The longest study on the lingering effects of the Covid-19 virus has revealed that two-thirds of the critical or hospitalized patients report a minimum of one symptom that never went away since they contracted the disease.
In the past year, doctors observed that they have more commonly witnessed patients suffering from long-lasting symptoms. These pain and unrest symptoms continued to bother the affected ones, even long-after contracting the deadly disease. Now, this illness is termed as “Long Covid.”
As the year progressed further, more and more studies on exploring the long covid were held. However, clinical data on such persistent symptoms was available almost zero to none. Hence, further insights on how to cure these were also not available.
Fortunately, a new study published in the Lancet features the longest insight into the long Covid and its symptoms. The data for the study was taken from about 1700 hospitals in China. All the patients were followed for a span of about six months.
Corresponding Author of the study, Bin Cao stated, “Because COVID-19 is such a new disease, we are only beginning to understand some of its long-term effects on patients’ health.” He added that “Our analysis indicates that most patients continue to live with at least some of the effects of the virus after leaving the hospital, and highlights a need for post-discharge care, particularly for those who experience severe infections.”
The most prevalent problem amongst the Covid patients was fatigue, and muscle weakness, which continued to bother the patients long-after being tested negative for Covid-19. This was reported from about 63 percent of the patients. Whereas most patients also reported facing difficulties in going to sleep and depression.
The latest studies are tracing down the lasting effects of Covid-19. Some observed patients have gone through extensive pulmonary testing, and about 50 percent showed abnormalities in chest images.
Cao said, “Our work also underscores the importance of conducting longer follow-up studies in larger populations to understand the full spectrum of effects that COVID-19 can have on people.”
The long-term effects of Covid-19 will become clearer over time. Frances Williams from Kings College said it would take time to distinguish the virus’s direct and long-term effects. Also, he suggests that public health’s effect due to the virus will linger on for years at least, if not for decades.
William, in a statement to ‘The Conversation,” said, “With so much having happened over the last year, we will need to tease apart which impacts stem from the virus itself versus which might be the consequence of the massive social disruption wrought by this pandemic.” He added, “What is clear, however, is that long-term symptoms after COVID-19 are common, and that research into the causes and treatments of long COVID will likely be needed long after the outbreak itself has subsided.”