The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is likely to conduct a longitudinal study on the health status of the Covid-recovered patients amid concerns that a good number of them have been facing health problems like falling sick again or fatigue.
A senior scientist from the ICMR, on the condition of anonymity, said that there have been various reports appearing from various quarters that even some Covid-19 recovered patients are facing some health issues.
“This is a matter of concern. Now six months since the pandemic broke out, we have sufficient recovered cases which can be now studied. These study will shed light on this so-called false-dawn phenomenon caused by this mysterious pathogen that emerged only six months ago. Solving the puzzle will inform a broad range of challenges, help the covid-recovered patients how to further take precautions,” said the scientist.
Ongoing problems include fatigue, a racing heartbeat, shortness of breath, achy joints, foggy thinking, a persistent loss of sense of smell, and damage to the heart, lungs, kidneys, and brain, said the scientist adding that there could be the reason that the virus leaves some residual in the body which causes changes in the vital organs. But until a study is conducted, the reasons will remain a mystery.
In fact the issue is being deliberated at the global level also. For instance, Edwin J.R. van Beek, chair of clinical radiology at the University of Edinburgh’s Queens Medical Research Institute said in a report, “So far, there hasn’t been enough research to conclude why symptoms seem to re-emerge in some people, and whether they experience reinfection or if the virus persists for weeks. One possibility is that Covid-19 causes blood clots that may cause potentially dangerous complications unless treated with anticoagulant medications.”
There’s “a lot of unknowns and uncertainty in the development of individual immunity, ‘’ said the scientist, adding that development of antibodies inside the body is not necessarily development of immunity against this disease.
In fact, a study published in Nature Medicine in June had pointed out that people who have recovered from Covid-19 may have antibodies only for two to three months.
However, the conclusions might not necessarily mean that a recovered person can get reinfected, stated the authors.