Four-fold rise in patients with long Covid seen: Apollo Hospitals

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Even as the second wave continues in India, the number of cases reported for long Covid after has been four times more than what was reported last year, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals said on Friday. Long Covid is a condition where people who have recovered from Covid-19 are still exhibiting symptoms far longer than usually expected.

The patients have reported problems like breathlessness, prolonged weakness, extreme fatigue, recurrent headaches and fever (post the suppression of initial fever during the time of infection), lung fibrosis, an increased pulse rate, various gastrointestinal issues and some uncommon complications like erectile dysfunction, hair loss and menstrual disturbances in women.

Further, complications like chronic fatigue syndrome and myalgia are reported four times more in women than men, while lung fibrosis is more severe in men. Being immunocompromised, some patients are also suffering severe post Covid complications like mucormycosis and secondary infections. Recovery for such patients is taking an extended time than expected.

"After the second wave of Covid-19, we have had a large number of patients coming in with moderate to severe complications even after eight weeks of testing positive. The reason for it can be a low grade cytokine reaction or any type of immune dysregulation that is going on in the body and which the body hasn't been able to handle. This number is extremely high compared to what we had observed last year," Lead Lung Transplant and Covid Team, and Senior Consultant, Department of Pulmonology, Dr M.S. Kanwar in a statement.

The most common symptom after patients become RT-PCR negative is weakness, which leads to tiredness and fatigue and makes it difficult for people to re-focus and feel their normal selves even after five to six months of their testing negative. Hence, to manage and monitor health post getting infected with Covid, it is highly advisable to take preventive health checks, eat a nutritious diet, note blood pressure and sugar levels, engage in breathing exercises, not administer unnecessary medicines to avoid drug-drug interaction, Kanwar suggested. Earlier this month, a study by Max Hospital also revealed that about 40 per cent people suffered from at least one post-Covid symptom such as fatigue, pain and breathlessness for upto a year in north India.

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