92% of hospitalized Covid patients still have symptoms a year later
Long Covid affects almost all coronavirus patients who had to be hospitalized, according to research in the Rijnmond region. Of the participating patients, 92 percent still had symptoms a year after hospitalization, NOS reports.
The most common symptoms are pain, shortness of breath after exertion, severe fatigue, and memory and concentration problems. “What is striking is that there is virtually no improvement in the complaints. These are persistent complaints that greatly impact the quality of life and apparently do not respond well to the current treatment offer,” said research leader and lung specialist Merel Hellemons of Erasmus MC.
Erasmus MC, Rijndam Rehabilitation, and care institution Laurens studied 650 people hospitalized with the coronavirus in the Rijnmond region between July 2020 and July 2021. Their results are peer-reviewed and published in two scientific journals - the European Respiratory Journal Open Research and The lancet Regional Health Europe.
The researchers only looked at coronavirus patients who had to go to the hospital. Compared to other studies into Long Covid, which looked at all patients, the results show a clear difference between hospitalized patients and patients who recovered at home. Earlier this month, research in Noord-Nederland among 13,000 people showed that one in eight people still had symptoms five months after the coronavirus. In June, the RIVM reported that half of the coronavirus patients still had symptoms three months after infection.
The Rijnmond study found much higher percentages among patients who needed hospitalization. Three months after admission, 97 percent still had at least one complaint. After six months, 95.5 percent still had symptoms, and after a year, 92 percent.
The researchers found no difference between patients who needed intensive care and patients treated in the regular wards. They also found no explanation for why so many, but not all, hospitalized patients have Long Covid. The scientists, therefore, call for more research into the disease.
“The long-term effects of Covid-19 are underestimated. Rehabilitation helps on a physical level, but the other persistent complaints ensure that people can no longer take on their daily lives,” said researcher Hellemons.
