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Long-Covid syndrome is expected to be of considerable concern in the near future

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Long-Covid syndrome is expected to be of considerable concern in the near future

45-year-old George K. describes in “X” the experience he experiences with prolonged symptoms, while Dr. Haris Armeftis emphasizes that this is an unusual phenomenon

Post-Covid ICU patients are the most severe form of the syndrome

A variety of symptoms in various organs

As the vice-president of the Cyprus Pulmonary Society, Dr. Haris Armeftis, explained to “Haravgi”, long-Covid syndrome is a syndrome which concerns the persistence or appearance of symptoms due to Covid-19, in the four or more weeks after the day of diagnosis .
Long-Covid can cause a variety of symptoms, which can affect various organs for a long time. As Dr. Armeftis explained, mainly organs of the respiratory system are affected, however this is not absolute, since phenomena have been observed from hair loss to thromboembolic events. The most common are the feeling of chronic fatigue, which can occur in more than 80%, shortness of breath, chest pain, cough, joint pain, taste disturbances, headaches and more.
He also noted that problems with nervous function, psychological effects, post-traumatic stress and even depression can be caused.

After the coronavirus began the real Golgotha of 45-year-old Mr. George, who is experiencing the consequences of the infection caused by the virus for two months, without even knowing when he will finally return to his previous state. Long-Covid syndrome, where coronavirus symptoms persist for more than four weeks after a person is positively diagnosed, is quite common, as, according to the vice president of the Cyprus Pulmonary Society, Dr. Haris Armeftis , it occurs in more than half of patients coronavirus, in different ways and to different degrees.

Mr. George fell ill with coronavirus in early July and as he describes in “Haravgi”, although at first he did not have severe symptoms, after a week he began a martyrdom, as he characteristically stated, which continues to this day. Specifically, a week after his diagnosis with Covid and after he had mild symptoms, he found that his oxygen level dropped below 90. In a communication he had with his doctor, he told him that he should go to the hospital immediately.

As he mentioned, he stayed in the hospital for almost a month. First in a specially designed Covid-19 ward and then in the Pulmonary Clinic. He explained that he spent about two weeks in the coronavirus ward, but the symptoms remained the same, reaching a point one step before intubation. After two weeks, he continued, and after a test showed that he was no longer contagious, he was transferred to the Pulmonary Clinic, since the infection caused a problem in his lungs. After staying for another two weeks at the Pulmonary Clinic, receiving the appropriate treatment, he returned home, but in no case did he return to the condition he was in before he contracted a coronavirus.

Long-Covid syndrome is expected to be of considerable concern in the near future

With continuous oxygen therapy at home

For about a month now, he explained, he needs constant oxygen therapy at home and stressed that there is a lot of suffering, as with the slightest movement from the bed or sofa the oxygen levels in his body fall below normal levels. It is understood that Mr. George can not yet return to work, while he must always have someone with him at home. He said that through the physiotherapy he receives for his lungs, he sees a clear improvement in his clinical picture, however, he stressed that the doctors who are watching him can not tell him with certainty when he will finally return to the condition he was in.

“All I can do is be patient,” he said, adding that if it did not happen to him, he would never be able to understand what the coronavirus really is, as on the one hand he had no underlying disease and on the other members of his family who passed him were asymptomatic or with some mild symptoms.

More than 50% of coronavirus patients with long-Covid syndrome

Regarding the percentage that can be affected by the syndrome, the vice president of the Pulmonary Society, Dr. Haris Armeftis, noted that this exceeds 50% of people who have been diagnosed with coronavirus.

Asked to answer whether the cause of the syndrome has been found, Dr. Armeftis noted that it seems to be in the context of the toxicity of the virus. As he explained, the coronavirus can damage the microcirculation of the blood and also possibly deregulate the immune system. Thus, he continued, an inflammation prevails and an hyperinflammatory condition is created, which is considered the cause for these prolonged symptoms.

The doctor did not fail to mention that this condition is an unusual phenomenon, as usually the infectious symptoms subside quickly, while in this case there are reports where the symptoms last even for months. He stressed that there are examples with people who need oxygen therapy for up to three months after their diagnosis and pointed out that there are isolated cases in which even permanent damage can be caused.

Unpredictable phenomenon

Asked whether it is possible to predict who is expected to show prolonged symptoms, Haris Armeftis pointed out that the majority of them are people who became seriously ill and needed hospitalization in a Covid-19 ward or in an intensive care unit. He noted that those who needed hospitalization in the Intensive Care Unit were more likely to have symptoms for a longer period of time and added that the syndrome occurs more frequently in the elderly with chronic underlying diseases. However, he stressed, the above may be the largest percentage, but it is not excluded that even people who took Covid-19 mildly and at home may show remarkable long-Covid symptoms.

Regarding Cyprus, he noted that although there is no record of cases of long-Covid, from empirical data it is estimated that a large percentage, more than 50% of people with Covid-19, still have symptoms after four weeks.

source: dialogue

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Source: 24h.com.cy

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