because you allow people to be tested more frequently/11:51:09 / real time information, even if it's-- a little bit less precise is more important than very precise information that you get infrequently.

Dr. mina says rapid tests are key to a preventing more deaths, even with vaccines on the way.

It will likely be mid summer before one is available to all americans.

Sot #13 00:05:26.490michael joseph mina:/ we don't know how easy or hard, it's going to really be to get the vaccine out.

We don't know how durable the immunity to this vaccine is going to be.

We have to have contingency plans and we have to have tools for right now.

For his part, stephen tang says the team at orasure is geared up to give us the tools we need to keep ourselves safe right now and into the future.

Stephen tang: 13:38:42 oh, boy.

The people here have been working in these r&d labs pretty much 24/7-- for the last nine months it.but it's their enthusiasm that's generating this.

We're not insisting they work those long hours.

They're working those long hours because they're on a pursuit to-- to really change the world.

When we come back, high school students are pedaling their way forward.

That story just ahead on mid morning.

Mountain biking is a fast-growing school sport - and it's thriving in spite of the ongoing pandemic.

Nichelle medina caught up with a team in california&where students are learning to conquer challenges on Áand offÁ the trails.

When high school junior ysabella marquez fell off her mountain bike and broke her elbow&.she couldn't wait to get right back on again.

"once you fall i love with something, you don't want to fall out of it!"

She's part of her school's 50-member mountain biking team in chula vista, california&and there's a growing waitlist.

"look through th turn look through a quiet christmas in bethlehem.

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