Despite the fact that normality has almost completely recovered, COVID-19 continues to be present in the daily lives of many people. Since the vaccination process began, the usual thing is that the majority of those who are infected with the coronavirus go through mild conditions and, after a few days, get over it. Something that does not happen in cases of ‘persistent Covid’.
What is ‘persistent Covid’? As its name indicates, these are the cases in which patients take several weeks to recover and the symptoms disappear.
What symptoms does it present?
Most of the symptoms that the persistent Covid patient presents, in essence, the same picture as that of a regular SARS-CoV-2 patient. These are:
Even so, there are other signs that are less common in common COVID-19 cases, but that Often appear among persistent Covid patients:
Neurological symptoms or mental health conditions
Joint or muscle pain
heart conditions
Diarrhea and stomach pain
clots
rashes
Changes in the menstrual cycle
The causes
Actually, there is no known particular reason why this disease can develop. According to the World Health Organization, between 10% and 20% “of COVID-19 patients present prolonged symptoms with a subsequent condition.”
At the same time, they point out that it seems “there is no relationship” between the initial severity of coronavirus infection with the probability of developing persistent Covid.
how long does it last
But how long does persistent Covid last? Again, there is no consensus estimate. In some cases, the symptoms subside a few weeks after the onset of the disease, although there are cases in which this has been prolonged for months and even years.
As revealed by the Spanish Society of General and Family Physicians (SEMG), this persistence of the disease tends to occur more commonly in women. Patients represent 79% of those affected by ‘Long Covid’, which can also occur at any age.