Long COVID-19 - a pathology of concern

PURPOSE: COVID-19 is an infectious disease that has been concerning the entire medical world for more than a year. But in addition to the severity of the acute phase, more people who have experienced non severe forms of acute infection suffer from a polymorphic clinical features that gradually begins in the subsequent weeks after acute episode and persists for weeks and months after. METHODS & MATERIALS: A 6-month prospective study from January to June 2021, was conducted in a private practice for Infectious Diseases, Oradea, Romania. The study's outcome was the identification and follow-up of a set of clinical manifestations occurring one month after a non-severe acute episode of COVID-19. The statistical analysis was performed by Software SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences), version 26. RESULTS: A total of 75 patients were available for analysis. We identified fatigue in 33.33% (25), anxiety in 40% (30), depression in 13.33% (10), brain fog in 20% (15), fever in 20% (15), anosmia in 13.33% (10), dysgeusia in 6.66% (5), cough in 26.66% (20), dyspnoea in 21.33% (16), chest pain in 4 (5.33%), rash in 4% (3), hair loss in 33.33% (25), dizziness in 6.66% (5), hypotension in 28% (21), arrhythmias in 2.66 % (2), diarrhoea in 42.66% (32), peripheral limb ischemia in 1.33% (1) cases, in the period between 4 to 12 weeks after acute COVID-19. The following clinical features were reported after 12 weeks from acute episode: brain fog in 6.66% (5), fever in 1.33% (1), cough in 5.33% (4), dyspnoea in 9.33% (7), hair loss in 4% (3), hypotension in 2.66% (2), diarrhoea in 12% (9) cases. A direct positive statistically significant correlation between the patients' age and the number of clinical features has been registered (r = 0.29, p = 0.010). CONCLUSION: The long COVID-19 leads to negative socio-economic and medical effects for people who have suffered from COVID-19. The effects intensify as patients age.