Long Covid’s main aspect is the presence of its symptoms in patients that have recovered from Covid and got a negative swab. So, there isn’t just regular Covid.
When it comes to the disease’s spreading consequences, the Long Covid is another alarming factor in this pandemic, regardless of the variant contracted by the positive patient.
In NefroCenter’s labs it’s possible to get tested for all kind of diagnostic and laboratory examinations to check Covid’s effects on all organs and the state of their health.
[H2] What is the Long Covid
Despite being negativized, it’s possible that the patients might still have some virus’ infection-related difficulties, even if they come back to their regular lifestyle and work enviroinment.
The symptoms of this disease are persistent, even in those who have recovered and got a negative swab.
In this case, the patients might still have traces of the disease in them, and that’s what Long Covid basically is.
There’s no relevant difference between who got either severe or mild symptoms during the infection, Long Covid can still infect people who previously got a positive swab result.
All the symptoms of Long Covid
Symptoms can even be connected with each other. They can last for a short period of time or be discontinuous and persistent, and can vary overtime.
They have an organic basis, so they’re related to various factors.
Both the health state of the affected organs and they way the virus attacks the body can be considered main causes of Long Covid.
For instance, Dyspnoea may occur in someone who had bilateral interstitial pneumonia during infection.
One of the most known symptoms is asthenia, which leads to an extreme tiredness and excessive fatigue.
This is one of Covid’s main features, both during the infection’s acute stage and in the following weeks.
The patient might have a fever associated with muscle and joint pain, or even myalgia or arthalgia. These symptoms’ manifestation can also be pulmonary: breathing difficulties, wheezing and ppersistent cough may occur.
No body signal should be overlooked
When it comes to the cardiovascular system, Long Covid can manifest itself in a different way, with tachycardia, chest tightness and pain, arrhytmias and changes in blood pressure.
From a neurological point of view, it’s possible to feel a kind of headache immune to painkillers. Other symptoms are also cognitive fog and difficulty on concentrating.
The taste and smell loss may persist even after the patient’s negativization, even if it’s been established that these symptoms don’t have correlation to the Omicron variant.
There may be numbness or widespread tingling in the limbs. In some cases, sleep disturbances are also present.
Psychological symptoms like ansiety, obsessive-compulsive syndromes and depression are not to be overlooked on as well.
Other symptoms include the intestinal ones such as abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, esophageal reflux and diarrhea.
From an otolaryngologist point of view, tinnitus may occur (that’s when patients hear a whistling in their ears), difficulty in swallowing, sore throat and even dysphonia, which is an alterion on the tone of voice.
After the negativization from Covid-19, evident dermatological symptoms may also still occur. These include the presence of papulo-squamous rashes, morbilliform rash, alopecia and urticarial eruptions.
The thrombosis of the pulmonary vessels and embolism are instead part of the coagulation alterations in haematological symptoms.
These are among the most serious symptoms, and unfortunately they had an impactful spreading during Covid’s first wave.
When it comes to the kidney, the symptoms can be hematuria – the presence of blood in the urines – and proteinuria, the presence of protein in the urine.
Hyperglicemia, or the onset of diabetes, is instead part of the endocrine symptoms that Long Covid can cause.
How much the symptoms last
The duration of Long Covid’s symptoms can be divided into two stages.
The first one can last 4-12 weeks after Covid-19’s infection. In this case it gets classified as Persistent Symptomatic Covid-19 disease.
The incidence is 1 in 4, which is 25% of those who have been affected by Covid. If the symptoms persist for 12 weeks, or 3 months from the infection, it reaches a stage called Post Covid-19 syndrome.
In this case, the incidence is 1 in 10 and it can be qualified as sequelae.
Some studies have highlighted the follow-up times, i.e. those in which symptoms occur after the infection. 96% of people experience them in the first 3 months following the infection.
[H2] Who can contract the Long Covid
The Long Covid can also infect those who had no symptomatologies during the infection stage.
It’s then possible that even people who lacks symptoms can contract the disease.
The most potentially exposed to Long Covid are the elderly, due to their conditions and fragility.
The presence of chronic diseases in the elderly could favor the onset of Long Covid, and in the worst cases can raise the chances of developing mental illnesses in them.
Among those who are highly exposed to the risks of Long Covid there are the obese and the overweight. Studies have shown that it develops faster in women compared to men.
It’s also been proved that those who’ve been hospitalized during the infection have a higher chance of developing it, but this is an often debated theory.
Inevitably, the presence of chronic diseases has its incidence regardless of the age.
However, Long Covid is less developed in children. We’ll have to wait for the end of the fourth wave (with the Omicron variant) before doing any evaluation. Before then, very few children contracted the virus.
Which tests should be done
The tests to undergo differ according to the symptoms.
The first thing to do is undergo a cardiological check-up with ECG and cardiac ultrasound. At NefroCenter it’s possible to do a check-up visit with a cardiologist and instrumental examinations, which are affiliated with the National Health Service.
In NefroCenter’s centers is also possible to undergo blood and urine tests, recommended to people who contracted Covid.
Then, a visit with a thoracic area specialist, such as a pulmonogist, can be done afterwards, undergoing respiratory function tests like spirometry as well.
A walking test can be important to evaluate the ability to breathe while moving, and perhaps an X-ray or a chest CT Scan too if the symptoms get worse.
All these tests are part of NefroCenter’s services. [Link NEFROCENTERDIAGNOSTICA]
The best path to fight Long Covid’s symptoms can then be decided based on the results.
Who to contact
To undergo all the complete tests to verify the post-Covid health state, it’s possible to contact NefroCenter’s switchboard at 081.8018837 or send an email to: info@nefrocenter.it