Dyspnea is one of the symptoms of covid identified by the World Health Organization. What is this condition and how to treat it?
While the epidemic peak of the 7th wave of Covid seems to have been crossed in France, the number of infected people continues to increase: 236,794,723 in Europe on July 20, 2022. The Omicron variant and its subvariants account for 99.9% positive cases in France according to Public Health France. Long covids are therefore more and more numerous.
The World Health Organization has studied the long-term effects of Covid on infected people. Chronic fatigue, cough, congestion or shortness of breath, loss of taste and smell, headache, body aches, diarrhea, nausea, chest or abdominal pain, confusion are among the majority symptoms.
Dyspnea one of the symptoms of covid long
The dyspnea is also a persistent symptom reported by the participants of a telephone survey conducted in several states of the United States. This country has accumulated the highest number of cases in the world ahead of India, Brazil and Russia. This breathing difficulty is defined by the WHO as a “sensation of discomfort and difficulty in breathing occurring only for a level of usual activity not normally causing any discomfort”. This symptom, which more than 30% of long Covid patients suffer from, is treated by “supply of oxygen as needed” indicates the MSD Manual. Morphine can also be prescribed to decrease “the anxiety and discomfort of dyspnea in various situations, including myocardial infarction”. In these most serious cases, hospital care is essential.