NEW DELHI: Headache, mild fever, insomnia, inability to sense smell and taste, diarrhoea, extreme fatigue, etc. The list is long and many are experiencing these symptoms after recovering from Covid even after a month.
“Though not all patients have been called up for a follow up, many patients are personally calling to seek advice on post-Covid symptoms. Last year we had followed up around 1,700 recovered patients, among them 13 per cent had shown neuro-psychiatric issues. This time, a few have talked about brain fog and difficulty in concentration. Nothing to be alarmed about but be cautious,” said Dr Manish Soneja, Additional Professor, Department of Medicine, AIIMS.
Dr Sanjeev Sinha, Medicine, AIIMS noted that most common post-Covid complications are lung infection along with fatigue, weakness, joint-pain, head-ache, indigestion and even dropping of oxygen level after getting discharged from hospital.
“Some also face cardiac problems and hypertension, which is because of the use of steroids during treatment. Once the patient is discharged, many of these treatments are to be immediately stopped. Some also develop hypercalcemia a condition in which calcium level in blood is above normal which can weaken bones and create kidney stones. Anxiety and depression post-Covid are also seen,” Dr Sinha mentioned.
Experts are of the opinion that one of the reasons could be the new strain of the virus in the second wave.
Dr Kulsaurabh Kaushik, Intensivist, Dept of Critical Care Medicine, Fortis Escorts Okhla noted that patients took more time to recover this time because of the severity of infection.
“Post-Covid symptoms too have gone up. More severe the infection is, the more time it takes to recover. Compared to the first wave, some of the post-Covid symptoms are different in the second wave,” he said.