Nearly a third of recovered COVID-19 patients end up back in hospital within five months – and up to one in eight dies from complications from the disease, according to a report.
Researchers at Leicester University in the United Kingdom and the Office for National Statistics found that of 47,780 people discharged from the hospital, 29.4% were readmitted in 140 days, reported the Telegraph.
Of the total, 12.3 percent succumbed to the disease, he added.
Many people who suffer from the long-lasting effects of coronavirus develop heart problems, diabetes and chronic liver and kidney disease, according to the report.
“People seem to be going home, getting long-term effects, coming back and dying. We see that almost 30% have been readmitted, and that is a lot of people. The numbers are so big, ”said study author Kamlesh Khunti.
“The message here is that we really need to prepare for a long COVID. Monitoring these patients is a huge task and the NHS is really under pressure at the moment, but some type of monitoring needs to be provided, ”added Khunti, professor of diabetes and vascular medicine at the University of Leicester.
The study – which Khunti described as the largest among people discharged from hospital after being admitted with COVID-19 – found that survivors were almost 3 1/2 times more likely to be readmitted and die in 140 days than others outpatients.
Khunti said the researchers were surprised that many people were readmitted with a new diagnosis, adding that it was important to ensure that people received protective therapies, including statins and aspirin.
“We don’t know if it’s because COVID destroyed the beta cells that make insulin and you get type 1 diabetes, or if it causes insulin resistance and you develop type 2, but we are seeing these amazing new diagnoses of diabetes,” he said.
“We saw studies in which survivors had MRS tests and had heart and liver problems,” added Khunti. “These people need urgent follow-up and the need for things like aspirin and statins.”
The new study was published on a prepress server and has not yet been peer-reviewed.
