Doctors and experts in infectious diseases said that scientists are still searching for a way to understand the huge number of health problems caused by the emerging corona virus.
Doctors and experts pointed out some of the damage caused by "Covid-19", which remains with patients and will cause health systems to suffer for years to come.
In addition to the respiratory problems that make filling the lungs with air an extremely difficult task, the virus that causes "Covid-19" attacks many other body systems, causing severe damage in some cases.
"We thought it was just a respiratory virus ... It turns out that it goes to the pancreas ... it goes to the heart ... it chases the liver, brain, kidneys and other organs," said Dr. Erik Topol, cardiologist and director of the Scripps Institution for Research in Applied Science in La Jolla, California. the beginning".
In addition to dyspnea, “Covid-19” patients may experience coagulation disorders that can be the precursors of strokes and severe infections that attack many parts of the body. The virus can also cause neurological complications ranging from headache, dizziness, loss of taste or smell. Seizures, confusion, confusion, and confusion.
Eric Topol reported that recovery can be slow, incomplete and expensive, with major impacts on quality of life.
Dr. Sadia Khan, a cardiologist at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, said, "The multitude of symptoms caused by Covid-19 disease and its variety is somewhat unique."
With the flu, Khan said, people with underlying heart problems are more at risk of complications, noting that what is surprising in this virus is the wide range of complications outside the boundaries of the lungs.
Khan believes that there will be a heavy price and a heavy burden in terms of health care for individuals who lived after Covid-19 infection.
Long-term rehabilitation
Patients requiring treatment in the intensive care unit or using a ventilator for weeks will need to spend a long time in rehabilitation in order to restore wellness and mobility.
Dr. Sadia Khan explained: "It could be up to 7 days for every day you spent in the hospital to recover this wellness ... It will get more difficult as you get older, and you may not return to the same level of job capabilities."
Khan sees a similarity between "Covid-19" and the HIV virus that causes AIDS. "In recent years, we have become very focused on complications in the heart vessels of people living after HIV infection," she says.
While much attention is focused on the severely ill minority, doctors are increasingly looking to the needs of patients who do not need hospitalization, but still suffer months after injury.
"Studies are underway to understand the long-term effects of the disease," Jay Butler, deputy director of the Department of Infectious Diseases at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters at a conference call on Thursday.
"We hear accounts of people suffering from persistent fatigue and shortness of breath ... How long will this last? It is difficult to guess," Butler added.
The symptoms of the virus usually disappear within two or three weeks, but one out of 10 patients has long-term symptoms, Dr. Helen Salisbury of Oxford University wrote in the British Medical Journal on Tuesday.
Salisbury reported that normal x-ray images of many of her patients are normal and there are no signs of inflammation, but they have not yet returned to normal.
"If you used to run five kilometers three times a week and now feel short of breath after climbing stairs between two floors one time, or if you are constantly coughing and feel so stressful that you cannot return to work, fears that you may not regain your health," she wrote. The previous ones are very realistic concerns. "
Dr. Igor Corralnick, Head of the Neuro-Infectious Diseases Department in Northwestern Medicine, also reviewed the current scientific literature, and concluded that about half of the patients who were hospitalized due to Covid-19 experienced neurological complications such as dizziness, decreased levels of awareness, attention, difficulty concentrating, and disorders of olfactory And taste, cramps, strokes, weakness and muscle pain.
Source: Reuters
