The COVID 19 pandemic has wreaked havoc all over the world and the virus is far from done. Even those of us who have had the infection and have recovered find that there are lingering effects; even a year later. This is what we know about what is being called long COVID: people don’t remain infected nor will they be able to pass on the infection. However, they experience certain persistent symptoms months later such as:
They are calling it Long COVID, or the post-COVID syndrome or other terms such as chronic COVID syndrome (CCS) and long-haul COVID are used. This is seen all over the world. A recent study has shown that in almost 40% of patients studied in parts of India had COVID symptoms beyond three months; some up to a year after the disease.
Studies have found that the most common symptoms are breathlessness, tiredness or fatigue, difficulty breathing and so on, particularly in people who had severe infections. Headaches, joint pain cough, dizziness when standing up are also some symptoms.
This is the one particular symptom of COVID 19 that is often the definitive indication of an infection. The loss of smell and taste in COVID is different from a common cold or flu in that the sense of smell is completely absent for a week or several weeks. Even months after recovery many do not recover their sense of smell and taste completely. They find those senses significantly altered in that that things taste different – sweeter, more bitter and so on.
People also experience problems such as brain fog and difficulty sleeping after recovering from the infection. Problems focusing and remembering things can also persist a long time after infection. There could also be impacts such as depression or anxiety following infection. People with a history of these issues are more likely to experience these after COVID.
Information about the various ways in which this particular coronavirus impacts different parts of the body is still coming in. We do know that severe disease can cause permanent damage to the heart and lungs, resulting in scarring, reduced lung capacity, palpitations and so on. There could be lingering changes in blood pressure or blood sugar. Renal (kidney) and gastrointestinal issues are also seen to persist for many months after the infection in some people. Bone death and various fungal infections can also continue to cause problems over the longer term.
People who had a severe form of the illness are more likely to have long COVID symptoms for months after the initial infection. Those who are overweight, have asthma, are over the age of 50 are more likely to have symptoms. Men are likelier than women to have symptoms. Experts have expressed the apprehension that long COVID could mean long term or permanent disabilities that could prevent people from returning to work. Right now, people are still trying to make sense of it all and treatment modalities are still being developed.
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