A study conducted by the scientists of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revealed that the Coronavirus survivors have twice the risk of developing dangerous blood clots that travel to their lungs as compared to those who weren’t infected. The study also highlighted that they have double the chance of developing respiratory symptoms.
The study discovered that as many as one in five adults aged 18-64 years and one in four of those over 65 went on to experience health conditions that could be related to their bout of COVID-19.
According to the scientists, the risk of developing acute pulmonary embolism increased the most, by a factor of two in both adults younger and older than 65, as did respiratory symptoms like chronic cough or shortness of breath. According to reports, the study was based on more than 350,000 patient records of people who had COVID-19 from March 2020 to November 2021, paired with 1.6 million people in a “control” group who had sought medical attention in the same month as a corresponding “case” patient but weren’t diagnosed with COVID-19.
The team of scientists analysed the records for the occurrence of 26 clinical conditions previously associated with long COVID-19. Moreover, the patients were followed one month out from the time they were first seen until they developed a subsequent condition, or until a year had passed, whichever came first. The scientists also found that the most common conditions in both age groups were respiratory symptoms and musculoskeletal pain.
In patients under 65, risks after COVID-19 elevated for most types of conditions, but no significant differences were observed for cerebrovascular disease, mental health conditions, or substance-related disorders, the study revealed.
“Covid-19 severity and illness duration can affect patients’ health care needs and economic well-being,” the authors wrote.
Reportedly the limitations of the study included the fact that data on sex, race, and geographic region were not considered, nor was vaccination status. Due to the time period, the study also didn’t analysed the impact of newer variants.
