New Delhi: A recent systematic review has demonstrated that nearly 45 per cent of COVID-19 survivors experienced at least one unresolved symptom, said the Union Health Ministry on Tuesday.
"Fatigue is the most frequently reported symptom across hospitalised, non hospitalised and mixed cohorts. Other commonly reported symptoms are malaise, dyspnea, persistent loss of smell or taste, brain fogginess, headache, cough, low-grade fever, palpitations, dizziness, depression, and muscle and joint pains,” informed Minister of State for Health Prataprao Jadhav in the Rajya Sabha.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports fatigue, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, memory, concentration or sleep problems, persistent cough, chest pain, trouble speaking, muscle aches, loss of smell or taste, depression or anxiety and fever as the most common symptoms experienced during post COVID-19 condition.
According to the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), the COVID vaccine taken prior to COVID-19 infection is associated with a lower incidence of post-COVID complications.
"Also, it is not associated with worsening of Post-COVID symptoms in patients with prior COVID-19 infection and ongoing long COVID. Only 16 per cent of patients who died had been vaccinated, demonstrating the protective effect of anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccination," Jadhav said.
He said that post-COVID complications are multifactorial. "Factors such as immune system dysregulation, autoimmunity, dysbiosis, microthrombi, systemic fibrosis, autonomic dysfunction or persistent CNS infection can lead to Post-COVID complications," he said.
Quoting ICMR, the Minister said that the post-COVID complications affect multiple organs and can be pulmonary, cardiovascular, haematological, neuropsychiatric, dermatological, renal, gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, genitourinary or endocrine complications.
According to the National Clinical Registry for COVID-19 (NCRC) data obtained from 31 hospitals across India, dyspnea, fatigue and mental health issues were the most common symptoms observed at all follow-up time points.
Dyspnoea, fatigue and mental health issues were reported among 18.6 per cent, 10.5 per cent and 9.3 per cent of the 8042 participants at the first follow-up of 30–60 days post-discharge, respectively, which reduced to 11.9 per cent, 6.6% and 9 per cent, respectively, one-year follow-up in 2192 participants.
The Minister further informed that a systematic review and meta-analysis done for 194 studies conducted in across various geographical locations - Europe (106 studies), Asia (49 studies), North and South America (31 studies), and other continents (8 studies) demonstrated that fatigue is the most frequently reported symptom across hospitalised (28.4 per cent), non-hospitalised (34.8 per cent), and mixed (25.2 per cent) population.
Amongst hospitalised patients, the five most prevalent symptoms reported were fatigue (28.4 per cent, 70 studies), pain/discomfort (27.9 per cent, 10 studies), impaired sleep (23.5 per cent, 34 studies), breathlessness (22.6 per cent, 70 studies), and impaired usual activity (22.3 per cent, 10 studies).
