NEW DELHI: Sixty five percent of Indians have one or more individuals in their close network who have experienced long COVID with symptoms persisting weeks after recovering from the virus, according to the results of a survey conducted by Local Circles. This question received 9,921 responses.
Long Covid symptoms include fatigue, joint pain, muscle pain, cough, shortness of breath, concentration or sleep problems, which persisted weeks after the initial recovery period. This highlights the intensity of the disease and the severity of its attack on many individuals. While 82% of these individuals surveyed said their contacts suffering from long COVID recovered fully within 6 months, for 6% of them the recovery took 6 months to a year and for 8% of them, the COVID-induced conditions have become permanent.
Of those who have had long COVID, in about 8% people, COVID-induced ailments have become permanent; for most others, they took from 1 week to 1 year to resolve.
The survey covered only the conditions primarily induced from the alpha, beta and delta variants of SARS-CoV-2, the long-term impact of the Omicron variant will only be understood several months from now. “However, given symptoms of illness previous variants have induced, the herd immunity approach that some countries are undertaking seems rather misplaced. The Central and State Governments must refer to these data points as they manage the pandemic as well as plan their healthcare initiatives going forward. Even if 2% of the COVID infected population of India ends up with long-term conditions, with 4 crores COVID cases, that amounts to 8 lakh citizens needing recurring healthcare services,” said Sachin Taparia, founder of Local Circles.
One of the LocalCircles members shared with the community that even after recovering from COVID, they have been living with headaches, a weird fuzzy sensation, pain in the center of the chest, heart pounding, fatigue ranging from being mild, bone-deep exhaustion that lasts for days that overall trigger stress physically, mentally, emotionally, and other depressive episodes.
The latest research by the Washington University School of Medicine, which analysed long-term effects in people’s hearts found that people who have had COVID are at increased risk of developing cardiovascular complications within the first month to a year after infection. Such complications include disruptive heart rhythms, inflammation of the heart, blood clots, stroke, coronary artery disease, heart attack, heart failure or even death, it added.
Another journal published by American Medical Association (JAMA) recently reported that people who required ICU care during the COVID treatment continued to have physical, psychological symptoms for over a year. Of those, 74% of patients reported physical symptoms like weakness, joint pain and 26% reported mental symptoms such as anxiety and depression while 16% complained of cognitive symptoms.
A medical journal BMJ Open conducted a study, titled “Multiorgan impairment in low-risk individuals with post-COVID-19 syndrome: a prospective, community-based study”, and concluded that in individuals at low-risk of COVID-19 mortality with ongoing symptoms, 70% have impairment in 1 or more organs 4 months after initial COVID-19 symptoms.
According to studies, not only do the lingering effects of COVID last for months after the virus subsides, but it also cuts across multiple organs like scarring of lungs, temporary loss of vision, cardiac arrest, acute kidney injury, a spike in blood sugar levels, crippling joining pains, intestinal ulcers, loss of memory, painful periods in women, notwithstanding mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and panic attacks.
Researchers from Zurich have found that low levels of certain antibodies were common in people who developed long Covid.
Long Covid symptoms include fatigue, joint pain, muscle pain, cough, shortness of breath, concentration or sleep problems, which persisted weeks after the initial recovery period. This highlights the intensity of the disease and the severity of its attack on many individuals. While 82% of these individuals surveyed said their contacts suffering from long COVID recovered fully within 6 months, for 6% of them the recovery took 6 months to a year and for 8% of them, the COVID-induced conditions have become permanent.
Of those who have had long COVID, in about 8% people, COVID-induced ailments have become permanent; for most others, they took from 1 week to 1 year to resolve.
The survey covered only the conditions primarily induced from the alpha, beta and delta variants of SARS-CoV-2, the long-term impact of the Omicron variant will only be understood several months from now. “However, given symptoms of illness previous variants have induced, the herd immunity approach that some countries are undertaking seems rather misplaced. The Central and State Governments must refer to these data points as they manage the pandemic as well as plan their healthcare initiatives going forward. Even if 2% of the COVID infected population of India ends up with long-term conditions, with 4 crores COVID cases, that amounts to 8 lakh citizens needing recurring healthcare services,” said Sachin Taparia, founder of Local Circles.
One of the LocalCircles members shared with the community that even after recovering from COVID, they have been living with headaches, a weird fuzzy sensation, pain in the center of the chest, heart pounding, fatigue ranging from being mild, bone-deep exhaustion that lasts for days that overall trigger stress physically, mentally, emotionally, and other depressive episodes.
The latest research by the Washington University School of Medicine, which analysed long-term effects in people’s hearts found that people who have had COVID are at increased risk of developing cardiovascular complications within the first month to a year after infection. Such complications include disruptive heart rhythms, inflammation of the heart, blood clots, stroke, coronary artery disease, heart attack, heart failure or even death, it added.
Another journal published by American Medical Association (JAMA) recently reported that people who required ICU care during the COVID treatment continued to have physical, psychological symptoms for over a year. Of those, 74% of patients reported physical symptoms like weakness, joint pain and 26% reported mental symptoms such as anxiety and depression while 16% complained of cognitive symptoms.
A medical journal BMJ Open conducted a study, titled “Multiorgan impairment in low-risk individuals with post-COVID-19 syndrome: a prospective, community-based study”, and concluded that in individuals at low-risk of COVID-19 mortality with ongoing symptoms, 70% have impairment in 1 or more organs 4 months after initial COVID-19 symptoms.
According to studies, not only do the lingering effects of COVID last for months after the virus subsides, but it also cuts across multiple organs like scarring of lungs, temporary loss of vision, cardiac arrest, acute kidney injury, a spike in blood sugar levels, crippling joining pains, intestinal ulcers, loss of memory, painful periods in women, notwithstanding mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and panic attacks.
Researchers from Zurich have found that low levels of certain antibodies were common in people who developed long Covid.