Long Covid, a new worry for doctors

A cop is tested for Covid-19 at Aarey police station. File pic

Cases of long Covid-19 appear to be rising in the city, with doctors reporting an increase in patients with complaints of brain fog, high blood sugar levels, heart troubles, weakness and headaches. This has worried the state Covid Task Force, which last week asked doctors to follow up with such patients as well as note the coronavirus history of everyone coming with any of these complaints.

Dr Farah Ingale, director-internal medicine at Fortis Hiranandani Hospital, Vashi, said, "I have seen over 100 patients with several health issues after recovering from Covid-19 - arrhythmia [a condition in which the heart beats in an irregular or abnormal rhythm], fatigue, high blood sugar levels, brain fog, lack of sleep and anxiety. If patients come in with these symptoms, we enquire about their Covid-19 history."

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"I have a few patients who got Covid-19 in the first wave and are still suffering from post-Covid health complications. Though the [now-prevalent] Omicron variant is not so severe, I have seen patients who need admission and take time to recover. It is important to take the patient's history and it helps to treat the patient better," she added.

Recently, a task force member took to public platforms to raise the issue of post-Covid complications and stress the need to develop infrastructure, in both public and private hospitals to tackle them. Dr Honey Savla, consultant-Internal Medicines, Wockhardt Hospitals, Mumbai Central, said, "In long Covid, health problems persist for a month or even a year after recovery. To prevent long Covid, it is important to stay hydrated during infection, unless there is a restriction on fluid intake. It is important to take certain vitamins, especially antioxidants, during the infection and after recovery. Consuming fruits and vegetables that contain vitamin C also helps.

Few cases, though

"Episodes of fainting, neuropathy, brain fog and breathing difficulty are the problems that patients with long Covid experience, although such cases are few," Dr Savla added. Describing long Covid, state surveillance officer Dr Pradeep Awate told mid-day, "Long Covid is when an individual, who has recovered from coronavirus infection, suffers from health issues that he or she did not have before. Some patients have complained of having breathing difficulty even while walking or climbing stairs. Some came with heart-related issues that they did not have before getting Covid-19."

The state surveillance officer added, "A study done abroad shows that 5 per cent of the total Covid-19 patients do suffer from such health problems and take around 4-5 months to recover." Dr Umang Agrawal, consultant-infectious diseases at P D Hinduja Hospital, said, "Compared to the first wave, we are seeing fewer long-Covid patients nowadays. Depression, headache and palpitations have also been noticed among such patients. The people suffering from long Covid said they did not have any such complication before getting Covid-19."