The Potential Long-Term Consequences of Coronavirus Infection – An Overview
Does Covid-19 cause long-term hearing loss? A British study investigated this question after several patients reported a change in their hearing after they were discharged from the clinic. Read here what other long-term consequences infection with the Coronavirus can have.
The list of potential long-term consequences of the Coronavirus is getting longer. Like other infectious diseases like measles, mumps and meningitis, Covid-19 is said to be capable of causing hearing loss.
Long-term hearing effects such as hearing loss and tinnitus
People often don’t notice they have poor hearing. Only when family, friends, or colleagues ask them to speak louder, ask a lot, or turn on the television, does the patient realize that they are hearing worse. buzz However, it is usually noticed much more quickly. These are persistent – often disturbing – sounds in the ears that are “produced” by the person concerned. Both tinnitus and hearing loss can be long-term consequences of Coronavirus infection. Dizziness can also factor in.
This is what the study found
Professor Kevin Monroe says: “In the past few months, I’ve gotten many emails from people who have reported a change in their hearing or tinnitus after they contracted Covid-19.” Press release. He has done research on this topic with other researchers from the University of Manchester and the Manchester Biomedical Research Center at NIHR. The reason for this was not only the reports of those infected, but also the fact that other infectious diseases, such as meningitis, Measles disease or MumpsIt can also lead to hearing loss.
For the study, the research team analyzed 56 studies that demonstrated a link between Covid-19 and auditory or balance problems. Monroe and his team pulled data from 24 of these studies that showed the incidence of vertigo was 7.2%, hearing loss was 7.6%, and tinnitus was 14.8%.
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Researcher warns of long-term audio effects
Professor Monroe notes that the 24 studies were of varying quality and arrived at their conclusions on the basis of questionnaires or health data. Rarely is a reliable and conclusive hearing test performed. For this reason, Monroe is leading a one-year British study examining the long-term effects of Covid-19 on hearing in people who were treated in a clinic of coronavirus infection.
Despite ongoing research, Monroe has already warned of delayed audio effects. His results so far indicate that more than 13 percent of Corona patients discharged from hospital will report a change in their hearing. “We hope this study will help evaluate the scientific evidence of a strong link between Covid-19 and hearing problems.” However, it remains to be investigated whether these are caused by infection or, for example, treatment.
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More possible delayed effects of corona infection
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Many Covid-19 patients still complain weeks after surviving the persistent symptoms of exhaustion. So it has long been suspected that chronic fatigue or burnout syndrome (CFS for short) could be a potential long-term corona consequence. Various individual reports suggest that one study.
A small study from Trinity College in Dublin appears to confirm this. The research team led by Liam Townsend examined 128 patients (average age: 50) who were said to have contracted the virus more than ten weeks ago. And more than half of them still claim they felt beaten. A relationship cannot be determined with the severity of the disease. The team previously shared this from Conference on Corona issues With.
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67 percent of all people with fatigue syndrome are female. People previously diagnosed with anxiety or depression were also more frequent. Of the 61 participants without constant fatigue, only one actually had such a mental disorder. Of the 67 people with persistent fatigue, nine previously had anxiety or depression.
FITBOOK already owns it Reported by an Italian study in AugustThat came to a very similar conclusion. You can find details on this Here in the summary.
The study officials questioned 143 patients who “recovered” according to the standards of the World Health Organization and who had previously been treated in hospital for Corona. More than half of them (53.1 percent) said they still experienced fatigue and constant fatigue.
Until then, experts feared that chronic fatigue syndrome could increase in the coming months. The reason for this is “disturbing data from earlier in the SARS and Mers epidemic, after which chronic fatigue syndrome occurred more frequently.” Regarding the Italian study, Professor Dr. Carmen Scheibenbogen from Charité Berlin in the medical journal ”Medscape“.
What is CFS CFS is an immune neurological disease. It manifests itself primarily through massive and persistent exhaustion. In addition, other complaints can occur such as insomnia, sore throat or muscle pain, concentration disturbances and increased susceptibility to infections.
Chronic fatigue syndrome often arises from surviving an infectious disease. Therefore, Sars-CoV-2 can now also present an increased risk. Epidemiological studies also confirm the increase in chronic fatigue syndrome after the onset of infectious diseases.
Impaired lung function
The German Society for Pneumology and Respiratory Medicine (DGP) warns of the consequences – even after surviving COVID-19. Images from computer tomography showed that many patients had more or less severe lung damage. Augsburg University Hospital also released photos after the autopsy in July. The lungs of some Corona victims looked terrifying: filled with holes like sponges.
Augsburg doctors came to the conclusion that this damage was not due to the ventilation, but most likely directly from the virus. But what does this mean for the living?
“It is assumed that there can be long-term effects,” says Blume. Especially in the lungs. It is not just about Covid patients who have been using ventilators for a long time. “We know that there can be scars in the lungs.” The main questions relate specifically to lighter cases. People who did not have to go to the hospital. “This new coronavirus could cause long-term or permanent consequential damage to the lungs,” says Blume. This specifically means: shortness of breath – especially during exertion.
Altered lung capacity
As early as March, at the start of the epidemic, permanent lung damage could be envisioned. Doctors in Hong Kong City Hospitals examined twelve patients who had already recovered like this “South China Morning Newspaper” mentioned. The director of the Infectious Diseases Center at Princess Margaret Hospital in Hong Kong, Dr. Owen Tsang Tak Yen. At an official press conference, it was mentioned that walking a little faster makes some patients breathe more difficult and lung function has decreased by 20 to 30 percent. Lung scans also showed that nine of the 12 patients had developed organ damage as a result of the virus.
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Cardiovascular disease risk
The Medical Dean of the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Prof. Average. Joachim Terry in one Interview With the news magazine Spiegel, in the long term one also fears the negative effects of Covid-19 on the cardiovascular system. It is not excluded that the virus may later also lead to heart disease, such as heart attack.
Andreas Sieher, president of the German Society of Cardiology, shares the assumption that the heart can be permanently damaged by the Coronavirus. “In inpatients with Covid-19, we see some have a violent troponin-type rash,” explains the doctorSud-Deutsche ZeitungThis is a sign of the death of heart muscle cells.
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Strokes caused by effects on the nervous system
There also appears to be a consensus in science that Covid-19 not only affects the lungs, but it can also affect the nervous system. Reports are increasing of loss of the sense of smell and taste in Corona patients. This should return after a few weeks for most patients, but experience with influenza indicates that permanent loss of smell and taste buds cannot be ruled out due to an infectious disease. So quotesSouthgerman NewspaperNeurologist Prof. Dr. Peter Berlett, Secretary General of the German Neurological Society.
Training sessions on diseases have also been observed in China and Italy, which gives reason to believe that Covid-19 can attack the brain. Some Corona patients showed neurological symptoms such as loss of senses, headache, dizziness, and even strokes and convulsions.
According to Professor Terry of the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, it is especially important to be careful about possible late effects even after recovering from a corona. The medical professor explains that “excessive inflammation causes severe damage to the internal placenta in some patients, which may lead to micro-clots.” Therefore, there may be a risk of having a stroke even after recovering from Covid-19 disease.
New clinical pictures possible
However, there is a risk of long-term consequences, says Clemens Windtner, chief physician at the Infectious Diseases Clinic at the Schwabing Clinic in Munich. Some patients will develop problems in the long term. I think we’re also producing new, secondary clinical images of Covid-19. “Coronavirus can not only affect the lungs, but ultimately every cell in the body,” adds Christoph Spinner from Klinikum rechts der Isar at the Technical University of Munich. “Covid 19 is undoubtedly a systemic disease.”