It’s almost three months that Rajeev Chaudhary (54) has been declared Covid-19 negative. But he is still reeling under the post-Covid syndrome, which the doctors call ‘long Covid’.
“My sugar level has shot up. I feel fatigued whole day as if there is no strength in my body. At times, I feel very depressed while anxiety lingers on,” the Delhi government official shares the trauma he’s going through daily.
Chaudhary is not the only one who is grappling with post-Covid health issues. According to a study, among all patients infected with the coronavirus disease, more than 23 per cent continued to suffer from one or more health issues even a month after being diagnosed with Covid-19.
Patients with such post-Covid conditions are variously referred to as having long-haul Covid, long Covid or post-acute sequelae of Covid-19 (PASC), said the study by an NGO FAIR Health which had analysed private health care claim records for nearly 2 million people diagnosed with Covid last year. The people in the study ranged in age from babies to the elderly; some 53 percent were female and 47 percent were male.
The five most common post-Covid conditions across all ages were pain, breathing difficulties, hyperlipidemia, malaise and fatigue, and hypertension. Pain, breathing difficulties and intestinal issues were the top conditions among the paediatric population (0-18). More than 25 per cent young individuals aged between 19 and 29 showed cardiac inflammation post-Covid.
As per the study, 50 percent patients hospitalised with Covid-19 infection developed a post-Covid condition, while among the symptomatic patients not hospitalised, 27.5 per cent developed long Covid. However, post-Covid symptoms were also present among 19 per cent patients who remained asymptomatic.
Further, anxiety was associated with the highest percentage of patients after Covid-19 in all age groups. It was followed by depression, adjustment and tic disorders.
“The odds of death 30 days or more after initial diagnosis with Covid-19 were 46 times higher for patients who were hospitalised with Covid-19 and discharged than patients who had not been hospitalised. Among Covid-19 patients with preexisting conditions, intellectual disabilities were associated with the highest odds of death 30 days or more after initial Covid-19 diagnosis,” said the study.
Dr Pankaj Solanki from the Dharamveer Solanki Multispeciality Hospital in Delhi said that these cases need to be addressed on urgent basis and the Government should also focus on working on their rehabilitation through multi-disciplinary post-Covid clinics.