STILL SUFFERING COVID COMPLICATIONS THAT LEAVE THOUSANDS WITH LONG-TERM PROBLEMS

LUNG DAMAGE

30 per cent of survivors of Sars and Mers experienced persistent physiological impairment and changes suggesting damage and scarring to the lungs. New NHS guidance warns that such lung disease is likely to be an important consequence of Covid-19. So far, around 300,000 people in the UK have tested positive for Covid, suggesting around 100,000 could suffer lung damage However, limited testing means these numbers are likely to significantly underestimate the scale of disease. Research by King’s College London suggests around 3.5million people have been infected with Covid-19.

CASE STUDY

Three months after contracting suspected coronavirus, Louise Barnes, 46, from Suffolk is still suffering.

The former teacher has described the “terrible” symptoms she has, including night shakes so violent she likened them to a seizure, nausea, tinnitus and tightness in the chest.

Ms Barnes, a so-called “long tail” patient, was only swabbed once for Covid-19 because in the early days, hospitals were not routinely testing suspected cases. She said the long-term effects evoked such feelings of loneliness that she set up a support

COMPLICATIONS

56 per cent of ICU patients suffer post intensive care syndrome – persistent physical, cognitive and psychological impairments – 12 months after prolonged ventilation. More than half of roughly 13,000 Covid patients treated in ICUS were ventilated.

WEAKNESS

In general, between 25 and 50 per cent of those discharged from ICUS are left with intensive care acquired weakness. But the guidance warns of anecdotal evidence the figure may be still higher among Covid patients.

group online, the Post-covid syndrome support group, which has almost 1,000 members, most of whom are experiencing similar effects.

“It was just assumed, when I first fell ill, that you would go on to recover. People were talking about recovery within one or two weeks but what’s actually still happening is really frightening.”

Ms Barnes, who has an autoimmune condition, developed Covid-19 symptoms on March 18, including a piercing,

BRAIN DAMAGE

Mild cognitive impairment may persist after a year in a quarter of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome. The advice says: “There is evidence the virus can lead to impairments of memory and may predispose to the development of neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.” It warns of personality changes, reduced attention, impulsivity, disinhibition, disorientation and reduced working memory”. Seventy per cent of ICU patients will suffer delirium, while for one in five, this becomes “established cognitive impairment”.

“ice pick” headache, scratchy sore throat and tightness in her chest. After speaking to NHS111 and completing an online assessment, an ambulance came to her house and took her to hospital due to her fever. She was kept in overnight, swabbed and sent home the next day but never got the result as the test proved to be faulty. But she has continued to suffer and has twice returned to hospital. “The pressure on my lungs was horrendous,” she said.

FATIGUE

Anyone who is critically ill is likely to suffer fatigue as they recover. But the guidance warns “patients who have had Covid-19 are reporting extreme fatigue beyond the usual reported levels”. It adds, of those who have been critically ill, 10 per cent could develop chronic fatigue and need “fatigue management strategies”.

HEART PROBLEMS

Heart damage and cardiac failure are the most common cardiac complications, occurring in up to 12 per cent of those discharged from hospital, the guidance says.

“I actually wrote my will. I didn’t think I’d survive it at all.” She said many members of her post-covid group had had antibody tests but that the results almost always came back negative, even for those diagnosed with the virus.

“It’s very lonely,” she added. “There is not much support and we need more help. How many others out there are feeling like this and think it’s just them? “A lot of people’s families don’t believe that they are still ill. “The symptoms come and go but I don’t seem to be getting better and am very concerned about the future.”

PROF PETER PIOT

The director of the London School of Tropical Medicine is one of the world’s leading virus experts. He fell ill with Covid-19 three months ago, with a high fever and splitting headaches, and received oxygen treatment in hospital. Prof Piot said many others – potentially including Boris Johnson – who was in intensive care with Covid-19 – may struggle to get over the disease, and be left feeling drained. “Many people have, after the acute phase … after the virus is being brought under control, long-term consequences. My lungs became rigid as a result of [my body’s] inflammatory response.” “That caused me to be short of breath for months, and so many people have other problems, chronic lung problems, kidney failure,” he told The Andrew Marr Show on BBC One. Asked whether Mr Johnson was likely to be able to cope with the hours demanded by his job, having been critically ill, Prof Piot said: “It all depends how good a team you have around you. It’s certainly not exactly the same type of energy that you can put in [afterwards]. Things are really improving quite rapidly in some cases; not at all in others. Some people will have months of chronic fatigue. I’m not familiar with the Prime Minister’s condition so I don’t know.”