Many patients recovered from Covid-19 report a longer path to “full health” than expected and some appear to have relapsed, the World Health Organization said on Monday.
Researchers around the world are still trying to understand exactly how the coronavirus affects the human body. WHO officials say they are working with governments and hospitals around the world to collect data and further analyze the various symptoms and recovery from Covid-19.
“Certainly, there have been cases of putative relapse, therefore, of people who have fallen ill again,” said Dr Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO emergency program, during a press conference at agency headquarters in Geneva. “A lot of work is going on now to see if people have been re-infected or if it’s just a chronic part of the disease.”
Scientists have discovered that the virus attacks much more than the respiratory system, identifying the circulatory, digestive and neurological problems associated with the virus. Covid-19 has also been linked to an increase in stroke and heart attack in otherwise healthy individuals. Ryan said it also appears to affect liver and kidney functions as well as other vital parts of the body. He added that even after discharge from the hospital, “many experience longer-term energy problems”.
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“We have to separate here what is a long struggle to regain full health from what could be a continuous Covid-19 syndrome where you have a persistent virus,” he said. “So far, the evidence shows that there is very little evidence to suggest that there are people who persistently suffer from Covid-19.”
It’s unclear why it takes some people so long to fully recover from Covid-19, but Ryan said that many “remain frail, without energy and struggling to recover.”
“People are not necessarily satisfied with regaining their full health,” he added.
Overall, WHO has observed that around 40% of patients develop “a mild illness and recover very well,” said Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, head of the Emerging Diseases and Zoonoses Unit. ‘WHO. She said 40% of patients develop moderate symptoms, including pneumonia, but do not require hospitalization or intubation. Another 15% develop a serious illness and 5% are “critical”.
“We are trying to get a consistent picture across all countries,” she said. “But this is still only the beginning.… We are learning more and more every day about this virus and the diseases it causes.”
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