'Long Covid' cases on rise

Long Covid cases are evolving in City. The percentage of Long Covid cases is rising from 10 per cent to 25 per cent, compared with the last six months.

Hyderabad doctors have found that older people, women, and those who have five or more symptoms in the first week of becoming ill with Covid-19, were more likely to develop Long Covid.

Long Covid is a situation when patients suffer from pains, such as body pain, eye infections. This condition is more in people who have chronic diseases. Such patients suffer for a longer time even after Covid treatment.

However, the health watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) defines Long Covid as lasting for more than 12 weeks, although some people consider symptoms that last more than eight weeks to be Long Covid.

Dr Krishna Reddy Nallamalla, president, In Order, Regional Director (South Asia), ACCESS Health International, explaining the current scenario, said "Nearly 30 per cent of people hospitalised with moderate to severe Covid have continuing symptoms beyond 12 weeks after the onset of illness. The basis for these and the treatment guidelines are still evolving."

Dr Anand Subhash Wani, Fellow Academic College of Emergency Experts, India),a consultant pediatrician, Ankura Hospital for Women and Children, said "Long Covid or postacuteCovid (symptoms beyond three weeks) and chronic post‐Covid syndrome (beyond 12 weeks) are multi-system syndromes.

A patient continues to have symptoms like myalgia, arthritis, headache, mild neurological and respiratory symptoms beyond 12 weeks. Exact load of such cases is not clear yet, but likely to get some data from European study to come up."

Explaining the symptoms, Dr Sai Venkat Ramana, pulmonologist , said, "symptoms highly observed in Long Covid state are fatigue, shortness of breath, cough, joint pain, chest pain. The pain is expected to be more for patients who are already suffering with chronic diseases."

"Brain fog, wherein they find it more difficult to think clearly and focus, depression, muscle pain, headache, fever, which may come and go, heart palpitations, or a feeling of the heart pounding are also other symptoms the Long Covid cases will observe," he added.

A doctor from OGH said: "People with asthma are also more likely to develop Long Covid. Older people, women, and those who had five or more symptoms in the first week of becoming ill with Covid-19 are more likely to develop Long Covid.

In the last six months, cases were about 10 per cent. Now they are increasing to 25 per cent. They are slowly increasing. Patients should take a healthy diet."