Persistence of symptoms after improvement of acute COVID19 infection, a longitudinal study

Abstract

With the number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) infected patients increasing all over the world, a large number of survivors have reported changes in their quality of life or experienced re‐infection. So, we aimed to detect the percentage, type, and risk factors of persistent symptoms after improvement from acute COVID‐19 infection and to detect the percentage of COVID‐19 re‐infection and degree of severity of the second infection. One hundred seventy‐two (59 male, 113 female) patients who tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) were followed up via mobile phone every 2 months for 8 to 10 months. After recovery, 105 patients (61%) (30 male, 75 female) reported one or more COVID‐19 persistent symptoms. Fatigue, dyspnea, and depression were the most common persistent symptoms representing 37.3%, 22%, 22%, respectively. We found that age was independently related to the persistence of symptoms. During the follow‐up, six females (3.5%) had laboratory‐confirmed COVID‐19 re‐infection. Their mean age was 35.7 ± 11 years. The mean interval from the complete recovery of the first infection to the onset of the second one was 53 ± 22.2 days and ranged from 30 to 90 days. The second infection was milder in severity than the first infection in 83.33% of cases. There was a high percentage of patients who complained of persistent symptoms after recovery from COVID‐19. Fatigue and headache were the most common persistent symptoms. Age was considered a risk factor for persistent symptoms. Re‐infection with SARS‐CoV‐2 can occur after recovery.

Post‐COVID-19 syndrome: assessment of short- and long-term post-recovery symptoms in recovered cases in Saudi Arabia

“…In this study, persistent symptoms did not correlate with severity of illness or gender. Our findings match those from a study conducted in Egypt [ 35 ]. In another study, disease severity and comorbidity were risk factors for the persistence of symptoms [ 36 ].…”

Sexual dimorphism in COVID-19: potential clinical and public health implications

“…Smaller studies propose that COVID-19 reinfections might be associated with increased severity compared with initial infection in both sexes; moreover, there is evidence that women are more commonly affected by COVID-19 reinfections than men. 90 , 91 The higher rate of reinfection in women is unexpected, since women show a stronger immune response. The reasons for this apparent paradox are unclear but might be related to increased antibody responses found in male convalescent plasma donors.…”

Time to Sleep?—A Review of the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Sleep and Mental Health

“…According to the majority of the available data, fatigue seems to be the most commonly encountered symptom during ‘Long COVID’ [ 118 , 121 , 122 , 123 , 124 , 125 , 126 ]. Nevertheless, a high prevalence of insomnia or sleeping difficulties has been also described by multiple studies.…”

“…The beforementioned studies described self-reported sleep disturbances, evaluated through questionnaires and interviews [ 120 , 121 , 122 , 123 , 124 , 125 , 126 , 127 , 131 , 132 ], and only one study reported PSQI values [ 131 ].…”