The long-term sequelae of Covid, a problem that worries science

The threat of the novel coronavirus extends well beyond the period of infection / Ap

Since the appearance of Covid 19 to the present day, numerous studies carried out around the world, including in our country (see apart), analyzed the possibility of the virus leaving sequelae in different parts of the body. But now, a study conducted in the United States and published by the scientific journal Nature, the largest ever to assess a wide range of health problems, reveals that the consequences of Covid, even in people who have never been hospitalized, cannot just last. for months, but appear to increase the risk of death and chronic disease.

In the study, researchers analyzed the medical records of more than 73,000 people across the United States whose coronavirus infections did not require hospitalization, and between one and six months after infection, these patients had a significantly higher risk of death (60%) .100 more) than people who were not infected with the virus.

The research, based on patient records from the Department of Veterans Affairs health system, also found that outpatient recoveries from Covid were 20% more likely to need outpatient care in those six months than people who had not contracted the coronavirus, experiencing a wide range of long-term medical problems from which they had never suffered: not just lung problems due to the respiratory effects of the virus, but symptoms that could affect virtually any organ system or part of the body, from neurological to cardiovascular or gastrointestinal.

También tenían un riesgo mayor de presentar problemas de salud mental, como ansiedad y trastornos del sueño, además de que algunos de los problemas posteriores al Covid, como diabetes, enfermedades renales y cardiacas, podrían convertse into padecimientos crónicos el resto duríanante his lives.

“People continue to suffer from respiratory illnesses, constant headaches and other symptoms. Es como que el virus no desaparece, no ententemos la causa subyacente y se ha convertido en algo crónico en algunos casos e incapacitante en otros ”, señaló Laurie Jacobs, presidenta de medicina interna del Centro Médico de la Universidad de Hackensack, who did not participate in study.

The researchers compared the risk of death and other characteristics with data from nearly five million patients in the veterans system who did not have Covid and were not hospitalized.

According to the study, between one and six months after suffering from a relatively mild or moderate infection, 1,672 of 73,345 patients died (approximately 2.3%). The cause of death or anything specific about the illnesses of these patients was not indicated, and researchers were also unable to say if the people had any underlying health issues or if their new symptoms were. the direct consequences of their coronavirus infection, the side effects of the drugs they were taking to treat some of the symptoms, the stress caused by other issues related to the pandemic or other factors.

But experts said the study results reflected a cascade of problems caused not only by the virus itself, but by the medical system’s struggle to cope with Covid and its long-term effects.

“We have hundreds of thousands of people with unrecognized syndrome and we are trying to find out more about the immune response, how the virus modifies that response and how it can include all organ systems in the body,” said Eleftherios Mylonakis, Director of Diseases. infectious diseases from Brown University’s Warren Alpert School of Medicine and Lifespan Hospitals, who did not participate in the study.

“In many cases – said Mylonakis – people who have new symptoms and who have never had an acute illness due to a viral infection enter a confused and fragmented medical world, in which they seek the help of doctors. of first resort and are then referred to various specialists. , each trying to figure out how to treat diseases that are within their purview. This helps explain why the study found that Covid survivors made about 1.5 times more outpatient visits per month than patients in the general population of the Veterans Affairs health system.

Study authors Al-Aly, Yan Xie and Benjamin Bowe of Washington University in St. Louis also analyzed the medical records of 13,654 patients who had been hospitalized due to their initial coronavirus infection, and found that the sickest (those who needed intensive care) had a higher risk of long-term complications, followed by those who were hospitalized in normal wards and patients who had never been hospitalized.

However, at least some of the people who were never hospitalized had virtually all categories of symptoms, from chest pain and shortness of breath to diabetes or muscle weakness.

“What we will certainly face in the coming years, if not decades, is the effect of the pandemic on long-term health,” concluded the study’s principal investigator, Ziyad Al-Aly.