PARIS, Oct. 13 (Benin News) –
A study by researchers at the University of Glasgow, UK, shows that one in 20 people affected by Covid-19 only recovered six and 18 months following infection with SARS-CoV -2.
The study, led by the University of Glasgow in collaboration with Public Health Scotland, NHS Scotland and the Universities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh, and funded by the Scottish Government’s Office of Chief Scientists, is the largest ever undertaken. . The research will be conducted in May 2021 to understand the long-term impact of Covid-19, and compare it to the health and well-being of people who had not yet been infected.
Published in Nature Communications, the study shows that, overall, 42% of people infected with COVID-19 reported feeling only partially recovered six to 18 months following infection. The survey did not provide details of each person’s partial recovery, but it might include a range of mild to moderate symptoms, and does not necessarily result in a prolonged diagnosis of Covid-19.
Meanwhile, the study shows that people with asymptomatic infection had no long-term impact; and people who had been vaccinated before infection with the Covid-19 virus appeared to have protection once morest certain long-term symptoms.
However, the study found that the impact on people suffering from prolonged Covid was considerable, with a wide range of symptoms, repercussions on all aspects of daily life and reduced overall quality of life.
Overall, the study showed that prolonged Covid symptoms were more likely following severe infections requiring hospitalization. The most commonly reported symptoms of prolonged Covid use were shortness of breath, chest pain, palpitations and confusion or ‘brain fog’.
Prolonged Covid-19 was also more likely in older people, women and people from disadvantaged communities. Additionally, people with pre-existing physical and mental health conditions, such as respiratory disease and depression, were also more likely to experience prolonged illness.
The study found that while recovery status remained constant over the follow-up period for most participants, 13% of people reported improvement over time and 11% reported some deterioration.
The study relied on a Scottish population cohort of 33,281 people infected with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2, matched to 62,957 never-infected people from the general population. Both groups were followed up with questionnaires at six, twelve and eighteen months, and the researchers were able to link this to hospitalization and death records.
Although most people recover quickly and completely following infection with COVID-19, some people develop a wide variety of long-term problems. This is why, according to Jill Pell, professor of public health at the University of Glasgow, “understanding the long duration of Covid is essential to inform health and social services”.
“Our study is important because it adds to our understanding of prolonged COVID-19 in the general population, not just people who need to be admitted to hospital with COVID-19. By comparing symptoms with those of uninfected people, we were able to distinguish between health problems due to COVID-19 and those that would have happened anyway,” says Dr. Andrew McAuley, health science consultant at Public Health Scotland.
“This study provides important new evidence on prolonged COVID-19 in Scotland. We know that a full vaccination once morest COVID-19 can reduce the likelihood of developing long-lasting COVID-19 and therefore we encourage those who are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine to take the opportunity to improve their protection by getting vaccinated,” he concludes.
