Long Term Complications Associated with Covid-19 : A Review

Abstract

The covid-19 has spread rapidly throughout the china and globally. This highly transmissible disease till date has infected around 17 million people worldwide. The infection spreads through the sputum or the droplets generated by the infected person by sneezing, coughing or talking. The droplets can settle down on the surfaces and floors or can remain in air where the viability of the virus varies from few minutes to several days. People can also get infected on coming in close proximity of the infected person. The patients experience mild to high fever, sore throat, headache, myalgia, tastelessness and shortness of breath along with pneumonia like symptoms in serious cases. A large number of asymptomatic cases were also reported making the detection difficult in early stages. The recovery rate as of now has reached to 78%, and fatality rates are low, still people are prone to various other long term symptoms after recovery which is a matter of concern. The researchers and scientists have found prominent effect on nervous system and other vital functions of the body, this article gives a brief review of such complications.

Long-term complications of COVID-19; an updated mini-review to the current knowledge

“…SARS-COV-2 can enter the brain through blood and cerebrospinal fluid, and in rare cases through infecting the airways (17).…”

“…CFS, which is caused by hyperinflammation and cytokine storm, is among these longterm complications. CFS (also known as extreme fatigue) gets worse with physical and mental activities, but it does not get better with rest (3,17). Symptoms of CFS include:…”

Post-COVID-19 infections and evolution of pulmonary and cardiac lesions – the battle has just started

“…Post-covid fibrosis/acute respiratory distressed syndrome is a common condition in Covid-19 affected patients, which is sometimes irreversible; one explanation is that the coronavirus causes chronic inflammation in epithelial injury and fibroblast activation (6). The recovery rate to date has reached 78%, and fatality rates are low (7); even so there are still people prone to various other long-term symptoms after recovery, which remains another concern for specialists.…”