April 20, 2024

Athens News

News in English from Greece

Only a year later, the symptoms of coronavirus disappear in those who have recovered

Long-term COVID causes many different symptoms of damage to the respiratory tract, heart and other vital systems, tormenting a person for at least six months after suffering an acute illness. In 23% of patients with coronavirus, symptoms finally disappear after a year.

The increased stress experienced by survivors of the fall of the Twin Towers in New York and Hurricane Katrina is causing the coronavirus.

In particular, patients who survived the coronavirus experience post-traumatic stress in 30% of cases, as do those who survived Hurricane Katrina (20%).

The greatest concern for those with COVID-19 is when symptoms persist even after recovery. According to international studies, even after a year, only 23% of patients showed no symptoms.

This was emphasized by the specialist in infectious diseases Eftimia Yannicioti, scientific director of the COVID clinics of the Tzanio hospital, the director of the NSS 4th clinic of the Attica hospital.

The specialist expressed her opinion during a scientific event held the day before at the Institute for Scientific Research

For the treatment of a post-COVID condition or long-term COVID, it is necessary to monitor patients by doctors of different specialties in order to achieve the maximum possible recovery, since, depending on the severity of the disease, there are conditions that can be slightly changed, while other symptoms disappear after six months or more.

In this direction, hospitals began to organize clinics for the treatment of protracted COVID. Ippokratio already has a polyclinic with pulmonologists, psychiatrists and cardiologists, and at Tzanio Hospital, the corresponding clinic monitors patients who have recovered from coronavirus, in collaboration with the emergency department and the COVID clinical department.

Pulmonology professor Stylianos Lukidis, speaking at the event, stressed that after the acute phase of the disease, control is necessary for the first 4-6 weeks, although respiratory problems were detected even 12 weeks after infection. He also stressed the need for re-examination in order to avoid complications that can lead to disability due to possible damage (fibrosis) of the lungs or vascular disease.

For her part, Cristina Chrysochu, head of the cardiology department of the Ippokratio Hospital, stressed the need for follow-up of those who have recovered and the appointment of such examinations as cardiogram and ultrasound.

The experts noted that specific recommendations for the treatment of patients with lingering COVID have not yet been developed. In particular, Ms Giannizioti pointed to the ever-changing data on physical and mental parameters that make it difficult to classify symptoms.

The specialist emphasized that the occurrence of long-term COVID is associated with a secondary effect of the virus on tissues, complicated by the long-term inflammation that it causes. The virus alters the gut microbiome, T- and B-lymphocytes, and also affects the brain, causing complications from the central nervous system.

Prolonged illness after the acute phase occurs at any age, regardless of the severity of the disease. But it is more common in obese women 50-70 years old. The main symptoms are shortness of breath, fatigue, and headache. In addition, stress, depression, post-traumatic conditions, tachycardia, arthritis and myalgia, diabetes mellitus, thyroiditis, and in 20% alopecia (baldness) are observed.

According to hospital admissions at Tzanio Hospital, 20% of treated patients returned to the hospital within six months, of which 4.4% were re-admitted for fever, arrhythmias, chest pain or pneumonia.

According to a study published in the competent publication Lancet, within six months of the onset of the disease, 33% of patients developed neuropsychiatric disorders. While in another study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, 43.6% had neurocognitive impairments 12 months after illness. And only 22.9% of patients had no symptoms.





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