Post COVID Complications and the Long Term Effects of Coronavirus After Recovery
PACE Hospitals
As per recent data, people infected with COVID-19 (coronavirus) may experience mild symptoms or completely asymptomatic. How long the coronavirus lasts in the body depends upon person to person, exposure to the virus and severity of infection.
As per WHO generally people will take an incubation period of 10 to 14 days to recover fully, and sometimes more. Mild to moderate case of COVID-19 will recover in about 14 days. Sometimes COVID-19 symptoms can remain for more than 20 days up to 45 days. Due to long term effect of coronavirus, patients can develop post-COVID complications.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can damage the lungs, brain, blood vessels, skin, nerves, kidney and heart, which increases the risk of long term health issues. However, the virus may remain in the body up to 3 months after diagnosis. This may mean some people get a second positive test result even after they recover, although this does not necessarily indicate the virus is still transmissible.
Live Session: Post-Covid Complications | Its Management and Treatment
Date: 24 July 2021 | Time: 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm
Watch the LIVE SESSION to understand the Post-Covid complications, long term effects of coronavirus after recovery and how to deal with it.
Topics and Speakers:
Introduction:
Dr Ramesh Parimi - Oncologist
Topic: Covid and Gut Microbiome
Speaker: Dr Markandeya - General Physician and Intensivist
Topic: Post Covid Lung
Speaker: Dr Predeep Kiran Panchadi - Interventional Pulmonologist
Topic: Covid and Diabetes
Speaker: Dr. Somnath Gupta - General Physician, Diabetologist and Intensivist
Topic: Covid and Psychiatric illness
Speaker: Dr. K. Krishna Murthy - Psychiatrist
Topic: Covid and Intestinal Gangrene (Vascular Thrombosis)
Speaker: Dr. Suresh Kumar S - Surgical Gastroenterologist and Laparoscopic Surgeon
Moderator:
Dr M Sudhir - Gastroenterologist
What is Post Covid Syndrome or Long Covid?
Most people infected with COVID-19 infection get better within 10 days of illness. People when continue to experience mild symptoms post recovery called as Post Covid Syndrome or Long Covid, these people may experience post COVID conditions and also develop long-term complications that affect the organs.
Post COVID complications are a broad range of new, ongoing or returning health conditions, people can experience more than 28 days / 4 weeks after first being infected with the coronavirus.
Even asymptomatic people who did not have symptoms when they were infected can have post COVID complications. These complications can have different types and combinations of health problems for different lengths of time.
Who all are at the risk of post-COVID complications and can have long-term effects of coronavirus?
Elderly old age group people and people having serious medical conditions such as diabetes, immunodeficiency disorders, cancers or chronic diseases are at the risk of developing post COVID complications.
As per recent data even young person recovered from COVID-19 feeling healthy, post recovery can also have long term effects of coronavirus may experience symptoms for weeks to months after infection.
What are the causes of Post-COVID syndrome / long COVID?
Currently, researchers are not able to define the causes related to long term effects of coronavirus, as per recent report possible long covid causes identified in recovered from COVID-19 patients may include:
- Reduced or lack of response from the immune system
- Reinfection of the virus
- Multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS)
- Prolonged hospitalization due to severity
- Post-traumatic stress
As per recent data of SARS-CoV-2 survivors, 30-40% of who had secondary infections, survivors of acute COVID-19 infection may be at increased risk of infections with bacterial, fungal infections or other complications. However, these secondary infections do not explain the persistent and prolonged consequence of a previous infection in post-acute COVID-19.
What are post COVID long-term symptoms and complications?
Long Covid or Post Covid Syndrome having range of symptoms that can last 7 days to 28 days after first being infected with the coronavirus or can appear weeks after recovery. It can happen to anyone who recovered from COVID-19, completely asymptomatic or having mild, moderate, severe or critical symptoms.
Some common signs and symptoms of post covid complications observed after recovery that include:
- Body pain, Joints pain or headache
- High blood sugar (hyperglycemia)
- Fever
- Fatigue, Feeling of tiredness or lack of energy
- Loss of taste or smell
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Coughing or Chest pain
- New onset diabetes
- Myalgia (muscle pain) for long period
- Inability to focus or difficulty thinking or a lack of mental clarity (brain fog)
- Rapid or fast heartbeat (heart palpitations)
- Insomnia, anxiety disorder or depression
- Dizziness or lightheaded when you stand up from sitting or lying down (orthostatic hypotension)
- Red bumps or rash on a flat, red patch of skin (maculopapular rash)
- Symptoms that get worse after mental or physical activities
Post-acute COVID-19 syndrome defined if people affected with COVID-19 infection and after recovery they may experience these severe complications apart from other post COVID symptoms, may include:
- Myocardial infarction (MI) - chest discomfort with or without dyspnea, nausea, and diaphoresis
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) - a blood clot in a deep vein
- Neurological symptoms - seizures, stroke, muscle weakness, tingling or numbness in the hands and feet
- Gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms - loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain or discomfort
- Pancreatitis
- Hemothorax - collection of blood in the space between the chest wall and the lung
- Pneumothorax - air leaks into the space between the lungs and chest wall
- Pulmonary fibrosis - progressive lung fibrosis due to respiratory infections
- Arthritis - swelling and tenderness of one or more of your joints
- Fungal infections like
mycormycosis, aspergillosis,
yellow fungus, etc
SARS-CoV-2 can cause severe inflammation, which can trigger your immune system that reacts to an injury is by making your blood clotting system more active due to this other parts of the body affected by blood clots include the lungs, kidneys, liver, heart and legs. COVID-19 can also weaken blood vessels and cause them to leak, which contributes to potentially long-lasting problems with the liver and kidneys.
Many people who have recovered from COVID-19 may develop chronic fatigue syndrome, a complex disorder characterized by extreme fatigue that worsens with physical or mental activity, but doesn't improve with rest.
It's difficult to predict long-term effects of coronavirus, still researchers are trying to understand why the symptoms are lasting for long period in patients post recovery.
Long-term organ damage in COVID-19 (Multiorgan dysfunction)
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection triggers long-lasting changes in the immune system, it primarily affects the lungs. Conditions associated with long COVID-19 infection may be the result of injury to multiple organs, including the lungs, brain, blood vessels, skin, nerves, kidney and heart. This can be seen as metabolic, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and neurological complications secondary to the disease. Organ damage may increase the risk of long-term health issues. Organ damage may increase the risk of long-term health issues. As per recent data COVID-19 mainly affect these organs and body parts:
- Lungs - pneumonia associated with COVID-19 can cause long-term damage to the tiny branches of air tubes in the lungs, (alveoli) where the lungs and the blood exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide during the process of breathing in and breathing out. Scar tissue in the lungs can lead to long-term breathing problems.
- Heart - patients post COVID-19 recovery have shown irreversible tissue death of the heart muscle, even in people who experienced only mild COVID-19 symptoms. This may increase the risk of Myocardial infarction (MI) resulting heart failure or other heart related life-threatening complications in the future.
- Brain - there are many reports where young people with COVID-19 also experienced neurological symptoms include muscle weakness, tingling or numbness in the hands and feet, and can eventually cause paralysis (Guillain-Barré syndrome), dizziness, sudden blackout, confusion, delirium, seizures, stroke. COVID-19 may also increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.
- Kidney - patients affected with COVID-19 can develop sudden loss of kidney function, known as acute kidney injury.
Dialysis may be necessary in severe cases, but this type of kidney damage can sometimes be reversed. People with CKD are at higher risk of developing a severe symptoms post COVID-19 recovery. So it’s important to take all the necessary precautions to prevent infection.
What are the warning signs post COVID recovery?
Some of the people may experience symptoms post recovery and persisting from 7 days to 28 days. We suggest all to watch out warning signs of post Covid conditions such as reappearance of fever, chest pain, continuous shortness of breath, trouble breathing, tiredness, muscles or joints pain and dizziness or blackout on standing.
Coronavirus can cause long-lasting damage to the immune system, which can affect organs and changes, particularly in the lungs may last for long, in this conditions post COVID care is very important to avoid further reinfection or complications.
Diagnosis of Post-COVID syndrome / Long COVID
If someone experiencing any symptoms post-COVID, not necessarily required to check again the positive results. To diagnose, the physician may require the complete medical history and previous covid treatment. Apart from checking temperature, blood pressure, pulse rate, SpO2 level and breathing function, physician may require these tests to check the severity of symptoms:
- Complete blood picture
- Serum electrolytes
- Kidney function test
- Liver function test
- C-reactive protein for inflammation level
- Troponin test of heart condition
- D-dimer, to check that no blood clots are present
- Serum ferritin to check iron levels
- ECG, Chest X-ray or CT Scan
- Complete urine examination
Long COVID / post COVID syndrome treatment
Long COVID / post-COVID syndrome is a new phenomenon, around 25 to 30% SARS-CoV-2 survivors reporting with new, ongoing or returning health conditions.
Apart from moderately or severely affected with SARS-CoV-2, people with mild symptoms and treated in home quarantine and recovered from COVID-19 can also have the long-term effects of COVID-19, that’s why everyone should continue to take steps to reduce the risk of getting infected.
During post covid care gross pulmonary changes observed in the patients, those who were having lingering symptoms after recovery. These pulmonary changes are involved in many areas of the lungs and will take time to heal.
The treatment goal is, depending upon the post COVID symptoms, and can be achieved through:
- Getting patient’s symptoms under control
- Identifying underlying health problems
- Slowly improving their ability to function
- Focussing on breathing exercises that boost immunity, lowers stress and anxiety, give relaxation, improve blood oxygen level, reduce stress levels in the body
- Improving healthy sleep habits through modification in behavior (avoiding mobile or TV before bed), practicing yoga, balanced diet and light meal before sleep
What are precautions to take post COVID recovery?
Due to infection immune system is compromised, it's advised to stay hydrated and drinking plenty of fluids, practice meditation and breathing exercises, consume healthy food, have adequate sleep, avoid alcohol and smoking.
People those whose recovered from COVID-19 and having co-morbidities like diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, kidney disease, liver disease or other chronic medical conditions should immediately go back to their ongoing / pre-Covid medication. Get vaccinated after 45 days post recovery.
Many people, those who recovered from COVID-19 infection, may develop long-lasting medical conditions. It's very important for these people to follow-up with their primary care doctors to watch the organ functionality post recovery.
To help these people, specialized medical centers are coming up with post covid care support to overcome with persistent symptoms. If anyone is having any of the lingering symptoms should reach their primary care physician or request an appointment with our team for treatment and managing these symptoms through mental and physical rehabilitation.
FAQs on Post-COVID Complications & Long-Term Effects of Coronavirus
What are post-COVID complications?
Post-COVID complications, also called post-COVID syndrome or long COVID, refer to health problems that persist or appear weeks or months after recovering from COVID-19 infection. These symptoms can affect multiple organs including the lungs, heart, brain, and immune system, even in patients who initially had mild illness. Common symptoms include fatigue, breathlessness, cognitive problems, and muscle weakness.
Can COVID-19 cause long-term lung damage?
Yes. COVID-19 may lead to long-term lung damage such as lung inflammation, fibrosis, or reduced lung capacity, especially in patients who experienced severe pneumonia or required oxygen therapy or ventilation. This may result in persistent breathlessness and reduced exercise tolerance.
Can COVID-19 affect the heart after recovery?
COVID-19 may cause cardiac complications such as myocarditis, arrhythmias, or increased risk of blood clots. Some patients have chest pain, palpitations, or exhaustion following recovery as a result of lasting cardiovascular consequences.
Can COVID-19 affect the brain and nervous system?
Yes. COVID-19 may cause neurological complications such as brain fog, memory problems, headache, dizziness, and difficulty concentrating. Some individuals may endure anxiety, depression, or sleep difficulties following their recovery.
Who is at higher risk of developing long COVID?
People with severe COVID-19 infection, older adults, individuals with chronic illnesses (such as diabetes or heart disease), and those who required hospitalization have a higher risk of developing post-COVID complications.
When should someone see a doctor for post-COVID symptoms?
Regarding post-COVID symptoms medical evaluation is highly recommended if symptoms persist for more than 4 weeks, worsen over time, or affect breathing, heart function, or daily activities.
What lifestyle measures help recovery after COVID-19?
Healthy recovery strategies include gradual physical activity, breathing exercises, balanced nutrition, adequate sleep, hydration, and stress management.
What is long COVID?
Long COVID is a condition where symptoms continue for more than 4–12 weeks after the initial COVID-19 infection. It may include ongoing inflammation, immune system dysfunction, and organ damage induced by the infection. Symptoms can change and impair everyday functioning.
What are the most common symptoms after COVID-19 recovery?
In common post-COVID symptoms include fatigue, breathlessness, persistent cough, chest pain, difficulty concentrating (“brain fog”), headache, joint pain, sleep disturbances, and anxiety or depression. These symptoms can vary in severity and duration among individuals.
How long do post-COVID symptoms usually last?
Post-COVID symptoms may last weeks to several months depending on the severity of infection, age, underlying health conditions, and immune response. Some patients recover gradually with supportive care and rehabilitation.
Can mild COVID-19 also lead to long-term complications?
Yes. Even individuals with mild or asymptomatic COVID-19 infections can develop long-term symptoms. This suggests that post-COVID complications may be related to immune response and systemic inflammation rather than illness severity alone.
Can COVID-19 affect mental health after recovery?
Many patients experience anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, and post-traumatic stress symptoms following COVID-19 infection. Psychological stress, prolonged illness, and isolation can contribute to these mental health issues.
Can COVID-19 increase the risk of blood clots?
COVID-19 can cause more blood clots due to inflammation and aberrant coagulation pathways. For some patients, this can result in problems such as deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, or stroke.
Can COVID-19 cause chronic fatigue?
Yes. Post-viral weariness is a frequent symptom of COVID-19. Patients may feel fatigued for an extended period of time, have low endurance, and struggle to execute daily tasks.
How are post-COVID complications diagnosed?
Diagnosis usually involves clinical evaluation, imaging tests, blood investigations, lung function tests, and cardiac evaluation depending on symptoms. Doctors assess organ function and rule out other medical conditions.
How are post-COVID complications treated?
Treatment consists of symptom management, rehabilitation therapy, breathing exercises, nutritional assistance, and the treatment of underlying difficulties such as lung inflammation or cardiac abnormalities.
Can vaccination reduce the risk of long COVID?
Studies suggest that COVID-19 vaccination reduces the severity of infection and may lower the risk of developing long-term complications.
Which specialists treat post-COVID complications?
Based upon patient's condition and depending on symptoms, patients may consult pulmonologists, cardiologists, neurologists, infectious disease specialists, physiotherapists, and rehabilitation specialists.
How does PACE Hospitals help manage post-COVID complications?
PACE Hospitals in Hyderabad provides multidisciplinary post-COVID care, including specialists from different branches of pulmonology, cardiology, neurology, rehabilitation services, advanced diagnostic facilities, and personalized treatment plans to help patients recover safely and improve quality of life.
When should you consult specialists at PACE Hospitals for post-COVID care?
If you have symptoms such as chest pain, prolonged dyspnea, exhaustion, neurological issues, or trouble returning to regular activities following COVID-19, PACE Hospitals' consulting specialists can assist identify complications early and provide appropriate treatment.
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