Ten to thirty percent of all Covid patients will suffer from long-distance symptoms, according to Monte’s latest survey. Sinai’s Center for Post-Covid Care. These numbers should be a “wake-up call” for young people and motivate them to avoid infections, Dr. Peter Hotez of Texas Children’s Hospital told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” program.
Patients with post-acute Covid’s syndrome usually experience severe fatigue, shortness of breath, digestive problems, “brain fog” and a racing heart. Some may even develop type 1 diabetes after a Covid infection, said Dr. Hotez. Endocrinologists are still trying to understand exactly why this is.
Another question that researchers still cannot answer is whether long-distance symptoms will remain with Covid patients for the rest of their lives. Millions of Americans have already been infected, noted Hotez, and those who had mild symptoms and were able to stay home to recover are more likely to struggle later with acute Covid’s syndrome, early research suggests.
Of all of Covid’s persistent effects, Hotez told Smith, “The ones that concern me especially are cognitive deficits. We call this ‘brain fog’, which makes it look like it’s not that serious, but it is. You know that people have terrible concentration difficulties and that’s why it’s been so devastating, because it’s difficult for people to get back to work. “
Post-acute Covid’s syndrome will have a major impact on the economy and the healthcare system, said Hotez. Covid has a “heavy psychiatric burden”, even for people who have not been infected. They may suffer “post-traumatic stress” from losing a loved one, their livelihood or simply dealing with a pandemic of living conditions.
“As terrible as the deaths are and as painful as they are, this will be just one of the many pieces of Covid-19 that will be with us. It is also an alert for young people,” said Dr. Hotez.