One year after COVID-19. What is the condition of hospitalized people? Striking figures

Only a quarter of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 are completely healthy one year after leaving hospital. This is the result of research by British scientists published on the prestigious website «The Lancet». It is much more difficult for women and overweight people to recover.

1. According to various studies, from 20 to 80 percent suffer from long covid, i.e. long-term effects of coronavirus infection. infected people
2. When it comes to people requiring hospitalization due to COVID-19, only 26 percent recover to full health five months after leaving the hospital, and 29 percent after a year.
3. The latest research also shows that ineffective regeneration after infection is associated with the inflammation of the C-reactive protein 
4. According to data from Great Britain, currently 1,7 million people experience long covid there
5. More information can be found on the Onet homepage

More and more people are suffering from long COVID-19

Rehabilitation after infection with coronavirus or the so-called long covid are constantly being studied by doctors and scientists. After more than two years of the pandemic, we are still learning something new. The data is usually not optimistic.

The latest research, conducted by prof. Christopher Brightling, prof. Louise Wain and Dr. Rachael Evans of the National Institute for Health Research Leicester Biomedical Research Center at the University of Leicester and published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, showed that only a quarter of UK patients hospitalized for COVID-19 are completely healthy a year later.

In total, more than 19 people have been hospitalized in the UK since the start of the COVID-830 pandemic. patients.

The study looked at patients treated in 39 public hospitals in Great Britain. 2 thousand 320 people discharged from facilities between March 7, 2020 and April 18, 2021 were re-examined after five months, 807 of this group returned to the hospital one year after recovery.

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Health status was assessed on the basis of the analysis of blood samples, as well as the results of tests provided by patients and their assessment of physical and mental fitness and the condition of the most important organs.

Only a quarter of those hospitalized recover fully

It turned out that after 12 months, on average only 29 percent. subjects were fully cured. The average age of the respondents was 59 years, one-third were women, and a quarter of the people in the hospital were on a ventilator.

The risk factors in this study turned out to be, inter alia, gender (in women, full recovery was 32% less frequent than in men) and obesity (in this case, the chance of complete recovery was half as much). In turn, the stay in the hospital, combined with the need to connect to a ventilator, reduced the chances of full recovery by 58%.

After five months, 26% of patients fully recovered. cases with similar risk factors. This slight difference in percentage suggests that treatment and rehabilitation in the first months after hospitalization are of key importance. In almost half of the cases analyzed after five months, symptoms were classified as severe or very severe.

COVID-9 One Year After Departure – What Symptoms?

The ten most frequently reported complaints that persist one year after discharge from the hospital are: fatigue (60,1% of patients), muscle pain (54,6%), deterioration of physical efficiency (52,9%), sleep problems (52,3 51,4%), dyspnoea (47,6%), joint pain or swelling (46,7%), difficulty concentrating (46,6%), headache (44,6%), memory loss short-term (41,9%) and limb weakness (XNUMX%).

Symptoms and their frequency after five months were similar. Then, however, there were also paresthesias (40%) and problems with balance (34,9%).

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According to the authors of the study, “there was no or minimal improvement in the parameters reported by patients regarding physical function, cognitive impairment or organ function after one year, compared with five months after discharge from the hospital”.

After a year, patients also reported symptoms of depression (24,9%), anxiety attacks (21,5%), post-traumatic stress disorder (10%) and severe cognitive impairment (8,8%).

COVID-19 Symptoms After One Year – What Is The Cause?

Studies have shown that the problem of recovery from COVID-19 is related to inflammation of key proteins in the human body. Severe forms of long COVID-19 have been associated with elevated levels of an inflammatory marker, C-reactive protein. The elevated level also concerned another biomarker, i.e. interleukin-6 (IL-6). According to experts, research aimed at finding an effective medicine should be conducted in this direction.

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According to Dr. Evans, the magnitude of the reduction in recovery from five months to a year is “striking”, with most complaints relating to organ damage, deterioration in performance and mental health. “Obesity and female gender are the main factors that make treatment difficult,” she said, pointing out that these groups may need more intensive and controlled rehabilitation.

There are no directional treatments for long covid, and our study clearly shows that effective treatments are urgently needed. Our findings on chronic systemic inflammation, especially in moderate to severe cases of cognitive impairment, suggest that these groups may be responsive to anti-inflammatory treatment, said Prof. Wain.

In turn, prof. Brightling noted that there is a need for effective support for the growing population of patients who suffer from a number of long-term symptoms that reduce the quality of life. – Without effective treatments, long covid may become a new, very common and long-term disease – he noted.

Also read:

1. Thrombosis after coronavirus. New arrangements. The risk increases dramatically
2. How does COVID-19 affect the brain? Scientists surprised by the discoveries
3. Why do some people not get COVID-19? The answer … swine flu?