By Health In Five Writer
Coronavirus is leaving long-term side-effects, no matter how seriously he or she might have been affected by it. In a major study, the researchers have shown that persistent fatigue occurs in more than half of patients recovered from Covid-19, regardless of the seriousness of their infection.
In India, the number of Covid-19 cases crossed 5.3 million with over 85,000 confirmed deaths during this pandemic. World over this number has crossed 30.5 million with over 953,000 deaths.
“While the presenting features of SARS-CoV-2 infection have been well-characterised, the medium and long-term consequences of infection remain unexplored,” study author Liam Townsend from St James’s Hospital in Ireland was quoted as saying by news agency IANS.
For the study, the research team used a commonly-used scale to determine fatigue in recovered patients, called the Chalder Fatigue Score (CFQ-11). They also looked at the severity of the patient’s initial infection (need for admission, and critical/intensive care), and also their pre-existing conditions, including depression.
The study also looked at various markers of immune activation (white cell counts, C-reactive protein, Interluekin-6, and sCD25). It included 128 participants (mean age 50 years; 54 per cent female) who were recruited consecutively at a median of 10 weeks following clinical recovery from SARS-CoV-2 infection.
More than half reported persistent fatigue (52.3 per cent; 67/128) at this point. The researchers offered an outpatient appointment to anyone who had a Covid-19 positive swab test in their laboratory at St James Hospital.
Of the patients assessed in this study, 71/128 (55.5 per cent) were admitted to hospital and 57/128 (44.5 per cent) were not.
“Fatigue was found to occur independent of admission to hospital, affecting both groups equally,” Townsend explained.
There was no association between Covid-19 severity (need for inpatient admission, supplemental oxygen or critical care) and fatigue following Covid-19. Additionally, there was no association between routine laboratory markers of inflammation and cell turnover or pro-inflammatory molecules (IL-6 or sCD25) and fatigue post Covid-19.
