Patients suffer persistent effects of virus after ‘recovery’

THE vast majority of patients tracked after recovering from a severe case of Covid-19 in Italy had persistent symptoms two months later, researchers have found.

According to a study monitoring 143 people who were in hospital after contracting the disease, 87 per cent reported at least one adverse symptom 60 days after first falling ill – despite testing negative for Covid-19. Fatigue was the most common consequence, reported by 53 per cent, while 43 per cent had difficulty breathing and more than 20 per cent still experienced joint or chest pain. Some 44 per cent said their quality of life had deteriorated.

Though the study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, was small and lacked a control group, it adds to mounting evidence that a significant proportion of people – often referred to as “long haulers” – experience persistent and long-lasting health effects post-covid-19. “This is really disturbing… but entirely consistent with what I’m seeing in patients hospitalised with Covid-19 who recover,” said Dr Christian Ramers, an infectious disease expert and head of the Population Health Centers of San Diego. “It is rare to find one who bounces back within a few weeks.”

Dr Bharat Pankhania, a senior clinical lecturer at the University of Exeter, added that while the size of the study meant the results were “inconclusive”, he agreed with the study’s authors that “there may be a Covid-19 disease syndrome and that we must follow it up”.

The study comes after Dr Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the US, told a conference on Thursday that there may well be lasting impacts of a coronavirus infection, saying: “Anecdotally, there is no question there are a considerable number of individuals who have a post-viral syndrome that incapacitates them for weeks and weeks following so-called recovery.”