Coronavirus pandemic: pulmonary sequelae may progress 2 years after covid

Expert highlights that the post-covid period still represents a challenge for the medical and scientific community. (Photo: Reproduction)

Although the World Health Organization (WHO) has decreed the end of the covid health emergency, research conducted by the University of São Paulo and published in the scientific journal The Lancet, shows that around 90% of people infected by the virus are at risk of developing lung problems associated with the disease even years after hospital discharge.

The study, carried out with 237 patients who were hospitalized at the Hospital das Clínicas of the Faculty of Medicine of USP (FMUSP) in São Paulo, revealed that 92.4% of them had some type of respiratory compromise after recovering from the disease. This includes severe cases, such as signs of lung inflammation and the development of fibrosis. The analysis was carried out 18 to 24 months after hospital discharge.

The research, coordinated by Professor Carlos Carvalho, head of the Pulmonology discipline at FMUSP, only considered patients hospitalized between March and August 2020, a period in which there was still no vaccine available against Covid-19. Furthermore, all study participants had severe cases of the disease.

This point is important due to the mutation of the virus. Analysis carried out a year ago showed that Americans infected with the omicron variant of the coronavirus were, for example, less likely to develop symptoms typical of long Covid.

Analysis of nearly 5 million American patients who had Covid, in a study based on a collaboration between The Washington Post and research partners, showed that one in 16 people with OMicron received medical care for symptoms associated with months-long Covid. after infection.

Another point confirmed by the study is that longer hospital stays, as well as the need for invasive mechanical ventilation and advancing age, were determining factors for the development of late injuries, such as pulmonary fibrosis – a condition caused by injuries to the lungs followed by healing problems, resulting in progressive shortness of breath and frequent dry cough.

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To Jornal da USP, Carvalho highlighted that the post-covid period still represents a challenge to the medical and scientific community, which continues to discover new aspects about the chronic phase of the disease.

“Due to the non-homogeneous evolution of patients with post-Covid-19 sequelae, it is crucial to maintain long-term monitoring of their lung health.”