“Prolonged Covid” can affect various parts of the body and mind...

LONDON (Reuters) – A continuing picture of illness after covid-19 infection called “prolonged covid” may not be just one syndrome, but possibly even four, causing a roller coaster of symptoms that can affect all parts of the body and of the mind, doctors said today.

In an initial report on long-lived covid-19, the British National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) stated that a common theme among covid patients – some of whom have been with the disease for seven months or more. disease- is that the symptoms appear in a physiological area, such as the heart or lungs, and then diminish and surface again in another area.

“This review highlights the harmful physical and psychological impact that continuing covid is having on many people’s lives,” said Dr. Elaine Maxwell, who led the study.

Thousands of people around the world have connected via social networks and online forums to share their experiences of ongoing symptoms of covid-19.

According to the British patient group LongCovidSOS, data from a symptom-tracking application developed by King’s College London shows that 10% of covid-19 patients remain ill for up to three weeks, and about 5% may remain ill for months. .

Maxwell, who presented the conclusions of the document “Living with the covid” in an online statement to the press, said health services are having difficulties “managing these new and fluctuating patterns of symptoms and problems.”

She and her co-authors asked patients and doctors to write down and track symptoms so that health researchers can learn more about the condition and how to alleviate it as quickly as possible.