Most people who suffer from Covid-19 have usually recovered within weeks of catching the virus. However, there are reported cases of some people who even after recovering still complain of experiencing Covid-19 symptoms.
CITE spoke to Health Desk Experts who described the condition as long Covid-19.
“Long Covid-19 or long-haul COVID-19 is a colloquial term used to describe characteristics of persistent symptoms of COVID-19 illness that lasts several weeks or months,” said the Health experts.
Some of the reported persistent symptoms include fatigue, headaches, shortness of breath, anxiety, and depression, palpitations, chest pains, joint or muscle pain and weakness, loss of smell, cough, low fever, headache, and cognitive dysfunction (brain fog, not being able to think straight or focus).
“More serious complications, although less common, include damage to the heart, lungs, kidney, and gut due to blood clots or weakened blood vessels. Many other long-term effects are still unknown. Several studies are underway to learn more,” the health experts said.
“Long Covid-19 has been reported in people of all ages and among anyone who was infected with SARS-CoV-2, including those who initially reported mild, medium, or severe symptoms. A specific pattern, if any, on who is at risk of long-term symptoms is yet to be known,” said the health experts.
Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said they continue to work to identify how common post-Covid-19 conditions are, who is most likely to get them, and why some symptoms eventually improve for some people and may last longer for other people.
“Rapid and multi-year studies are underway to further investigate post-Covid conditions in more detail. These studies will help us better understand post-Covid conditions and how to treat patients with these longer-term effects,” said CDC.
The Center for Infection Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) recently revealed that two new studies, one in China and one in the United Kingdom, detail persistent Covid-19 symptoms months to a year after acute illness.
“The risk of long Covid-19 was higher in patients who had more severe illness and somewhat higher among females and young adults. White and non-white survivors were affected equally,” the study revealed.
Background
Most people who have had COVID-19 related symptoms recover within two weeks. However, some people have been reporting various symptoms that have persisted for months. The reported symptoms have been very wide-ranging and in some cases reported to last over six months.
