More than a third of Covid-19 patients treated at a Sydney hospital during the first wave of the virus in Australia still had symptoms including fatigue, chest pain and shortness of breath after their infection.
MJA’s Research
A paper published online by the Medical Journal of Australia (MJA) traces 78 adults with Covid being treated at St Vincent’s Hospital between April and June.
Further ADAPT research, led by Professors Gail Matthews and Dr. David Darley, found: “A large number of patients experience persistent symptoms after Sars-CoV-2 [Covid-19] infection including fatigue, chest pain and shortness of breath.
“Although it is often followed by a serious illness, 35% of community-treated patients on ADAPT have symptoms that persist within a few months after infection.”
Patients Survey
Of the 78 patients, 69 were treated in the community, while nine were admitted to the hospital, including two in the intensive care unit.
While the sample size is small, it is the largest Australian study of Covid-19 patients published to date.
Darley told Guardian Australia that eight of the patients still had abnormally low total lung capacity, four months after being infected.
“In patients hospitalised for Covid that’s something that needs to be looked at as it may indicate early scarring of the lungs,” Darley said.
“The outbreak, in general, is irreversible and we don’t know if the scar on Covid can continue or not. Sometimes you can reduce your lung capacity because you were sick and not working … but it can’t always be postponed so doctors should look into this. ”
What Has Been Found?
In about 16% of patients, the efficiency of circulating gas in and out of the bloodstream was also reduced, the researchers found. But Darley said it was reassuring that most patients with mild and moderate cases, who did not need to be admitted to the hospital, were doing well in the lungs for three months after infection.
The average age of the patients was 47, and 39 of them had contracted their infection overseas. The most common medical conditions were high blood pressure and asthma, while 37 patients had no lower levels of health.
This paper is the first in a series to be published by researchers and more details will be added as patients are followed up over time. It will also learn about the mental health of patients.
“We are concerned about the mental health of some patients who have needed more help since they were diagnosed,” Darley said. “It’s very frustrating for them to be infected with the pandemic and not know what to expect, as well as the stigma of having the virus and the anxiety that comes with being a part of its transmission.”
Investigators also spoke to Melbourne hospitals, which discovered the second significant wave of the virus, and hoped it would eventually gather information to better explain what happened in Australia with Covid.
The director of the Alfred Health Infection Prevention and Health Care Unit in Melbourne, Prof Allen Cheng, said the findings sounded consistent with what Victoria doctors have seen.
“The question is are these symptoms unique to Covid?” he said. “For example, ongoing fatigue is something seen with any severe illness, and Covid can be pretty severe. After pneumonia we routinely tell patients: ‘You’re not getting back to normal for at least six weeks.’”
