The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that many patients with COVID-19, whether or not they have been hospitalized, may experience serious long-term effects.
And, although it is not known how many people who have overcome COVID-19 continue to experience serious effects of the disease. Tedros recalled that many people suffer from “persistent” complications from the virus in the long term.
“The wide spectrum of symptoms that fluctuate over time, which often overlap and can affect any system in the body, is concerning,” said the WHO director-general, reporting that these symptoms range from fatigue, cough or shortness of breath, to inflammation and damage to major organs, including the lungs and heart. Also, neurological and psychological effects.
Continued health care
For this reason, and after hearing the testimony of several people who overcame COVID-19 but who suffer significant consequences from the virus, Tedros asked governments around the world to be aware that the disease can have serious long-term effects and guarantee access to long-term healthcare for all patients, including primary, specialized and rehabilitation services.
“This virus poses a significant risk and these people need long-term care to fully recover, which shows that group immunity is not effective and would cause a very large number of people who would have to face a long recovery,” he indicated.
I don’t understand how 9 months after the onset of the pandemic, data is so scarce about the prevalence of any long-term effects from of sars-cov-2.
I’m worried that most follow-ups are based on the most severe cases. Being hospitalized is extremely serious, and knowing the long-term consequences in that population is very interesting, but the article should be adequately named as to which population it studied.
Your comment is correct, the WHO should provide more Data in their Press releases so the Public can come up to more informed conclusions.