Covid-19 ‘is this generation’s polio’

The doctor who treated Prime Minister Boris Johnson in intensive care has described the coronavirus as this generation’s polio. Many experts fear that Covid-19 could continue to take a toll on public health many years after the immediate symptoms have subsided.

Although most people recover fully within a few weeks there are some who still experience the debilitating effects of the virus months after becoming ill. Doctors are also concerned about longterm damage, from lung scarring and kidney failure to lasting fatigue.

There is no data yet on the long-term trajectory for survivors who suffered the more severe symptoms but scientists say it can attach to human cells in many parts of the body and penetrate organs including the heart, kidneys, brain, and blood vessels.

At the beginning of the pandemic Dr Nick Hart, who went on to treat the prime minister when he was in intensive care, said ‘‘it is this generation’s polio’’.

He added: ‘‘Large numbers of patients will have physical, cognitive and psychological disability post-critical illness that will require long-term management. We must plan ahead.’’

James Chalmers, a professor and consultant respiratory physician at the School of Medicine, University of Dundee, is leading a trial to assess the longterm impacts of the virus, monitoring 500 people who tested positive and survived.

It is expected that many survivors will have lung damage or fibrosis – a scarring of the lungs that leads to chronic breathlessness and a cough. Scans show that lung damage occurs even in young, healthy patients who had only mild symptoms.

Professor Chalmers said that many Covid-19 patients arrive in intensive care with acute kidney injury and do not fully recover. ‘‘Over the next few months they may go on to need dialysis or kidney transplants,’’ he said.

The virus also affects the heart, causing inflammation known as myocarditis, which can cause heart failure in people already at risk. Then there are the mental and physical side-effects of being in ICU that can have lasting impacts including stiff joints, muscle weakness and a form of PTSD caused from hallucinating while unconscious.

According to the latest research from King’s College London, about one in 20

Covid-19 patients experience long-term symptoms for at least a month, sometimes longer.

Many people have reported lingering and strange symptoms weeks after they thought they had recovered. Most commonly these are fatigue, muscle aches and a shortness of breath. Others have reported lasting loss of taste, a rash, stomach cramps and a tingling sensation in hands and feet.

Seven weeks after testing positive for coronavirus Sara Edwards, 26, from Cardiff, is still suffering extreme fatigue. Before becoming ill Edwards, who works in operational management at the University Hospital of Wales, ran halfmarathons and visited the gym five times a week. Now, she says, she becomes breathless and exhausted when washing her hair or putting on socks.

Edwards visited her doctor a fortnight ago. She had low oxygen saturation and her pulse was higher than it should be, however doctors were unable to give her an explanation.

‘‘It is something that medical experts are unfamiliar with and they are coming across new types of symptoms of the virus all the time,’’ she said.

She added: ‘‘When you google ‘covid recovery times’, for people who have not been hospitalised, it is described as a period of about two weeks. But I feel it’s important that people understand its repercussions can have far greater significance.’’

The Times

Lung damage occurs even in young, healthy patients who had only mild symptoms.