The long-term effects affect both young and healthy people

Cheyenne Beyer’s blood count is normal each time she is drawn – she no longer has an active coronavirus infection. But since February the 27-year-old has had a slight fever and since April, when she was tested positive for the first time, her heart rate has increased.

Bayer lives in Austin, Texas. She is one of many young patients who have had Covid-19 for months. This shows New Report from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)which was released on Friday. Accordingly, even patients with mild symptoms can develop a chronic illness-related illness.

Almost 20 percent of young, previously healthy patients have not fully recovered even weeks after the illness

The CDC interviewed more than 270 symptomatic adults who tested positive for the virus between April 15 and June 25, but did not need to be hospitalized. More than a third of these patients said they had not returned to normal health two to three weeks after the test. Among young, previously healthy respondents – people between the ages of 18 and 34 – the proportion of patients who have not yet fully recovered is almost 20 percent.

“Untreated Covid-19 disease can lead to long-term illness and persistent symptoms, even in young adults and people with little or no underlying chronic disease,” wrote the CDC researchers.

Of course, Bär knew nothing about it when he was diagnosed. “The most disappointing thing for me is that I was told that I would be fine in two weeks. It’s been 100 days, ”she told Business Insider in June.

At the start of the pandemic, the CDC suggested that mild symptoms of the coronavirus would usually subside within 14 days. However, recently the agency has recognized that the virus can leave long-term symptoms in some people.

“It’s just scary”

“We hear anecdotes from people who suffer from constant tiredness and shortness of breath. It is difficult to say how long it will take, “said Jay Butler, deputy director of infectious diseases at CDC, on June 25.

A new CDC report now suggests that long-term illnesses are far more common than originally thought by scientists and health experts. “Even in symptomatic adults who were tested on an outpatient basis, it can take weeks for the symptoms to go away and return to normal,” the researchers wrote.

There are no signs of treatment at Baer yet. Her head often feels foggy, she said, making it difficult to concentrate. She also struggles with tachycardia: a condition in which her heart beats more than 100 times a minute. It was “every day,” “basically all day,” she said. The uncertainty about how long their symptoms last becomes psychological stress.

“If I had been told in advance, ‘Hey, you will be ill for three months, but you can get out of here unscathed.’ I would say, ‘Okay, that’s good,’ ”said Beyer. “But the fact that it’s been three months and I still don’t know how to continue or improve – it’s just scary.”

Symptoms such as fatigue can last particularly long

Given the lack of long-term follow-up, the CDC report does not provide a timeframe for how long the effects of a coronavirus infection can last. Dr. Anthony Foci, a leading medical professional in the United States, said last week that Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg could take “months to a year or more” to know if the persistent symptoms of Covid 19 in young people could lead to chronic diseases to lead.

However, the CDC report notes that some symptoms last longer than others. Most respondents who have developed a fever or chills say the symptoms go away after two to three weeks. But 43 percent of the patients reporting cough and 29 percent of the patients reporting breathlessness said that the symptoms did not go away during this time. Another 35 percent of patients complaining of fatigue said the symptoms persisted for two to three weeks.

“I don’t think people know that they can still hit you hard at a young age.”

Foci told Zuckerberg that some patients may have “post-infection syndromes” that resemble chronic fatigue syndrome, which is often characterized by cognitive impairment, muscle pain, and lack of energy. In June, UK doctors also warned of post-viral syndromes in coronavirus patients.

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“I don’t think people know that it can hit you hard at a young age,” said Beyer. Her family members, she added, are concerned about their lack of progress. Some doctors believed that some of the other symptoms could be related to anxiety. But Bayer said she connected online with other patients who had the same experience.

“What helped me most was finding these online communities and knowing that I wasn’t the only one looking at them right now,” she said. “The story has to change from” If you are not dead in two weeks, you are fine “to” It can take a long time and it can be nonsense. “We hope that we will get better at some point. “

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This article has been translated and edited from English. You can find the original version here.

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