Ten to thirty percent of all patients with Covid will experience long-term symptoms, according to the latest research from Mt. Sinai Postcovid Care Center. 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.”
Patients with post-acute Covid syndrome often experience severe fatigue, difficulty breathing, digestive problems, “brain fog,” and an accelerated heartbeat. Some may even develop type 1 diabetes after a Covid infection, Dr. Hotez said. Endocrinologists are still trying to understand why this happens.
Another question that researchers still cannot answer is whether long-term symptoms will persist in Covid patients for the rest of their lives. Hotez noted that millions of Americans have already become infected and it is likely that those who had mild symptoms and could stay home to later recover from post-acute Covid syndrome suggest early research.
Of all the persistent effects of Covid, Hotez told Smith, “what worries me most are cognitive deficits. We call it ‘brain fog,’ which makes it sound like it’s not that bad, but yes. You know people do it. it has terrible problems concentrating and that’s why it’s been so devastating because it’s hard for people to get back to work. ”
Hotez said Covid’s post-acute syndrome will have a major impact on the economy and the health care system. Covid has a “strong psychiatric load,” including people who were not infected. They may suffer “post-traumatic stress” from the loss of a loved one, their livelihood, or simply from coping with pandemic living conditions.
“As terrible as the deaths are, and as heartbreaking as the deaths are, this will be just one of the many pieces of Covid-19 that will be with us. It’s also a wake-up call for young people,” Drs. . Cold.