Five-month hell for 70% in hospital with Covid

SEVEN in ten coronavirus survivors treated in hospital suffer with persistent symptoms five months later, a study has revealed.

Women who are white, middle-aged and have at least two underlying health conditions are most likely to be affected.

Common symptoms of long Covid included muscle pain, fatigue, physical slowing down, breathlessness, short-term memory loss and trouble sleeping.

Researchers examined 1,077 patients discharged between March and November.

After an average of five months, 71 per cent had not fully recovered and one in five had met the threshold for a new disability.

Long Covid sufferers had an average of nine symptoms. Other common ones were joint pain and swelling, limb weakness, pain, and slowed thinking.

Nearly one in five workers were so badly affected they had to give up their job, while a quarter of all participants were struggling with anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Dr Rachael Evans, an associate professor at the University of Leicester, said: “Our results show a large burden of symptoms, mental and physical health problems and evidence of organ damage.

“It is also clear that those who required mechanical ventilation and were admitted to intensive care take longer to recover.

“However, much of the wide variety of persistent problems was not explained by the severity of the acute illness.”

Disease

The PHOSP-Covid study was led by the National Institute for Health Research, Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, a partnership between Leicester’s hospitals, the University of Leicester and Loughborough University.

Patients who tended to be older and male showed the most impaired cognitive function, known as “brain fog”, they said.

Chief investigator Chris Brightling, a professor of respiratory medicine at the University of Leicester, said men from ethnic minority backgrounds were at higher risk of being admitted to hospital.

However, those who have the most severe prolonged symptoms “tend to be white women aged approximately 40 to 60 who have at least two long-term health conditions, such as asthma or diabetes”.

Prof Louise Wain, of the University of Leicester, said: “It is known that systemic inflammation is associated with poor recovery from illnesses across the disease spectrum.We also know that autoimmunity, where the body has an immune response to its own healthy cells and organs, is more common in middle-aged women.”

The researchers said more than 300,000 survivors in the UK have been discharged from hospital, but the study only represents a small sample.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “I know long Covid can have a lasting and debilitating impact on the lives of those affected and I’m determined to improve the care we can provide.”

The study has not yet been peer-reviewed.