More than a million people in Spain can develop persistent covid

Among the more than fifty associated symptoms, problems such as fatigue, dyspnea, chest pain, palpitations, gastrointestinal symptoms, mental confusion, anxiety or depression stand out.

More than a million people can develop persistent covid in Spain, associated in most cases with symptoms such as fatigue and headache, and although it can affect all groups that have had the disease, the candidates more likely are adults between 30 and 50 years old and women.

La Covid Persistent infection represents, like the SARS-CoV-2 virus itself, a new challenge, according to experts, who have stressed the importance of patients having adequate recovery time. recovery before returning to normal activity and that they do not feel pressured not to experiment a flare-up of symptoms.

These conclusions have been reflected in the latest report of the Multidisciplinary Working Group (GTM) which advises the Ministry of Science and supports the Government in scientific matters related to covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.

The GTM team is made up of 16 researchers from different areas of science and technology, among them (as president) the professor and nutritionist José María Ordovás, director of the Nutrition and Genomics Laboratory at Tufts University in Boston and one of the lead authors of this report.

In its latest report, this team of scientists has highlighted, among the more than fifty symptoms associated with persistent covid, problems such as fatigue, dyspnea, chest pain, palpitations, gastrointestinal symptoms, mental confusion, anxiety and depression.

And they have found that many of the patients suffer from some of these symptoms, often debilitating, after infection and for weeks and even months.

The researchers who are part of the GTM have also observed that one of the most surprising evidence in these cases is that some of the patients with fewer and less severe symptoms, and who initially They had been treated only in Primary Care or had been practically asymptomatic during the infection, are later the most affected and show greater symptoms.

In Spain, where They have exceeded 100.000 deaths and 11,2 million cases since the start of the pandemic, The estimates included in the report indicate that approximately 6,8 percent of all infections and 15,2 percent of patients with a symptomatic infection develop persistent covid.

The GTM researchers have pointed out in their latest report that in Spain, without a national registry of patients with persistent covid and also lacking a complete view of the natural history of the infection and its resolution, It is estimated that more than 1 million people may develop these persistent symptoms.

Although they have also confirmed that there is still little analytical research on the risk factors for developing persistent covid, they have pointed out that the most likely candidates are adults between the ages of 30 and 50 and women, as well as patients who have presented more than three symptoms in acute infection of the disease.

When wondering how to treat these patients, The researchers have stressed that they need to be cared for by various specialists, from internists, pulmonologists, cardiologists, gastroenterologists, "and of course in primary care," and the importance of performing MRIs, CT scans, blood tests and other diagnostic tests to identify underlying problems, control symptoms and improve functional capacity.

They have also stressed that patients must have enough time for recovery before returning to their usual activity, and they have remembered that it is already known from other types of similar infections that if it is pushed too hard, a recurrence is experienced and recovery is slower than expected.

"The good news is that, after six months, there is a gradual improvement in the majority of patient series, including those who were admitted to the ICU"concludes the report of the Multidisciplinary Working Group

Source: Heraldo de Aragón