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An array of symptoms prolonged over weeks - Many patients suffering from 'long tail' form of coronavirus  |  Photo Credit: iStock Images

New Delhi: More than four months ago, when the first few cases of coronavirus infection were reported in Wuhan, China, we lived in a world very different from the one we are living in now. However, it is not just our lives that have seen a significant change. Apart from the disruption of what we knew as normal, the coronavirus pandemic and the disease itselfhas seen several changes over this period of time. As new information about the virus and its mutationcomes in every day, new developments in the field of vaccines and treatments are also made. Also, as the virus has transported itself to most parts of the world, new symptoms of the disease, now known as COVID-19 have also come in sight.

Back in January, this year, the few known symptoms of coronavirus were fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Researchers and medical experts knew that the virus affects the respiratory system, causing a 'pneumonia-like' illness. However, four months later, various studies on COVID-19 patients have found that the virus can attack almost all vital organs of the body the heart, kidneys, liver, and lungs. The virus has also been found to attack the blood vessels in the body, causing damage. A study has found that COVID-19 can lead to placenta damage among pregnant women, increasing the risk of premature birth, stillbirth, and other complications. Various studies have shown that the coronavirus infection is leading to thickening of the blood, and blood clots which may also eventually lead to strokes in patients. In fact, surprisingly, incidents of strokes in young COVID-19 patients have also been reported. Other symptoms of the infection that have been reported in the near past include foot sores, diarrhoea, muscle aches, headaches, etc. A very important development in terms of complications caused due to COVID-19 is also the mysterious inflammatory illness that is affecting children infected with the novel coronavirus, an issue both WHO and the CDC, USA are now probing into.

Apart from the list of symptoms of COVID-19 getting longer, over the last few months, experts have also analysed how and when do the symptoms actually occur in different people. While children have reported mostly mild symptoms, the elderly and people with existing conditions, especially respiratory problems have shown severe symptoms. Various people remain asymptomatic for very long, only to develop very mild symptoms of the disease, eventually. The longevity of the symptoms also varies greatly among age groups, ethnicity and other parameters, but has not been studied extensively, as yet.

Paul Garner, a professor of Infectious Diseases at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, shared his experience of being infected with COVID-19 in a blog for the British Medical Journal.He narrated his ordeal where he dealt with symptoms of COVID-19 over 7 weeks, calling it a 'roller coaster of ill-health'. Warning health professionals, employers, partners, and people with the disease, he wrote that the illness can last for weeks, and the long tail is not a post-viral fatigue syndrome, but the disease itself. Symptoms of coronavirus can be bizarre, change constantly, take an unpredictable course, but they do not go away too quickly.

According to a recent research and as reported by the Guardian, about one in every 20 COVID-19 patients experiences long-term on-off symptoms. More research may still be required to define the exact time period for long-term - which could mean two months, three months, or even longer.

Professor Tim Spector from King's College, London, who is the head of the research group that has developed the COVID-19 tracker app, has estimated that a small, but significant number of people may be suffering from the long-tail form of the virus.

Based on the data collected by his team on the tracker app, Professor Spector has found that about 200,000 people have reported symptoms that have lasted over the course of the study, which was 6 weeks. This observation could be important because currently, everyone's focus is on patients who are showing severe symptoms, but not those who show mild but prolonged signs of COVID-19.

These people may be going back to work and not performing at the top of their game, Spector says. There is a whole other side to the virus which has not had attention because of the idea that if you are not dead you are fine., the Guardian reported.Ive studied 100 diseases. Covid is the strangest one I have seen in my medical career, Spector says.

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An array of symptoms prolonged over weeks - Many patients suffering from 'long tail' form of coronavirus - Times Now

This entry was posted on May 18, 2020 at 12:43 am and is filed under Longevity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |