Among people with Covid-19, one in eight will experience one of the symptoms of long-term Covid-19, according to a large study published on Friday 5 August.
These symptoms include “abdominal pain, breathing difficulties and pains, muscle aches, agusia or anosmia (loss of taste or smell: editor’s note), tingling, discomfort in the throat, hot or cold flushing, heaviness in the arms or legs, and general fatigue.,” lists this study, published in the Lancet. “In 12.7% of patients, these symptoms could be attributed to Covid-19Three to five months after infection, the authors conclude.
Psychosomatic disorders
This work in the Netherlands, in its scope and methodology, is an important part of better understanding the risk of prolonged Covid, i.e. the persistence of long-term symptoms after a coronavirus infection. With current knowledge, we know that some patients have consequences related to the coronavirus infection, and that they cannot be explained solely by psychosomatic disorders, as some doctors initially proposed.
However, the frequency of these disorders and, moreover, the physiological mechanisms of their occurrence are largely unknown. If the Lancet study does not answer this second question, it makes it possible to better clarify the first element, primarily because it was carried out on a large number of patients, more than 4,000 Covid patients. In these patients, the Covid 19 episode was confirmed by PCR test or doctor’s diagnosis.
12% of those infected
Finally, and this is important news, the responses of these patients were compared with a group of people who did not have Covid. Because it is possible to experience one of the listed symptoms without the cause being Covid. In fact, almost 9% of people who have not had Covid have one of the symptoms described previously.
Among ex-Covid patients, the proportion rises to 21.4%. It is by subtraction that the researchers manage to conclude that a little more than 12% of people infected with Covid develop specific consequences related to the disease. However, this study has some limitations, such as not measuring the frequency of other long-term Covid-related symptoms, including, in particular, depression or mental confusion.
Source: Le Figaro
