New Delhi, Oct 28
Long-Covid -- continued illness post Covid-19 -- is common after other respiratory infections, according to a study.
A team of researchers from the University of Oxford in the UK analysed data from 190,000 participants. They classified them into: people hospitalised with Covid and those hospitalised with other lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs). These were then compared with a reference group with no LRTI hospitalisations.
Participants completed surveys reporting on 45 different physical and psychological symptoms observed across the ear, nose, and throat; respiratory; neurological; gastrointestinal; and musculoskeletal systems.
The findings, published in JAMA Network Open, showed that people hospitalised with Covid had higher risks of 23 out of 45 symptoms. Similarly, those hospitalised for non-Covid LRTIs had 18 out of 45.
Dr. Junqing Xie from NDORMS at the varsity said the “post-acute effects of Covid-19 are not unique”. These “can also occur with other severe respiratory infections," explained Junqing.