Former patients no longer contagious
INFECTIOUS SPECIALIST SAYS
Although the virus is not active and contagious anymore the effects of the infection are still there and until now they are still experiencing it
With more developments seen on the virus’ progression, an expert on Monday said that cases of “long COVID” is possible but is not infectious to other people anymore.
Infections specialist Dr. Rontgene Solante said that “long COVID” happens among recovered patients of moderate, severe and critical cases who are still experiencing some symptoms of the disease.
“These are the patients that after recovery, mostly these are the critical, severe including moderate (patients), that when sent home say that they are still experiencing some symptoms,” he said in an interview with DZMM.
Some symptoms seen include shortness of breath, being easily tired, constant headaches and partial memory weakness that will require longer periods of recovery.
However, Solante assured that since these may just be effects of the virus’ remnants in the body it is no longer contagious.
“Although the virus is not active and contagious anymore the effects of the infection are still there and until now they are still experiencing it,” he said, noting that there’s no need for a repetition on the swab testing.
He said it is important for recovered patients to always follow up with their doctor for proper advice on the development of the symptoms.
Solante emphasized that these symptoms are stabilized if they remain minimal but urgent attention will be needed should it worsen such as developing a fever.
“If they are experiencing anything which they find uncomfortable, it’s really a must to consult immediately with your doctor to assure and to examine what other complications are seen after the recovery period,” he said.
On the other hand, plasma donation will still be possible as long as the patients pass the required antibody level.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, meanwhile, echoed Solante and said that they also see difficulty in sleeping, chest pains for older patients, longer recovery for the loss of smell and taste as some of the “long COVID” symptoms.
For now, she said the Department of Health (DoH) is collating all of the current data on recovered patients to formulate a finalized list of experiences and evidence in the country.
In September, the World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledged that some patients have developed lingering symptoms that prevented them from returning back to their usual state even after recovering from the disease.
These are the patients that after recovery, mostly these are the critical, severe including moderate (patients), that when sent home say that they are still experiencing some symptoms
Some have experienced it despite initially having good health while others were due to existing risk factors such as high blood pressure, mental health conditions and obesity.
However, the WHO said that much is still unknown about the virus and will require more study to be done to formulate a comprehensive data applicable to all patients.
To date, the Philippines has reported over 356,000 cases of COVID-19 ranking at 20th spot worldwide with the total record now reaching at 39.9 million infected individuals as shown on the Johns Hopkins University latest report.