People infected with the novel coronavirus may be left with permanent lung damage. According to doctors there are growing numbers of people who still have breathlessness and coughing months after falling recovering from Covid-19.
Early studies on recovered patients and autopsies of Covid-19 patients reveal risks of blood clotting, brain damage and a condition termed salient hypoxia -where the body is slowly starved of oxygen.
A patient who recovered from the virus after requiring 18 days of emergency treatment confessed to experiencing shortness of breath despite being declared Covid-free.
Watch the patients narratives below:
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"New evidence is emerging from across the world that this disease is actually systematic. It has effects on your heart, kidneys and the clotting and coagulation of your blood," Health CAS Dr Mercy Mwangangi disclosed during a Covid-19 press briefing.
Another patient who was cured of the disease confessed to experiencing fatigue and shortness of breath which necessitated his re-admission to hospital, where scans of his heart showed irregular readings.
Besides the respiratory issues that leave patients gasping for breath, studies now show that the virus that causes Covid-19 attacks many organs within the body, in some cases causing catastrophic damage.
Permanent damage is sometimes seen after other kinds of chest infections that can cause similar lung inflammation to the coronavirus, such as flu and pneumonia.
If someone is left with scarring, also known as fibrosis, there is no way to reverse it. All people can do is try to improve their aerobic fitness to compensate for their lower lung function and learn to cope with breathlessness.
“We thought this was only a respiratory virus. Turns out, it goes after the pancreas. It goes after the heart. It goes after the liver, the brain, the kidney and other organs. We didn’t appreciate that in the beginning,” said Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, California.
Cambridge University Press, which is listed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the resources in Covid-19 research, recently released a report of case studies on recovered patients exhibiting signs of brain damage.
A 55-year-old Caucasian woman was admitted with a 14-day history of fever, myalgia, cough, breathlessness, loss of sense of smell and taste, and headache. Prior to this presentation she was fit and well, was on no regular medications and her only past medical history consisted of resolved renalcalculi.
She had no history of mental illness and there was no family history of neurological or psychiatric conditions.
She received intravenous fluids, was given oxygen via nasal cannulae which was quickly weaned. She received no other treatment and was discharged home well after 2 days.
The following day, she was confused with odd behaviour and was again admitted to hospital via ambulance. She had florid visual hallucinations of animals where she thought her cat was a lion and saw “monkeys jumping out of the paramedic’s bag”. There were no reported automatisms, tremors or seizures.- Cambridge Univeristy Press Report
Closer to home, another recovered patient stated that following his recovery from the virus, he was now battling nerve damage on his left eye.
Scientists and doctors are working around the world to understand the lasting effects of the virus especially in symptomatic patients, who seem to be more vulnerable to the after-effects.
