Editorial: Covid-19 still has capacity to challenge us

Paul Simon performing onstage during the 2015 Nearness Of You Benefit Concert in New York City. Photo / Ilya S. Savenok, Getty Images, File

Editorial

EDITORIAL

News of musician Paul Simon’s sudden onset of a potentially career-ending affliction will be met with sadness, especially for those of a generation whose lives he soundtracked.

Simon, 81, has told the Sunday Times he has paused performing, possibly for good, after hearing loss.

“Quite suddenly, I lost most of the hearing in my left ear and nobody has an explanation for it,“ he said. “Everything became more difficult.”

Hearing loss is an occupational hazard for musicians and deteriorating health is hardly unusual in a person aged over 80. Nonetheless, Simon mentioned he had been “beaten up in these last couple of years”, particularly during a tough struggle with Covid-19.

There is growing evidence that the virus can leave people with hearing impairment. A University of South Australia nursing lecturer recently researched the connection after her Covid-19 infection coincided with sudden deafness.

Kim Gibson, a registered nurse with a clinical background in neonatal intensive care, documented her experience with sudden sensorineural hearing loss five weeks after testing positive for Covid-19. She was fully vaccinated.

Her findings and recommendations were published in the British Medical Journal Case Reports.

A University of South Australia nursing lecturer has used her own #COVID19 experience to inform research into a little-known side effect of the virus – sudden #deafness.

Kim Gibson, a registered nurse with a clinical background in neonatal intensive care…https://t.co/je2V4oLwVh

— Erwin Loh (@erwinloh) April 14, 2023

Gibson developed acute hearing loss in one ear, along with vertigo and tinnitus several weeks after experiencing a mild Covid-19 infection in 2022, and an otolaryngologist confirmed sensorineural hearing loss, a side effect not listed as a common symptom on most websites or cited by GPs.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners describes sudden sensorineural hearing loss - also known as sudden deafness - as rapid onset, typically only in one ear. It can happen instantly or impair over several days. People can experience mild hearing impairment or total loss of hearing and it may be temporary or permanent.

This should be yet more concerning, given the NZ Herald report on Monday that most eligible New Zealanders are still yet to get the new Covid-19 booster.

The Government rolled out the updated Omicron-targeted booster to Kiwis over 30 at the start of April, to offer people an immunity top-up ahead of winter and help ease pressure on the health system. For those up to date with their vaccinations, this is the fourth or fifth Covid jab they will have received since the start of the pandemic.

Yet, between April 1 and May 12, Ministry of Health figures showed only around 411,000 boosters - nearly all of those second and third ones - had been administered.

Many of the over-30 population wouldn’t have been eligible if they’d been boosted or infected in the past six months but Herald analysis found the majority were yet to take up the free shot.

The ministry data also showed only half of New Zealanders older than 50 had received more than one booster, despite the second ones being offered to that age group last winter.

Being vaccinated does not prevent all infections but the new Omicron booster shots perform better in prevention, and vaccination can also reduce the impacts and slow the spread.