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Patient in Indiana, USA (symbolic image)
Photo: Robin Gentry / EyeEm / Getty Images
Anyone infected with the coronavirus can suffer from the consequences for months. Typical symptoms such as exhaustion, shortness of breath, concentration disorders or brain fog are now summarized under the term Long Covid. Those affected describe enormous psychological and physical stress, including incapacity for work. Now US researchers have found in a study that people who have suffered a corona infection have a higher risk of death even after the disease than people who were not infected with the virus.
In the article published in the journal »Nature«, the data of more than 73,000 patients in the USA were evaluated who were infected with Sars-CoV-2, but whose course was not so difficult that they had to be hospitalized. It was found that those infected between one and six months after their infection had an up to 60 percent higher risk of death than those who were not infected. In addition, their risk of being dependent on outpatient medical care in the first six months after infection is increased by up to 20 percent.
The survey also confirmed what other studies had previously found: Many people infected with corona have to struggle with numerous symptoms long after their infection. The long-term consequences can therefore affect almost any organ. The scientists list problems in the respiratory tract, disorders of the nervous system, mental disorders, metabolic disorders, cardiovascular disorders, gastrointestinal disorders, malaise, fatigue, pain in the musculoskeletal system and anemia. According to the study, those affected often continue to take medication such as pain relievers, antidepressants or drugs that lower blood pressure for a long time.
The study also compared the consequences of severe Covid 19 illness with those of severe flu.
The researchers found that the post-viral consequences of Covid-19 are more serious than those of influenza.
According to the authors of the study, the study is the largest analysis of Covid-19 long-term consequences to date.
Other studies, for example from Wuhan in China or from Great Britain, have already come to similar conclusions.
No reporting system for Long Covid
How many people are affected by Long Covid is unclear.
There is currently no statistical data basis as there is no reporting system for the disease.
While the WHO estimates that around one in ten people still have at least one symptom after their acute infection has subsided, a British study comes to the conclusion that around 14 percent of those infected remain ill for months after their official recovery.
Experts fear that health systems are not prepared for patients who suffer from long-term effects of Covid.
The currently increasing number of cases could also lead to an increase in the number of people affected by long covid.
What exactly causes the long-term effects is still unclear to doctors.
The US study also fails to find an answer to the question of which mechanisms cause long covid.
The symptoms could be triggered by the virus itself or by an immune response to the virus, the scientists speculate.
But it could also be an autoimmune reaction.
Furthermore, the indirect effects of the pandemic, such as changes in social contacts, the economic situation or other lifestyle, such as diet or exercise, could favor the long-term consequences of a Covid 19 infection, according to the study.
The "New York Times" notes that the study cannot necessarily be regarded as representative, since it used health insurance data for US veterans.
88 percent of them are male with a mean age of 61 years.
70 percent of them are white.
Furthermore, the study does not mention what exactly the deceased had died of in the one to six months after their infection.
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