After a corona infection, some sufferers develop persistent or new symptoms. A US study now throws a spotlight on the symptoms and shows how wide their range is. Accordingly, people with an asymptomatic course can also be affected.
Recovering from Covid-19 does not always mean healthy. Although most infected people recover completely, some sufferers report persistent or new symptoms weeks or months after the acute phase of the infection. Doctors refer to the phenomenon as “Long Covid” or “Post-Covid Syndrome”. The range of complaints is basically large: those affected complain of tiredness, odor and taste disorders, exhaustion and reduced performance (fatigue). The suffering is quite common. It is estimated that at least one in ten previously infected people develops “Long Covid”.
how varied the symptoms can be. At the same time, it becomes clear that people with a mild or even asymptomatic course can also be affected. The study included data from almost two million patients who were infected with the coronavirus in 2020. The study was carried out by “Fair Health”, a non-profit organization that collects and evaluates data on private health insurance companies in the USA.
“Post Covid” patients report a wide variety of symptoms
Almost one in four convalescents (23.2 percent) reported a health problem that had not previously appeared around a month after infection or later. The temporal connection suggests that the symptoms can be traced back to the previous corona illness.
The most common were pain, such as nerve or muscle pain, breathing difficulties, high cholesterol, malaise and tiredness, and high blood pressure. In other cases, those affected reported gastrointestinal complaints, migraine attacks, skin problems, heart problems, sleep disorders and mental illnesses such as anxiety disorders and depression.
People who had to be treated in hospital because of their Covid illness reported most often about later medical problems. This was the case for around every second person affected. But even people who initially showed only slight (27.5 percent) or no Covid symptoms at all (19 percent) complained of new health complaints.
The high percentage among asymptomatic patients was “surprising”, study author Robin Gelburd of the “New York Times” is quoted as saying. At the same time, she emphasized the importance of patients and doctors knowing about this fact. In the case of newly occurring health complaints that do not really fit into the patient’s medical record, it could therefore be the after-effects of a corona infection. The patient may not know anything about the previous infection.
Weaknesses of the study
The study provides important insights simply because of its size. However, only data from patients who are privately insured were evaluated. The study does not include people who are socially disadvantaged and who cannot afford health insurance, for example. It is possible that certain ailments are not covered.
In the end, the study cannot prove that the complaints mentioned are due to the corona infection. It only proves a temporal connection. It is also conceivable that some patients had problems with high blood pressure or cholesterol levels before the infection, but were only diagnosed after the infection. An independent review of the study, a so-called peer review, is still pending.
Just recently, how much a corona infection can affect the health of those affected in the long term. The study examined how 73,000 former corona patients fared in the months after their acute illness. The subjects had exhibited mild to moderate symptoms and did not need hospital treatment.
One advantage of this study was that there was a comparison group and it was thus possible to demonstrate that health complaints occurred more frequently among those who had recovered than would have been expected in the rest of the population.
Among other things, neurological and cardiovascular symptoms were observed. The risk of psychological complaints, including anxiety and sleep disorders, was also increased among those who had recovered from Covid-19.
