A national Swiss study found that patients with severe 2019 coronavirus disease continue to suffer from prolonged lung hypoxia even four months after infection with the new coronavirus.
“Long-term monitoring and treatment for these patients is particularly urgent and important,” the study notes.
The results of the nationwide Swiss study of the lungs of patients with 2019 coronavirus disease, conducted by the University Hospital of Bern in collaboration with the University of Bern, were recently published in an external link to the European Respiratory Journal (EJ), a leading international journal in the field of respiratory research.
According to a statement issued by the University Hospital of Bern (German), various studies from around the world have revealed and reported the manifestation of the disease known as “long-covidual symptoms” (commonly known as “neoconvalescent sequelae”) since the summer of 2020. (commonly referred to as “neocon rehabilitator sequelae”) and adverse effects. The Swiss observational study is designed to document the medium- and long-term trajectory of the disease, with a focus on the lungs.
“The study will provide important baseline data for patients worldwide with long-term symptoms of Neocoron who continue to suffer from multiple long-term symptoms, including severe fatigue and memory loss, weeks and even months following infection with Neocoron,” the statement noted.
Reduced oxygen uptake
The researchers analyzed data from a total of 113 patients with neocoronavirus infection at nine hospitals in Switzerland, 66 of whom were severely ill, while the remaining 47 ranged from mild to critically ill. The study found that the second group of patients – mild to critically ill – recovered almost completely several months after contracting the neo-coronavirus, in contrast to the first group of patients – severe patients – who were still struggling with long-term symptoms of neo-coronavirus even after several months.
“Even patients with severe neocoronavirus infection have 20 percent less oxygen in their lungs than healthy people four months after infection,” the statement noted.
“It is important that even if these patients are able to recover from severe neocoronavirus symptoms after being infected with the virus, the suffering they endure during their subsequent recovery should be taken into account,” said pulmonologist Manuela Funke-Chambour, the study’s sponsor, in an interview with the Swiss news agency Keystone SDA-ATS.
The vast majority of patients who are relatively more severely affected by the new coronavirus fall into the 2019 coronavirus disease high-risk susceptibility groups, namely the elderly, overweight individuals and those with chronic underlying conditions such as hypertension.
“This study highlights the importance of strengthening The prevention of neo-coronavirus infection in these groups, for example, through vaccination against neo-coronavirus,” she added. However, the researchers explained that even among patients who are not in the high-risk susceptible group, there are severe cases that require longer treatment to recover from day-to-day.
As of now, it is unknown whether the new coronavirus causes permanent damage to the lungs, and researchers will continue to follow patients who show persistent symptoms or lung lesions over the next year to monitor their progress.
Aftereffects of New Coronavirus in recovered patients
Various physicians and epidemiologists from Geneva showed last December that some of the symptoms of 2019 coronavirus disease may persist for more than six weeks, even in patients who do not have underlying risk factors for infection.
The study, jointly conducted by the University of Geneva and the University Hospital of Geneva, followed nearly 700 confirmed cases of new coronavirus infection that did not require hospitalization for treatment. Six weeks after a positive diagnosis, 33% of the patients reported that they were still suffering from fatigue, persistent loss of smell or taste, shortness of breath or cough.
The results of the study were published in an external link to the medical journal Annals of Internal Medicine (UK).
Recent Comments