Patients Remain Suspectible to illness even two years after contracting Covid - Research

A comprehensive study published in the Journal Natural Medicine reveals that the health repercussions of Covid-19 can presist for up to two years, leading to an increased vulnerabilty to newe diseases, disabilities and even death. Surprisingly, even individuals who did not require hospitalizaiton during their initial Covid-related ailments, including but not limited to blood clots, diabetes and diseases affecting the lungs, gastrointestinal system and musculoskeletal system.

Approximately 65 million individuals worldwide ae believed to be suffering from a condition known as post-Covid-19 syndrome. This number is continuously increasing due to the absence of approved treatments and the ongoing spread of the virus. Research conducted by the Clinical Epidemiology Center of the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System in Missouri highlights the long-term ailments experienced by Covid survivors, contributing to the overall burden of the pandemic. According to Michael Peluso, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California - San Francisco, while some people's symptoms associated with long Covid gradually improve over time and this recovery process can take years. Furthermore, certain symptoms persist even beyond that timeframe. The impact of these post-Covid conditions on individuals quality of life is significant.

Long Covid has been associated with over 200 symptoms that impact various organ systems. epidemiologist Ziyad Al-Aly and his colleagues utilized the VA's national databases to examine the occurrence of 80 post-acute health issues in a group of 138,818 veterans who survived the first month of a Covid infection in the initial year of the pandemic. This group was compared to nearly 6 million individuals who were not infected during the same time frame. The findings revealed that those who did not require hospitalization for Covid had a 31% increased risk of developing 31% of the 8. ailments after two years of follow-up when compared to the non-infected controls. On the other hand, hospitalization Covid patients had a higher likehood of developing 65% of these health issues.

Individuals who ae admitted to a medical facility during the acute phase of a SARS-CoV-2 infection encounter a challenging and protracted convalescence. Even after a span of two years, they continue to exhibit a markedly augmented likehood of mortality. conversely, for patients who were not hospitalized, the augmented mortality risk from Covid-19 is not statistically significant beyond six months. However, for those who were hospitalized, the escalated risk persist throughout the two-year period. It is generalizability to other cohorts, given that the majority of beneficiaries of the VA healthcare system are elderly males.

According to researches, a severe case of Covid-19 may result in enduring modifications to the innate immune system, which serves as the body's primary defense against pathogens. This finding, published in a separate study on Friday, Sheds light on why the disease can lead to persistent inflammation and widespread organ damage. Auther study, published on Monday, discovered that the Covid-19 may trigger new-onset hypertension, particularly among hospitalized patients. The VA study utilized disability adjusted life years to measure the burden of long Covid on indivduals. Over a two year period, long Covid contributed to a burden of 80.4 days for every 1000 individuals who contracted Covid-19 but were not hospitalized and 642.8 Days for every 1000 patients who were hospitalized for acute illness. Hannah Davis, who co-founded the patient-Led Research Collaborative, which studies long Covid, after developing the condition herself in early 2020, stated that the disability burden "was exeedingly high, even in the non-hospitalized group and demonstrates the severity of the impact long Covid is having and will continue to have on society". UCSF's Peluso, who is also studying Covid-19's effects, described the VA researches "timely and very important analysis" as confirming what doctor have heard from patients in the clinic and in smaller studies. Peluso emphasized the need for further research on the long-term risks associated with covid-19 and the urgency of identifying treatments to minimize ongoing disability and return individuals to their regular health.

Article by : Nishad P Sathar