Don't panic but keep a watch on post-Covid symptoms: Study

By Shalini Bhardwaj
New Delhi [India], July 4 : Since post-COVID-19 symptoms tend to subside over a few weeks, a local physician who will treat them adequately should be contacted instead of panicking or over-investigating, revealed a Post Covid-19 observational study from Northern India after the first wave in Delhi.
According to Dr Naveet Wig, HOD, Department of Medicine, AIIMS, "The implications of this study for the patients recovering from COVID are that the symptoms during recovery though common, tend to subside over few weeks. They need not panic, avoid over-investigation and should consult their local physician who will treat them adequately."
The study was conducted on 1,234 patients who recovered from Covid-19. This study is pre-peer-reviewed.
"This prospective observational study was conducted at a tertiary healthcare centre in Northern India between October 2020 and February 2021. Patients aged >18 years with a confirmed COVID-19 disease were recruited after at least two weeks of diagnosis and interviewed for any post-COVID-19 symptoms," the study said.
Dr Wig said, "We studied for various symptoms, persisting or new-onset, after recovery from acute illness. Around 40 per cent of patients had symptoms in the first month, 22 per cent had symptoms between 1-3 months, whereas only 10 per cent had symptoms beyond 3 months of symptoms onset."
"The common symptoms reported included body aches, fatigue, breathing difficulty, cough, disturbed sleep and mood disturbances."
"Clear pattern emerged that although symptoms of long COVID are common and varied, they tend to recover in the majority of patients over a few weeks and only 10 per cent had symptoms persisting beyond three months of illness. Severe COVID and patients with hypothyroidism were more likely to have these symptoms," Dr Wig added
"Post-Covid symptoms are a well recognised but underappreciated complication of COVID-19. Though the symptoms may be more prevalent in patients who have had moderate to severe disease, it can be seen also in patients who were asymptomatic or had mild disease. These can range from respiratory symptoms to wide-ranging psychological and multisystem related symptoms," said Dr Neeraj Nischal, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, AIIMS.
The positive outlook also plays an important role. Dr Nischal said, "Luckily in a majority of patients these symptoms will go away with time without much of medical interventions. By keeping a positive outlook, you can go about with your normal life without being burdened by these. Those who have anxiety or depression post-COVID may benefit from counselling. Breathing exercises, balanced diet and gradual introduction of physical activities may help in these patients."
"Specialist consultation will be required in a very small number of patients who continue to have persistent organ-specific symptoms. In patients recovering from COVID, tele-consultations or physical consultations with a local doctor are recommended for 3-6 months," Dr Wig said.