MORE than two-thirds of patients hospitalised due to coronavirus continue to suffer from debilitating symptoms more than seven weeks after being discharged, a new study suggests.
Researchers found that 54 days after discharge, 69 per cent of patients were still experiencing fatigue, and 53 per cent were suffering from persistent breathlessness.
They also found that 34 per cent still had a cough and 15 per cent reported depression.
In addition 38 per cent of chest radiographs (X-rays) remained abnormal and 9 per cent were getting worse, according to the study carried out in collaboration with clinicians at the Royal Free London (RFL) and University College London Hospitals NHS Trust (UCLH).
Dr Swapna Mandal, an honorary clinical associate professor at UCL division of medicine, said the data shows so-called “long Covid” is a real phenomenon and that further research is needed to understand how the symptoms of Covid-19 can be treated in the long term.
She said: “Patients whose Covid-19 illness is serious enough for them to require hospital care often continue to suffer significant symptoms for many weeks after their discharge.”
Professor John Hurst at UCL division of medicine, said: “Understanding ‘long Covid’ is critical in helping people who have been through this life-changing experience return to health, while rapid roll-out of this follow-up service shows how our clinical teams worked together to deliver an innovative service during a period of unprecedented demand on our staff.”
In the study published in the medical journal Thorax, clinical teams set up a post-Covid follow-up clinic to review both the psychological and physiological symptoms of discharged patients.
