The outbreak has recently rebounded in many areas, with 69 medium-risk areas and 2 high-risk areas nationwide as of January 14.
Hebei and Heilongjiang have also seen new local confirmed cases. At the same time, a number of cases have been cured and discharged from hospitals.
There have also been concerns about the health status of those who were treated and discharged after contracting Neoconiosis.
What long-term damage will be done to the body after contracting the CCP virus?
How long will it take for the body to return to its original state after discharge from the hospital?
Is there a possibility of reinfection?
A growing body of research findings provides some preliminary answers.
Infection with the novel coronavirus is not a simple matter, and the CCP virus does not only attack the lungs, but may cause multi-organ damage; the damage caused to the body may last for months, and physical recovery after discharge may be a long-term process.
■ DEPTH
Tracking survey of patients discharged from Jinyintan with CCP virus.
More than 70% of patients still have symptoms after six months
On January 8, The Lancet published a study online that found that most patients discharged from the hospital with neocrown pneumonia still had at least one symptom six months after the onset of the disease.
Translated, that means: more than six months after having the disease, there are still symptoms and they haven’t fully returned to their previous healthy lives.
This study was done by Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, the Respiratory Center of China-Japan Friendship Hospital, the National Center for Respiratory Medicine and the Institute of Pathogen Biology of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, basically the top respiratory forces in China, with Bin Cao, Dingyu Zhang and Jianwei Wang as co-corresponding authors.
Image source: References
Let’s take a closer look at what this study says.
From June to September 2020, the researchers observed 1,733 patients with new coronary pneumonia who were discharged from the hospital successively from January to May 2020. Looking at their lives after discharge, the study came to these conclusions.
➊ More than 70% of patients still had at least one symptom 6 months after the onset of the disease, most commonly: fatigue or muscle weakness (63%) and sleep disturbance (26%)
➋ More than 20% of patients had anxiety or depression, more common in patients with more severe disease in the acute phase (from onset to discharge) and in female patients
➌ Levels of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies decreased significantly at 6 months of illness compared with the acute phase.
➍ Patients who were sicker at the time of hospitalization were more likely to present with decreased lung function and abnormal chest imaging 6 months after onset
➎ Laboratory tests revealed that 13% (107/822) of patients with normal renal function at the time of hospitalization had abnormal renal function at follow-up.
Image credit: Reference
The participants in this study were all discharged patients from Jinyintan Hospital, with a high number of more severe cases, and the conclusions drawn from the study, again, confirm that
■ DEPTH
The damage caused by the CCP virus is not only to the lungs, but may affect several organs such as the heart, liver and kidneys; complete recovery is difficult in the short term after discharge, and some symptoms may persist for months.
▪ DEPTH
The CCP virus damages more than just the lungs
It can bring multi-organ damage
We know that the CCP virus mainly attacks the lungs when it enters the body.
And there is growing evidence that other parts of the body can be harmed besides the lungs. In critically ill patients, the CCP virus can cause damage to multiple systems and even multi-organ dysfunction/failure.
This is related to the ACE2 receptor (angiotensin converting enzyme 2) in the human body.
When the CCP virus enters the body, it opens a gap from the cell first, and this gap is the ACE2 receptor. This receptor is active in the heart and lungs and has an important role in the cardiovascular and immune systems.
After binding to the body, the virus mainly invades alveolar epithelial cells, leading to respiratory symptoms; some patients with underlying cardiovascular disease will have more severe symptoms after infection with the CCP virus.
The CCP virus thus causes damage to several organs of the body.
➊ Kidney damage
In early February, a study published by Soochow Hospital of Nanjing Medical University showed that about 3% to 10% of patients infected with the virus had abnormal kidney function, including elevated creatinine or urea nitrogen. In addition, acute renal impairment was seen in 7% of patients.
➋ Heart damage
It has been previously shown that the CCP virus is similar in pathogenicity to the MERS virus and that infection may cause acute myocarditis and heart failure. The likely cause is the cytokine storm and hypoxemia caused by the CCP virus infection, which leads to myocardial cell damage.
Some previously reported cases have also involved patients who went to the doctor with cardiovascular symptoms, such as chest tightness, and did not present with respiratory symptoms such as cough, fever, or dyspnea, but were later diagnosed as having C. neoformans pneumonia.
➌ Liver injury
As mentioned in the “Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia Treatment Protocol (Trial Version 7)” issued by the National Health and Wellness Commission, some patients with clinical neo-coronavirus pneumonia may have elevated liver enzymes and lactate dehydrogenase.
And these injuries may exist for a longer period of time, especially for patients with severe disease, and symptoms may still exist after 2 or 6 months.
■ DEPTH
After the new coronary pneumonia is cured
Injuries may persist for several months
The damage from NCCP can be “long-lasting,” and symptoms may not disappear completely soon after NCCP is contracted and treated and discharged from the hospital.
A previous study by Italian researchers, published in JAMA on July 9, 2020, came to a similar conclusion: 2 months after discharge from the hospital, most patients with NCCP still have some symptoms.
The study included 143 patients who were treated and discharged from the hospital after infection with neo-crown and who were observed for 60 days, and found that 87.4% remained symptomatic, of which 55% had 3 or more symptoms, 32% had 1 or 2 symptoms, and only 12.6% did not have any neo-crown-related symptoms; deterioration in quality of life was observed in 44.1% of the patients.
The results of the study published so far allow us to learn more about some aspects of the population discharged with neoconjunctivitis, but there are still limitations and some questions remain unanswered, such as
The patients discharged from Jinyintan Hospital were mostly those with more severe disease, how are the patients with milder disease discharged from Fangzhan Hospital doing now?
Are these symptoms related to the patients’ psychological and living conditions, and do they need psychological intervention?
What does the trend of neutralizing antibodies over a longer period of time mean?
Needless to say, more than a year has passed since the discovery of the CCA virus and today, New Coronavirus is still a ‘new’ disease, a ‘new’ adversary encountered by mankind.
Medical professionals are still constantly searching for better treatment options for patients unfortunate enough to be infected, and the status of patients with New Coronary Pneumonia after being discharged from the hospital has been of great concern, and we expect a good recovery outcome for every patient.
And for each of us ordinary people, the best way to fight the virus and protect ourselves is still to be well protected, reduce the risk and don’t get infected!
Cooperative Expert Jiang Yongyuan, Master of Respiratory Medicine, Third Military Medical University
Audit expert Xing Yanqing, Deputy Chief Physician, Department of Infection, Zibo Central Hospital, Shandong Province
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