Does the fight against COVID-19 really end once a negative report comes?  Many patients recovering from moderate or severe infections of coronavirus experience symptoms of the disease several weeks or even months after they have recovered.

Dr. Nikhil Narayan Bante, Lungs and TB Specialist, points out that a large number of COVID recovered patients are facing post-COVID-19 syndromes in the second wave of the pandemic.

“Around 50%-70% of patients may experience minor or even major symptoms up to 3-6 months after recovering from COVID-19 Dr Bante said at a webinar about post-COVID symptoms organised by the Press Information Bureau on Tuesday .

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Indianarrative-com brings to its readers the deep insight provided by Dr. Nikhil Narayan Bante on why this happens and what to look out for. Clinical Nutritionist Isha Khosla who also participated in the webinar said a protein rich diet and vitamin supplements were essential for those recovering from the deadly infection. 

What is post-COVID-19 Syndrome?

Majority of COVID patients recover in 2 – 4 weeks. However, in some patients, the COVID symptoms persist beyond four weeks – a condition known as Acute Post COVID Syndrome.  If the symptoms remain even after 12 months, it is known as Post COVID Syndrome  Most common post-COVID-19 symptoms:

Weakness, joint and muscle pain, difficulty in breathing, palpitation, heavy sweating, loss of taste and smell and sleep disturbances.

Psychological symptoms post-COVID include depression and anxiety.

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Reasons behind post-COVID-19 symptoms

There are two major reasons for post-COVID-19 symptoms: 

1) Virus-related:- Coronavirus affects not only our lungs, but can affect all organs including liver, brain and kidney. So, our body akes time to recover from the infection

2) Immunity-related: – Our immune system becomes hyperactive due to the entry of the virus. In the fight between the body and the virus, various chemicals are released which cause inflammation in our organs. In some patients, the inflammation persists for a longer duration.

Some common post-Covid syndromes

Thromboembolism is the most feared post-COVID-19 condition. It is the obstruction of a blood vessel by blood clots. It can even result in heart attack or stroke, depending on where the clots occur. However, thromboembolism is being observed only in less than 5% of patients recovering from COVID-19.

Pulmonary embolism is a condition in which early signs of blood clot in lungs are shown. Symptoms include difficulty in breathing and fall in blood pressure. Such patients need to be  hospitalized immediately and evaluated.

High D-Dimer levels:

Severe to serious patients and those with high D-Dimer levels may require therapeutic anti-coagulants during hospitalization as well as in the post-COVID-19 period for 2-4 weeks. But anti-coagulants should be taken on physician's reference and in a guarded manner.

Chronic Cough:

Another major post-COVID-19 infection is chronic cough or post infection cough. Dry cough can persist after recovery due to infection in our airways and resultant inflammation. Cough can persist also due to stiffness of lungs when recovery process begins. Deep breathing exercises for patients experiencing dry cough is recommended.

Cough Fatigue:

Post-Covid patients often complain about cough fractures. They may feel pain in the rib-cage towards the lower side of the chest, due to chronic cough. It is important to evaluate this condition also. Costochondritis or pain in the rib-cage may be caused after recovery due to inflammation during COVID.

Pulmonary fibrosis

Yet another feared post-COVID syndrome which occurs due to scarring which is when lungs recover from COVID. Scarring does not become clinically significant in 90% of the patients. However, 10% of the patients may need long-term supplemental oxygen. “It is more likely to occur in COVID-19 patients whose lungs got damaged to the extent of above 70%. Even among such patients, lung fibrosis is found only in around 1% of them.

Those who had moderate to severe COVID-19 and were on oxygen therapy, may get lung function tested after a month of recovery. To understand whether lung capacity has been fully restored and oxygen extraction capacity has been completely reinstated to previous levels, suggested the chest specialist. He further informed that many patients recovering from COVID-19 experience chest pain and fear they are getting a heart attack. But, heart attacks have been observed only in less than 3% of the patients recovering from COVID.