According to a study published Tuesday in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, at least half of those hospitalized due to COVID-19 suffer from one or more symptoms two years after infection, the longest such Follow-up study. Done till date.
At least half of all hospitalizations are due to: COVID-19 Suffering from one or more symptoms after infection. This is the longest such study to date.
Mounting evidence suggests that a large proportion of people who recover from COVID-19 have long-term effects on multiple organs and systems.
According to the Lancet study, the health status of COVID-19 survivors at the age of 2 years was notably lower than that of the general population. The study findings indicate that there is an urgent need to trace the pathogenesis of prolonged COVID and develop effective interventions to reduce the risk of protracted COVID.
The study was led by doctors at the Sino-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing.
“Our findings suggest that for a certain proportion of hospitalized Covid-19 survivors, while they have cleared the initial infection, more than two years are required to make a full recovery. China’s Professor Bin Cao said follow-up of Covid-19 survivors, especially those with protracted COVID symptoms, is essential to understanding the longer course of the disease, as is further exploration of the benefits of rehabilitation programs for recovery. Is. —Japan Friendship Hospital in China, and lead author of the study, in a statement.
“There is a clear need to provide ongoing support to a significant proportion of people with COVID-19, and to understand how vaccines, emerging treatments and variants affect long-term health outcomes,” the scientist said.
While physical and mental health generally improved over time, researchers found that the health and quality of life of COVID-19 patients was worse than that of the general population. Permanent symptoms usually include one or more of the following: fatigue, shortness of breath, and difficulty sleeping.
The authors analyzed the long-term health outcomes of hospitalized COVID-19 survivors as well as the specific health effects of Long COVID.
Scientists followed 1,192 people hospitalized with COVID at the Jin Yin-Tan Hospital in Wuhan in early 2020, checking in with them six months, 12 months and two years after their symptoms began.
The average age of the participants was 57 years, and more than half were male. In the study, their ability to walk for six minutes was assessed, they were tested in laboratory and they answered questionnaires about symptoms, mental health and quality of life. Some also checked their pulmonary function and received chest imaging at each visit.
The results show that timing helped to some extent. After six months, 68% of the study participants reported at least one long-term COVID symptom. By two years, the report had dropped to 55%. The scientists wrote that they intended to monitor patients once a year.
“The negative impact on quality of life, exercise capacity and health care utilization highlights the importance of studying the pathogenesis of chronic COVID and promoting the search for targeted treatments to manage or alleviate the condition,” they wrote.
*With inputs from agencies