The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) published this Wednesday (11) a study in which it showed the sequelae in people who were infected by Covid-19.
Called “Long Covid” by the World Health Organization (WHO), the effects over time of this syndrome affected 50.2% of the 646 people followed for 14 months. Twenty-three different symptoms developed after the end of Covid-19 infection were counted.
The main complaint reported by patients was in relation to fatigue, which is characterized by extreme tiredness and difficulty in performing routine activities. She was nominated by 115 people (35.6%).
Then appear persistent cough (34.0%), difficulty breathing (26.5%), loss of smell or taste (20.1%) and frequent headaches (17.3%).
Also highlighted, according to the study by Fiocruz Minas, were disorders such as insomnia (8%), anxiety (7.1%) and dizziness (5.6%).
Among the reports are even more serious sequelae, such as thrombosis, diagnosed in 6.2% of the monitored population.
This study was published in the journal Transactions of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
According to researcher Rafaella Fortini, coordinator of the study, “all the symptoms reported started after the acute infection and many of them persisted during the 14 months.”
The most striking facts that surprised us were the very high number of patients who developed long-term Covid, and the fact that the sequelae came after both moderate and severe infections, but also mild infections. These are very important data and need to be further explored.
Rafaella Fortini, researcher at Fiocruz
As the study indicated, post-infection symptoms manifest in three forms of the disease: severe, moderate and mild.
In the severe form, 33.1% had lasting symptoms. In the moderate form, 75.4% had sequelae and, with the mild form, 59.3% had symptoms months after the end of the acute infection.
The study coordinator also said that the analyzes are based on a recurrence of reports of the same sequel.
Having identified this common point, there is a deepening of the analyses. However, she says that many of the sequelae were observed after medical diagnoses, and not just through patient reports. These are the cases of thrombosis, insomnia and anxiety.
“The study raises an alarm,” says Fortini. “The WHO itself has already commented on this and has already declared that the long Covid is a new public health problem to be faced. We need to deepen our analysis to have the clearest possible understanding of how to solve this problem. And for the population it is that alert that we are in a new moment when we need to learn to live with Covid and its consequences. We can’t help but worry,” said the researcher.
In its assessment, Fortini understands that despite the failures presented throughout the pandemic, the country is better prepared to deal with public health issues, noting that much progress still needs to be made.
“We are more prepared, but we still need to improve our preparation. There’s a long way to go. On the part of science, there is greater interaction between all institutions, as the objective is common: the good of the population and the strengthening of public health. This pandemic has taught a lot. It showed how much we failed in faster actions. Improvements and deepening are still needed in this preparation for emerging diseases that are emerging, such as this childhood hepatitis and the long Covid”, he highlighted.
The researcher also pointed out that the investments need to be greater. “Not only in science, but in the formation of new platforms that will allow faster and more efficient diagnoses”, she concluded.
Source: CNN Brasil
